Solution Orientated Learning: An innovative approach that promotes motivation and resilience

This article explores the use of Solution Orientated Learning (SOL) as an approach to coping with formal learning and practice development needs. The article explains each step of the SOL process and gives examples related to student and qualified nurses’ experiences. Time Out activities give opportunities to apply theory to practice. The authors propose that wider application of the SOL principles can support nurses in building resilience. Aim: To empower readers with the tools and strategies that will enable them to apply the SOL approach to meet academic and practice learning needs Intended Learning Outcomes After reading and participating in this CPD learning you’ll be able to: Clarify your goals Build your own and others’ motivation Use the SOL approach to design achievable steps that will take you to your desired learning outcomes Collaborate with other people in mutually supportive peer learning experiences Feel in control of your learning and empowered with strategies to enable you to meet future learning goal

Dementia 2: new approaches to understanding dementia

Improving understanding of brain disorders seems set to become one of the core applications of physiological research in the 21st century. Cognitive impairment and Dementia are not restricted to older people, but disorders that cause dementia tend to occur in later life so this article explores some of the emerging new insight to underlying pathophysiological processes. Although it is not yet clear whether dementia is the result of accelerated ageing of the brain or separate disease processes, new perspective can be applied to help to explain neurodegeneration in the most common forms of dementia. Better understanding of these mechanisms can help nurses to consider their contribution to behaviours of those who are living with the disease

Dementia 3: Preventing and diagnosing dementia

Dementia and cognitive impairment are the most significant of all chronic diseases in contributing to disability and the need for care (Alzheimer’s Disease International 2015). Indeed it has been estimated that the health and social care costs for dementia almost match the combined costs for cancer, heart disease and stroke in the UK (Leungo-Fernadez et al 2010). Yet despite the scale of this issue and the recommendations for improvement in the National Dementia Strategy (2009), poor recognition and diagnosis remain a problem which is important because without that, people with dementia do not always have access to the support, advice and treatment that could be of benefit to them (Alzheimer’s Disease International 2011). Consequently the focus of this article will be on the factors that are thought to contribute to dementia, common signs and symptoms, and current methods of diagnosis. The stigma attached to a diagnosis of dementia and the effect that this can have on individuals is also discussed

Dementia 4: The nurse’s role in caring for people with dementia

Most of the 850,000 people with dementia in the UK live at home with their families (Alzheimer’s Society 2015). The difficulties associated with dementia, for example in understanding language and with self-expression, together with reasoning, memory, orientation and sequencing problems, mean that nurses frequently respond to requests for support and advice from family carers, while also providing care for coexisting health problems, assisting with personal care and meeting other dementia-related needs. Most people living with dementia live independently or with minimal support, but around a third live in care homes (Alzheimer’s Society 2014). Modern nurse education places high value on the attitudes and skills needed for excellent dementia care, but this was not always the case. This article aims to guide nurses who may have learnt about dementia some time ago or who may be approaching this challenging and rewarding area of practice for the first time

Dementia Care, Nurse Education and Nurse Well-being: An Auto-ethnographic Critical Analysis and Review

This auto-ethnographic critical analysis and review provides an account of my development as a researcher in the field of dementia care nursing and nurse education. The included peer reviewed publications have been chosen to illustrate my research skills and unique contributions to nursing knowledge and education. My clinical nursing experience was in transcultural dementia care and included studies reflect my ongoing commitment to this field. Some of the included papers were written for practice journals to promote application of theory to practice for nurses in clinical practice. I chose an auto-ethnographic approach to writing this review with the intention of producing an engaging and meaningful account which would enable me to convey the significance and impact of my professional development as a researcher to best effect. This reflective, subjective approach to writing aligns with the qualitative nature of my research. My research has addressed four key themes: i) Identifying nurses’ or service users’ experiences and needs, ii) Extending and sharing knowledge of dementia care, for nurse education, iii) Exploring what works in educational interventions for nurses and allied health professionals and investigating factors that sustain practice change and iv) Evaluating interventions designed to support nurse well-being. Early studies explore nurses’ learning needs, then building on this to how nurses can best learn about dementia care and from there to acknowledge that nurses’ own well-being is key to the provision of high standards of care, and exploring how this might be achieved in education and practice. Contributing to the evidence and values that empower nurses within the hierarchical culture of healthcare has become a thread that runs through my practice, teaching and research. My contributions to knowledge lie in new understandings of how cultural factors influence application of theory to practice in dementia care nursing and in identifying the profession’s related ethical responsibility for members’ well-being. Current understandings of Kitwood’s (1997) personhood theory (Kitwood and Brooker 2019) continue to prioritise the well-being of people with dementia while ignoring the costs to their professional care providers. My distinctive contribution here is to identify how the personhood of nurses working in dementia care is systematically denied, a cost which is detrimental to their well-being and therefore important for its own sake, but which has significant relevance too for the subsequent impact on quality of care, staff turnover, burnout and nurse retention. Barriers to application of theory to practice in dementia care may lie in insufficient application of theory, in that the theoretical constructs should be applied with nurses as we expect for patients. Adjusting future training programmes accordingly could impact on nurses’ professional self-esteem, job satisfaction, retention and their ability to apply learning in practice

