Becoming a Nurse Scientist: The Critical Role of Mentorship, Collaboration, and Foundational Experiences as a Graduate Student

This article is a narrative of my journey to becoming a nurse scientist, which began as an undergraduate student in nursing. Throughout this paper, I share the ingredients that have been critical to my success as a new scientist, how my past and present perceptions of the role of a scientist have evolved, and the personal benefits I have experienced in this role. I conclude with a summary of how I perceive the scientific work that I do contributes to knowledge and society. Overall, my mentors, collaborative networks, and foundational experiences as a graduate student have laid the foundation for my career as a new scientist and have prepared me to conduct multi-method intersectoral research, which I believe is critical to informing health policy

Factors Affecting Interprofessional Collaboration when Communicating through the use of Information and Communication Technologies: A Literature Review

Abstract Background Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly being used internationally as a cost-effective and efficient way to provide care for patients in rural and remote settings, often referred to as telemedicine. There have been various studies that have examined the effectiveness of telemedicine implementation on patient outcomes, and the factors that enable successful telemedicine program implementation. The purpose of this narrative literature review was to explore a different side of the issue, with the objective to examine the factors that affect interprofessional collaboration when communicating through the use of ICTs in telemedicine settings.   Methods and Findings A total of 56 papers were included in this review. Using a narrative review design, analysis of the papers revealed several factors that act as facilitators and barriers to interprofessional collaboration when communicating through the use of ICTs. Facilitators included training and planning; ICT system supports; establishing good rapport and communication patterns; patient-centredness; willingness to adapt to and accept the technology; and key individuals providing leadership and administrative support. Barriers included technical issues; coordination and organizational challenges; and problematic relationships.   Conclusions From the facilitators and barriers, recommendations have been compiled for stakeholders involved in telemedicine initiatives to consider on how to support interprofessional collaboration in telemedicine.  

Peer-to-peer support on Facebook for caregivers of children and youth with complex care needs in New Brunswick: An environmental scan

This environmental scan aimed to describe the purpose, use, and reach of health-related peer-to-peer support groups on Facebook for caregivers of children and youth with complex care needs in New Brunswick. A total of 3,104 searches on Facebook and consultations with thirty-two stakeholders led to the identification of forty-seven Facebook support groups (twenty-one active). Groups targeted a range of conditions, with autism and related intellectual disabilities appearing most frequently. Content analysis of posts indicated that groups were primarily used to exchange informational support. This study showed that Facebook-based peer-to-peer support groups are available to families of children and youth with complex care needs in the province. This work also lays a foundation for future scans of Facebook-based support groups in other Canadian provinces and beyond.La présente analyse du milieu visait à décrire l’objectif, l’utilisation et la portée des groupes de soutien entre pairs liés à la santé sur Facebook pour les personnes qui s’occupent d’enfants et de jeunes ayant des besoins de soins complexes au Nouveau-Brunswick. En tout, 3 104 recherches sur Facebook et des consultations auprès de 32 intervenants ont permis de repérer 47 groupes de soutien sur Facebook, dont 21 groupes actifs. Des groupes ciblaient un éventail de troubles; l’autisme et les déficiences intellectuelles connexes étaient ceux qui étaient les plus fréquents. Les analyses de contenu des messages ont révélé que les groupes étaient principalement utilisés pour échanger des informations de soutien. Selon cette étude, des groupes de soutien entre pairs sur Facebook sont offerts aux familles d’enfants et de jeunes ayant des besoins de soins complexes dans la province. De plus, ce travail jette les bases de futures analyses de groupes de soutien sur Facebook d’autres provinces canadiennes et d’ailleurs

