Exploring the implications of a self-care assignment to foster undergraduate nursing student mental health: Findings from a survey research study

BACKGROUND

Nursing students experience numerous personal, academic, and practice-related stressors, impacting their mental health. Nursing programs often contribute to student stress and should incorporate strategies to support students' mental health. Self-care has the potential to enhance students' ability to manage current stressors and to build capacity for addressing future stress and burnout; however, the concept has been limitedly integrated into nursing education.

OBJECTIVES

To examine students' responses to a self-care assignment integrated into core nursing coursework.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study using an online survey.

SETTINGS

An accelerated two-year undergraduate nursing program in Western Canada.

PARTICIPANTS

Undergraduate nursing students in first- and second-year of a two-year program.

METHODS

A 16-question survey, including closed- and open-ended response fields was developed by the research team. Survey questions were grounded in Bloom's Cognitive, Psychomotor, and Affective learning domains to comprehensively examine the impact of the assignment on students' learning and self-care capacity.

RESULTS

89 participants completed the survey (49% response rate). Participants' increase in self-care practices pre- and post-assignment was statistically significant (p = 0.023). Results further demonstrate that students' knowledge of self-care and capacity to identify and manage stressors were enhanced. Participants reported that overall the assignment supported their well-being. However, some participants described that aspects of the assignment detracted from well-being, including challenges with grading and feelings of guilt when not practicing self-care.

CONCLUSIONS

A self-care assignment is an effective strategy for nursing educators to foster students' capacity to cope with stressors.

Identifying facilitators and barriers to physical activity for adults with Down syndrome

BACKGROUND

Adults with Down syndrome are typically sedentary, and many do not participate in the recommended levels of physical activity per week. The aim of this study was to identify the facilitators and barriers to physical activity for this group.

METHOD

Semi-structured interviews were conducted to elicit the views of adults with Down syndrome and their support people about what factors facilitate physical activity and what factors are barriers to activity. A sample of 18 participants (3 men, 15 women) was recruited through two agencies providing services for adults with disabilities; six participants were adults with Down syndrome and 12 participants were support people (four were parents of adults with Down syndrome and eight participants were employed by day programmes attended by the adults with Down syndrome). The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and independently coded by two researchers.

RESULTS

Three themes around facilitators to physical activity were identified: (1) support from others; (2) that the physical activity was fun or had an interesting purpose; and (3) routine and familiarity. Three themes around barriers were also identified: (1) lack of support; (2) not wanting to engage in physical activity; and (3) medical and physiological factors.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest that support people play a key role, both as facilitators and barriers, in the participation by adults with Down syndrome in physical activity. Many of the barriers and facilitators of activity for adults with Down syndrome indentified are similar to those reported for adults without impairment. Our findings are also consistent with established theories in the field of health behaviour change.

[Symptomatology of dyscalculia in the presence of cortical lesions (author's transl)]

The authors examine the function of calculation in 26 patients presenting lateral local cortical lesions. They analyse the symptomatology of acalculia in relation to the location and lateral position of the lesion, and define the influence of concomitant constructive apraxia or aphasia before proposing a method for the classification of calculating disorders.