To Twitter to woo : harnessing the power of social media (SoMe) in nurse education to enhance the student's experience

This paper explores some of the difficulties, challenges and rewards for student nurses and nurse academics when harnessing social media (SoMe) as part of the overall learning experience. The paper draws upon data in the form of student voices, captured through an online planned Twitter chat. This data analysis provides the basis of a case study on the student experience in practice placements. A planned 1 h Twitter chat took place in June 2013, specifically aimed at student nurses. What transpired was an illuminating debate, eliciting responses from around the globe about learning in practice, mentors, and student support that lasted over 3 h. More importantly, the Twitter chat also included qualified nurses and mentors, listening and responding in real time, offering thoughts and solutions to how support and mentoring could be improved. This was in contrast to how students, locally, currently use a paper based questionnaire to give feedback in isolation. The authenticity of this feedback is often compromised by university link lecturers' who often provide a more sanitised version of this feedback to clinical placement. This paper explores whether it is possible to facilitate a realignment and capture the zeitgeist in order to provide the opportunity for enhancing learning in practice

Looking after children and young people : Ensuring their voices are heard in the pre-registration nursing curriculum

‘Looked after Children’ refers to those under the age of 18 years, who have been subject to a care order under The Children Act (1989). In England there are approximately 64,400 young people who are subject of a care order, with evidence suggesting that these young people are likely to experience greater health problems than their peers. While service user involvement is seen as integral to the nursing curriculum much of the literature to date has revolved around adult service users and carers. For a number of years professionals have been urged to hear the voices of young service users and carers, and in particular, those who regularly use health and social care services. This paper will highlight the importance of collaborating with looked after children and young people to inform the nursing curriculum. By focussing on the experiences of delivering a seminar in collaboration with this group of young people in a pre-registration BSc (Hons) in Children’s Nursing, the paper will first describe how the session is organised followed by a discussion of the key issues arising these being explored from a nurse lecturer and student nurse perspective