Genomics in Nursing Education

PURPOSE: To review international efforts to incorporate genetics content into nursing education curricula. ORGANIZING FRAMEWORK: A discussion of the progress in nursing education programs in selected countries to educate students for genomics-based health care. Information is based on review of the literature and curriculum change efforts by the authors. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of agreed-upon minimum competencies impedes efforts to educate nurses for genomics-based health care. Nationally and internationally recognized documents are useful for collaborative efforts to establish minimal competencies in knowledge, skills, and attitudes for nurses with basic and advanced education. Curriculum change that incorporates minimum competencies will require nursing faculty to improve their knowledge base in genomics-based health care. Partnerships among nurses in different countries are needed for successful genomics education programs for faculty.     

Using quality and safety education for nurses to guide clinical teaching on a new dedicated education unit

Gaps exist in health professional education versus the demands of current practice. Leveraging front-line nurses to teach students exemplary practice in a Dedicated Education Unit (DEU) may narrow this gap. The DEU is an innovative model for experiential learning, capitalizing on the expertise of staff nurses as clinical teachers. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a new academic-practice DEU in facilitating quality and safety competency achievement among students. Six clinical teachers received education in clinical teaching and use of Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) competencies to guide acquisition of essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes for continuous health care improvement. Twelve students assigned to the six teachers completed daily logs for the 10-week practicum. Findings suggest that DEU students achieved QSEN competencies through clinical teacher mentoring in interdisciplinary collaboration, using electronic information for best practice and patient teaching, patient/family decision making, quality improvement, and resolution of safety issues.     

Engaging students in a QI/QM presentation to enhance QSEN concept learning

The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) Initiative addresses goals to better prepare future nurses by proposing and defining 6 competencies addressing knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSA) needed for undergraduate, pre-licensure nursing students to be successful, competent, and qualified registered nurses. Educators maintain the responsibility to bridge education and clinical preparation to enable nursing students to practice at a level that projects quality and safety. This article introduces and explains a guided Quality Indicator/Quality Measure (QI/QM) teaching-learning strategy aimed at the promotion of learning about QSEN competencies, in which students identify a clinical QI/QM issue, gather data, collaborate, apply research techniques, create a presentation, and report their findings. Specific QSEN competency sub-scores from an NCLEX test preparation strategy were used to measure students’ learning, and improvements on these sub-scores were observed. Introducing QSEN concepts sets the stage for competent nursing care in the future and this valuable teaching-learning strategy suggests how to infuse QSEN competencies into an undergraduate nursing curriculum.     

Implementing dedicated nursing clinical education unit: Nursing students' and preceptors' perspectives

BackgroundThe Dedicated Education Unit is a clinical learning model designated to deliver more targeted learning opportunities and enhance student nurses learning capacity. It provides students with more opportunities to develop their skills, experience different learning events, consolidate their knowledge, and build their professional nursing identity.MethodsThe study followed a convergent parallel mixed-method design to investigate the nursing students and the nursing preceptors' perceptions of the Dedicated Education Unit model at Mafraq hospital. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from a sample of sixty-seven nursing students and 20 nursing preceptors from March to May 2019.ResultsThe overall results of the study were positive. Nursing preceptors were confident to communicate and constructively interact, motivate, and facilitate students' learning. However, they requested better support and more free time to supervise and answer students' questions. Nursing students reported positive learning at the dedicated units. However, they requested more support from nursing preceptors.ConclusionImplementing a Dedicated Education Unit model supported the nursing preceptors' role and enhanced nursing students' learning opportunities and hands-on experiences. Achieving a positive effect of the dedicated nursing clinical education unit requires constant collaboration between healthcare facilities and nursing education programs to maximize nursing students learning.     

Staff Nurses' Perception of Their Role in a Dedicated Education Unit Within the Intensive Care Unit

The dedicated education unit (DEU), a model for clinical nursing education, is a partnership in which professional nurses are trained to participate in the clinical education of nursing students. This study evaluated the perceptions of staff nurses who acted as clinical teaching associates to senior nursing students in an intensive care unit setting using the DEU model. Other nursing programs may benefit from the outcomes experienced in this application of the DEU model.     

