A multi-layered approach to developing academic written communication skills for nursing students
- Authors: Garvey, Loretta , Willetts, Georgina , Herrmann, Antje , Verezub, Elena , Sinchenko, Elena
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship Vol. 20, no. 1 (2023), p.
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objectives: Academic literacy in nursing students has historically been poor this research therefore aimed to investigate the effectiveness of an embedded multidisciplinary approach to academic written communication skills for first year Bachelor of Nursing students in Australia. Methods: This initiative consisted of (1) collaboratively embedding academic skills with nursing staff and Learning and Academic Skills Advisors using scaffolded tasks, curriculum/material development, workshops/tutorials on writing skills; and (2) individual support sessions. Data was obtained via questionnaire. Results: Responses were received from 92 (74% local and 26% international) students. Key findings showed the collaborative approach to embedding skills with added follow up, was beneficial for students' skills development, including improved academic writing, increased confidence, and recognition of the importance of academic writing. Conclusions: It is important to equip student to develop academic literacy and an embedded academic literacy program has been determined to assist and may contribute to future professionalisation in nursing. © 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.
A qualitative study on undergraduate student nurses’ experience of mental health simulation preclinical placement
- Authors: Olasoji, Michael , Garvey, Loretta , Sadoughi, Navideh , Willetts, Georgina
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Clinical Simulation in Nursing Vol. 84, no. (2023), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: Simulations allow students to be challenged and supported while gaining both technical and non-technical skills within a clinical learning environment. Working in a mental health setting can be quite challenging and confronting at times for undergraduate nursing students in clinical placement. The study aims to explore nursing students’ perceptions of a mental health simulation workshop's impact before clinical placement, which provides a supportive environment to gain technical and non-technical skills while being challenged and supported. Sample: Participants were a second-year cohort (n = 89) of undergraduate nursing students enrolled in a mental health unit. Methods: Descriptive survey design. The researchers thematically analysed narrative responses of a pre- and post-simulation survey from an immersive simulation using a descriptive survey design. Results: The researchers identified six key themes: two from the pre-simulation survey – communication with and assessment of mental health patients, and the opportunity for placement preparation; and four from the post-simulation survey – the opportunity for debriefing, the realism of the simulation, increased confidence levels, and the perception of a safe learning environment. Conclusion: Effective skill acquisition is essential to advance recruitment and retention into mental health environments. The use of mental health simulation that comprises of realism and immersion working with simulated patients provided opportunity to advance this. © 2023
Achieving person-centredness with older people in residential aged care
- Authors: Wilson, Catherine , Moss, Cheryle , Willetts, Georgina
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Nursing & Midwifery Journal Vol. 23, no. 7 (2016), p. 47-47
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: A research project was conducted during 2015 to gain an understanding of the perspectives and actions of the nurses and personal care assistants, (participants) as they sought to provide person centred care (PCC) in a residential care setting.
Anxiety, flipped approach and self-efficacy : exploring nursing student outcomes
- Authors: Croy, Glen , Garvey, Loretta , Willetts, Georgina , Wheelahan, Jamie , Hood, Kerry
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Nurse Education Today Vol. 93, no. (2020), p.
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: Self-efficacy is crucial for student success. Studies have demonstrated a positive relationship between flipped learning approach and self-efficacy. Anxiety, however, can reduce self-efficacy. Objective: Testing the relationship between the flipped approach and self-efficacy by flipping a nursing module within an externally-imposed and once-off anxiety-inducing context. Method: Students completed a self-efficacy survey before (n = 71) and after (n = 91) a compressed semester, which provided the anxiety-inducing context. Results: Pre-semester self-efficacy was 2.93/4, and post-semester was 2.98/4. The results demonstrated no significant change in students' self-efficacy. Conclusion: We argue the flipped approach counters anxiety-inducing effects to maintain self-efficacy. In less anxiety-inducing contexts, we argue the flipped approach would develop students' confidence, capability, persistence and strength beliefs, collectively enhancing self-efficacy perceptions. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd
Constructing nurses' professional identity through group performance
- Authors: Willetts, Georgina , Garvey, Loretta
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Nursing Practice Vol. 26, no. 6 (2020), p.
