Student nurses’ perceptions about the integrated management of childhood illnesses training received at the KwaZulu-Natal College of Nursing, South Africa

Abstract

Integrated management of childhood illnesses (IMCI) is the WHO and UNICEF’s strategy developed in the 1990s to reduce child mortality and morbidity globally. This integrated approach guides health care workers and ensures that the child is cared for effectively at a single visit to reduce morbidity and mortality rate of children younger than five years of age. South Africa is one of 12 countries with high child mortality and morbidity rates. The purpose of this descriptive quantitative study was to evaluate the IMCI training of 100 randomly selected student nurses in the KwaZulu-Natal College of Nursing. The objective was to assess teaching methods used to prepare learner nurses for this approach. A self-administered questionnaire designed by Goga and Muhe (2011) was used to collect data. The results indicated that the time allocated for theory was adequate, but for clinical practice and clinical training time was found to be insufficient. It was concluded that the recommended duration of training (11) days was inadequate for the amount of information contained in the IMCI course.