Challenges and benefits associated with educational materials: experiences of the Ghanaian nurse trainees.

BackgroundEducational Materials (EMs) are vital in teaching and learning activities and contribute significantly to the acquisition of knowledge and skills for an enhanced performance. The right educational resources help stimulate, reinforce and make it more impact and beneficial. AIMThis studys main goal is to identify the learning materials that are used regularly in nursing training schools and analyze the experiences of nurse trainees on their impact on the achievement of academic objectives. And to guide stakeholders in nursing education policy formulation. SETTINGThis study was conducted in four (4) Nursing and Midwifery Training institutions in Ghana. MethodsA descriptive method was used for this study. An online survey was used to collect data from 47 nurse educators and 374 student nurses and analyzed using Stata version 16.0. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technologys Committee on Human Research, Publication, and Ethics (CHRPE) was consulted for ethical approval. ResultsThe common available EMs were handouts (80.1%), recommended textbooks (55.9%), and smartphones (54.6%). The EMs that were commonly used by students were the handout (58.6%), recommended textbooks (39.6%), and both internet information and PowerPoint slides (18.8%) each. Majority of the students (64.1%) reported that the commonly used EMs made good contributions towards their academic performance and 22.6% indicated that the used EMs made excellent contributions to their academic performance. Example e-books has OR of 0.43 and a p-value of 0.021. ConclusionModern Ems such as reliable internet access, 3D animation videos should be made readily available in schools to greatly help to improve the standards of nursing education and contribute to quality healthcare workforce. ContributionsEducational materials plays a vital role in health trainees education, increases nurses knowledge, and output on health care delivery.