PBL教学法在护理本科实习护生临床教学中的应用

目的探讨以问题为中心（problem based learning,PBL）教学法在护理本科实习护士学生（以下简称护生）临床教学中的应用效果。方法将120名在眼科实习的护生,按临床实习时间分为实验组和对照组,每组各60名。实验组采用PBL教学法,对照组采用传统教学方法。实习6w后,比较两组护生理论知识和技能等各种考核成绩的差异,并同时调查两组护生对临床教学质量的反馈情况。结果实验组护生理论知识和技能等各种考核成绩均优于对照组,83.33%的护生认为PBL教学法可提高学习兴趣、自学能力、临床思维能力、沟通能力和整体护理能力,与对照组比较,均P〈0.01,差异具有统计学意义。结论 PBL教学法能使护生更好地将护理理论知识与临床实践相结合,提高了护生临床护理理论和操作水平等综合能力,值得在临床护理教学中推广应用。     

Patient safety competence for final-year health professional students: Perceptions of effectiveness of an interprofessional education course

As final-year medical and nursing students will soon play key roles in frontline patient care, their preparedness for safe, reliable care provision is of special importance. We assessed patient safety competencies of final-year health profession students, and the effect of a 1-day patient safety education programme on these competencies. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 233 students in three colleges of medicine, nursing, and traditional medicine in Seoul. A before-and-after study followed to evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum. Patient safety competency was measured using the Health-Professional Education for Patients Safety Survey (H-PEPSS) and an objective patient safety knowledge test. The mean scores were 3.4 and 1.7 out of 5.0, respectively. The communication domain was rated the highest and the teamwork domain was rated the lowest. H-PEPSS scores significantly differed between the students from three colleges. The 1-day patient safety education curriculum significantly improved H-PEPSS and knowledge test scores. These results indicated that strengthening patient safety competencies, especially teamwork, of students is required in undergraduate healthcare curricula. A 1-day interprofessional patient safety education programme may be a promising strategy. The findings suggest that interprofessional patient safety education needs to be implemented as a core undergraduate course to improve students’ safety competence.     

Quality and Safety Education for Nurses

Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) addresses the challenge of preparing nurses with the competencies necessary to continuously improve the quality and safety of the health care systems in which they work. The QSEN faculty members adapted the Institute of Medicine(1) competencies for nursing (patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, safety, and informatics), proposing definitions that could describe essential features of what it means to be a competent and respected nurse. Using the competency definitions, the authors propose statements of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) for each competency that should be developed during pre-licensure nursing education. Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) faculty and advisory board members invite the profession to comment on the competencies and their definitions and on whether the KSAs for pre-licensure education are appropriate goals for students preparing for basic practice as a registered nurse.     

Interprofessional education: The student perspective

The Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (Toronto Rehab) is a current leader in the movement of interprofessional education (IPE) initiatives in Ontario, Canada. Nine students from seven different health care disciplines, including medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, social work, and speech language pathology participated in the second IPE clinical placement in the winter of 2005 on Toronto Rehab's Stroke inpatient unit. In an effort to increase interprofessional collaboration, improve communication skills, foster respect and enhance knowledge of the different roles each discipline plays on the health care team, these students met together over a five week period and participated in interprofessional group sessions led by different health care professional leaders from the unit. This paper discusses the students' perspectives on this IPE experience and the corresponding benefits and challenges. All participants in the study recognized the importance of interprofessional teamwork in patient care and agreed that all health care education should include opportunities enabling them to develop the skills, behaviours and attitudes needed for interprofessional collaboration.     

Development and testing of a practicum matching program for baccalaureate nursing education,a local public health unit

This article describes a novel approach to nursing education, designed to improve the experience of both students in public health nursing, and the local public health unit where they affiliate. Students, faculty, and public health department staff developed a method for matching programs and needs of the local public health unit to the skills and learning needs of nursing students. We describe our experience articulating student competencies, program-specific functions, and an approach to matching student interests and learning opportunities to agency needs. Students, faculty, and staff rated the program moderately to very high in feasibility, satisfaction, and acceptability. Data suggest the novel program served to improve the quality of the practicum affiliation, to the satisfaction of both the school and agency, while contributing to a robust public health learning experience for emerging professional nurses.     

