How Do Nursing Students Perceive Substance Abusing Nurses?

Substance abuse among nurses was recognized by nurse leaders and professional nursing organizations as a growing threat to patient safety and to the health of the abusing nurse more than 30 years ago. Although numerous studies on nurse impairment were published in the 1980s and 1990s, there was minimal focus on student nurses' perceptions about impaired nurses and less research has been published more recently, despite a growing rate of substance abuse. A quasi-experimental study to explore the perceptions of student nurses toward nurses who are chemically dependent was conducted using a two-group, pretest–posttest design. The Perception of Nurse Impairment Inventory (PNII) was completed by student nurses at the beginning of their junior course work, prior to formal education about substance abuse. The PNII was repeated after the students received substance abuse education. The PNII was also completed by a control group of sophomore student nurses who did not receive the formal substance abuse education. A repeated measures analysis of variance was used to measure the differences between the two groups of students. Students who received the education chose more compassionate responses on the PNII and were more likely to respond that an impaired nurse's supervisor is responsible for supporting and guiding the impaired nurse to access professional care. Discrepancies in study findings about the efficacy of education for effecting positive attitudes of student nurses toward impaired nurses may be related to the length and type of the education.     

Professional guides: bridging the gap between student and professional an assessment and challenge

Orientation and socialization of new nurses is both a time intensive and costly endeavor. Positive mentorship experiences during instruction are crucial to optimum development and growth of expert nurses. Research has shown an increase in the attrition rate for new graduate nurses (Mills & Mullins, 2008, Ali & Pantaer, 2008). The attrition rate is attributed to the lack of adequate mentorship by professional nurses to new registered nurses as they transition from the student to professional role. The expenditure to hire, train, and orient a new registered nurse is equivalent to a registered nurse earned income of one year (Mills & Mullins, 2008). In order to combat some of these issues, attention must be directed at supporting the nursing student during nursing school and facilitating a smooth transition for the student entering the nursing profession. A program has been developed to ease the transition from student to professional which commences during the nursing student's junior year and progresses to graduation. This preliminary exposure to a structured mentorship program during nursing school provides the nursing student the opportunity to experience and utilize their mentor to smooth the transition from nursing student to registered nurse.     

The role of the lecturer in practice placements: what do students think?

The importance of providing high quality practice placement experiences has long been a feature of pre-registration nursing programmes. There are a myriad of people who may be involved in ensuring that this is the case, including service providers and educational providers. The role, remit and function of the nurse educator in sustaining the quality of this experience has been revised and refined throughout the history of nurse education. Whilst this has been the topic of much investigation, research and debate, there is a lack of studies which consider the actual experience of the student nurse in relation to the nurse educator in practice. This paper presents a retrospective qualitative study of the experiences of a group of senior student nurses who were involved in a formal, sustained teaching/learning relationship with nurse educators during the first two years of their course. The nurse educator's role was that of a lecturer preceptor who had regular contact with every student in each practice placement. A presentation of the students' experiences will be given supported by actual verbatim accounts, followed by a thematic analysis of their comments. The study concludes that the lecturer preceptor has a diverse, yet crucial role to play in supporting the student experience during practice placements.     

The mentoring role of the personal tutor in the ‘Fitness for practice' curriculum: an all Wales approach

Education and training for student nurses has undergone a number of specific changes during the past 10 years. The introduction of the ‘Fitness for Practice' curriculum requires improvement to assessment strategies in order to measure students' competence to practice effectively. For this to be achieved, students need to be supported by a mentor in both clinical practice and education who can facilitate the learning and assessment process and ensure quality through development and innovation. Although the concept of mentorship in nurse education is not a new one, the FFP curriculum has provided an opportunity to formally address the personal tutor role and identify key activities in order to enhance the student experience. The personal tutor role is one that involves a relationship for the duration of the three-year educational programme that can only serve to strengthen students' theoretical knowledge to ensure that students are fit for practice, purpose and award at the end of their three-year educational programme.     

The tried, true, and new: a traditional approach to critical care education with a new twist

The training of a new critical care nurse is not solely the transmission of a determined body of knowledge or skill set. When one begins to consider what actually makes a critical care nurse a critical care nurse, one realizes that the training is much more complex. It involves the teaching of appropriate thought processes, and use of the body of knowledge and/or skill set in application with respect to a specific patient, disease state, or a group of symptoms. Teaching a new critical care nurse to think, talk, act, and respond like a critical care nurse is just as important as sharing knowledge--that is what makes a critical care nurse. This article summarizes one hospital's critical care training program and orientation for new critical care nurses with and without critical care experience. This is done in pursuit of excellence in patient care, by providing a comprehensive and complete, full-service training program. All nurses deserve the very best education and training-our patients demand it.     

Becoming a mental health nurse: a qualitative study [Part-1

This is a two part article reporting on a qualitative piece of research on the experiences of student nurses in order to consider the process involved in becoming a mental health nurse (Morrissey 2003). It is really an attempt to describe, connect, discuss, and understand the process of becoming a mental health nurse in theory and practice using a qualitative approach (Holliday, 2002; Field & Morse, 1994; Hammersley, 1992; Burnard, 1991; Glaser & Strauss, 1967;). A questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were employed to examine the student nurses experiences prior to and one year into their first staff nurse post. The term psychiatric nurse and mental health nurse continue to be used interchangeably in practice and in written texts. However for simplicity the term mental health nurse is used for this text.     