Canadianizing and Evaluating a Virtual Simulation Program for Community Health

Nurse educators are looking to integrate innovative pedagogies to enable students to acquire required competencies in community/population health nursing. Previously, nursing students who used Sentinel City® an American-based virtual simulation program for community health clinical learning have been shown to obtain equal or better learning outcomes compared to students who used traditional methods. To improve the fidelity of this virtual simulation program for our Canadian context, we Canadianized Sentinel City® to improve Canadian students learning experiences further. The purpose of this research was to describe the development of Sentinel City® Canada and subsequent evaluation of student learning outcomes after implementation across different sites in two provinces in Canada. Guided by constructivist and experiential learning concepts, we used a mixed-methods, cross-sectional survey. The quantitative questions were analysed using descriptive statistics. Inferential (ANOVA) statistics examined the relationship between the use of Sentinel City® Canada and ability to meet their course learning outcomes. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis following a six-step process including: 1) Become familiar with the data; 2) Generate initial codes; 3) Search for themes; 4); Review themes; 5) Define themes; and 6) Write up the findings. The study population included all currently registered nursing students (n=396) in post-secondary nursing programs at two universities and one college during the 2021/2022 academic year who completed their community/public/population health nursing clinical with the use of Sentinel City® Canada. The response rate was 18% (n=72). Learning outcomes of students who used Sentinel City® Canada varied across jurisdictions. The overall mean of students indicating that Sentinel City® Canada helped them achieve course objectives has increased from our previous studies. In fact, the overall mean of students indicating that Sentinel City® Canada helped them achieve course objectives has increased from our previous studies, with a mean of 2.47 in 2020, to a mean of 3.11 in 2022, to a mean of 3.34 with the Canadian version. Qualitative responses provide further insight into students’ perceptions. Canadianizing Sentinel City® has increased the fidelity of this community/population health simulation program and contributed to increasing student learning outcomes. Our findings provide evidence that Sentinel City® Canada can be a valuable learning tool for community/population health nursing clinical education that contributes to course learning outcomes. Résumé Les professeures et professeurs en sciences infirmières cherchent à intégrer des stratégies pédagogiques novatrices pour permettre aux étudiantes et étudiants de développer les compétences requises en soins infirmiers de santé communautaire/populationnelle. Auparavant, il a été démontré que les étudiantes et étudiants en sciences infirmières qui utilisaient Sentinel City, un programme américain de simulation virtuelle pour l’apprentissage clinique en santé communautaire, obtenaient des résultats d’apprentissage égaux ou supérieurs à ceux des étudiantes et étudiants qui étaient exposés à des méthodes traditionnelles. Afin d’accroitre la fidélité de ce programme de simulation virtuelle à notre contexte canadien, nous avons canadianisé Sentinel City dans le but d’améliorer davantage les expériences d’apprentissage des étudiantes et étudiants canadiens. Le but de cette recherche était de décrire la conceptualisation de Sentinel City Canada et l’évaluation ultérieure des résultats d’apprentissage des étudiantes et étudiants après sa mise en œuvre dans différents campus de deux provinces du Canada. Guidées par des concepts constructivistes et expérientiels d’apprentissage, nous avons mené une étude transversale à méthodes mixtes. Les réponses aux questions quantitatives ont été analysées à l’aide de statistiques descriptives. Les statistiques inférentielles (analyse de la variance) ont examiné la relation entre l’utilisation de Sentinel City Canada et la capacité à atteindre les résultats d’apprentissage des cours. Les données qualitatives ont été analysées à l’aide d’une analyse thématique suivant un processus en six étapes comprenant : 1) se familiariser avec les données; 2) générer les codes initiaux; 3) chercher des thèmes; 4) raffiner les thèmes; 5) définir les thèmes; et 6) rédiger les résultats. La population étudiée comprenait toutes les étudiantes et tous les étudiants en sciences infirmières actuellement inscrits (n = 396) dans des programmes de sciences infirmières dans deux universités et un site collégial d’un programme universitaire collaboratif au cours de l’année 2021-2022 et qui ont terminé leur formation clinique de soins infirmiers en santé communautaire/publique/ populationnelle avec l’utilisation de Sentinel City Canada. Le taux de réponse était de 18 % (n=72). Les résultats d’apprentissage des étudiantes et étudiants qui ont utilisé Sentinel City Canada variaient selon les régions. En fait, la moyenne globale des étudiantes et étudiants qui ont indiqué que Sentinel City Canada les a aidés à atteindre les objectifs du cours a augmenté par rapport à nos études précédentes, la moyenne passant de 2,47 en 2020, à 3,11 en 2022, puis à 3,34 avec la version canadienne. Les réponses qualitatives fournissent un aperçu plus approfondi des perceptions des étudiantes et étudiants. La canadianisation de Sentinel City a accru la fidélité de ce programme de simulation sur la santé communautaire/ populationnelle et a contribué à améliorer les résultats d’apprentissage des étudiantes et étudiants. Nos résultats indiquent que Sentinel City Canada peut être un outil d’apprentissage précieux pour la formation clinique en soins infirmiers de santé communautaire/ populationnelle qui contribue à atteindre les résultats d’apprentissage des cours

Patients’ Messages as Educators in an Interprofessional Health Education Program

Background: Patients have traditionally played a passive role in health professional education. Health Mentors Programs are new, innovative interprofessional education initiatives that involve "health mentors" (volunteer community patient educators), who share their experiences navigating the healthcare system with an interprofessional team of four health professional students. The purpose of this research was to explore what motivated the patient educators to participate in the Dalhousie Health Mentors Program and what messages they wanted to instill in health professional students.Methods: Data were collected through seven semi-structured focus groups (N = 29) and one individual interview (N = 1), which were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Qualitative inductive thematic analysis was used to identify key themes.Findings: Our study demonstrated that patients want to play an active role in educating health professional students with the hope of improving the healthcare system. The mentors wanted to convey to the students the importance of interprofessional collaboration, understanding patients are people first, listening to patients, and understanding the visible and invisible impacts of living with chronic conditions.Conclusions: If we expect our students to become competent in providing interprofessional, patient-centred care, it is important that we provide opportunities for patients to be actively involved in health professional education, as they have important messages that cannot be taught from a textbook

