The instructor, the student and appeals

The nursing education climate has altered considerably during the past two decades. Changes in the curriculum, in teaching strategies and admission policies as well as public accountability have increased the pressures on nursing instructors. The student nurse of today is ready to challenge her instructor's academic grades and clinical evaluations. Consequently, the relationships between student nurses and nursing instructors have been affected. This article examines the current concerns about academic appeals and the impact upon the nursing instructor and the student nurse.     

Psychometric properties of three instruments to measure recovery

Scand J Caring Sci; 2012; 26; 607–614 Psychometric properties of three instruments to measure recovery Background: The process of recovery is gaining more and more attention within health care for patients with severe mental illness. Therefore, instruments to measure recovery can be useful for clinical and research purposes. Aims: This study evaluates the psychometric properties of three instruments pertaining to recovery for possible application in the Netherlands. The Recovery Attitude Questionnaire and the Recovery Knowledge Inventory were investigated among 210 mental health professionals, and the Recovery Promoting Relationship Scale was administered to 142 mental health consumers. Methods: The factor structure, reliability and internal consistency were examined using the same analysis strategy. First, each questionnaire was submitted to a confirmatory factor analysis based on the factorial structure proposed by the original developers of the questionnaire. In case of a bad fit, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted. Based on factor analyses, subscales were formed for each questionnaire and the internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) was assessed. In all three cases the final principal axes solution was obliquely rotated by means of the OBLIMIN rotation procedure. Results: The originally proposed factor structure did not yield an acceptable fit in any of the Dutch samples. After analyses, three instruments are proposed that are suitable for research on recovery‐oriented competencies and the recovery‐promoting relationship for professionals working with people with serious mental illness in the Netherlands. Conclusions: The results in this study may be a step forward and give a new impulse to stimulate research in mental health recovery.     

Audio feedback for student writing in online nursing courses: exploring student and instructor reactions

Because scientific writing is an essential skill for advanced practice nurses, it is an important component of graduate education. Faculty typically provide written feedback about student writing, but this may not be the most effective choice for the distance-learning environment. This exploratory pilot study's aim was to compare spoken, recorded feedback with written feedback in three areas: which approach do students perceive as providing more useful guidance; which approach helps students feel more connected to the course; and which approach do instructors prefer? Students enrolled in an evidence-based practice graduate-level course received asynchronous audio feedback on their written assignments instead of the written feedback they received in other courses. Results from a survey completed by 30 students at completion of the course suggest a strong preference for audio feedback. This pilot study suggests that audio feedback may be preferable to written comments for distance learning courses.     

A pilot study to investigate the impact of interactional television on student evaluation of faculty effectiveness

While the dominant theme of distance education research has been the learner, learner achievement is not necessarily the only important consideration in assessing the effectiveness of ITV programs. With nearly half of the nursing programs recently surveyed by Reinert and Fryback (1997) offering or planning to offer distance learning in the near future, researchers and developers must seek to understand the impact of ITV on the teacher. These programs require faculty who are committed and prepared to teach outside of the traditional classroom. Selection of faculty requires attention to appropriate qualifications and knowledge of strategies to bridge teacher-learner separation created by distance education. Faculty, peers, and administrators should consider the teaching environment when interpreting data designed to evaluate teacher effectiveness of ITV teaching.     

Psychometric properties of two instruments to measure quality decision making

The results of testing two instruments for consequential decision making are reported: a screening instrument, the Decision Making Quality Scale (DMQS), which assesses the degree to which a person adheres to seven quality criteria of decision making; and a diagnostic measure, the Decision Making Quality Inventory (DMQI), which assesses an individual's dominant decision-making style through six sequential stages of the process. The instruments are conceptually linked through the same theoretical framework, the Janis and Mann (1977) conflict model of decision making, as well as operationally linked as counterpart instruments. Feasibility of the instruments was demonstrated with low readability indexes, reasonable administration times, and respondent acceptability by six samples (N = 766). Content validity was supported by panels of experts in decision theory. Reliability coefficients were consistently high (>.70) for all samples. Support for construct validity was obtained using the contrasted groups approach and relationship testing. The instruments are ready for research and clinical use with healthy adolescents and their parents, as well as with adolescents and young adults who have experienced a chronic illness such as cancer and with their parents.     