Can YouTube enhance student nurse learning?

The delivery of nurse education has changed radically in the past two decades. Increasingly, nurse educators are using new technology in the classroom to enhance their teaching and learning. One recent technological development to emerge is the user-generated content website YouTube. Originally YouTube was used as a repository for sharing home-made videos, more recently online content is being generated by political parties, businesses and educationalists. We recently delivered a module to undergraduate student nurses in which the teaching and learning were highly populated with YouTube resources. We found that the use of YouTube videos increased student engagement, critical awareness and facilitated deep learning. Furthermore, these videos could be accessed at any time of the day and from a place to suit the student. We acknowledge that there are some constraints to using YouTube for teaching and learning particularly around the issue of unregulated content which is often misleading, inaccurate or biased. However, we strongly urge nurse educators to consider using YouTube for teaching and learning, in and outside the classroom, to a generation of students who are native of a rapidly changing digital world.     

An evaluative study of clinical preceptorship

Clinical preceptorships, in collaboration between clinical agencies and educational institutions have been documented as an effective and innovative means of facilitating student learning, providing advantages for both the clinical and educational settings. A preceptorship programme of 100 hours duration was developed and delivered by the nurse education institute, in consultation with a health care organization. The objectives of the preceptorship programme were to help registered nurses, in partnership with clinical nurse educators, to effectively integrate, support and assist the development of clinical competence in the undergraduate nursing student. Following the implementation of the preceptorship programme a research study was conducted to evaluate programme effectiveness. The purpose of the study was to examine preceptors, preceptees, and nurse managers' preceptions of the preceptor role and factors which influenced the performance of preceptors. The methods used in this study included those commonly found in evaluation research. That is, participants were drawn from those who were involved, either directly or indirectly, in the preceptorship programme, namely preceptors, preceptees and nurse managers. Using focus groups, they were each asked to identify the outcomes of the programme in practice. Study findings highlighted the importance of formal preceptor preparation, which was shown to enhance teaching and learning opportunities for student preceptees, personal and professional development of the preceptors, and the promotion of positive partnerships between nurse educators and nurse practitioners. The need for formal recognition of the preceptor role in practice, particularly in relation to the provision of adequate time and resources, emerged from the study. The research findings enabled the development of an evaluative model of preceptorship, which highlights the intrinsic and extrinsic factors impacting on the preceptor role.     

Student nurse attitudes towards different teaching/learning methods

Student nurse attitudes towards ten different teaching/learning methods were measured using the Osgood semantic differential scale. A variety of variables such as gender, age, and type of training being undertaken were considered. Analysis of variance showed that no difference in attitudes existed when including these variables, which suggested that the nurses could be considered as a single homogeneous group. Since the nurses could be considered as a single homogeneous group, it was then possible to compare the ten teaching methods for this single group. These teaching methods were found to fall into four distinct groups, with student centred activities generating more favourable attitudes from the student nurses than teacher centred activities. The least favoured teaching method being the lecture.     

Faculty preparation: is clinical specialization a benefit or a deterrent to quality nursing education?

This article presents a point of view regarding the impact of specialty preparation at the master's level on performance as a faculty member in an entry-level program. Essentially, the focus in depth on a particular branch of nursing practice restricts the perception of the individual to the role and demands of the beginning generalist nurse. Continued attention to the development of expertise in the specialty reduces the effectiveness of the faculty member to develop a comprehensive view of the knowledge required by the beginning generalist nurse. Because faculty prepared in this manner also frequently lack formal knowledge regarding teaching and curriculum, they continue to teach in the same manner as they were taught, often with an eye toward teaching the extensive content taught in the specialty program. More broadly based master's degree programs that couple advanced nursing knowledge with nursing education content and skill can foster in new nurse faculty a more comprehensive picture of the learning needs of beginning generalist nurses.     

‘Burnout’ and its implications for the continuing education of nurses

The study sets out to review the literature on the topic of ‘burn-out’ in the nursing profession, in order to determine the implications there may be for the provision of continuing professional education for nurses. The literature suggests that burn-out is an increasing problem within the profession, and that it is a progressive disorder resulting from continuous job stress. ‘Burn-out’ involves extreme physical and emotional exhaustion in which the professional loses positive feelings of sympathy and respect for the people for whom they care. Three major areas of job stress have been identified which may contribute to burn-out. These are the demands of the particular job, the organisational factors and the personal characteristics of the individual. Many studies suggest the positive effects of educational programmes to combat the burn-out syndrome. The various intervention programmes concentrate on one or more of the following three main areas: self management, organisational improvements, and the use of support systems. It would appear that nurse education has a great part to play in the prevention of burn-out as all the potential causes discussed could be alleviated by the educational process.     

