A TALE OF TWO VIRTUAL ADVISORS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY INVESTIGATING THE EMPOWERMENT EFFECT OF MOBILE MENTAL-HEALTH ADVISORY SYSTEMS ON EMERGENCY RESCUERS

Virtual advisory services are very important tools for the psychological self-help domain. It is particularly valuable for emergency rescuers in relieving their psychological distress given the high-stress nature of their occupation. To investigate optimal design strategies for an effective virtual advisory service to empower emergency rescuers, this article explores how virtual advisor identity influences the empowerment effect of virtual mental-health advisory systems for emergency rescuers. Guided by empowerment theory and similarity theory, we developed and empirically tested our system artefact and design theory for our virtual advisory system MHAS. The results of our experiment, involving 120 emergency rescuers who have just finished their emergency tasks in Inner Mongolia, show that virtual advisor identity significantly impacts on a user’s cognitive and emotional aspects, which are significant empowering enablers leading to positive empowerment outcomes as measured by a sense of control and perceived power. Implications for research and practice are then discussed

How does virtual simulation impact on nursing students’ knowledge and self-efficacy for recognising and responding to deteriorating patients? A mixed methods study.

Background: Preparing undergraduate nursing students effectively for safe clinical practice continues to present significant challenges due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, global nursing shortages, greater competition for quality clinical placements, and no guarantee that nursing students will have exposure to a deteriorating patient during their clinical placements. This is a concern because early warning signs of clinical deterioration are often not detected by nurses in a timely manner, and recognition and response to deteriorating patients is recognised globally as a major safety challenge (Haddeland et al., 2018). Aim: To explore the impact of using interactive virtual simulation case studies with facilitated debriefing (Eppich and Cheng, 2015) on nursing students’ knowledge and self-efficacy for recognising and responding to early signs of clinical deterioration in patients. Design & Methods: Mixed methods study with quasi-experimental pre/post design and focus groups. A convenience sample (n=88) final year undergraduate nursing students with half the sample at each sites randomly allocated to a treatment or control group. The treatment group received a virtual simulation intervention, debriefing, and participated in a focus group. Results: The treatment group had statistically significant higher levels of clinical self-efficacy from pre to post survey scores (65.34 and 80.12) compared to the control group (62.59 and 70.73) and significantly increased levels of knowledge in recognizing and responding to the deteriorating patient scores from pre to post survey (11.30 to 13.1) in comparison to the control group (10.33 and 9.92). Conclusions: study findings demonstrated the positive impact of a the virtual simulation intervention on knowledge and confidence of undergraduate nursing students from geographically diverse areas

Adults with intellectual disabilities’ lived experiences of wellbeing and the Internet : a descriptive phenomenological study

Internet usage continues to increase among adults with intellectual disabilities (IDs), but many are scared to use the internet or are denied access by those who care for them. The internet offers many opportunities, such as the ability to increase social networks and independence, and gain access to health information and support, all of which could contribute to the wellbeing of those with IDs. Due to the lack of qualitative research into the everyday lived online experiences of adults with IDs living in the United Kingdom (UK), decisions around adults with IDs’ internet access and use are often based on reported stories in the media, those without IDs’ experiences, and child-related internet information. This has resulted in an overly paternal and negative approach and a lack of understanding into how best to support adults with IDs’ enjoyable, safe and independent internet use.Taking a descriptive-empirical phenomenological approach, 8 participants with IDs aged between 19-62 from the Yorkshire and Humber region, were interviewed multiple times using semi-structured and adapted methods about their experiences of wellbeing and the internet. The qualitative data was analysed in two phases: data relating to the individual participant’s context was analysed using inductive thematic analysis (TA), informed by methods set out by Braun and Clarke (2006, 2013), whilst data relating to the concrete lived experiences of the phenomenon was analysed using descriptive-empirical phenomenological methods set out by Giorgi (2009). The essential structure of the phenomenon: internet and wellbeing, was composed of seven constituents:• The internet as a mirror.• The internet enables visibility and invisibility.• The internet as liberating.• The internet meets unmet needs.• The internet creates a decision maker and expert.• The internet as friend and foe.• The body connects to, and disconnects from, the internet.The participants’ sense of wellbeing, as well as suffering, was often integral to the internet experience and entwined with their offline context and ID related identities

Online courses for healthcare professionals: is there a role for social learning?

Background: All UK postgraduate medical trainees receive supervision from trained supervisors. Training has traditionally been delivered via face to face courses, but with increasing time pressures and complex shift patterns, access to these is difficult. To meet this challenge, we developed a two-week massive open online course (MOOC) for faculty development of clinical supervisors. Summary of Work: The MOOC was developed by a group of experienced medical educators and delivered via the FutureLearn (FL) platform which promotes social learning through interaction. This facilitates building of communities of practice, learner interaction and collaboration. We explored learner perceptions of the course, in particular the value of social learning in the context of busy healthcare professionals. We analysed responses to pre- and post-course surveys for each run of the MOOC in 2015, FL course statistics, and learner discussion board comments. Summary of Results: Over 2015, 7,225 learners registered for the course, though 6% left the course without starting. Of the 3,055 learners who began the course, 35% (1073/3055) were social learners who interacted with other participants. Around 31% (960/3055) learners participated fully in the course; this is significantly higher than the FL average of 22%. Survey responses suggest that 68% learners worked full-time, with over 75% accessing the course at home or while commuting, using laptops, smart phones and tablet devices. Discussion: Learners found the course very accessible due to the bite-sized videos, animations, etc which were manageable at the end of a busy working day. Inter-professional discussions and social learning made the learning environment more engaging. Discussion were rated as high quality as they facilitated sharing of narratives and personal reflections, as well as relevant resources. Conclusion: Social learning added value to the course by promoting sharing of resources and improved interaction between learners within the online environment. Take Home Messages: 1) MOOCs can provide faculty development efficiently with a few caveats. 2) Social learning added a new dimension to the online environment