From Training Gaps to Strategic Planning: Evidence for Strategic Training Preparedness in Ghanaian Nursing Education

Abstract

Background: Institutional preparedness for nursing education depends on the combined strength of clinical training, infrastructure, digital systems, psychosocial support, and financial and logistical arrangements. Evidence on how these domains jointly relate to students’ perceptions of training preparedness remains limited in resource-constrained nursing colleges. Objective: The study aims to assess nursing students’ perceptions of seven institutional domains and determine the factors associated with the Strategic Training Preparedness Index (STPI) in a single-programme nursing college in Ghana. Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 229 continuing nursing students. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered through KoboCollect. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed using SPSS version 27. Results: Overall strategic training preparedness was moderate (M = 3.13, SD = 0.73). Institutional support received the highest rating (M = 3.55), whereas digital readiness and finance/logistics received the lowest ratings (both M = 2.22). STPI correlated positively with infrastructure adequacy (r = .204, p = .002), psychosocial support (r = .193, p = .003), clinical quality (r = .182, p = .006), and finance/logistics (r = .133, p = .045). The institutional domains collectively explained 7.7% of the variance in STPI, but none was independently significant. After adjustment for student characteristics, the model explained 11.5% of the variance; employment during the semester was the only significant independent predictor of lower preparedness (B = -0.462, p = .013). Conclusion: Students perceived moderate institutional preparedness, with uneven performance across domains. Several institutional conditions were associated with preparedness at the bivariate level, but none independently predicted STPI after adjustment. Students employed during the semester constituted a potentially vulnerable group. Institutional planning should therefore combine a targeted review of weaker domains with support for students experiencing external work and financial pressures, while avoiding causal interpretations of these cross-sectional findings.