Responsibilities of nursing schools with regard to peer mentoring

Deepening biomedical research training: Community-Building Wellness Workshops for Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) Trainees

Problem

All trainees, especially those from historically minoritized backgrounds, experience stresses that may reduce their continuation in science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine (STEMM) careers. The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is one of ~45 institutions with a National Institutes of Health funded Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) that provides mentoring and a year of fulltime research to prepare students from historically excluded groups for graduate school. Having experienced the conflation of stresses during the COVID-19 pandemic and related shutdown, we realized our program lacked a component that explicitly helped PREP Scholars recognize and cope with non-academic stresses (financial, familial, social, mental) that might threaten their confidence and success as scientists and future in STEMM.

Intervention

We developed an early-intervention program to help Scholars develop life-long skills to become successful and resilient scientists. We developed a year-long series comprised of 9 workshops focused on community, introspection, financial fitness, emotional intelligence, mental health, and soft-skills. We recruited and compensated a cohort of PhD students and postdoctoral fellows to serve as Peer Mentors, to provide a community and the safest 'space' for Scholars to discuss personal concerns. Peer Mentors were responsible for developing and facilitating these Community-Building Wellness Workshops (CBWW).

Context

CBWW were created and exectued as part of the larger PREP program. Workshops included a PowerPoint presentation by Peer Mentors that featured several case studies that prompted discussion and provided time for small-group discussions between Scholars and Peer Mentors. We also included pre- and post-work for each workshop. These touch-points helped Scholars cultivate the habit of introspection.

Impact

The CBWW exceeded our goals. Both Peer Mentors and Scholars experienced strong mutual support, and Scholars developed life-long skills. Notably, several Scholars who had been experiencing financial, mental or mentor-related stress immediately brought this to the attention of program leadership, allowing early and successful intervention. At the completion of CBWW, PREP Scholars reported implementing many workshop skills into practice, were reshaping their criteria for choosing future mentors, and evaluating career decisions. Strikingly, Peer Mentors found they also benefitted from the program as well, suggesting a potential larger scope for the role of CBWW in academia.

Lessons Learned

Peer Mentors were essential in creating a safe supportive environment that facilitated discussions, self-reflection, and self-care. Providing fair compensation to Peer Mentors for their professional mentoring and teaching contributions was essential and contributed meaningfully to the positive energy and impact of this program.

Mentoring relationships -Valued connections for radiography students: A narrative review

Mentoring relationships are encouraging, nurturing and supportive and are based on mutual trust between mentors and mentees. Peer mentorship allows senior students to support and educate students at a lower level in their training. In radiography, carefully planned peer mentorship programs can be beneficial to both mentors and mentees. In this narrative review, mentorship and peer mentorship are discussed. Arguments surrounding the incorporation of social learning theory, gender issues, and love are also included. In addition, challenges associated with mentoring relationships and possible solutions are discussed.

Leveraging Resources for Educational Equity to Promote Academic Success Among Underrepresented Nursing Students: An Integrative Review

AIM

The aim of this study was to perform an integrative literature review to discover methods to foster academic success for underrepresented students pre- and postadmission to prelicensure nursing programs.

BACKGROUND

The US population is progressing to a minority-majority population. To effectively meet the needs of a diverse population, nursing recognizes the need to racially and ethnically diversify the workforce by increasing the diversity of students admitted to nursing schools. Although the need is widely known, minority groups remain underrepresented in nursing programs, and there is a need for sustainable recruitment and retention strategies.

METHOD

An integrative literature review on how to foster the success of underrepresented students was performed.

RESULTS

Proposed interventions include mentoring, financial support, academic and psychosocial support, and student success programs.

CONCLUSION

Tailoring interventions to specific student needs would be effective in enhancing student success.

Design and Psychometrics of the Mentoring Questionnaire among Bachelor's Degree Students in Nursing

BACKGROUND

Regarding the importance of mentoring in nursing and lack of attention to this issue, as well as the lack of a suitable questionnaire to assess mentoring, this study was carried out to design and analyze psychometric properties of mentoring among bachelor's degree students in nursing.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In a mixed method study, the validity and reliability of the Mentoring Questionnaire were measured after designing it. The study sample included all undergraduate nursing students of one of the nursing schools in Tehran, Iran. In the qualitative phase, item generation, face, and content validity were performed. In the quantitative phase, construct validity and reliability were performed. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient and Interclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) test were exploited for data analysis and reliability assessment, respectively.

