A Descriptive Study of a Clinical Evaluation Tool and Process: Student and Faculty Perspectives

Clinical evaluation tools are designed to assess nursing students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to program and course outcomes and professional nursing standards. Students, faculty, administrators, and the public rely on the effectiveness of the tool and process to determine progression within the curriculum and validate competency. In May 2012, a revised clinical evaluation tool was implemented in a baccalaureate nursing program. This study was undertaken to evaluate the revised clinical evaluation tool by exploring the perspectives of students and faculty who use the tool and engage in the evaluation process. Findings revealed the tool was user friendly and instructions were clear, with sufficient grading criteria to determine clinical competency. Findings also revealed areas for improvement in the evaluation process, including orientation to the tool, connecting program outcomes to clinical performance, and meaningful participation in evaluation. Recommendations are made for improving the clinical evaluation proces

Superhuman? Perceptions of accelerated students and graduates working in health care

Background: Accelerated university courses were developed in response to consumer demand and educational advances, yet a lack of research exists related to the impact of accelerated health care courses in the United Kingdom. Objectives: This study explored clinicians' perceptions of accelerated pre-registration courses in physiotherapy. Method: Senior clinicians were recruited by purposive sampling from several National Health Service hospitals across northeast England. Data from face-to-face semi-structured interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Findings: Findings from fourteen participants indicated their admiration of accelerated students’ attributes to complete what they considered to be an intense and in-depth course. Such graduates were described as ‘superhuman.’ Participants noted that accelerated graduates were likely to ‘hit the ground running’ in clinical settings. However, concerns were raised that some accelerated graduates' over-confidence affected team dynamics and/or affected some aspects of clinical reasoning. Conclusions: Participants valued the varied routes to graduation while recognising their strengths and limitations. Findings from the study suggested the need for different types of clinical supervision to support each route

Improving Utilization of the Family History in the Electronic Health Record

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of Family History in the Electronic Health Record and to identify opportunities to advance the contributions of nurses in obtaining, updating and assessing family history in order to improve the health of all individuals and populations.; The article presents an overview of the obstacles to charting Family History within the Electronic Health Record and recommendations for using specific Family History tools and core Family History data sets.; Opportunities to advance nursing contributions in obtaining, updating, and assessing family history in order to improve the health of all individuals were identified. These opportunities are focused within the area of promoting the importance of communication within families and between healthcare providers to obtain, document, and update family histories.; Nurses can increase awareness of existing resources that can guide collection of a comprehensive and accurate family history and facilitate family discussions. In this paper, opportunities to advance nursing contributions in obtaining, updating, and assessing family history in order to improve the health of all individuals were identified.; Aligned with the clinical preparation of nurses, family health should be used routinely by nurses for risk assessment and to help inform patient and family members on screening, health promotion, and disease prevention. The quality of family health information is critical in order to leverage the use of genomic healthcare information and derive new knowledge about disease biology, treatment efficacy, and drug safety. These actionable steps need to be performed in the context of promoting evidence-based applications of family history that will be essential for implementing personalized genomic healthcare approaches and disease prevention efforts.; Family health history is one of the most important tools for identifying the risk of developing rare and chronic conditions, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes, and represents an integration of disease risk from genetic, environmental, and behavioral/lifestyle factors. In fact, family history has long been recognized as a strong independent risk factor for disease and is the current best practice used in clinical practice to guide risk assessment

A qualitative study of advanced nurse practitioners’ use of physical assessment skills in the community: shifting skills across professional boundaries

Aim To explore multiple perspectives on the use of physical assessment skills by Advanced Nurse Practitioners in the UK Background Physical assessment skills practices are embedded in advanced nursing practice roles in the UK. There is little evidence on how these skills are used by Advanced Nurse Practitioners' on the community. Design Case study Methodology and methods. A qualitative interpretative single-embedded case study of 22 participants from South of England. A framework method analysed interview data collected by the researcher between March and August 2013. Participants included nurses, doctors, nurse educators and managers Findings Physical assessment skills education at Universities are part of a policy shift to develop a flexible workforce in the UK. Shared physical assessment practices are less to do with role substitution and more about preparing practitioners with skills that are fit for purpose. Competence capability and performance with physical assessment skills are an expectation of advanced nursing practice. Conclusions These skills are used successfully by community Advanced Nurse Practitioners to deliver a wide range of services in response to changing patient need. The introduction of physical assessment skills education to undergraduate professional preparation would create a firm foundation to develop these skills in post-graduate education. Relevance to clinical practice. • Physical assessment education prepares nurses with the clinical competencies to carry out healthcare reforms in the UK • Shared sets of clinical assessment competencies between disciplines have better outcomes for patients • Levels of assessment competence can depend on the professional attributes of individual practitioners • Unsupportive learning cultures can hinder professional development of advanced nursing practic

The effect of human patient simulation on critical thinking and its predictors in prelicensure nursing students

