Department/Unit: Department of Health Studies
Qualifications: PhD - Doctor of Philosophy in Health Sciences with Nursing Science
PhD Institution: North West University
PhD dissertation title: Development of an evaluation tool for clinical competence of community service nurses in Northwest, South Africa
Current research interests and projects: Project Title: Enhancing clinical competence of young professional nurses through collaboration in Northwest Province, South Africa
Selected publication 1: Matlhaba, K. L., & Nkoane, N. L. (2022). Understanding the learning needs to enhance clinical competence of new professional nurses in public hospitals of South Africa: A qualitative study. Belitung Nursing Journal. https://doi.org/10.33546/bnj.2180
Selected publication 2: Matlhaba, K. L., Pienaar, A. J., & Sehularo, L. A. (2019). Community service nurses’ experiences regarding their clinical competence. Health SA Gesondheid, 24.
Selected publication 3: Matlhaba, K. L., Pienaar, A. J., & Sehularo, L. A. (2021). Professional nurses' perceptions regarding clinical competence of community service nurses in North West province, South Africa. Health SA Gesondheid, 26.
Selected publication 4: Matlhaba, K. L., Pienaar, A. J., & Sehularo, L. A. (2020). Converging professional nurses' perceptions and community service nurses' experiences regarding clinical competence during community service placement. African Journal of Health Professions Education, 12(4), 191-196.
Selected publication 5: Matlhaba, K. L., Pienaar, A. J., & Sehularo, L. A. (2021). Validation of a clinical competence evaluation tool for community service nurses in North West province, South Africa. Health SA Gesondheid, 26.
Capstone assignment title: In the life of a novice post graduate supervisor
Capstone assignment abstract: One of the key performance areas for any academic at the university is supervision of Masters and Doctoral students. Being a novice academic and a supervisor can be very intimidating at times. Novice or emerging supervisors finds themselves thrown into the deep end of supervision due to the University's demands on research outputs. Finding yourself and becoming confident as a novice supervisor is not an easy or simple task. At times being a novice supervisor one experience a feeling of being overwhelmed especially with the fact that there are other responsibilities according to the key performance areas including Teaching and Learning, Community Engagement and Academic Citizenship. There is a constant reminder that the research output in South Africa is linked to a financial benefit for institutions. Furthermore, a reminder that supervision of masters and doctoral students is linked to one’s research-output, financial incentives as well as academic promotion. Each university has their own criteria with regards to research-outputs points. As a novice supervisor, the pressure of supervising students to completion is extremely high as one has to try by all means to meet those criteria and qualify for any of the mentioned incentives.