RESULTS

The number of items designed for the Mentoring questionnaire was twenty. Finally, the Mentoring Questionnaire was designed with 16 items. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the Mentoring Questionnaire was 0.96. In addition, the results of the ICC showed the high reliability of the Mentoring Questionnaire (ICC = 0.99). The indices derived from Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) revealed that the Mentoring Questionnaire had appropriate construct validity.

CONCLUSIONS

Given the results of this study, as well as the importance of mentoring measurement among nursing students and the lack of access to a valid questionnaire, it can be concluded that the Mentoring Questionnaire is a useful tool for bachelor's degree nursing students.

Describing the perceptions of student nurses regarding barriers and benefits of a peer-mentorship programme in a clinical setting in KwaZulu-Natal

Background

Novice student nurses encounter challenges when making the transition to clinical learning because of the complex and unpredictable nature of clinical settings. A selected campus initiated a peer-mentoring programme based on research findings, which revealed that student nurses were inadequately mentored in clinical settings because of mentors experiencing work overload, time and resource constraints, staff shortage and patient-care demands.

Aim

The aim of this study was to describe the perceptions of student nurses regarding barriers and benefits of a peer-mentorship programme in a clinical setting.

Setting

The study was conducted in a clinical setting in KwaZulu-Natal.

Methods

A quantitative, descriptive design was used, whereby data were collected through questionnaires. A total of 56 mentors (third- and fourth-year nursing diploma student nurses) and 94 mentees (first- and second-year nursing diploma students) participated in the study.

Results

The mentors highlighted insufficient practice opportunities because of the short duration of the placement, time and resource constraints, and the simultaneous mentoring of too many students as barriers, while the mentees highlighted the reluctance of mentors to fulfil their roles and lack of dedication and unfriendliness as barriers to effective mentorship. The benefits of being a mentor were self-achievement, enhancement of skills and acquiring of positive work ethics, while the major mentee benefits included experiencing less anxiety, adapting to the clinical environment easily and being less intimidated in the clinical setting.

Conclusions

This study revealed that both mentors and mentees perceived peer-mentoring programmes as important to their clinical growth. However, these programmes require formative evaluations to address negative perceptions of student mentees and mentors and to identify challenges faced by them.

African American and Latinx Adolescents' Perspectives of Nursing as a Career Choice

BACKGROUND

Ensuring a diverse nursing workforce that closely represents the diversity of the population is imperative for culturally competent and equitable care. To accomplish this, purposeful and strategic programs need to be integrated into secondary education. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore the perceptions and attitudes about the nursing profession among African American and Latinx adolescents.

METHOD

Four focus group sessions were conducted, and content analysis of the focus group narratives was completed.

RESULTS

The majority of the 33 participants were female and 57% were Latinx. The three themes are Nursing Is a Caring Profession But…; Formation of Ideas About Nursing Often Come From Family, Friends, and the Media; and Deterrents to Pursuing Nursing.

CONCLUSION

To decrease health disparities, nursing must address its lack of diversity. Based on these findings, our school of nursing has implemented a summer program for adolescents. [J Nurs Educ. 2019;58(9):519-524.].

Looking beneath the surface of a preceptor-training programme through a realist evaluation

South Africa's department of health devoted themselves to the clinical nursing education and training model, which indorses preceptors as essential stakeholders to promote competence in students. A preceptor-training programme was developed that build on this model and implemented through an intervention. The initial programme theory hypothesised that trained preceptors would promote support and develop competence in students in comparison to untrained preceptors. Results showed a poor outcome because few preceptors participated and a high student attrition rates. The authors then posed the question "Why did the preceptorship training programme not work?" This article offers insight into the context, mechanism, and outcome of the preceptor-training programme through a realist evaluation. Reflective field notes, gathered during the intervention, were used and gave insight regarding how, for whom, and under which circumstances the programme could work and offered a refined programme theory for preceptorship. The main conclusion drawn showed that a preceptor-training programme alone is not the sole determining factor to ensure preceptors' motivation to transfer their learning; a systems approach, ensuring the effectiveness of the programme, should be followed. Reflection on findings indicated the implementation context as a major determining factor of the training programme.

