Survival-Day @ Wiesbaden business school - evaluation of a short-term educational intervention to reduce work-associated health risks during nursing internships of students in health care economics

Background: In 2013 RheinMain University launched its bachelor's degree program Health Care Economics requiring each student to participate in a mandatory two-month nursing internship. A preliminary risk assessment revealed serious risks for both students and patients and had to be addressed by appropriate measures such as mandatory systematic safety training for each student. Methods: A short-term educational intervention named "Survival-Day" was designed to minimize risks related to nursing internships of students. This intervention consists of six 45-min-units with theoretical input (2 units) and hands-on training (4 units) imparting basic knowledge and skills in CPR, hand hygiene and handling of masks and protective gowns, prevention of needle stick injuries, fire protection and firefighting. Performance of CPR was assessed using computerized manikins. Acceptance, necessity and usability were assessed anonymously by standardized written questionnaires after completion of nursing internships. Results: 462 students have completed the Survival-Day until January 2019. CPR performance showed acceptable adherence rates to guideline recommendations (mean 78.8%, SD ±22.6%). The majority of students performed aseptic health care activities (66%), treated patients with multi-resistant pathogens (62%) and disposed sharp instruments such as blood-contaminated needles (76%). According to students' self-reports about these hazardous activities, less than 50% of these students received adequate safety training at nursing facilities. However, no sentinel events such as needle stick injuries or students becoming second victim have been reported. Conclusion: Our study reveals severe discrepancies between legal obligation of nursing facilities to ensure safety instructions for nursing interns and initial training as perceived by this group. Mandatory initial training before conduction of hazardous tasks was mainly covered by our short-term educational intervention (Survival-Day). Regarding responsibility for their students a preliminary safety instruction program like the Survival-Day should be considered for all educational institutions sending students to nursing internships unless mandatory and sufficient safety trainings for nursing interns can be guaranteed by nursing facilities

Internship Experiences Contribute to Confident Career Decision Making for Doctoral Students in the Life Sciences.

The Graduate Student Internships for Career Exploration (GSICE) program at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), offers structured training and hands-on experience through internships for a broad range of PhD-level careers. The GSICE program model was successfully replicated at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). Here, we present outcome data for a total of 217 PhD students participating in the UCSF and UC Davis programs from 2010 to 2015 and 2014 to 2015, respectively. The internship programs at the two sites demonstrated comparable participation, internship completion rates, and overall outcomes. Using survey, focus group, and individual interview data, we find that the programs provide students with career development skills, while increasing students' confidence in career exploration and decision making. Internships, in particular, were perceived by students to increase their ability to discern a career area of choice and to increase confidence in pursuing that career. We present data showing that program participation does not change median time to degree and may help some trainees avoid "default postdocs." Our findings suggest important strategies for institutions developing internship programs for PhD students, namely: including a structured training component, allowing postgraduation internships, and providing a central organization point for internship programs

Global Internship Program

City Internships runs immersive career training programs for college students and recent graduates. They’re designed to expand participants’ horizons and get them job-ready. For each program, on top of hard and soft skill building at weekly career seminars, workshops and networking events, participants undertake an internship placement at one of our partner companies. Students and graduates develop real-world skills, build their professional network and fast-track their career

Improving the Quality of Teaching Internships with the Help of the Platforms

This article presents an empirical study on the perceptions of university students toward the development of the teaching practicum, using the CourseSites platform as a communication and support tool for their training. The opinions of the students were collected through a questionnaire. The sample consisted of 1500 students who were registered in the degrees of Early Childhood Education, Primary Education and Pedagogy (2008-2018). A descriptive, inferential and multi-level analysis was conducted, which confirmed that future teachers had activated their professional competences, as they had the chance to share their internship experiences with their faculty members and with their own classmates

Training Students to do In-Home Behavioral Therapy with Toddlers from Low-Income Families

The purpose of this project was to develop an internship training program that offered in-home therapy for young children with significant emotional and behavior problems. The children lived in single-parent, low-income homes in unsafe neighborhoods of a large, urban area. A year-long, training and supervision program was implemented with ten second-year, graduate students enrolled in five different university programs that prepared mental health professionals. Students received specialized instruction in working with diverse families living in poverty and in an evidence-based treatment program. They initially observed veteran counselors implementing the treatment program in homes and gradually assumed responsibility for conducting sessions on their own. Students’ scores on a measure of counseling self-efficacy improved significantly from pre- to post-internship. Students reported high levels of satisfaction with the training program and significantly improved confidence levels in their counseling skills at the conclusion of their internship experience. The limitations of these preliminary outcomes for this pilot program are discussed along with the need for more research in this understudied area

Enhancing the Transformative Potential of Business Internships

Business internships involve students, sponsoring firms, and institutions of higher learning. As part of a program to enhance internships, we reviewed the experience of a small number of business interns working in Central Europe. Their experiences were characterized as essentially situation-specific learning, competence training, and affirmation of coursework. Student perceptions suggest prematurely defined boundaries that limit the theoretical advantages of internships. In order to enhance the internship experience, we suggest redesigning, sustaining, and evaluating internships emphasizing transferable learning, discovery of self in work, reflection and process, liminal experiences, and challenging espoused theory. We suggest that such redefined internships may optimize learning opportunities and the growth of human and social capital for all stakeholders, which are of particular benefit in the transforming business contexts of central and southern Europe.business internships, experiential learning, career, transitional economies, transforming education

Home-Based Therapy for Young Children in Low-Income Families: A Student Training Program

The purpose of this project was to develop an internship training program that offered in-home therapy for young children with significant emotional and behavior problems. The children lived in single-parent, low-income homes in unsafe neighborhoods of a large, urban area. A year-long, training and supervision program was implemented with 10 second-year, graduate students enrolled in 5 different university programs that prepared mental health professionals. Students received specialized instruction in working with diverse families living in poverty and in an evidence-based treatment program. They initially observed veteran counselors implementing the treatment program in homes and gradually assumed responsibility for conducting sessions on their own. Students’ scores on a measure of counseling self-efficacy improved significantly from pre-to post-internship. Students reported high levels of satisfaction with the training program and significantly improved confidence levels in their counseling skills at the conclusion of their internship experience. The limitations of these preliminary outcomes for this pilot program are discussed along with the need for more research in this understudied area

Preparing School Leaders for a Changing World: Lessons From Exemplary Leadership Development Programs

Presents eight case studies of effective school leadership training programs and provides the key characteristics of high-quality training to help states and districts address long-standing weaknesses in the way principals are prepared for their jobs