Self‐Leadership of Male Learner Nurses During a Four‐Year Program at a College in the Western Cape, South Africa

Self‐leadership is an enabling process during which a male student nurse learns to know himself better. This enriched self‐awareness enables him to steer his work life. Male learners in the nursing profession could face gender‐based challenges during their training that requires self‐leadership. The study described the best experiences of self‐leadership by male learner nurses during their four‐year training programme at a nursing college in the Western Cape Province. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual design, incorporating the philosophy of the Appreciative Inquiry paradigm, was used. Purposive sampling was applied and 12 individual, semi‐structured interviews were conducted. Data analysis indicated that peak experiences occur on multiple levels and include learning from ‘error’. Self‐leadership could be enhanced by support from lecturers and mentors, fellow students, as well as by support in the wards and simulation laboratory.