Description:
Background: Collaboration between education providers and clinical agencies to develop models that facilitate cross-disciplinary clinical education for students is essential to produce work-ready graduates. Methods and Findings: This exploratory study investigated the perceptions of and opportunities for interprofessional education (IPE) from the perspectives of 57 clinical staff from three regional/rural health services across Victoria, Australia. Data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire, interviews, and focus group discussions with staff from 15 disciplinary groups who were responsible for clinical education. Although different views emerged on what IPE entailed, it was perceived by most clinicians to be valuable for students in enhancing teamwork, improving the understanding of roles and functions of team members, and facilitating common goals for patient care. While benefits of IPE could be articulated by clinicians, student engagement with IPE in clinical areas appeared to be limited, largely ad hoc, and opportunistic. Barriers to IPE included: timing of students’ placements, planning and coordination of activities, resource availability, and current regulatory and education provider requirements. Conclusions: Without the necessary resources and careful planning and coordination, the integration of IPE as a part of students’ clinical placement experience will remain a largely untapped resource.
Description:
Background: Collaboration between education providers and clinical agencies to develop models that facilitate cross-disciplinary clinical education for students is essential to produce work-ready graduates. Methods and Findings: This exploratory study investigated the perceptions of and opportunities for interprofessional education (IPE) from the perspectives of 57 clinical staff from three regional/rural health services across Victoria, Australia. Data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire, interviews, and focus group discussions with staff from 15 disciplinary groups who were responsible for clinical education. Although different views emerged on what IPE entailed, it was perceived by most clinicians to be valuable for students in enhancing teamwork, improving the understanding of roles and functions of team members, and facilitating common goals for patient care. While benefits of IPE could be articulated by clinicians, student engagement with IPE in clinical areas appeared to be limited, largely ad hoc, and opportunistic. Barriers to IPE included: timing of students’ placements, planning and coordination of activities, resource availability, and current regulatory and education provider requirements. Conclusions: Without the necessary resources and careful planning and coordination, the integration of IPE as a part of students’ clinical placement experience will remain a largely untapped resource.
Description:
Australian registered and enrolled nurses: Is there a difference? There are two categories of nurse registered to practise in Australia, the degreeâ€educated registered nurse and the certificate/diploma trained enrolled nurse (EN). While it is argued that the roles of the two categories of nurse in Australia are different, recent changes to the educational preparation and supervision requirements of ENs have narrowed these differences. This paper examines the existing literature to determine the perceived differences and similarities between registered and ENs in Australia. Differences identified included registration requirements, educational preparation, supervisory requirements and role expectation. Further research needs to be undertaken to examine the educational preparation of registered and ENs in order to obtain a greater understanding of role expectations on graduation. Supervision processes also require reviewing to demonstrate differences between indirect supervision and independent practice for ENs.
Description:
Students enter nursing degree programs through a variety of pathways. This article reports on a study that investigated the success and experience of these students. The aim was to determine any linkages between the pathway of entry in a preregistration nursing course and the academic achievements of these students. To achieve this aim, a descriptive correlational design was used to gather information from students enrolled in four different streams of a Bachelor of Nursing program over a 12-month period that were then compared with their academic records. Results suggest that students from different entry pathways can succeed at university provided they are supported and encouraged.
Description:
Students enter nursing degree programs through a variety of pathways. This article reports on a study that investigated the success and experience of these students. The aim was to determine any linkages between the pathway of entry in a preregistration nursing course and the academic achievements of these students. To achieve this aim, a descriptive correlational design was used to gather information from students enrolled in four different streams of a Bachelor of Nursing program over a 12-month period that were then compared with their academic records. Results suggest that students from different entry pathways can succeed at university provided they are supported and encouraged.
Description:
The current shortage of health professionals necessitates new approaches to clinical education that can expand the number of undergraduate students undertaking clinical placements without increasing the burden on clinical staff or placing patients at risk. Interprofessional education has the potential to help increase clinical capacity whilst enriching students’ clinical experience. This paper reports on a project which investigated the potential for interprofessional education to increase undergraduate clinical placement capacity in clinical settings. The project utilised an exploratory descriptive methodology to obtain the views of health care professionals about the use of interprofessional education in clinical education at three rural health facilities in Victoria, Australia. Participants (n = 57) had a key role with each health care facility in coordinating and facilitating undergraduate clinical placements. This paper examines the clinicians’ views about the central role that leadership plays in actioning interprofessional education in the clinical setting. Whilst interprofessional education was regarded favourably by the majority of participants, data indicated that leadership from education providers, health services, and regulatory authorities was crucial to enable interprofessional education to be implemented and sustained within the clinical learning environment. Without leadership from each of these three spheres of influence, interprofessional education will continue to be difficult to implement for undergraduate students and compromise their exposure to an important aspect of the working life of health care professionals. Such a failure will limit graduates’ readiness for collaborative and cross-disciplinary practice.