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Aims: The aim of this study was to examine professional identity through the group performances of nurses within a specific work environment. Background: Professional identity and social identity are closely linked. Nurses undertake clinical practice usually within a social group environment. The literature is limited on the development of professional identity within the context of nurses' daily work. Design: An integrated ethnographic case context design was adopted, consisting of two clinical wards in one acute health-care facility in Australia. The application of the social identity theory (SIT) was used to study two specific professional activities to describe the group performance of nurses within this organizational cultural context and how this influenced nurses' professional identity. Method: The research was undertaken between 2012 and 2014. Data collection included observation, interviews and fieldnotes of a convenience sample of nurses and allied health-care professionals who undertook two professional activities in their normal work environment. Findings: The development of group efficacy contributed to the development of the professional identity in the homogenous handover activity. Self-efficacy was demonstrated in the heterogenous multidisciplinary activity. Conclusion: The results indicated the importance of recognizing core identity-building activities and understanding the value of these activities to professional identity development. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
Developing entrustable professional activities to enhance application of an aggression prevention protocol
- Authors: Maguire, Tessa , Willetts, Georgina , McKenna, Brian , Daffern, Michael , Garvey, Loretta
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Nurse Education in Practice Vol. 73, no. (2023), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Aim: The research aim of this study was to seek feedback from prevention of aggression training experts about the suitability of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) as an assessment tool for an Aggression Prevention Protocol. The protocol was designed to structure intervention to prevent aggression and reduce the use of restrictive practices following risk assessment using a validated instrument (the Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression). Background: Preventing aggression and limiting the use of restrictive practices are key priorities for inpatient mental health services. Assessing clinical activities using a competence framework has limitations, particularly when determining complex interventions. EPAs could provide a suitable method for assessing complex clinical activities like de-escalation and limit setting, which comprise some of the interventions in the Aggression Prevention Protocol. EPAs are new to forensic mental health nursing; therefore, feedback was sought regarding the utility of EPAs to assess aggression prevention interventions. Methods: Data were collected via focus groups including 11 aggression prevention experts from Australia and New Zealand. A thematic analysis, comparative analysis and a Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats analysis was conducted. Results: Three themes were interpreted from the data: 1) Frameworks such as the APP are needed to work towards elimination of restrictive practices; 2) APP-EPAs afford an opportunity to set the standard for practice; and 3) ‘who watches the watchers’, were identified by the experts as well as areas to enhance EPAs prior to introduction into practice. Conclusions: EPAs address a practice-gap and offer a framework to assist movement towards elimination of restrictive practices, while prompting best-practice, self-reflection and practice improvement guidance. © 2023
Enhancing cultural capabilities amongst health professions students : a pilot study of interprofessional tag team simulation
- Authors: Garvey, Loretta , Mackelprang, Jessica , Bhowmik, Jahar , Cassar, Nicole , Delbridge, Robyn , El-Ansary, Doa , Willetts, Georgina , Williams, Anne
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Clinical Simulation in Nursing Vol. 62, no. (2022), p. 83-91