Curricular Factors that Unintentionally Affect Learning in a Community-Based Interprofessional Education Program: The Student Perspective

Background: The Dalhousie Health Mentors Program (DHMP) is a community-based, pre-licensure interprofessional education initiative that aims to prepare health professional students for collaborative practice in the care of patients with chronic conditions. This program evaluation explores the students’ 1) learning and plans to incorporate skills into future practice; 2) ratings of program content, delivery, and assignments; 3) perspectives of curricular factors that inadvertently acted as barriers to learning; and 4) program improvement suggestions.Methods: All students (N = 745) from the 16 participating health programs were invited to complete an online mixed methods program evaluation survey at the conclusion of the 2012–2013 DHMP. A total of 295 students (40% response rate) responded to the Likert-type questions analyzed using descriptive and non-parametric statistics. Of these students, 204 (69%) provided responses to 10 open-ended questions, which were analyzed thematically.Findings: While the majority of respondents agreed that they achieved the DHMP learning objectives, the mixed-methods approach identified curriculum integration, team composition, and effectiveness of learning assignments as factors that unintentionally acted as barriers to learning, with three key student recommendations for program improvement.Conclusions: Educators and program planners need to be aware that even well-intended learning activities may result in unintended experiences that hamper interprofessional learning

Experiences of people with dementia and informal caregivers with post-diagnostic support: Data from the international COGNISANCE study

OBJECTIVES: The study aims to describe people with dementia and informal caregivers' respective experiences of support after diagnosis and compares these experiences. Additionally, we determine how people with dementia and informal caregivers who are satisfied with support differ from those dissatisfied. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey study in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Poland, and United Kingdom was carried out to examine people with dementia and informal caregivers experience with support (satisfaction with information, access to care, health literacy, and confidence in ability to live well with dementia). The separate surveys contained closed questions. Analysis consisted of descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests. RESULTS: Ninety people with dementia and 300 informal caregivers participated, and 69% of people with dementia and 67% of informal caregivers said support after diagnosis helped them deal more efficiently with their concerns. Up to one-third of people with dementia and informal caregivers were dissatisfied with information about management, prognosis, and strategies for living positively. Few people with dementia (22%) and informal caregivers (35%) received a care plan. People with dementia were more often satisfied with information, had more often confidence in their ability to live well with dementia, and were less often satisfied with access to care compared to informal caregivers. Informal caregivers who were satisfied with support were more satisfied with information and access to care compared to informal caregivers not satisfied with support. CONCLUSIONS: Experience of dementia support can be improved and people with dementia and informal caregiver differ in their experiences of support

What Are the Perceptions, Experiences, and Behaviors of Health Care Providers After Implementation of a Comprehensive Smoke-Free Hospital Policy?

The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions, experiences, and behaviors of health care providers (HCPs) after the implementation of a comprehensive smoke-free policy. This qualitative descriptive study, using semi-structured interviews, was conducted with 28 HCPs working in a Canadian hospital. Four overarching themes emerged from the analysis including (a) greater support for tobacco reduction, (b) enhanced patient care and interactions, (c) improved staff morale, and (d) some barriers still exist. The main findings suggest a comprehensive smoke-free hospital environment can strengthen the tobacco-free workplace culture within a hospital setting among HCPs where support for tobacco reduction is amplified, patient care and interactions regarding tobacco dependence are improved, and staff morale is enhanced. While there are still some challenging barriers as well as opportunities for improvements, the implementation of a comprehensive smoke-free policy heightened the call-to-action among HCPs to take a more active role in tobacco reduction

A rapid review exploring nurse‐led memory clinics

Abstract Aims To systematically explore the structures, functions, outcomes, roles and nursing credentials of memory clinics where nurses autonomously lead diagnosis and postdiagnostic care. Design A systematic rapid review was conducted. Data sources MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL Full‐Text (EBSCO) and EMBASE were systematically searched in December 2019 with no timeframe limitations imposed. Review Methods The modified PRISMA checklist was used as a guide to facilitate the review. Articles identified were screened and assessed for inclusion criteria, and screening of reference lists of included studies was also completed. Results Six articles, published between 2011–2019, including two case studies, two descriptive reports, one qualitative study and one programme evaluation were included in the review. Nurse‐led memory clinics were situated in community centres, on university campuses, hospitals and in general practitioners' offices. The services offered included assessment, diagnosis and treatment/postdiagnostic care. Nurse credentials included advanced practice nurses and a community psychiatric nurse who was a non‐medical prescriber. Overall, there was low quantity and quality of evidence to evaluate outcomes