Mentorship in nursing academia: a systematic review protocol

Nurses' and nurse educators' experiences of a Pediatric Nursing Continuing Professional Development program in Rwanda

OBJECTIVES

In 2016, a Pediatric Nursing Continuing Professional Development (PNCPD) program was created and implemented in Kigali, Rwanda, through the Training, Support, and Access Model (TSAM) for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (MNCH). This partnership project between Canada and Rwanda provided pediatric nursing education to forty-one Rwandan nurses and nurse educators in 2018 and 2019. The objective of this research study was to explore the experiences of nurses and nurse educators applying pediatric knowledge and skills to academic and clinical settings after participating in the PNCPD program.

METHODS

This study was situated within an interpretive descriptive perspective to explore the ways in which knowledge gained during the PNCPD program in Rwanda was applied by nurses and nurse educators in their nursing practice, both academically and clinically. Data was collected through individual interviews. Inductive content analysis was used for data analysis.

RESULTS

The analysis of the interviews resulted in the emergence of five themes: Transformations in Pediatric Nursing Practice, Knowledge Sharing, Relationship-Based Nursing, Barriers and Facilitators to Knowledge Implementation, and Scaling-up PNCPD within the Health System.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study have the potential to inform positive changes to child health care in Rwanda, including scaling up pediatric nursing education to other areas of the healthcare system.

Nursing faculty shortage in Canada: A scoping review of contributing factors

BACKGROUND

Strong nursing faculty is paramount to promote disciplinary leadership and to prepare future nurses for practice. Our understanding of the factors associated with or predictive of nurse faculty retention and/or turnover is lacking.

PURPOSE

The aim of this review is to identify and synthesize the existing literature on factors contributing to nurse faculty shortage in Canada and implications on nursing practice.

METHODS

A scoping review based on the Arskey and O'Malley's five stage framework for scoping reviews was undertaken. Utilizing the PRISMA protocol, a comprehensive and structured literature search was conducted in five databases of studies published in English.

FINDINGS

Limited through search inclusion and relevance of research, nine studies out of 220 papers met the criteria for this review and were thematically analyzed. Identified themes were supply versus demand; employment conditions; organizational support; and personal factors.

DISCUSSION

Impending retirement of faculty, unsupportive leadership, and stressful work environments were frequently reported as significant contributing factors to the faculty shortage.

CONCLUSION

This scoping review provides insights into how Canada's schools of nursing could engage in grounded efforts to lessen nursing faculty shortage, both nationally and globally. We identified a gap in the literature that indicates that foundational work is needed to create context-specific solutions. The limited studies published in Canada suggest that this is a critical area for future research and funding.

PhD programs and the advancement of nursing science

Nurses are well-positioned to be groundbreaking researchers, scientists, leaders, and innovators to improve the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Nurse scientists are needed to contribute to scientific discoveries that inform effective strategies to improve patient care and outcomes and to inform future policies. Thoughtful consideration is required about the preparation of nurse scientists to ensure they are equipped with the knowledge and skill sets to meet the needs of society. Evolving health needs and priority areas of inquiry along with an ever-increasing array of sophisticated methodologies and centrality of interdisciplinary teams to solve complex problems should drive how we prepare PhD students. This paper reflects a panel and subsequent dialogue with nurse leaders at the PhD summit held at the University of Pennsylvania in October 2019. Three aspects of PhD education and the advancement of nursing science are discussed 1) examining important elements to support nurse scientist development; 2) identifying key gaps in science that the discipline needs to address in educating the next generation of nurse scientists; and 3) preparing nurse scientists for the competitive funding environment.

Nurse and midwife educators’ experiences of translating teaching methodology knowledge into practice in Rwanda

Objectives

The aim of this study was to explore how nurse and midwife educators applied the knowledge and skills acquired from attending acontinuous professional development (CPD) workshop on teaching methodologies into their teaching practices in Rwanda.

Methods

A qualitative descriptive design was used with a purposive sample of 15 nursing and midwifery faculty members from six private and public post-secondary schools in Rwanda. Participants were involved in semi-structured individual interviews. Inductive content analysis was used for generating themes.

Results

Five themes emerged describing the educators’ teaching experiences: (1) enhanced teaching practices competencies; (2) application of knowledge and skills gained into classroom and clinical teaching; (3) collaboration and teamwork; (4) facilitators and challenges faced to the application of the knowledge and skills into practice; and (5) indirect outcomes to maternal, newborn, and child health care.

Conclusion

CPD workshops about teaching methodologies for nurse and midwife educators offer a substantive means of improving the quality of nursing and midwifery undergraduate education in Rwanda. There is, however, an ongoing need to address existing barriers to applying knowledge and skills to the practice of teaching.

Preparing for the transition from clinical practice to academia

Although education is an essential component of good nursing practice, clinical practice proficiency does not equate to competence in academia. Expert clinicians are not automatically expert educators. However, more and more academic institutions are relying on full-time clinicians to assume academic teaching positions. The decision to transition from clinical practice to academia requires careful consideration of numerous personal and professional issues. The purpose of this brief overview is to offer insight and guidance for nursing professionals embarking on this journey.

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.