Developing mental health nursing students’ understanding of physical and mental health problems through formative peer learning seminars: a reflective account

In the context of concerns about the poor physical health and early mortality of people living with severe mental illness, it is important that nursing students are prepared to respond to the physical as well as the emotional needs of service users. In this reflective article, a nurse educator and three nursing students share their experiences of peer learning about these issues, outlining the rationale for this approach, the session design, students’ responses and the potential benefits

Using technology to support the social and emotional well-being of nurses: A scoping review protocol

Aims. (1) To review the published literature on the use of technology to provide social or emotional support to nurses, (2) to evaluate and identify gaps in the research, (3) to assess whether a systematic review would be valuable, (4) to make recommendations for future developments. Design. The protocol for the scoping review has been developed in accordance with recommendations from several methodological frameworks, as no standardised protocol currently exists for this purpose. Methods. Our protocol incorporates information about the aims and objectives of the scoping review, inclusion criteria, search strategy, data extraction, quality appraisal, data synthesis and plans for dissemination. Funding for this project was approved by Burdett Trust for Nursing in December 2016. Discussion. Technology to support patient emotional and social wellbeing has seen a rapid growth in recent years and is offered in a variety of formats. However, similar support for nursing staff remains under-researched with no literature review undertaken on this topic to date. This is despite nurses working in emotionally demanding environments which can be socially isolating. The scoping review will map current evidence on the use of technology to support nursing staff and explore the range, extent and nature of this activity. It will also provide a basis for deciding if a full systematic review would be desirable. Impact: It is important that the psychological well-being of nurses is seriously addressed as more nurses are now leaving than joining the profession. This is an international concern. High staff turnover has an interpersonal cost and is associated with reduced quality of patient care. Financial implications are also important to consider as healthcare providers employ costly agency staff to address the workforce deficit. Online technology may offer a sustainable and accessible means of providing support for nurses who find it difficult to communicate in person due to time pressures at work

How a service-user educator can provide insight into the recovery experience

This article describes a collaboratively designed and delivered teaching and learning session where mental health nursing students met with a service-user educator after reading a range of research papers about recovery. They generated questions based on their reading and then explored the validity of the findings with a patient with experience of the services described in the literature. The authors explain the rationale for the session then reflect on the process and experience from three different perspectives, those of the service-user educator, two students and a nurse lecturer. The accounts confirm that this approach motivated the students to learn about recovery, the stigma of mental health illness, the realities of services and that all the participants found the sessions rewarding and beneficial

Dementia 1: how dementia differs from normal ageing

The speed of information processing by the human brain changes with age but dementia is not part of the normal ageing process. Dementia is a progressive impairment of cognitive skills – remembering things, awareness of place and passage of time and ability to learn new things. Each person will experience dementia in his or her own way, and it is incurable and unrelenting. In this series of articles, we explore some of the main forms of dementia, highlighting new understanding of the difference between normal ageing and dementia (article 1) before explaining some of the new findings related to pathophysiological processes that contribute to signs, symptoms and behaviour of those who are affected (article 2 of this series). Risk factors and risk reduction measures associated with the disorder are discussed and evaluated before we describe signs and symptoms and outline how dementia can be recognized, assessed and diagnosed (article 3 of the series). In the final article we consider the experience of the person with dementia and then focus on the nurse’s role in responding sensitively to complex needs while working in partnership with people living with dementia, their family carers and the multi-disciplinary team (article 4 of the series)