Nurses’ experiences of learning to care in practice environments: A qualitative study

The learning experiences of student nurses in the perioperative environment: An integrative literature review

OBJECTIVES

For the Student Nurse placement in the perioperative environment provides an opportunity to observe and engage in preoperative, intraoperative, and immediate postoperative care of the surgical patient. To date no synthesis of empirical studies has been undertaken to ascertain the learning impact of the perioperative experience. The objectives of this review were to identify and synthesise the literature on the learning experiences of student nurses within the perioperative environment.

DESIGN

An integrative review that followed Whittemore and Knafl's (2005) framework.

DATA SOURCES

Studies published between 2012 and 2022 were identified via a comprehensive search of the following databases: CINAHL, Medline (OVID), Medline (Pubmed), Medline (EBSCO), EMBASE, PsychINFO, ISI Web of Science and SCOPUS.

REVIEW METHODS

The review was reported in line with the Preferred Reporting for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). The initial search located 1475 Articles. After screening and checking for eligibility 17 articles were selected. These were critically appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP). The papers were analysed and reported in a narrative synthesis.

RESULTS

Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria for the review. Three categories with five sub categories were identified including: Learning opportunities, Appreciation for perioperative role and intent to return and Factors influencing student learning.

CONCLUSIONS

A large variety of student learning occurs within the perioperative clinical environment. Students viewed staff nurses as positive role models in an environment that posed opportunities and challenges for student learning. Anxiety and stress in an unfamiliar environment were commonly mentioned with students offering recommendations to improve their experience.

Developing and conducting appreciative inquiry interviews

BACKGROUND

The appreciative inquiry (AI) interview follows a specific format and needs to be planned and developed before implementation. AI questions are designed to draw on the interviewee's experiences, commencing with general questioning and progressing to more focused questioning.

AIM

To explain how to plan and undertake AI interviews, and to discuss issues that nurse researchers might encounter.

DISCUSSION

This article is based on the first author's experience of undertaking an AI doctoral study. The primary method of collecting data for the study was AI interviews. The more focused questioning related to participants' experiences of positive actions or behaviours. Although questioning was positive in nature and participant-centric, conducting the interviews was more problematic than the first author anticipated. Some participants struggled to recall positive memories to share.

CONCLUSION

The unexpected response to the interview questions required the first author to examine her practices, as well as beliefs and judgements relating to AI. This reflexivity assisted in implementing changes to the study's process, resulting in a more positive experience for her and the participants.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Researchers using the AI interview require the capacity to be self-critical and change the process if necessary to enrich the outcome.

Using video consultations to support family carers of people living with dementia

Established in 2019, the Lincolnshire Admiral Nurse Service supports family carers of people living with dementia through psychosocial interventions. Before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the team provided home visits as standard, but the fact that Lincolnshire is a large rural county affected the team's ability to provide timely support to all the carers who needed it. In 2019-20, a practice development project underpinned by participatory action research was undertaken to trial the use of video consultations with carers. However, carers' uptake of video consultations was low and the project was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This article describes the project and discusses the findings of its evaluation. The Admiral Nurse team had mixed experiences and felt that, overall, its support was more effective when delivered face to face. The project provides insights into the challenges and benefits of video consultations for delivering psychosocial interventions to carers of people living with dementia.

Determinants of compassion in providing care to older people: Educational implications

BACKGROUND

Care provision underpinned by compassion builds trust and ensures a deeper understanding of the health needs of older people. Yet nursing curricula in the United Kingdom focus on knowledge and skill acquisition rather than caring with compassion. This negatively impacts on the quality of care. Despite this, there is limited research on compassion in the care of older people.

AIM

To explore the views of nurse educators (NE), pre-registration nursing students (PNS) and clinical mentors (CM) of the determinants of compassion in the care of older people.

METHODS

A generic qualitative research design was used. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 39 participants (NE = 8; CM = 8; PNS = 23). These were digitally-recorded, fully transcribed and analysed thematically using NVivo software.

FINDINGS

Three main themes emerged from the data analysis: the meaning of compassion, extrinsic determinants of compassion in care, and intrinsic determinants of compassion in care.

DISCUSSION

The outcome of this study suggests that nurses and students think that compassion speeds up older people's recovery and enhances the quality of care. NEs consider its application in clinical practice a demonstration of competence.

CONCLUSION

The inclusion of compassion in practical sessions of pre-registration nursing curricula and in the care of the older person may result in improved understanding of the latter and provision of holistic, safe and effective care.

Appreciative inquiry as an intervention to improve nursing and midwifery students transitioning into becoming new graduates: An integrative review

OBJECTIVE

To identify, critique and synthesise the evidence about the impact of Appreciative Inquiry on improving nursing and midwifery students as they transition into becoming new graduates.

DESIGN

An integrative review.

DATA SOURCES

The databases were: Pubmed, Ovid Medline, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health and Scopus.

REVIEW METHODS

A Whittemore and Knafl's (2005) five stage approach was used to appraise the primary literature related to nursing and midwifery students transitioning into becoming new graduates.

RESULTS

A total of 805 articles were retrieved and six studies met the inclusion criteria and included in this review. These studies have shown that Appreciative Inquiry as an intervention can be used to improve nursing and midwifery students' experiences as they transition into becoming new graduates. Three overarching themes were identified: caring, connecting and nurturing, transforming the workplace and work practices and appreciating and enabling nurses and midwives as a profession.

CONCLUSION

Appreciative Inquiry offers a creative, exploratory and compassionate method to improve positive change for nursing and midwifery students as they transition into becoming new graduates. The impact of caring, nurturing nurses and midwives who mentor nursing and midwifery students makes a difference in increasing the likelihood that graduates will remain in the profession and establish fulfilling relationships with both colleagues and people.

Development and psychometric properties of the Caring Behaviors Assessment Tool Nursing Version-Short Form

OBJECTIVES

To develop and examine the psychometric properties of the Caring Behaviors Assessment Tool Nursing Version-Short Form (CBAN-SF) based on the Theory of Human Caring to assess the nurses' perceptions about caring behaviors.

DESIGN

This study is based on the Consensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments checklist.

SETTING

The study was conducted at the medical-surgical services of Akdeniz University Hospital between October 2019 and January 2020.

PARTICIPANTS

This study was conducted with 216 nurses working in the surgery and internal clinics.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the CBAN-SF with 27 items.

RESULTS

It was found that the Content Validity Index (CVI) for the items of the draft scale was between 0.972 and 1.00 and the instrument's CVI had an average score of 0.994. The CBAN-SF had good fit indexes (chi-square goodness of fit / degrees of freedom = 2.914, root mean square error of approximation = 0.075, comparative fit index = 0.984, non-normed fit index = 0.983, normed fit index = 0.972 and standardized root mean square residuals = 0.054) in structural validity. For internal consistency, the Cronbach's alpha, Spearman-Brown and the Guttman split-half coefficients were all 0.974. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the seven subfactors of the scale ranged between 0.793 and 0.904 and had acceptable internal consistency. The item-total score correlation of the scale was 0.648-0.829, and the factor loadings were 0.455-0.769.

CONCLUSION

The structural validity, internal consistency and content validity of the CBAN-SF supported to be a reliable and valid tool for assessment of caring behaviors by nurses.