Background Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) are a major public health challenge globally especially among adolescents and young adults in lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) in Africa including Ghana. In light of this, mobile phone innovations are advocated to enhance public health education and prevention of STIs in developing health systems. Objective This study assessed mobile phone usage among adolescents and young adult populations pursuing tertiary education and their use of these technologies in the education and prevention of STIs. Method This was a cross-sectional analytical study among 250 adolescents and young adults aged 18–24 at Ghana’s premier and biggest public University. The study was however conducted in only one public university in the Greater Accra region  which potentially poses generalizability challenges due to socio-cultural and economic differences in other regions of the country. Data was collected using structured questionnaire and data analysis done with STATA (version 12.0). Univariate probit regression (VCE, Robust) analysis was used to determine factors associated with adolescents and young adult population’s usage of mobile phones in the education and prevention of STIs. Results Out of the 250 adolescents and young adults interviewed, 99% owned mobile phones. Out of this number, 58% them were smartphone users. Also, it was found that male young adults (Coef. = 1.11, p = 0.000) and young adults who owned a smartphone (Coef. = 0.46, p = 0.013) were more likely to use mobile phones for education and prevention of STIs. Conclusion Mobile phone penetration among young adults is nearly 100% in line with the national trend. Additionally, these young adults largely believe in the use of mobile phone programmes for STIs education and prevention. Moreover, respondents were found to be more comfortable using mobile applications than traditional text messaging or phone calls in STIs education and prevention. Future mobile phone programmes for STIs education and prevention should consider innovating customized mobile applications to promote acceptability by the youth and enhance sustainability of such interventions on STIs in Ghana. Even though this study was conducted in only one public university in Ghana, the findings are nonetheless informative and future researchers could consider using a larger sample size across private and public universities in other regions of the country. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12978-019-0763-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background: At the University level, the preparation of student nurses involves acquisition of theoretical knowledge and clinical practice, when this is done well, it can serve as a double-edged sword for blending theory and practice. We explored the ability, role, and experiences of nurse academics in balancing theory and practice in training nurses.Method: Using exploratory research with methodical triangulation design, data were collected from nursing lecturers and student nurses using interviews, questionnaires, and focus group discussions. Conclusion:Findings indicate that clinical practice is recognized by lecturers and students as an important measure for enhancing theoretical preparation of nursing students. University academic calendar does not favor inclusion of clinical practice, thus, balancing theory with clinical practice is difficult. University nurse educators in Ghana are obligated to blend theory and practice. However, challenges are encountered in doing so. Curricula for nursing education should be designed to be autonomous to place priority on clinical practice. The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana should also put monitoring mechanisms in place to ensure clinical practice competencies of nursing lecturers.