Teaching research to nursing and midwifery students in Tanzania: A 10-year evaluation

Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, in Tanzania, moved from content-based teaching to a competency-based education approach in 2011. The overall goal of a research course at the School of Nursing was to inform and improve nursing care. Nursing research was taught as a two-semester course with individual research projects. An evaluation 10 years after introduction of the course was performed using descriptive statistics and graphs. Categorical comparisons were made using χ 2 tests. Baccalaureate students taught standard scientific methods were able to collect valuable data that could be used to support community health-care institutions, inform curriculum revision, and discover answers to simple nursing questions. Harnessing student talent is a cost-effective way to augment national research capacity, especially important in low- and middle-income countries. The knowledge gained can be used to improve teaching and health care, to increase the well-being of the national population and improve the nation’s health-care institutions.