The study explored how student nursing mothers cope with academic work at AAMUSTED. An interpretive philosophical paradigm, qualitative research approach and exploratory case study design were used to guide the study. The study was grounded in Role Conflict and self-determination theories. A combination of purposive and snowball sampling techniques was used to select 15 nursing mothers for the study. The data were gathered through interviews and a detailed observation of the nursing students using an observation guide. The data collected from the interview was analysed using an inductive analysis approach while the observation was analysed using content analysis. The results revealed that student nursing mothers face numerous challenges in their pursuit of academic achievement but they adopt several ways to cope with them. Combining childcare, post-maternity complications and family demands makes it very difficult for student nursing mothers to focus on their academic work. To deal with these challenges, students nursing mothers relied on their husbands, hiring a babysitter, participation in group discussion, developing a good relationship with lecturers and using other psychological tactics to enhance learning. Also, most students, breastfeeding were interrupted by “lecture calls” and had to run back to lectures to avoid missing out. It is recommended that universities should consider instituting policies that can offer student nursing mothers’ academic leverage and infrastructure support. Women must also be encouraged to have stable sources of income before pursing further studies to help them financially. Husbands are encouraged to support their wives and partners to further their education and provide them with necessary support they need at early stages of childcare.
Keywords: Academic Work, Coping Strategies, Student nursing mothers, child care, family demands and support
