Perceived impact of graduate nurses’ internship program on nursing practice in Nigeria

Background: Nursing internship affords graduate nurses the opportunity to sharpen their clinical knowledge and skills. However, its contribution to nursing practice in Nigeria is unknown. The study assessed the perceived impact of graduate nurses' internship on nursing practice in Nigeria. Method: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among 161 purposively selected intern nurses. Data collected with a structured questionnaire were sorted, cleaned, and coded before entry into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 for analysis. Descriptive data were presented in tables and figures, while the Chi-square test was used to ascertain the relationship between variables under study. Results: More than half of the respondents 91(56.5%), were in southwestern Nigeria for their internship, and most of them 131 (81.4%), were in tertiary health facilities. The respondents perceived that the internship programme allowed them apply classroom learning to actual practice and gave them a wide range of clinical experiences. About 97(60.2%) of the respondents were satisfied with the internship program, while 113(70.2%) were unsatisfied with their remuneration. Findings also showed an increase in the competency level of the interns in certain nursing procedures during the internship program. The major challenge faced by 97(60.2%) of the respondents was remuneration problems. Hypothesis revealed that a significant difference exists between the level of satisfaction of intern nurses across various geopolitical zones at p<0.05. There is no significant relationship between the region and facility of internship and the competency of the respondents at p<0.05. Conclusion: Nurse-interns perceived an improvement in their clinical competencies and their self-confidence after the programme. This speaks volumes of the impact of the internship program on their skill set. However, this could be better as the participants could not perform some tasks. Therefore, actions to improve and sustain the continuation of the internship programme should be prioritized.