Nursing education in Norway

AIM: The aim of this paper is to describe nursing education in Norway and some essential questions and challenges regarding the undergraduate and newly graduated nurses' competencies and functionally preparedness. BACKGROUND: The first formal training of nurses in Norway started in Oslo in 1886. Since then the education has changed considerably. As long as society is changing, and nurses are going to meet and adapt to societies needs, the education of nurses will also have to change continuously. The present general plan of nursing education has gone through a long process. The discussions have concerned the content of medical and natural science subjects, the practical part of the training and the relation between theory and practice. CHALLENGES: There are challenges in nursing education in Norway today. We have seen that recruitment has decreased, and that nurses seek jobs where they are better paid. To increase the accessibility distance and part-time education has been established. The theory-practice gap will always exist. Therefore we should aim to prepare the students to minimize this gap in a way that they can combine training of nursing with training in improvement. The demand of a masters degree to be a nursing teacher has reduced the teachers' ability to keep up their practical skills. The government pays nursing teachers who want to practice as nurses for several months to maintain their salary level during that period. CONCLUSIONS: There are many possibilities to improve nursing education in Norway. We are on our way with highly qualified teachers and students, and we still have enough good applicants. The new general plan and new law for universities and university colleges offer great opportunities. However, the shortage of nurses is a great challenge for further quality improvement both in clinical practice and in education.     

Developing Core Competency-Based Learning Objectives for Postgraduate Curricula for Postanesthesia Nurses—A Delphi Study

PurposePostanesthesia care unit (PACU) nurse competencies involve the ability to care for patients receiving complex treatment. Well-educated PACU nurses are required to provide safe patient care, and accordingly, they require investment in their education. However, core competencies for PACU nurses that are based on systematic methods for curriculum development and consensus have not been established. The purpose of this study was to develop a nationwide consensus on core competency–based learning objectives for a postgraduate PACU nursing curriculum.DesignNationwide Delphi Study using Kern's six steps of curriculum development as a framework.MethodsForty-one anesthesiologists and 38 PACU nurses from 37 Danish departments of anesthesiology were invited to participate. In Delphi round 1, the participants listed core competencies for PACU nurses within 12 predefined categories. We analyzed the responses using an inductive and manifest approach to content analysis and developed learning objectives in accordance with the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes and Simpson taxonomies. In Delphi round 2 and 3, the participants rated and rerated the learning objectives on a 7-point Likert scale, measuring statements of agreement. Consensus was predefined as a median score of 6 and or greater. The main outcome was a prioritized list of competency-based learning objectives for a postgraduate PACU nurse curriculum.FindingsTwenty-six nurses and 14 anesthesiologists (51%) completed all Delphi rounds, representing 22 (60%) departments of anesthesiology. Consensus was reached on 180 learning objectives. The learning objectives described competencies ranging from basic to complex nursing tasks and emphasized the knowledge and skills needed to identify and initiate treatment of postoperative complications.ConclusionsNationwide consensus on core competencies for postgraduate curricula for PACU nurses was achieved through the Delphi method. Our study exemplifies the range of complex knowledge and skills needed to work as a PACU nurse. The learning objectives are applicable in postgraduate curricula designed for PACU nurses.     

成人护理教学课程设置需求的调查与分析

目的 了解成人护理专升本学生、用人单位护士长对教学内容、授课方式、考核方式、最缺乏的知识和能力及需要加强的专科护理能力方面的评价,为教学改革提供一定理论依据.方法 采用自行设计的调查问卷对成人护理专升本在校生159人、毕业生134人及用人单位护士长97人进行调查.结果 调查对象较认同的授课方式为案例教学;考核方式为传统笔试,实践组织形式为边理论边实习;最缺乏的知识和能力为科研能力;学生最需要加强的专科护理能力为急诊急救护理;用人单位护士长最需要加强的专科护理能力为重症监护.学生对临床管理能力、沟通能力、临床教学能力、健康教育能力、临床教学能力、中医护理技能、中医护理知识、西医护理知识的需求均高于护士长(P＜0.01或P＜0.05),并且学生认为最需要加强的重症监护和精神科护理能力均高于护士长(P＜0.01或P＜0.05).结论 成人护理专升本教育仍存在教学内容重复的问题,对于授课方式、考核方式有待进一步调整.