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: To facilitate inclusive healthcare and increase cultural capabilities, health professions students require authentic interprofessional learning experiences that challenge their social, professional, and historical positioning. Tag Team Simulation (TTS) is an innovative approach to develop students’ interprofessional collaboration and cultural competency for working with Aboriginal people. Method: Co-designed and delivered by Aboriginal people and an interdisciplinary team of health professions academics, this pilot aimed to: (a) evaluate the effect of TTS on students’ self-rated cultural capabilities (Cultural Capabilities Measurement Tool) and interprofessional attitudes (Interprofessional Attitude Scale), and (b) explore students’ simulation learning experience. Results: Students’ respect, communication, and safety and quality scores on the Cultural Capabilities Measurement Tool were significantly higher post simulation, as were their Interprofessional Attitude Scale scores. Students experienced the simulation as authentic and effective in advancing their communication skills and cultural understanding. Conclusions: This co-designed interprofessional simulation improved health professions students’ self-rated cultural capabilities and interprofessional attitudes. Coupled with positive student feedback, results indicate that TTS is an innovative simulation method for building cultural competence in health professions students across disciplines. © 2021
Exploration of the utility of the nursing process and the clinical reasoning cycle as a framework for forensic mental health nurses : a qualitative study
- Authors: Maguire, Tessa , Garvey, Loretta , Ryan, Jo , Willetts, Georgina , Olasoji, Michael
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Mental Health Nursing Vol. 31, no. 2 (2022), p. 358-368
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Forensic mental health nursing (FMHN) is a specialized field, designed to meet the needs of people who have a serious mental illness across the criminal justice system, inpatient services and community. Frameworks can assist assessment, planning, intervention, documentation and evaluation of nursing care. However, there is no prior research investigating frameworks in FMHN. This study aimed to explore the Nursing Process (NP) and the Clinical Reasoning Cycle (CRC), with nurses, to determine a suitable framework for use service-wide. A Nominal Group Technique was used to facilitate exploration of the two frameworks, where open-ended verbal and written responses collected from a Nominal Group were thematically analysed, and the participants voted on their preferred framework. Seventeen nurses from a state-wide forensic mental health (FMH) service participated. The four main themes were as follows: challenges to current practice, limitations of the NP, perceived benefits of the CRC and addressing implementation. Consensus was reached with the nurses selecting the CRC as the framework of choice. This is the first study to explore frameworks to guide practice in FMHN. Nurses in this study considered the CRC to be a suitable framework for novice through to expert, offering a contemporary framework to guide nursing care in complex FMH settings. Some adjustments to the existing cycle were suggested to emphasize recovery-oriented practice, and inclusion of family and carers. Any changes to the cycle warrant exploration with the interdisciplinary team and consumer carer workforce. © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.
Exploring adaptations to the clinical reasoning cycle for forensic mental health nursing : a qualitative enquiry
- Authors: Maguire, Tessa , Garvey, Loretta , Ryan, Jo , Levett-Jones, Tracy , Olasoji, Michael , Willetts, Georgina
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Mental Health Nursing Vol. 32, no. 2 (2023), p. 544-555
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Forensic mental health nurses (FMHN) provide care to address the needs of people who have mental illnesses across a range of diverse settings. The Clinical Reasoning Cycle (CRC) has been identified as a potential framework to assist FMHNs; however, adaptations were required to reflect the unique nature of the clinical setting. This study aimed to explore adaptations made to determine suitability prior to implementation in practice. Nominal Group Technique was used to explore suggested adaptations determined from a previous study and reach a consensus on the changes. Fourteen senior nurses from a state-wide Forensic mental Health (FMH) service participated. A consensus was reached for two proposed changes. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Three main themes were interpreted from the data; FMH adaptations are warranted, the focus of the CRC, and who owns the cycle? Nurses in this study considered the need to include offence and risk issues due to the impact these factors have on the therapeutic relationship and cognitive bias; however, they also identified the need to focus on recovery-oriented care while engaging in clinical reasoning. Nurses in this study also expressed some reluctance for nursing to ‘own' the model, due to concern that ownership may cause division among the team or result in inconsistency in care. However, some participant's suggested the CRC with adaptations assisted FMH nurses to articulate their specialist skills and knowledge to others and highlight the nursing contribution to care. Further work is needed to finalize adaptations with a focus on engaging the consumer carer workforce and interdisciplinary team. © 2022 The Authors. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.