UnlabelledHuman patient simulation (HPS) is becoming a popular teaching method in nursing education globally and is believed to enhance both knowledge and critical thinking.ObjectiveWhile there is evidence that HPS improves knowledge, there is no objective nursing data to support HPS impact on critical thinking. Therefore, we studied knowledge and critical thinking before and after HPS in prelicensure nursing students and attempted to identify the predictors of higher critical thinking scores.MethodsUsing a one-group, quasi-experimental, pre-test post-test design, 154 prelicensure nursing students (age 25.7± 6.7; gender=87.7% female) from 3 schools were studied at the same point in their curriculum using a high-fidelity simulation. Pre- and post-HPS assessments of knowledge, critical thinking, and self-efficacy were done as well as assessments for demographics and learning style.ResultsThere was a mean improvement in knowledge scores of 6.5 points (P<0.001), showing evidence of learning. However, there was no statistically significant change in the critical thinking scores. A logistic regression with 10 covariates revealed three variables to be predictors of higher critical thinking scores: greater "age" (P=0.01), baseline "knowledge" (P=0.04) and a low self-efficacy score ("not at all confident") in "baseline self-efficacy in managing a patient's fluid levels" (P=.05).ConclusionThis study reveals that gains in knowledge with HPS do not equate to changes in critical thinking. It does expose the variables of older age, higher baseline knowledge and low self-efficacy in "managing a patient's fluid levels" as being predictive of higher critical thinking ability. Further study is warranted to determine the effect of repeated or sequential simulations (dosing) and timing after the HPS experience on critical thinking gains

Bridging the gender divide: Facilitating the educational path for men in nursing

Background: Although the number of men entering the nursing profession over the past century has increased in-crementally, the proportion of men remains low in contrast to the U.S. population. On matriculation into nursing school, men face stereotypes about the nursing profession and the characteristics of the men who enter it. Men may also face a number of gender-based barriers, including lack of history about men in nursing, lack of role models, role strain, gender discrimination, and isolation. Method: This article describes each of these barriers and provides strategies to improve male students’ learning experience. Results: The efforts of one nursing school to address many of these barriers are also described. Conclusion: Through acknowledging gender barriers and taking intentional steps to address them with prenursing and nursing students, schools of nursing may create a more inclusive environment and enhance the profession’s diversity

Towards improved decision support in the assessment and management of pain for people with dementia in hospital: a systematic meta-review and observational study

BackgroundPain and dementia are common in older people, and impaired cognitive abilities make it difficult for them to communicate their pain. Pain, if poorly managed, impairs health and well-being. Accurate pain assessment in this vulnerable group is challenging for hospital staff, but essential for appropriate management. Robust methods for identifying, assessing and managing pain are needed.Aims and objectivesTwo studies were undertaken to inform the development of a decision support tool to aid hospital staff in the recognition, assessment and management of pain. The first was a meta-review of systematic reviews of observational pain assessment instruments with three objectives: (1) to identify the tools available to assess pain in adults with dementia; (2) to identify in which settings they were used and with what patient populations; and (3) to assess their reliability, validity and clinical utility. The second was a multisite observational study in hospitals with four objectives: (1) to identify information currently used by clinicians when detecting and managing pain in patients with dementia; (2) to explore existing processes for detecting and managing pain in these patients; (3) to identify the role (actual/potential) of carers in this process; and (4) to explore the organisational context in which health professionals operate. Findings also informed development of health economics data collection forms to evaluate the implementation of a new decision support intervention in hospitals.MethodsFor the meta-review of systematic reviews, 12 databases were searched. Reviews of observational pain assessment instruments that provided psychometric data were included. Papers were quality assessed and data combined using narrative synthesis. The observational study used an ethnographic approach in 11 wards in four UK hospitals. This included non-participant observation of 31 patients, audits of patient records, semistructured interviews with 52 staff and four carers, informal conversations with staff and carers and analysis of ward documents and policies. Thematic analysis of the data was undertaken by the project team.ResultsData from eight systematic reviews including 28 tools were included in the meta-review. Most tools showed moderate to good reliability, but information about validity, feasibility and clinical utility was scarce. The observational study showed complex ward cultures and routines, with variations in time spent with patients, communication patterns and management practices. Carer involvement was rare. No pain decision support tools were observed in practice. Information about pain was elicited in different ways, at different times, by different health-care staff and recorded in separate documents. Individual staff made sense of patients’ pain by creating their own ‘overall picture’ from available information.LimitationsGrey literature and non-English-language papers were excluded from the meta-review. Sample sizes in the observational study were smaller than planned owing to poor documentation of patients’ dementia diagnoses, gatekeeping by staff and difficulties in gaining consent/assent. Many patients had no or geographically distant carers, or a spouse who was too unwell and/or reluctant to participate.ConclusionsNo single observational pain scale was clearly superior to any other. The traditional linear concept of pain being assessed, treated and reassessed by single individuals did not ‘fit’ with clinical reality. A new approach enabling effective communication among patients, carers and staff, centralised recording of pain-related information, and an extended range of pain management interventions is proposed [Pain And Dementia Decision Support (PADDS)]. This was not tested with users, but a follow-on study aims to codesign PADDS with carers and clinicians, then introduce education on staff/patient/carer communications and use of PADDS within a structured implementation plan. PADDS will need to be tested in differing ward contexts