Collaboration between first year undergraduate nursing students – A focused ethnographic study

AimThe aim was to explore collaboration between first year undergraduate nursing students in a three-year bachelor program during clinical skills lab practices.BackgroundThe ability to collaborate is important in the nursing profession to ensure patient safety. Thus, efforts supporting nursing students with learning activities emphasizing this ability is crucial in nurse education as a preparation for the requirements of the nursing profession. Collaborative learning models are described as ways that support the students’ interaction during education. However, collaboration between students has shown to have challenges such as negative competition and confrontations. This stresses the need to explore the collaboration between students to find ways to support the interaction.DesignThe study was conducted with a focused ethnographic approach.MethodData were generated by participant observations during one semester, involving 70 h observation of 87 first year nursing students for 6 months and 24 training sessions in clinical skills lab practices. Two focus group discussions were used to elaborate students’ views of collaboration and to provide an opportunity for follow up questions and interpretations from the observations. Field notes and focus group discussions were interpreted as one unit of analysis conducted with thematic network analysis. A global theme were synthesized from organizational and additional basic themes presenting the overall metaphor of the students’ collaboration.ResultThe global theme, Between adaptation and non-conformity, revealed a field of tension in the nursing students’ collaboration. One the one hand, the global theme involved the students’ ability to adopt to new knowledge and to being a nursing student in a clinical skills lab and to others’ perspective. On the other hand, non-conformity creates a collaboration with less reflection between the students and non-synchronized and time-consuming laboratory work.ConclusionCollaborative activities in nurse education fosters and challenges nursing students’ collaboration required for clinical practices and later in the nursing profession. By the presented scaffolding efforts, nurse educators can arrange a learning environment that can support the collaboration between students and facilitate the transition into the profession.     

Nursing students’ perceptions of community care and other areas of nursing practice – A review of the literature

ObjectivesTo review recent literature on student nurses’ perceptions of different areas of nursing practice, in particular community care. Healthcare is changing from care delivery in institutional settings to care to patients in their own homes. Problematic is that nursing students do not see community care as an attractive line of work, and their perceptions of community care do not reflect the realities of the profession. Understanding the factors influencing the perception of the professional field is important to positively influence students’ willingness to see community nursing as a future profession.DesignLiterature search with accompanying narrative synthesis of primary research.Data sourcesERIC^®, PsycInfo^®, Pubmed^®, and CINAHL^® (2004–2014) databases using the search terms: ‘nursing student’, ‘student nurse’, ‘community care’, ‘community nurse’, ‘image’, ‘attitude’, and ‘perception’.Review methodsAfter screening 522 retrieved article titles with abstracts, the number of articles was reduced based upon specified inclusion/exclusion criteria leading to inclusion of 34. Evaluation of the references in those articles yielded an additional 5 articles. A narrative synthesis of those articles was created to uncover students’ perception of community care, other areas of professional practice, and the factors influencing those perceptions.Results39 articles were selected. Results show that many nursing students begin their education with a lay person's conception of the profession, shaped by media representations. Work placements in different settings offer clinical experience that helps students orient themselves towards a future profession. Students prefer hospitals as a place of work, because of the acute nature and technologically advanced level of care offered there. Few students perceive mental health and elderly care as appealing. Perceptions of community care can vary widely, the most prevalent view being that it is unattractive because of its chronic care profile, with little technical skill, untrained workers, and a high workload. However, another view is that it offers challenging and meaningful work because of the variety of caregiving roles and the opportunity to work independently.ConclusionsFew nursing students choose community nursing as a future profession. They have a limited and often mistaken view of community care, and they underestimate the field's complexity because it is less visible than in the environment of acute care. Providing students with specific curricular content and employing a structured approach to preparation for work placement could help build a more positive perception of community care, leading to more students seeing/choosing community care as a desirable field of work.     

