Nurse and midwife educators’ experiences of translating teaching methodology knowledge into practice in Rwanda

Abstract Objectives The aim of this study was to explore how nurse and midwife educators applied the knowledge and skills acquired from attending acontinuous professional development (CPD) workshop on teaching methodologies into their teaching practices in Rwanda. Methods A qualitative descriptive design was used with a purposive sample of 15 nursing and midwifery faculty members from six private and public post-secondary schools in Rwanda. Participants were involved in semi-structured individual interviews. Inductive content analysis was used for generating themes. Results Five themes emerged describing the educators’ teaching experiences: (1) enhanced teaching practices competencies; (2) application of knowledge and skills gained into classroom and clinical teaching; (3) collaboration and teamwork; (4) facilitators and challenges faced to the application of the knowledge and skills into practice; and (5) indirect outcomes to maternal, newborn, and child health care. Conclusion CPD workshops about teaching methodologies for nurse and midwife educators offer a substantive means of improving the quality of nursing and midwifery undergraduate education in Rwanda. There is, however, an ongoing need to address existing barriers to applying knowledge and skills to the practice of teaching.