A review of instruments to measure interprofessional team-based primary care

Interprofessional team-based care is increasingly regarded as an important feature of delivery systems redesigned to provide more efficient and higher quality care, including primary care. Measurement of the functioning of such teams might enable improvement of team effectiveness and could facilitate research on team-based primary care. Our aims were to develop a conceptual framework of high-functioning primary care teams to identify and review instruments that measure the constructs identified in the framework, and to create a searchable, web-based atlas of such instruments (available at: http://primarycaremeasures.ahrq.gov/team-based-care/). Our conceptual framework was developed from existing frameworks, the teamwork literature, and expert input. The framework is based on an Input-Mediator-Output model and includes 12 constructs to which we mapped both instruments as a whole, and individual instrument items. Instruments were also reviewed for relevance to measuring team-based care, and characterized. Instruments were identified from peer-reviewed and grey literature, measure databases, and expert input. From nearly 200 instruments initially identified, we found 48 to be relevant to measuring team-based primary care. The majority of instruments were surveys (n = 44), and the remainder (n = 4) were observational checklists. Most instruments had been developed/tested in healthcare settings (n = 30) and addressed multiple constructs, most commonly communication (n = 42), heedful interrelating (n = 42), respectful interactions (n = 40), and shared explicit goals (n = 37). The majority of instruments had some reliability testing (n = 39) and over half included validity testing (n = 29). Currently available instruments offer promise to researchers and practitioners to assess teams’ performance, but additional work is needed to adapt these instruments for primary care settings.     

Comparative analysis of three instruments designed to measure self-care agency

A number of instruments are used to measure Orem's (1985) concept of self-care agency. Their use reflects basic assumptions that both the instrument and the underlying tenets of the theory are valid. The purpose of this study was to examine the latent traits associated with three instruments designed to measure self-care agency. These included Denyes' (1980) Self-Care Agency, Kearney and Fleischer's (1979) Exercise of Self-Care Agency, and Hanson and Bickel's (1985) Perception of Self-Care Agency. The convenience sample consisted of 513 adult, nonhospitalized subjects who completed the three instruments. Common factor analysis and canonical correlation were used to identify latent traits and their relationships. The findings support the multidimensionality of Orem's (1985) concept of self-care agency. However, the use of one instrument does not adequately reflect this multidimensionality.     

Using electronic portfolios to measure student achievement and assess curricular integrity

Successful achievement of program outcomes is the primary goal of nursing education programs. Electronic portfolios are a contemporary method by which to measure student achievement, assess curricular efficacy, and evaluate program integrity in nursing education. The authors outline the sequential process of understanding, introducing, and integrating electronic portfolios into a curriculum.     

Perceived clinical constraints in the nurse student–instructor interactions: A qualitative study

Effective student–instructor interactions impact the quality of nursing clinical education. There are a myriad of different factors related to clinical settings that affect these interactions and they have received less attention in nursing studies. Identifying clinical constraints that impact the nursing student–instructor relationships will help nursing instructors to manage clinical learning situations in a more effective manner.ObjectiveThe goal of this study was to identify the primary factors that influence the student–instructor interactions within clinical settings.MethodsA purposeful sampling strategy was applied to recruit 18 nursing students and instructors to participate in qualitative, semi-structured interviews. In order to identify relevant themes of transcribed interviews, qualitative content analysis was utilized.ResultsData analysis resulted in the development of five main themes that represent essential interaction constraints in clinical contexts. These themes include: outsiders' eyes, dominance of act, close contact, clinical workplaces' disputes, and instability and uncertainty.ConclusionsThe results of this study can serve to improve the understanding and practice of international clinical nursing instructors within the clinical education context. The behaviors that emerged were based on clinical constrains and an awareness each can serve to enhance the instructor–student relationship.     

Teaching microcomputing to student nurses: an evaluation

This paper describes an introductory computer course designed for student nurses facing a career in nursing in which computers will play a major part. Questionnaires were given before and after the course. The purpose of the questionnaires were (a) initially to gain information about the students' previous computing experience, motivation and expectations of the course, and (b) to enable an evaluation to be undertaken. The course content, structure and results of the questionnaires are presented; modifications made to the course following the evaluation are mentioned and finally some of the issues which need to be considered when developing a computer course for nurses are raised.