Implementation of a Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing (RUSON) program : the nurses’ perspective
- Authors: Willetts, Georgina , Nieuwoudt, Laurina , Olasoji, Michael , Sadoughi, Navideh , Garvey, Loretta
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Collegian Vol. 29, no. 1 (2022), p. 70-77
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Problem: Undergraduate nursing students remain an underutilised workforce within healthcare. This paper explores the establishment of a Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing (RUSON) model through a university and healthcare partnership. Background: Nursing continues to adapt to increasingly complex patient populations. Initiatives are needed to enable nurses to focus on patients’ care needs amidst increasing healthcare costs. This study identifies opportunities and strategies for engaging undergraduate nursing students as part of the healthcare workforce through the RUSON model, from the perspective of nurse leaders. Aim: This project aimed to explore nurse leaders’ perspectives surrounding implementation of a RUSON model. Method: A qualitative exploratory design was employed for this study. Thematic analysis from a focus group with the nurse leaders was undertaken. Findings: Two key themes were identified from the analysis, i) Establishing the RUSON; with sub-themes: “Who are RUSONs?”, “You are not on clinical placement” and “The importance of inclusivity” and ii) Benefits of the RUSONs; with sub-themes: “Addressing patient care needs”, “Value to the nursing team” and “Creating future ready employees”. Participants identified barriers that were overcome, subsequently leading to the model being considered advantageous to the clinical environment. Discussion: The establishment of a RUSON workforce in acute care settings brings with it benefits to the nursing staff and the RUSONs themselves. In order to successfully embed a RUSON model in an organisation, it is important to collaborate with the nursing leadership team in the implementation process. Conclusion: A RUSON workforce is an appropriate human resource strategy, both at the immediate point of implementation and longitudinally, as a recruitment strategy for future employment. Successful implementation of a RUSON model requires engagement and collaboration with nursing leaders. © 2021
Measuring the quality of nursing clinical placements and the development of the Placement Evaluation Tool (PET) in a mixed methods co-design project
- Authors: Cooper, Simon J. , Cant, Robyn , Waters, Donna , Luders, Elise , Henderson, Amanda , Willetts, Georgina , Tower, Marion , Reid-Searl, Kerry , Ryan, Colleen , Hood, Kerry
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: BMC Nursing Vol. 19, no. 1 (2020), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: The quality of nursing clinical placements has been found to vary. Placement evaluation tools for nursing students are available but lack contemporary reviews of clinical settings. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a feasible, valid and reliable clinical placement evaluation tool applicable to nursing student placements in Australia. Methods: An exploratory mixed methods co-design project. Phase 1 included a literature review; expert rating of potential question items and Nominal Group Technique meetings with a range of stakeholders for item development. Phase 2 included on-line pilot testing of the Placement Evaluation Tool (PET) with 1263 nursing students, across all year levels at six Australian Universities and one further education college in 2019–20, to confirm validity, reliability and feasibility. Results: The PET included 19-items (rated on a 5-point agreement scale) and one global satisfaction rating (a 10-point scale). Placements were generally positively rated. The total scale score (19 items) revealed a median student rating of 81 points from a maximum of 95 and a median global satisfaction rating of 9/10. Criterion validity was confirmed by item correlation: Intra-class Correlation Co-efficient ICC =.709; scale total to global score r =.722; and items to total score ranging from.609 to.832. Strong concurrent validity was demonstrated with the Clinical Learning Environment and Supervision Scale (r =.834). Internal reliability was identified and confirmed in two subscale factors: Clinical Environment (Cronbach’s alpha =.94) and Learning Support (alpha =.96). Based on the short time taken to complete the survey (median 3.5 min) and students’ comments, the tool was deemed applicable and feasible. Conclusions: The PET was found to be valid, reliable and feasible. Use of the tool as a quality assurance measure is likely to improve education and practice in clinical environments. Further international evaluation of the instrument is required to fully determine its psychometric properties. © 2020, The Author(s).
- Description: This work was funded by the Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery (Australia and New Zealand) – 2019. The funding body had no role in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, or in writing the manuscript.