Monitoring preceptors' supportive role: A measuring instrument for increased accountability

PURPOSE

This article describes the development of a measuring instrument to monitor support offered by preceptors during their accompaniment of students in clinical facilities.

DESIGN

A quantitative methodological study design was used to develop the instrument.

METHODS

Data were collected by means of a self-completed questionnaire. Total sampling of 192 undergraduate nursing students was done. Descriptive data analysis was conducted regarding the biographical characteristics, Cronbach's alpha was computed to determine the reliability, and an exploratory factor analysis was done to describe the construct validity of the developed instrument.

RESULTS

The Cronbach's alpha of 0.98 indicates high reliability and high internal consistency. Three constructs regarding clinical support, namely cognitive-, emotional- and system support were identified by means of the exploratory factor analysis.

CONCLUSION

The new conceptualisation of support gives insight into the value of the preceptor's role. The instrument designed for this study could be used to assess and monitor the support offered by preceptors while they accompany students in clinical practice.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Considering the need to strengthen nursing and midwifery education systems, this instrument contributes to measuring and monitoring clinical accompaniment of students by preceptors.

Exploring and Improving Student Engagement in an Accelerated Undergraduate Nursing Program through a Mentoring Partnership: An Action Research Study

This Participatory Action Research (PAR) project aimed to engage students from an accelerated 'fast track' nursing program in a mentoring collaboration, using an interdisciplinary partnership intervention with a group of academics. Student participants represented the disciplines of nursing and paramedicine with a high proportion of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) students. Nine student mentors were recruited and paired with academics for a three-month 'mentorship partnership' intervention. Data from two pre-intervention workshops and a post-intervention workshop were coded in NVivo11 using thematic analysis. Drawing on social inclusion theory, a qualitative analysis explored an iteration of themes across each action cycle. Emergent themes were: 1) 'building relationships for active engagement', 2) 'voicing cultural and social hierarchies', and 3) 'enacting collegiate community'. The study offers insights into issues for contemporary accelerated course delivery with a diverse student population and highlights future strategies to foster effective student engagement.

Beliefs and perceptions of mentorship among nursing faculty and traditional and accelerated undergraduate nursing students

BACKGROUND

In order to meet the demands of a dynamic and complex health care landscape, nursing education must develop and implement programming to produce a highly educated nursing workforce. Interprofessional honors education in nursing with targeted mentorship is one such model.

PURPOSE

To describe undergraduate nursing student and faculty perceptions and beliefs of mentorship in the context of interprofessional honors education, and compare and contrast the perceptions and beliefs about mentorship in interprofessional honors education between undergraduate nursing students and faculty.

METHODS

The study used a cross-sectional, descriptive design. Data were collected at an urban university in the northeast US, using a researcher-developed electronic survey. The sample included 24 full-time nursing faculty, and 142 undergraduate nursing students.

RESULTS

Perceptions and beliefs regarding mentorship in the context of interprofessional honors education were similar for faculty and students, with both ranking mentorship among the most important components of a successful honors program.

CONCLUSIONS

Honors education with a dedicated mentorship component may be implemented to improve the undergraduate education experience, facilitate advanced degree attainment, and develop future nursing leaders.

Relationships among sleep quality, coping styles, and depressive symptoms among college nursing students: A multiple mediator model

BACKGROUND

Poor sleep quality and depressive symptoms are common among college nursing students, and may be associated with each other. However, the mechanism for this association has not been well understood.

PURPOSE

The study is to examine the potential mediating role of coping styles in the association between sleep quality and depressive symptoms among college nursing students.

METHODS

242 undergraduate nursing students at a public university in the northeast United States completed an online survey delivered through SurveyMonkey® with self-reports of sleep quality, coping styles, and depressive symptoms from October to November 2015.

RESULTS

Multivariate linear regression models suggested that poor sleep quality was significantly associated with depressive symptoms (β=1.00, p<0.01) in nursing students. The four coping styles (problem engagement, emotion engagement, problem disengagement, and emotion disengagement) together reduced the strength of the association between sleep quality and depressive symptoms by 41%. Specifically, emotion disengagement coping plays an important mediating role in this association.

CONCLUSIONS

In addition to sleep promotion, effective interventions to facilitate the development of appropriate coping strategies among nursing students are needed to enhance their mental health and well-being.

