The Placement Pathway Project : a report for Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority

Executive Summary This report represents the findings from an evaluation of current service provision within placements used by nursing and allied health professional students in the Yorkshire and Humber geographical area. The aim of the evaluation was to capture the thoughts and feelings of a variety of related professionals and students who have experience of working and operating within the current system of placement pathways and so to discover the extent and nature of these pathways. The study was designed around three phases. In each of these data were generated and interpreted by the research team via interviews, questionnaires and this was in turn considered against a reading of the relevant current literature. In conducting the evaluation we found that : Placement pathways add value to the student learning experience and simultaneously contribute to the development of the existing workforce. Pathways contribute to the debate on quality and employability by offering a change of focus to meeting the needs of learners in the workplace. Pathways are now a necessity for students in order that they are able to gain sufficient skills and knowledge to meet the requirements of the professional registration bodies. We therefore recommend that: All placements develop their own placement pathways in line with findings. Good communication systems be set up between the placement, the student and the link lecturer university/HEI. The placement should produce a document that outlines the placement learning opportunities for the specific pathway. Student progress on the pathway must be incorporated into overall placement assessment. We have produced a tool by which personnel connected to student learning on placement can store and record all relevant data and access materials associated with achieving successful outcomes. This is on a DVD and is included in a separate pocket at the back of this report

Confidence and performance in objective structured clinical examination

Introduction: The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE )is commonly used as a standard assessment approach in midwifery education. Student’s confidence may impact on the OSCE performancebut the evidence on this is very limited. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between confidence and OSCE performance in midwifery students. Methods: 103 pre-registration midwifery students (42 year one students: 61 year three students) from Sheffield Hallam University took part in this study as part of their routine OSCE assessment. They completed pre- and post-exam questionnaires, which asked them to rate their confidence in the clinical skills being assessed on a scale from 1 to 10 (1=not confident; 10 =totally confident). Results: The results showed significant increases in mean confidence levels from before to after OSCE for both first and third year students (5.52 (1.25) to 6.49 (1.19); P=0.001 and 7.49(0.87) to 8.01(0.73); P<0.001, respectively). However, there was no significant correlation between confidence levels before undertaking the OSCE and the final OSCE test scores (r= 0.12; P=0.315). Conclusions: The increased level of confidence after the OSCE is important but how thisis transformed into improved clinical skills in practical settings requires further investigation. The lack of significant correlation between OSCEresults and student’s confidence, may indicate additional evidence for the objectivity of the OSCE . This, however, may be due to the inherent complexity of assessing such relationships. Larger studies with mixed methodology are required for further investigation of this important area of education and assessment research

Using the hub and spoke student placement model in learning disability settings

The 'hub and spoke' model of placement learning began as an ad hoc arrangement. Now it has become de facto policy as student learners on placement are increasingly located across a range of different environments to take advantage of the various experiential opportunities that present. Most commentaries have focused on the experiences of those staff and students engaged on adult nursing programmes. Here we have adopted a small scale case study approach to get some insights into how the hub and spoke model actually feels for those people who engage with it in a joint learning disability and social work programme - students and placement providers

'How Families Live…' : the views and experiences of parent-carers who provide family placements to intellectual disability nursing students"

AIM: The aim of this research was to learn about the value of family placements, as experiential learning opportunities, from the perspectives and experiences of parent-carers who provide them to nurse students via a Scottish university Family Placement Scheme. METHOD: Qualitative interviews were conducted with seven (50%) parent-carers who provided at least one family placement over two academic years (2012/2013 and 2013/2014). Broadly descriptive data was analysed, organised into themes and subject to content analysis: parents’ descriptions of their caring role; their perceived value of family placements; and their views and experiences of carer participation in nurse education, and intellectual disability nursing. RESULTS: Family placements were perceived to be mutually beneficial to nurse students and families of children and adults with an intellectual disability, and provide for example, opportunity to develop communication. Detailed description of the daily and wider aspects of caring was provided, offering insight into the actual practical learning experiences of nurse students on these placements. CONCLUSION: This hub and spoke model of learning provides unique opportunity for nurse students to learn what it is really like for families to care for a relative with an intellectual disability at home, and to develop their practice skills for working in partnership with family carers

The potential therapeutic benefits of reading poetry to nursing home residents : the road less travelled?

