Importance of academic literacy in the training of nursing students

Abstract

Objective: To interpret the experiences related to the acquisition of academic literacy skills of nursing students in their last year at two public universities in Colombia and Ecuador. Methodology: Study with an interpretive, qualitative, hermeneutic phenomenological, cross-sectional approach. Data collection was through a semi-structured interview until data saturation. The sample was selected intentionally. Results: The development of academic literacy skills in nursing students is done autonomously, by imitation or taking as a guide what is taught by the teacher. The greatest difficulties occur at the beginning of the course when they do not understand the disciplinary terminology, as well as academic writing without using colloquial language, so they experience different feelings and experiences according to the degree of acquisition of generic or specific nursing competencies. Conclusion: Academic literacy is one of the first competencies to develop in nursing students, with significant learning to be able to complete their degree studies without major difficulties at the time of preparing their degree works. It is important to take up the students voices from their experiences, since it allows search for appropriate strategies to improve the process in the acquisition of academic literacy skills.