Nursing educators’ professional identity : challenges and consequences when adopting the flipped approach
- Authors: Garvey, Loretta , Hood, Kerry , Willetts, Georgina , Weller-Newton, Jennifer , Wheelahan, Jamie , Croy, Glen
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Teaching and Learning in Nursing Vol. 18, no. 2 (2023), p. 257-262
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: To discover how adopting the flipped approach impacts nursing educators’ professional identity we used an autoethnographic qualitative design, underpinned by appreciative inquiry. The flipped approach was first implemented in a second-year intensive clinical module with 154 pre-registration nursing students. Four nursing educators recorded their experiences (using journals), followed by an appreciative-inquiry-guided focus group drawing on their journal entries. Four themes associated with adopting the flipped approach were: (i) challenged existing and developed new professional identity; (ii) developing practice in the flipped approach; (iii) triumphs in students’ achievements and renewed motivations as educators; and (iv) challenges in developing new expertise, access to appropriate resources, and unaligned assessment program. Despite the direct challenge to their identity, participants welcomed the new approach. The challenges forced participants’ reflexive attention to core elements of the nursing academic educator prototype, from which participants felt more aligned with the newly adopted approach and subsequent outcomes. © 2022
Pain assessment of the adult sedated and ventilated patients in the intensive care setting : a scoping review
- Authors: Kerbage, Samira , Garvey, Loretta , Lambert, Gavin , Willetts, Georgina
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: International Journal of Nursing Studies Vol. 122, no. (2021), p.
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: Pain is frequently encountered in the intensive care setting. Given the impact of pain assessment on patient outcomes and length of hospital stay, studies have been conducted to validate tools, establish guidelines and cast light on practices relating to pain assessment. Objective: To examine the extent, range and nature of the evidence around pain assessment practices in adult patients who cannot self-report pain in the intensive care setting and summarise the findings from a heterogenous body of evidence to aid in the planning and the conduct of future research and management of patient care. The specific patient cohort studied was the sedated/ ventilated patient within the intensive care setting. Design: A scoping review protocol utilised the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping review checklist (PRISMA-ScR). Methods: The review comprised of five phases: identifying the research question, identifying relevant studies, study selection, charting the data and collating, summarizing, and reporting the results. Databases were systematically searched from January to April 2020. Databases included were Scopus, Web of Science, Medline via Ovid, CINAHL COMPLETE via EBSCO host, Health Source and PUBMED. Limits were applied on dates (2000 to current), language (English), subject (human) and age (adult). Key words used were “pain”, “assessment”, “measurement”, “tools”, “instruments”, “practices”, “sedated”, “ventilated”, “adult”. A hand search technique was used to search citations within articles. Database alerts were set to apprise the availability of research articles pertaining to pain assessment practices in the intensive care setting. Results: The review uncovered literature categorised under five general themes: behaviour pain assessment tools, pain assessment guidelines, position statements and quality improvement projects, enablers and barriers to pain assessment, and evidence appertaining to actual practices. Behaviour pain assessment tools are the benchmark for pain assessment of sedated and ventilated patients. The reliability and validity of physiologic parameters to assess pain is yet to be determined. Issues of compliance with pain assessment guidelines and tools exist and impact on practices. In some countries like Australia, there is a dearth of information regarding the prevalence and characteristics of patients receiving analgesia, type of analgesia used, pain assessment practices and the process of recording pain management. In general, pain assessment varies across different intensive care settings and lacks consistency. Conclusion: Research on pain assessment practices requires further investigation to explore the causative mechanisms that contribute to poor compliance with established pain management guidelines. The protocol of this review was registered with Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/25a6) Tweetable abstract: Pain assessment in intensive care settings lacks consistency. New information is needed to understand the causative mechanisms underpinning poor compliance with guidelines. © 2021
Students coping with change in higher education : an overview
- Authors: Co, Mary , Hamadeh Kerbage, Samira , Willetts, Georgina , Garvey, Loretta , Bhattacharya, Ananya , Croy, Glen , Mitchell, Bruce
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Educational Research Review Vol. 38, no. (2023), p.
