Clinical Supervision of Midwifery Students at the University Teaching Hospital School of Nursing and Midwifery in Lusaka, Zambia

Introduction: Clinical supervision plays a significant role in the acquisition of psychomotor skills by student midwives during training leading to the provision of high quality midwifery care. However, the acquisition of the psychomotor skills required for successful practice and learning can only be acquired if student midwives are supported and guided by clinical supervisors in their learning environments. Main Objective: The main objective of the study was to determine factors influencing clinical supervision of Student Midwives in Lusaka Urban District. Methodology: A cross-sectional study design that employed both quantitative and qualitative methods was used. The study population comprised 124 Nurses and Midwives working in Lusaka urban District. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from the Nurses and midwives and a focus group discussion guide was used to guide discussions with the student midwives at Lusaka College of Nursing and Midwifery and a total of three focus group discussions were conducted. Quantitative data were entered into by Statistical Package Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 for windows. Chi-square test was used to test associations among variables. The confidence interval was set at 95% with a significance level of 0.05. Qualitative data were analysed using content analysis to classify words into themes and categories by looking for repeated ideas or patterns of thoughts. Results: The findings showed that a high percentage of the clinical supervisors (89.5%) had not been trained in clinical supervision and most respondents had moderate knowledge on clinical supervision of students. Majority of the respondents (63%) exhibited inadequate supervision skills. The attitudes of all the supervisors towards supervision were positive. A large percentage of respondents (73%) were competent in clinical supervision. However the learning environment considered to be poor by most respondents (61%). The study revealed a significant association between clinical supervision and the respondents’ knowledge on clinical supervision (p-value of 0.00). Conclusion: The current study showed that clinical supervision was untrained and had inadequate supervision skills and the learning environment was poor. There is need therefore to train clinical supervisors and improve the students’ learning environment in order to enhance teaching and learning. The study offers a valuable insight into the factors influencing students’ midwives learning in clinical learning environment.