Extended immersive simulation to develop nontechnical skills: Content analysis of students' views

BackgroundThe purpose of undergraduate nursing education is the preparation of graduates for clinical practice. Despite this focus, graduates are often unprepared for independent practice, particularly in the use of skills such as time management, delegation and critical thinking in clinical situations. This paper reports on students’ views of using extended, immersive simulation to consolidate the use of both technical and nontechnical skills in preparing them for independent nursing practice.AimTo investigate students’ views on the value of extended, immersive simulation in preparing them for independent practice as registered nurses.MethodsCross-sectional research involving content analysis of open-ended survey questions. The study involved comments from 287 final year nursing students conducted at a university in Western Australia.FindingsThemes related to critical thinking, the role of the registered nurse, communication, time management, teamwork and leadership were identified through the content analysis. Students believed exposure to extended simulation facilitated development of the essential skills required to practise independently and helped them prepare for the role of a registered nurse. Many expressed the wish for this type of simulation to be included throughout all years of the nursing curriculum.DiscussionStudents need experience in clinical situations where they are challenged to use multiple skills simultaneously to develop the expertise required of registered nurses. The ability to practise independently, and take responsibility for decisions made in complex ward conditions, is not currently required of students on clinical placements. Simulation is a way to fill this void in nursing education to enable students to experience the full role of a registered nurse.ConclusionBased on our findings nursing students believed that extended, immersive simulation was an effective method of supporting students as they undertake the full responsibilities of registered nurses to enable them to be safe and effective practitioners on commencement of the registered nurse role.     

Desperately seeking consistency: Student nurses' experiences and expectations of academic supervision

BackgroundAcademic supervision - the support available to students when writing assignments - is a fundamental element in the provision of support within nurse education. Not only can it underpin high levels of academic achievement, but it also has a role in enhancing the retention of students. Despite its importance, there is little investigation of undergraduate academic supervision within the nursing literature.ObjectivesTo explore students' experiences and expectations of academic supervision as part of an undergraduate programme of nurse education.DesignA qualitative approach to explore student perceptions.SettingThe research was undertaken at a Higher Education Institution in the United Kingdom. The institution offers undergraduate nurse education programmes to approximately 800 students.ParticipantsEight pre-registration nursing students from a Bachelor of Science programme participated in a focus group interview. All were in the first semester of their final year.MethodsData were collected using focus group interviewing, based around a semistructured question framework. The focus groups explored students' expectations and previous experiences of academic supervision. The focus group was recorded, responses were transcribed and thematic analysis was undertaken to identify key findings.ResultsThree themes were identified from the data: relationship with supervisor, variation between supervisors, and the link between supervision and marking. Overall, students identified frustration with variability in the provision of academic supervision.ConclusionsEffective academic supervision depends on a strong relationship between student and supervisor - something that can be difficult to achieve if supervision is only for a short period of time. Equally, students crave a consistent approach to supervision, in terms of both the amount and content of feedback. Students are able to identify and articulate a clear link between effective supervision and academic achievement.     

Nurses and midwives teaching in the academic environment: An appreciative inquiry

BackgroundThe past two decades has seen significant change in nursing and midwifery education in Australia. Although, regulatory documents explicate expectations of teaching, and supervising in the context of being a nurse or midwife, the move from hospital-based to higher education learning nessitated a change in how students receive their education and who provides it. The quality of teaching by nurse or midwife academics is subject to the academic's ability to transition from a clinical educator to academic.ObjectiveTo explore the experiences of nurse and midwife academics teaching in the academic environment.DesignAppreciative Inquiry (AI) was used to explore the experiences of academics teaching final year nursing and midwifery students.SettingTwo regional universities in Australia.ParticipantsSeven nursing and midwifery academics teaching a unit of study focusing on mentorship, leadership and teaching.MethodsNarrative data from interviews conducted using AI were collected, transcribed and analysed to produce themes.ResultsThree key themes were identified; ‘Feeling valued’, ‘Feeling safe’ and ‘Having connections’. These themes and related subthemes impacted teaching experiences and role transition from experienced clinician to academic.ConclusionNursing and midwifery academics would benefit from organisational support in their role transition from clinician to academic. Further research is crucial regarding initiatives that can support academics to feel safe, valued and connected when teaching the next generation of nurses and midwives.