Pages: (105-127 )
Abstract
Healthcare delivery in Nigeria, particularly in public hospitals, continues to face persistent challenges regarding the quality and efficiency of nursing care. Nurses, who form the backbone of patient care, often commence their professional journeys without undergoing proper onboarding procedures. While the advantages of structured onboarding are well established across various industries, its implementation within the public health sector remains limited. Therefore, the study was conducted to examine structured onboarding and nurses' performance in selected general hospitals in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. A survey research design was employed for this study, with primary data collected via a structured questionnaire. Using Yamane’s formula for sample size determination, a sample of 186 respondents was drawn from a population of 349 nurses across the selected general hospitals in Akwa Ibom State. The findings revealed that structured onboarding has a statistically significant positive impact on the performance of nurses in the selected hospitals. Furthermore, key components of structured onboarding, namely practical training, mentorship programmes, and organised orientation sessions, also demonstrated a statistically significant positive effect on nursing performance. Consequently, the study concluded that practical training, mentorship, and well-structured orientation programmes are key to boosting nurses’ performance in general hospitals across Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Among several recommendations, it is proposed that hospital administrators in Akwa Ibom State establish ongoing structured practical training initiatives as a core element of nurses’ professional development to improve overall performance.
Keywords: Structured Onboarding, Practical Training, Mentorship Programmes, Organised Orientation Sessions, Nurse' Performance and General Hospital,