Student nurses' experiences and challenges in providing health education in Hong Kong

Effects of mind mapping based on standardized patient program in patient education among postgraduate nursing students in clinical setting

BACKGROUND

Patient education as an important process of postgraduate nursing education, however in previous studies there was limited study focus on the improvement of nursing students' patient education in clinical practice.This study examined the effects of a mind mapping based on standardized patient program in the patient education knowledge and communication competence of postgraduate nursing students in clinical setting.

METHODS

The present quasi-experimental study was performed in 2022 on 74 postgraduate nursing students who had taken clinical practice courses at affiliated hospital of Zunyi Medical University. Students were underwent two weeks of mind mapping based on standardized patient program. The outcome measures were patient education knowledge and communication competence evaluated were by the self-designed questionnaire consisting of 6 questions based on the Likert scale and nurse-patient communication competency rating scale respectively, self-efficacy was evaluated by the general self-efficacy scale, and patients' satisfaction were measured using a self-designed question. Data collection was conducted before and after intervention. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 19.0 software, and descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were performed.

RESULTS

Significant improvements in patient education knowledge, patient education communication competence, and self-efficacy (all P = 0.000)were observed after intervention. Improvements were also seen in measures of patients' satisfaction; 12/74 (16.22%) patients reported satisfied at baseline but only 53/74 (71.62%) at the end of intervention.

CONCLUSIONS

A web-based mind maps integrated with standardized patient program could improve patient education knowledge, communication competence,and self-efficacy of postgraduate nursing students in clinical setting.

Experience of nursing students about the barriers to patient education: a qualitative study in Iran

PURPOSE

Patient education is a dynamic and continuous process that should be implemented during the entire time of hospital stay and even afterward. Studies have shown the typically poor quality of patient education in Iran and its failure to convey the required knowledge and skills to patients. The purpose of this study was to survey the experience of nursing students in regard to the challenges of patient education in hospitals.

METHODS

This qualitative study was conducted using the conventional qualitative content analysis approach on a sample of 21 undergraduate nursing students (4th semester and beyond), which was drawn from the Qom Nursing and Midwifery School through purposive sampling with maximum variation. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted over a period of 45 to 75 minutes, and were analyzed using the conventional qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS

Results were derived from the experiences of 21 nursing students (nine males, 12 females) about the research subject. The primary themes identified in the study were the student-related, patient-related, instructor-related, education environment-related, and curriculum-related barriers to patient educations.

CONCLUSION

Participants believed that patient education in Iranian hospitals is faced with many challenges. Nursing instructors and curriculum planners should ensure more emphasis on patient education at the initial semesters of nursing education curriculum and make sure that it is included in the evaluation of students. Hospital officials should provide a dedicated education environment with suitable facilities, tools, and atmosphere for patient education. Also, special education programs need to be developed for less educated patients.

The nurse-patient communication: voices from nursing students

BACKGROUND

Effective communication skills have been found to be one of the pivotal factors in building positive interpersonal relationships. Little is known about nursing undergraduates' perspectives on communicating with patients.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to explore nursing students' perspectives and experiences of nurse-patient communication in their clinical placement.

METHODS

The participants included 21 second-year undergraduates and 21 first-year master's students. Interviews were conducted in Cantonese and then transcribed in Chinese and translated into English. A content analysis approach was adopted to analyze the data.

RESULTS

Five themes emerged from the interview data. 'The necessity of nurse-patient communication' reveals why the students valued nurse-patient communication. 'The conversation contents' describes the content of the conversations that students typically had with patients. The third theme is 'self-reflection on the nurse-patient communication'. The last two themes, 'the communication pattern in different hospital settings' and 'the obstacles impeding nurse-patient communication', are about the students' communication styles in different hospitals and the barriers they encounter.

DISCUSSION

To improve students' communication skills, educators and clinical staff should listen to students, enhance students' reflective skills and strengthen their confidence.

CONCLUSION

Through understanding students' difficulties in the nurse-patient communication experience and the skills that they lack, educators can provide them with helpful recommendations to improve their communication skills in clinical practice.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

The results of this study reveal that students' nurse-patient communication skills need to be improved.