Description:
Abstract Background Flexible online programs are becoming increasingly popular method of education for students, allowing them to complete programs in their own time and cater for lifestyle differences. A mixture of delivery modes is one way which allows for enhanced learning. Peer learning is another method of learning which is shown to foster collaboration and prepare healthcare students for their future careers. This paper reports on a project to combine peer and online learning to teach pharmacology to nursing students. Objectives To explore undergraduate nursing student opinions of working in peer groups for online learning sessions in a pharmacology course. Design A qualitative study utilising a self-reported questionnaire. Setting A rural campus of an Australian university. Participants Second year nursing students enrolled in a Bachelor of Nursing Program. Methods A hard copy questionnaire was distributed to all students who attended the final semester lecture for the course. Content analysis of open-ended survey questions was used to identify themes in the written data. Results Of the 61 students enrolled in the nursing subject, 35 students chose to complete the survey (57%). Students reported a mixed view of the benefits and disadvantages of peer online learning. Sixty 6% (66%) of students liked peer online learning, whilst 29% disliked it and 6% were undecided. Convenience and ease of completion were reported as the most common reason to like peer online learning, whilst Information Technology issues, communication and non-preferred learning method were reasons for not liking peer online learning. Conclusion Peer online learning groups’ acted as one further method to facilitate student learning experiences. Blending peer online learning with traditional face-to-face learning increases the variety of learning methods available to students to enhance their overall learning experience.
Description:
Abstract Background Flexible online programs are becoming increasingly popular method of education for students, allowing them to complete programs in their own time and cater for lifestyle differences. A mixture of delivery modes is one way which allows for enhanced learning. Peer learning is another method of learning which is shown to foster collaboration and prepare healthcare students for their future careers. This paper reports on a project to combine peer and online learning to teach pharmacology to nursing students. Objectives To explore undergraduate nursing student opinions of working in peer groups for online learning sessions in a pharmacology course. Design A qualitative study utilising a self-reported questionnaire. Setting A rural campus of an Australian university. Participants Second year nursing students enrolled in a Bachelor of Nursing Program. Methods A hard copy questionnaire was distributed to all students who attended the final semester lecture for the course. Content analysis of open-ended survey questions was used to identify themes in the written data. Results Of the 61 students enrolled in the nursing subject, 35 students chose to complete the survey (57%). Students reported a mixed view of the benefits and disadvantages of peer online learning. Sixty 6% (66%) of students liked peer online learning, whilst 29% disliked it and 6% were undecided. Convenience and ease of completion were reported as the most common reason to like peer online learning, whilst Information Technology issues, communication and non-preferred learning method were reasons for not liking peer online learning. Conclusion Peer online learning groups’ acted as one further method to facilitate student learning experiences. Blending peer online learning with traditional face-to-face learning increases the variety of learning methods available to students to enhance their overall learning experience.
Description:
Significant changes to the scope of practice for enrolled nurses have occurred in Australia over the past decade. These changes, which are largely a consequence of staff shortages and economic pressure, have resulted in increased role confusion and overlap between enrolled and registered nurses in Australia. This paper presents a brief history of the enrolled nurse in Australia followed by an overview of the current situation and emerging trends in the education and employment of these nurses. Definitions and approaches to scope of practice are described and emerging issues within Australia raised and discussed. A review of the literature found the number of enrolled nurses and the roles they perform have changed significantly in Australia following the introduction of the enhanced scope of practice. Further research is required to better define and delineate between the different nursing roles and to explore broader frameworks to analyze, describe and define these roles. Read More: http://pubs.e-contentmanagement.com/doi/abs/10.5172/conu.2013.45.2.155
Description:
Worldwide, universities have been encouraged to increase the number of students enrolled in nursing courses as a way to bolster the domestic supply of graduates and address workforce shortages. This places pressure on clinical agencies to accommodate greater numbers of students for clinical experience who, in Australia, may often come from different educational institutions. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a collaborative model of clinical education that would increase the capacity of a health care agency to accommodate student placements and improve workplace readiness. The project was undertaken in a medium sized regional hospital in rural Australia where most nurses worked part time. Through an iterative process, a new supported preceptorship model was developed by academics from three institutions and staff from the hospital. Focus group discussions and interviews were conducted with key stakeholders and clinical placement data analysed for the years 2004 (baseline) to 2007. The model was associated with a 58% increase in the number of students and a 45% increase in the number of student placement weeks over the four year period. Students reported positively on their experience and key stakeholders believed that the new model would better prepare students for the realities of nursing work.