In this paper we report on a project to take poetry into a nursing home, building on the widely-held belief in the benefits of poetry in therapeutic settings. This intervention involved us reading poetry aloud in a nursing home and reflecting on how residents reacted to these texts. Our findings suggest that talking about the poetry allowed members of this community to self-reflect and tell narratives that were important to them. Sometimes the poem served as a catalyst, encouraging the disclosure of poignant stories, while at other times the poems seemed incidental to the stories told by the group. Our subsequent reflections also suggested to us that there were several areas that needed further exploration. The poems are not delivered straight to the listener with no mediation; rather, the poems and the discussion afterwards are mediated by both the general expectations and particular interventions of the audience and the facilitators

Evaluating the engagement of seldom heard groups in commissioning health services.

This report presents the findings of an evaluation of public engagement (PE) conducted by NHS Sheffield (formally known as Sheffield Primary Care Trust, and referred to in this report as the PCT). The focus of the evaluation was on engagement with “harder to reach” or “seldom heard” communities to inform the World Class Commissioning decisions made by the PCT (Department of Health, 2007). The evaluation took place between December 2008 and August 2009 and was conducted by a small team at Sheffield Hallam University. With World Class Commissioning the obligation for the PCT to engage with the public and health service users, and to be equitable in this activity, came together under a banner of commissioning (Department of Health, 2007). This is aligned with a commitment to the involvement of citizens in order to drive up the efficiency or effectiveness of services, improve health and meet personalisation and patient-centred care targets. (Department of Health 2006, 2008). Nationally the status and nature of public engagement has increased. However, PCTs are struggling with engagement of seldom heard groups, and demonstrating how public engagement impacts upon commissioning decisions

Evaluation of a new mental health liaison team in a general hospital. Part 2: exploring the themes and their effect on practice

Hospitals and emergency departments (EDs) are caring for increasing numbers of patients who present with underlying mental health issues. Managing these patients can be challenging for clinical staff who often lack the specialist knowledge and skills required to provide appropriate care. This article, the second of a two-part series on the evaluation of a newly formed mental health liaison team (MHLT) working in a general hospital, explores three themes derived from the interview data. It also considers the effect of these themes on practice, and the relationship between MHLT members and staff in EDs and the wider hospital

Reviewing art therapy research : a constructive critique

The literature search that informed our review initially yielded 12,122 papers of potential interest, derived from seven databases. After applying a series of filters we arrived at 92 papers on which we base our findings, thoughts and recommendations for future work. Our methodological approach was informed by the systematic review guidance published by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (2009), and the Arts Council definition of ‘arts activities’. Hence we considered papers reporting therapeutic arts interventions conducted on 'patients' which included some measurement of a health state. After excluding any research on people less than age 18, we selected studies where participants had active (as opposed to passive) engagement with the therapy/treatment/medium. Only study types which were quantitative were included in this review. Rather than simply criticise the execution of the research we applied our own expertise to the process. It was immediately evident that definitions and categories would pose some difficulties as there is much variety in the language used to describe the arts, therapies and treatment. This is a problem of indexing, causing the literature search and initial screening to be a laborious process. The most commonly reported art activities were: writing, music, art and dance. The most numerous health condition studied was mental health followed by cognitive function, stress and cancer. Most research was carried out in the US and the UK. As a discipline, psychology featured regularly. When arts therapists were involved in the research the descriptions and possible effects of the art medium tended to be better elucidated. Future research into the use of art therapy in healthcare will benefit from a synthesis of approaches that can retain the more robust aspects of, for example, RCTs with the insights that can be derived from qualitative methods

Adult Mental Health Hospital Liaison Service Evaluation.

This report is an evaluation of the impact of the Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber (RDaSH) Mental Health Liaison Service (MHLS). This service provides assessment and treatment to assist the management of adults with mental health problems. A before-and-after analysis was carried out to analyse the health service utilisation data for patients registered with the service. To provide a broader perspective, stakeholder interviews were carried out with fifteen individuals who were either directly employed by RDaSH within the liaison team or who were hospital employees and whose role brought them into contact with the work of the liaison team. They were interviewed about the impact of the service and potential opportunities for enhancement. The service was very well received but a few resolvable problems were highlighted