Learner : preceptor ratios for practice-based learning across health disciplines: a systematic review

CONTEXT

Practice-based learning is a cornerstone of developing clinical and professional competence in health disciplines. Practice-based learning systems have many interacting components, but a key facet is the number of learners per preceptor. Different learner : preceptor ratios may have unique benefits and pose unique challenges for participants. This is the first comprehensive systematic review of the topic. Our research questions were: What are the benefits and challenges of each learner : preceptor ratio in practice-based learning from the perspectives of the learners, preceptors, patients and stakeholder organisations (i.e. the placing and health care delivery organisations)? Are any ratios superior to others with respect to these characteristics and perspectives?

METHODS

Qualitative systematic review of published English-language literature since literature database inception, including multiple health disciplines.

RESULTS

Seventy-three articles were included in this review. Eight learner : preceptor ratio arrangements were identified involving nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, pharmacy, dietetics, speech and language therapy, and medicine. Each arrangement offers unique benefits and challenges from the perspectives of learners, preceptors, programmes and health care delivery organisations. Patient perspectives were absent. Despite important advantages of each ratio for learners, preceptors and organisations, some of which may be profession specific, the 2 : 1 and 2+ : 2+ learner : preceptor ratios appear to be most likely to successfully balance the needs of all stakeholders.

CONCLUSIONS

Regardless of the learner : preceptor ratio chosen for its expected benefits, our results illuminate challenges that can be anticipated and managed. Patient perspectives should be incorporated into future studies of learner : preceptor ratios.

Feedback in the nonshifting context of the midwifery clinical education in Indonesia: A mixed methods study

BACKGROUND

Clinical education in some countries applies a hospital-based learning approach where each student rotates to one division to another division (call of shifting). However, for clinical midwifery education in Indonesia each student remains in a community midwifery clinic (call of nonshifting). Because of the differences in the shifting system used, the question of "How is feedback in the nonshifting context of the clinical midwifery education being given?" needs to be explored.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This was a mixed methods study and was carried out in a School of Midwifery in Indonesia during 2014 and 2015. We explored the supervisors' and students' perception on the feedback delivery. Students' perceptions were collected through focus group discussions whereas supervisors' perceptions were recorded through interviews. The quality of feedback was observed using a checklist. Qualitative data were analyzed using Atlas Ti and quantitative data were analyzed using a descriptive statistic method.

RESULTS

From the qualitative data, students and supervisors perceived their feedback as "more intensive." They reported authenticity in the monitoring and feedback from the day-to-day delivery of patient care with their supervisors. Students and supervisors also described their feedback as "more integrated." The feedback process stimulated students to value history taking, physical examination, and midwifery care. On the other hand, quantitative data from observations presented that "intensive and integrated feedback" were not supported by the quality of the feedback based on literature of the theory of facilitating learning (the mean was 4.67 on a scale of 0-9).

CONCLUSIONS

The nonshifting clinical midwifery education can be a better alternative for facilitating the process of providing integrated and intensive feedback. To improve the quality of the feedback, training on providing feedback in a nonshifting context is fundamental in Indonesia.

The learning experiences of mentees and mentors in a nursing school's mentoring programme

BACKGROUND

A School of Nursing supports third-year undergraduate students (mentees) by means of a mentoring programme in which critical-care nursing students (mentors) are involved. However, the programme designers needed to find out what gaps were evident in the programme.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the study were to explore and describe the learning experiences of the mentees and mentors and to obtain recommendations for improving the programme.

METHOD

An action-research method was used to develop and to refine the student-mentoring programme and to identify student needs. However, for the purposes of this article a descriptive design was selected and data were gathered by means of a nominal-group technique. Fourteen mentees and five mentors participated in the research.

RESULTS

The findings indicated that attention should be paid to the allocation and orientation of both mentors and mentees. Amongst the positive experiences was the fact that the mentees were reassured by the mentor's presence and that a relationship of trust developed between them. In consequence, the mentees developed critical thinking skills, were able to apply their knowledge and improved their ability to integrate theory and practice. Not only did the mentees gain respect for the mentors' knowledge and competence, but they also lauded the mentoring programme as a memorable and vital experience.

CONCLUSION

The findings indicated that several changes would be needed to improve the structure of the mentoring programme before a new group of mentees could be placed in critical-care units.