Abstract:
A competent nursing workforce is important for an effective healthcare system. However,
concerns on the poor quality of nursing care and poor competencies among nursing students,
nurses, and midwives are increasing in Malawi. Anecdotal notes from stakeholders
show shortfalls in nursing education. Furthermore, a large gap between theory and practice
exists. This study described the role of academiceclinical partnership in strengthening
nursing education. A search of ScienceDirect, PubMed, Medline, and PsychINFO on EBCSOhost
and Google Scholar was conducted using the following key words: academic
eclinical collaboration, academiceclinical partnership, academic practitioner gap, and
college hospital partnership or/and nursing. Furthermore, peer reviewed reports on academiceclinical
partnership in nursing were included in the search. Thirty-three records
from 2002 to 2016 were reviewed. Six themes emerged from the review: mutual and shared
goals, evidence-based practice, resource sharing and collaboration, capacity building,
partnership elements, and challenges of academic clinical partnership. The review highlighted
that academic-practice partnerships promote shared goal development for the
healthcare system. The gap between theory and practice is reduced by the sharing of
expertise and by increasing evidence-based practice. Academic clinical partnership improves
competencies among students and the safety and health outcomes of patients. The
study concluded that the nursing education implemented within an academic clinical
partnership becomes relevant to the needs and demands of the healthcare system.