Iranian nurses and nursing students' attitudes on barriers and facilitators to patient education: a survey study

The aim of this study is to describe the attitudes of Iranian nurses and students on barriers and facilitators to patient education. In this descriptive quantitative study, 103 nurses and 84 nursing students in two teaching hospitals in an urban area of Iran responded to a questionnaire investigating their attitudes on patient education. Results showed that all nurses and the majority (87.3%) of the students mentioned that they performed patient education. Moreover, 95% and 63.3% of the nurses and students respectively accepted that patient education was one of their roles. The nurses stated that heavy workload, inadequate time and lack of educational facilities were main barriers to patient education. The students believed that lack of knowledge, lack of communication skills and heavy workload were main barriers to patient education from their perspectives. While Iranian nurses and nursing students had positive attitudes towards patient education, it could not guarantee the implementation of patient education. Therefore, the clarification of patient education activities and development of a patient education team with the support of healthcare settings' administrators can facilitate the process of patient education in the Iranian healthcare settings.

Thinking outside the black box: the importance of context in understanding the impact of a preoperative education nursing intervention among Chinese cardiac patients

OBJECTIVE

In a randomized controlled trial of a preoperative education intervention conducted for Chinese cardiac patients, we observed a greater effect on symptoms of anxiety and depression than that reported with regard to similar interventions in western care settings. The objective of this qualitative study was to help explain the findings of the trial by exploring Chinese patients' experience of seeking and receiving information before cardiac surgery.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 20 trial participants before discharge (ten from the preoperative education group; ten from the usual care control group). Data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach.

RESULTS

A total of five themes were generated: the role of reputation and hierarchy; gaining strength from knowledge; information as a low priority; being kept in the dark; and learning through peer support.

CONCLUSION

In health care systems where service users are given relatively little information, interventions designed to inform patients about their treatment are likely to have a much greater impact on their psychological health.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Providers of services for patients undergoing cardiac surgery in China should be encouraged to incorporate information giving into routine practice, tailored according to individual need.

A pilot study on conducting mobile learning activities for clinical nursing courses based on the repertory grid approach

In clinical nursing courses, students are trained to identify the status of the target patients. The mastery of such ability and skills is very important since patients frequently need to be cared for immediately. In this pilot study, a repertory grid-oriented clinical mobile learning system is developed for a nursing training program. With the assistance of the mobile learning system, the nursing school students are able to learn in an authentic learning scenario, in which they can physically face the target patients, with the personal guidance and supplementary materials from the learning system to support them. To show the effectiveness of this innovative approach, an experiment has been conducted on the "respiratory system" unit of a nursing course. The experimental results show that the innovative approach is helpful to students in improving their learning achievements. Moreover, from the questionnaire surveys, it was found that most students showed favorable attitudes toward the usage of the mobile learning system and their participation in the training program.

Turning the tables: when the student teaches the professional -- a case description of an innovative teaching approach as told by the students

BACKGROUND

Is it possible to increase the value, meaningfulness, and relevance of a course experience by integrating it with the healthcare context? Students and teachers from a course on organization, learning and leadership sought to explore this possibility through a collaborative effort with nurses from an affiliated teaching hospital.

METHODS

Working as teachers, students created continuing nursing education (CNE) courses using the Adaptive Reflection process. The students and teachers then researched the experience in terms of: 1) content analysis of student self-reflections (discussion notes and logbooks) on the learning process, 2) a student self-assessed outcome achievement survey, and 3) perceived relevance of the CNE courses by the clinical nurse educators.

RESULTS

Thirteen nursing students created three CNE courses together with sixteen nurses. Each course consisted of multiple 20-minute long web-based modules with automatic formative feedback. In the process, students exceeded course outcome-levels, journeyed from chaos to confidence and experienced new ways of viewing the group and their own capabilities.

CONCLUSIONS

The innovative design of the course moved the focus from student-centered learning to learning by contributing to health care. Working in a real world context, the content of the students' efforts and the skills they developed not only met course requirements, but were also aligned with the needs of the wards. This contribution was valued by the students and the RNs which enhanced students' feelings of self-confidence. Further research lies in testing the model in other contexts.