Employers’ Perception and Expectations of Professional Competency of Distance Learning Graduates: A Tracer Study of Nursing Graduates of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN)

S/N	Domain competency	Response categories				Total	Mean score	Cut-off point
S/N	Domain competency	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Total	Mean score	Cut-off point
1	Comportment and appearance	324	300	80	1	705	3.17	2.50
2	Approach to patients	380	252	86	0	718	3.23	2.50
3	Preparation	316	309	74	3	702	3.16	2.50
4	Procedure	396	348	14	1	758	3.41	2.50
5	Speed and accuracy	264	243	138	6	651	2.93	2.50
6	Finishing	328	297	80	1	706	3.18	2.50
7	Understanding of purpose	332	333	60	2	727	3.27	2.50
8	Awareness of total situation	384	273	70	0	727	3.27	2.50
9	Approach to people	356	270	81	3	709	3.19	2.50
10	Teaching ability	376	261	74	4	715	3.22	2.50
	Average	345.6	288.6	68.6	2.2	641.8	3.20*	2.50

[i] Overall clinical performance mean score = 3.20* (significant)

Table 1b

Descriptive Analysis of NOUN Graduates Level of Competency in Nursing Documentation (N=222)

S/N	Phases of nursing process	Response categories				Total	Mean score	Cut-off point
S/N	Phases of nursing process	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Total	Mean score	Cut-off point
1	Assessment	348	354	34	0	736	3.32	2.50
2	Nursing diagnosis	376	303	46	4	729	3.28	2.50
3	Planning	292	264	118	2	676	3.04	2.50
4	Implementation	300	282	106	0	688	3.10	2.50
5	Evaluation	325	270	98	2	694	3.13	2.50
	Average	328.2	294.6	80.4	1.6	704.6	3.17*	2.50

[i] Overall documentation mean score = 3.17* (significant)

Table 1c

Analysis and Rank Order of Means of NOUN Graduates Level of Competency in Knowledge and Understanding of Nursing Practice

S/N	Variables	Mean	SD	Standard Error	Rank
1	Clinical reasoning	3.36	.583	.039	1^st
2	Critical thinking	3.16	.653	.044	4^th
3	Oral communication	3.23	.621	.042	3^rd
4	Content knowledge	3.25	.679	.046	2^nd

[i] Overall knowledge and understanding mean score = 3.25* (significant)

Table 2

Descriptive Analysis of NOUN Graduates Attitude to Work Before and After Graduation as Assessed by Employers

Indicators	N	Before Graduation			After Graduation			MD
Indicators	N	Mean	SD	Std Error	Mean	SD	Std Error	MD
1. Absenteeism	222	.49	.906	.061	.17	.440	.030	.32
2. Lateness	222	.81	.956	.064	.30	.564	.038	.51
3. Number of complaints against the employee	222	.56	.775	.052	.20	.465	.031	.36
4. Number of queries and warnings	222	.37	.673	.045	.17	.408	.027	.20
5. Number of work related accidents	222	.36	.691	.046	.17	.408	.027	.19
6. Use of mobile phone while at work	222	.36	.649	.044	.18	.476	.032	.18

[i] Key: SD = Standard deviation, MD = Mean difference

Table 3

Descriptive Analysis of NOUN Graduates Attitude to Work Before and After Graduation as Assessed by Own Self

S/N	Attitude items	N	Before Graduation			After Graduation			MD
S/N	Attitude items	N	Mean	SD	Std Error	Mean	SD	Std Error	MD
1	I am very interested in this work, it is very important for me	222	3.60	.490	.033	3.60	.490	.033	00
2	Sometimes I absent myself from duty	222	2.96	.815	.055	2.96	.805	.055	00
3	I don’t like the kind of job I do	222	3.62	.565	.038	3.62	.565	.038	00
4	I accept assignments without complaints	222	3.32	.494	.033	3.18	.665	.033	.14
5	I arrive on time prepared to work	222	3.52	.527	.035	3.52	.527	.035	00
6	I feel very dissatisfied about my job	222	3.55	.620	.042	3.55	.620	.042	00
7	I would be better off working under different environment	222	3.28	.885	.059	3.28	.885	.059	00
8	I take much pride in my job	222	3.59	.546	.037	3.59	.546	.037	00
9	Sometimes I feel bored about my job	222	3.20	.716	.048	3.20	.716	.048	00
10	I participate in all clinical activities when on duty	222	3.20	.543	.036	3.20	.543	.036	00
11	Taking care of patients makes me fulfilled	222	3.57	.496	.033	3.57	.496	.033	00

[i] Key: SD = Standard deviation, MD = Mean difference

Table 4

Descriptive Analysis of Proportion of Graduate Competency Attributed to Workplace Experience and Education in NOUN

Competency category	Frequency	%	Mean	SD	Standard Error
Workplace experience	108	62.4	4.54	3.66	.086
Education	65	37.6	3.62	3.01	.032

Quadrant analysis by competency and perception dimension

Table 5

Analysis of Means and Rank Order of NOUN Graduates Nurses’ Responses on the Quality of Education Provision in NOUN (N=222)

S/N	Variables/Items	Mean	Rank order	Cut-off point
1	Availability of course materials	2.99	5^th	2.50
2	Quality of course content /modules	3.16	1^st	2.50
3	Level of practical learning activities in course modules	3.05	4^th	2.50
4	Conduciveness of learning environment	2.80	8^th	2.50
5	Provision of clinical practicum exercise	2.79	9^th	2.50
6	Quality of clinical practicum experience	2.91	7^th	2.50
7	Quality of Infrastructural facilities	2.79	9^th	2.50
8	Quality of nursing degree programme	3.07	3^rd	2.50
9	Level of interaction /contact with fellow students	3.14	2^nd	2.50
10	Provision of facilitation	2.95	6^th	2.50

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5944/openpraxis.10.3.796 | Journal eISSN: 2304-070X

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Language: English

Page range: 265 - 278

Submitted on: Mar 28, 2018

Accepted on: Jun 26, 2018

Published on: Jul 1, 2018

Published by: International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE)

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

tracer study,

NOUN,

graduate nurses,

professional competency,

employer expectation

© 2018 Dorothy Ofoha, Onyeka Iwuchukwu, published by International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE)
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 10 (2018): Issue 3

Employers’ Perception and Expectations of Professional Competency of Distance Learning Graduates: A Tracer Study of Nursing Graduates of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN)

Figures & Tables

Table 1a

Table 1b

Table 1c

Table 2

Table 3

Table 4

Figure 1

Table 5

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