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Higher education institutions implement purposeful change to improve their performance or impose changes in response to their external environments. To deal with these changes, students are expected to develop their coping capacity – the emotional and cognitive ability to manage the demands of adverse situations. Student coping is composed of four interdependent core elements – self-efficacy, engagement, resilience and anxiety. This article synthesizes the evidence on the effect of higher education changes on student's ability to cope. Using Polanin et al.’s (2017) overview process, our search generated 551 articles, and after three rounds of screening, the remaining 12 reviews were analyzed using the narrative descriptive synthesis approach. We found that the quality assessment within the included reviews were inconsistent and, sometimes not clearly defined. From the analysis of the reviews, four key themes emerged: (1) change is complex; (2) the nature of change is varied; (3) there is an interdependent relationship between the coping elements; and (4) the measurement of change is not sophisticated. Our findings highlight the need for higher education institutions to adopt a principle-based approach to purposefully develop students' coping capacity, by improving their self-efficacy, engagement, and resilience, and reducing anxiety. Limitations and future research directions are outlined. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd
The nominal group technique : generating consensus in nursing research
- Authors: Cooper, Simon J. , Cant, Robyn , Luders, Elise , Waters, Donna , Henderson, Amanda , Hood, Kerry , Reid-Searl, Kerry , Ryan, Colleen , Tower, Marion , Willetts, Georgina
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Nursing Education Vol. 59, no. 2 (Feb 2020), p. 65-+
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: The purpose of this article is to describe the Nominal Group Technique and its application as a consensus-generating approach in nursing research. The approach incorporates face-to-face meetings to explore opinions, generate ideas, and determine priorities. The nominal group technique process, which is based on a study designed to develop a nursing student clinical placement (clinical practicum) evaluation tool, is described. Advantages of the approach include creative face-to-face discussions with minimal resource demands. The nominal group technique is beneficial and can be used to achieve consensus in nursing research, but a lack of anonymity may preclude the process in some investigations.
Undergraduate nursing students’ experience of mental health simulation post-clinical placement : a qualitative study
- Authors: Garvey, Loretta , Willetts, Georgina , Sadoughi, Navideh , Olasoji, Michael
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Mental Health Nursing Vol. 30, no. 1 (2021), p. 93-101
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: In nursing, it is vital that educational techniques are developed to improve students’ capabilities to communicate with and assess mental health consumers while on placement. Simulation is a valid learning technique used to prepare students to encounter consumers with mental illness before exposure in the clinical environment. The aim of this study was to explore undergraduate nursing students’ experience mental health simulation following their mental health clinical placement. An explorative descriptive qualitative study. Participants were recruited from a metropolitan Melbourne university using purposive convenience sampling. The participants were interviewed after their mental health clinical placement using semi-structured interview format. A total of n = 14 participants were interviewed. Overall, the participants expressed the fact that the mental health simulation enhanced their clinical placement experience. Two themes were identified: ‘The things I might see’ and ‘Felt better prepared’. There was a total of five subthemes: ‘The link between…’, ‘Having the know how’, ‘Like an 8-hour shift’, ‘Took away the fear factor’ and ‘Feeling more confident’. It is important that nursing students entering mental health settings receive adequate preparation prior to the commencement of their placements. Students need to be prepared in the areas of building therapeutic relationships, communication, assessment and how to work within a mental health clinical setting. The mental health simulation enhanced students’ confidence and better prepared them to undertake their clinical placement which can ultimately affect the care provided to consumers. © 2020 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.
Undergraduate student nurses’ experience of mental health simulation pre-clinical placement : a pre/post-test survey
- Authors: Olasoji, Michael , Huynh, Minh , Edward, Karen-Leigh , Willetts, Georgina , Garvey, Loretta
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Mental Health Nursing Vol. 29, no. 5 (2020), p. 820-830
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Undertaking a mental health clinical placement can be anxiety-provoking for nursing students at times. There is a need to adequately prepare undergraduate nursing students for clinical placement in a mental health setting in relation to their skills and confidence. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a mental health simulation workshop on the skills and confidence of nursing students in providing care to consumers living with a mental illness. The study also evaluated the design of the mental health simulation workshop from an educational perspective. A pre/post-test survey was administered to a cohort of N = 89 Australian pre-registration nursing students. Exploratory factor analysis identified three factors: Mental health therapeutic engagement, mental health assessment skills, and mental health placement preparedness. Analyses of pre–post differences indicated that all three factors were significantly different between the initial and follow-up responses, with follow-up responses being more favourable. The findings of this study demonstrate that there is value in including mental health simulated patient exercise as part of the learning strategies in the curriculum of pre-registration nurses. This has implications for the quality of care in the clinical environment and level of preparedness of these students’ nurses for mental health clinical placement where they will be providing care to consumers living with a mental illness under direct supervision. © 2020 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.