Preparing the nursing student for internship in a pre-registration nursing program: Developing a problem based approach with the use of high fidelity simulation equipment

AimThis paper aims to explore the development and evaluation results of a simulated skills package designed using a problem based learning approach with general nursing students.BackgroundInternationally, the use of high fidelity simulated learning environments has escalated. This has occurred as a result of growing concerns relating to patient safety, patient litigation, lack of clinical opportunities for student nurses to gain experience and integration of new teaching methods into nursing curricula. There are however both proponents and opponents to the value of simulation and high fidelity simulation within nursing education.MethodsThis study was conducted in an Irish school of nursing. A simulated learning support package was developed by nurse educators and piloted with 134 third year nursing students. This was evaluated using a questionnaire in which 87 students responded.FindingsStudents generally found the simulation sessions realistic and useful in developing clinical skills, knowledge and confidence for clinical practice. However student issues regarding support with preparation for the session were highlighted. Also, the need for a more formalised structure for debriefing following the simulation sessions were identified.ConclusionIt is hoped that this paper will provide nurse educators with some guidance to aid future development of innovative and interactive teaching and learning strategies.     

A Nordic model for learning compassionate care in clinical education

BackgroundPreceptorship is one model of supporting student nurses' learning and development during their clinical education. However, little is known about what there is in preceptorship that promotes or hinders learning. Earlier studies found that there were ethical dimensions to students' encounters with preceptors.AimThe overall purpose of this Nordic follow-up study was to develop a model for learning compassionate care among student nurses during their clinical education - first, to deeper understand the learning of student nurses, and second, to investigate the phenomenon of preceptorship from the preceptors´ point of view.MethodThis study used a mixed methods design. Undergraduate student nurses (n = 139) from three universities in Finland and Sweden were shadowed for a period of three years. Quantitative data were collected through a questionnaire and were analysed using statistical methods. To better understand the learning acquired by the student nurses, focus group interviews (n = 70) were conducted. The phenomenological-hermeneutical approach was adopted. To capture the preceptors' point of view, narrative interviews were held with them (n = 88) in western Finland and northern Sweden. A hermeneutical approach was used when analysing the data.FindingsAccording to both student nurses and preceptors, a caring student-preceptor relationship, imbued with commitment, reverence and responsibility, is fundamental and serves as the basis for students' learning and development more than pedagogical methods used. Three main themes emerged: a caring student-preceptor relationship; a caring manner of being—the conduct; and a caring culture—the tone of the learning space.ConclusionsThis study shows the importance of preceptorship on student nurses in their quest of becoming compassionate and caring nurses. Therefore, based on earlier findings and the findings in this study, there is a need to facilitate and support the students' transformation, that is, the process of becoming, from student to a professional nurse.     

Nurse Education Tomorrow Conference 1990. How nurses learn and how to improve the learning environment

This paper considers some of the evidence that can help nurse teachers more effectively prepare nurses for practice. In particular it is concerned with how students learn and how teachers can improve the learning environment. There are four main sections to the paper. The first looks at learning styles and considers the importance of matching teaching style to the learning style of the student. The second section considers the research into the process of integrating theory and practice in nursing education and the relationship between theory, the classroom and the clinical area. The next section of the paper looks at factors influencing the process of becoming a nurse. Socialising agents such as people and techniques are reviewed in the light of research evidence from nursing and similar professions. Finally the paper represents a series of ways in which it is possible to assess and improve the learning environment for the student nurse, including human aspects, equipment and information.     

Raising awareness of learning disability needs in acute sector care: A reflective account of a workshop from the guest facilitator perspective

Nurse education has an essential role to play in reducing health inequality for people with learning disability [Michael, J., 2008. Healthcare for All: Report of the Independent Inquiry into Access to Healthcare for People with Learning Disabilities. Aldridge Press, London]. Many nurse education providers will need to use guest facilitators in order to raise awareness of best practice in caring for this client group for non learning disability branch students and their experiences as nurse educators will be of growing interest. This article critically reflects on an educational session for pre-registration adult branch nursing students which used a variety of teaching methods to facilitate a reflective, student centred, experiential learning approach. Self assessment based on the change between two self rating scales was used to assess learning, the session itself was evaluated by students using a feedback form and through the formal assessment of teaching by a nurse tutor. This article critically evaluates the preparation, delivery and evaluation of the session, emphasising the perspective of the guest facilitator – a practicing community learning disability nurse. The conclusion reflects on key learning from the teaching experience.     

Considering video production? Lessons learned from the production of a blood pressure measurement video

It is important that innovative tools that are created to enhance student learning are efficient and effective. Satisfying both criteria presents many challenges to contemporary nurse educators who wish to embark on creating alternative media to augment student nurse education. This paper is based on the author’s own experience of producing a teaching video with the assistance of two multimedia students. This project was made possible by a university teaching and learning grant. Some recommendations are made arising from the ‘lessons learned’ from this project are highlighted. These are broadly categorised into pre-production, production and post-production considerations. In general, a good working relationship within the production team was beneficial in clarifying discrepancies between multimedia perspectives and nurse educator perspectives. It is hoped that this paper will be helpful to prospective nurse educators intending to produce similar video material.