Nursing students' misunderstandings when learning about stroke care: A phenomenographic study

Effects of a multifaceted neurological assessment educational program in nursing students: A randomized crossover study

AIM

This study aimed to verify the effects of a multifaceted neurological assessment educational program on neurological assessment-related knowledge, skills, communication ability and self-efficacy in nursing students.

BACKGROUND

Nurses should be equipped with optimal neurological assessment competency to ensure quality care for patients with neurological symptoms.

DESIGN

This study involved a waitlist control group with a randomized crossover design.

METHODS

Fourth-year nursing students were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 28) or a waitlist control group (n = 27). Pre- and post-intervention differences in neurological assessment knowledge, skills, communication ability and self-efficacy between the intervention and the waitlist control group were analyzed using generalized estimated equations.

RESULTS

The nursing students in the intervention group showed significantly improved knowledge, skills, communication ability and self-efficacy scores compared with those in the waitlist control group. Scores related to knowledge, skills and communication ability were maintained and self-efficacy scores had further increased at 2 weeks after the educational program in the intervention group.

CONCLUSIONS

Our multifaceted neurological assessment educational program is useful for improving nursing students' knowledge, skills, communication ability and self-efficacy.

Effect of Continuous Care Combined with Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy Based on a Continuing Care Health Platform on MBI and FMA Scores of Acute Stroke Patients

Methods

68 acute stroke patients admitted to our hospital from July 2018 to July 2019 were selected as the study participants and divided into group A and group B based on the odd and even numbers of their admission numbers, with 34 cases in each group. Patients in group B accepted the routine rehabilitation exercise, while patients in group A accepted the continuous care combined with constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) under a health platform, so as to compare their upper limb function recovery by the Fugl–Meyer assessment (FMA) and improved median Barthel index (MBI).

Results

The general information of the two groups were not obviously different (P > 0.05) but comparable; after intervention, the FMA scores (38.42 ± 7.62 vs 31.22 ± 7.25) and MBI scores (78.63 ± 6.52 vs 70.24 ± 6.48) of patients in group A were significantly higher than those of group B (P < 0.001); the activities of daily living (ADL) and trunk control test (TCT) scores at T1, T2, and T3 of group A were significantly higher than those of group B (P < 0.05); at 6 months after discharge, the self-concept, self-care skills, self-care, self-responsibility, health knowledge level, and total ability scores of patients in group A were significantly higher than those in group B (P < 0.05); the Generic Quality of Life Inventory-74 (GQOL-74) scores after intervention of the two groups were significantly higher than those before intervention (P < 0.05) and those of group A were significantly higher than those of group B (72.13 ± 4.69 vs 63.19 ± 4.72; P < 0.05); when comparing with group B, group A presented significantly higher walking speed and gait period and lower support phase (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

The combination of continuous care and CIMT under a health platform can effectively promote the rehabilitation of upper limb functions and improve the activities of daily living and trunk control for acute stroke patients, with an effect better than conventional rehabilitation exercises, which is worthy of promotion.

Exploring the effect of two different teaching strategies on first-year nursing students' understanding of nutritional concepts: A mixed-method approach

AIM

The aim of the study was twofold. First, to explore understanding difficulties in nutritional concepts among nursing students and second, to analyse the effect of two teaching strategies on the level of understanding.

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have pointed out the need to improve the nutritional care education offered to undergraduates in health sciences. As nurses play a crucial role in lifestyle counselling and nutrition assessment, it is essential to identify the learning difficulties that can impair their learning capacity and the more effective teaching strategy in the nutrition area during the nursing degree.

DESIGN

A pretest-posttest study was conducted with a mixed-method conversion design.

METHODS

146 first-year-nursing students were included. Two teaching methods, debate-based learning and lecture-based learning were used for instruction on the effect of macronutrient intake on an individual's state of health. Each group completed two open-ended questions before and after the intervention. Firstly, phenomenographic analysis was performed to identify the learning categories representing variations in students' understanding. Secondly, qualitative data were quantised and statistically analysed to address differences in learning improvement.

RESULTS

More than 40% of students struggled with the idea that proteins are associated with weight gain independently of the teaching strategy applied. In the first evaluation question, the debate-based learning teaching method improved students' learning, achieving higher levels of understanding (p < 0.05). In the second evaluation question, no significant differences were found between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Areas of problematic knowledge in nutrition education have been identified for the first time that will allow nurse educators to design research-based teaching strategies. Further studies are necessary not only on how to address these misconceptions in nursing students, but also to investigate how nurse educators can contribute to deeper levels of student learning.

Use of phenomenography in nursing education research

Objective

Phenomenography is a qualitative research method used to explore the different ways individuals experience phenomena. Over the last few decades, use of the research method grew in various higher education disciplines; however, use of the method for nursing education research was limited until early in the 21st century.Therefore, the purpose of this article is to describe the main ideas of phenomenography methodology and provide a simplified integrative review of the contributions to nursing education research.

Methods

Whittemore and Knafl (2005) five-step integrative review process was used to guide the literature search and evaluate findings of published works between 2009 and 2019.

Results

Thirteen articles, including one comprehensive literature review, were identified in the literature search.

Conclusion

Findings illustrated phenomenography methodology was used to evaluate and improve teaching and learning principles, complex faculty and student issues, curriculum and professional development, and educational practices within nursing education. Phenomenography research can be instrumental in providing a more realistic worldview of individual differing experiences of nursing education phenomena.

Training needs analysis of Korean nurses' neurological assessment competency

Despite the importance of neurological assessment, there is a lack of research directed at nurses' competency in performing these assessments. We aimed to identify nurses' competency levels in performing neurological assessments and prioritize their related training needs using importance-performance analysis. This survey research was conducted and reported based on the enhancing the quality and transparency of health research (EQUATOR) guidelines. A total of 213 nurses participated in a descriptive, cross-sectional survey study. Exploratory factor analysis identified seven factors that together accounted for 70.34% of the variance: cerebral function, signs and symptoms, pathologic reflexes, motor strength, assessment of an unconscious patient, reporting and documentation, and neurological assessment scales. [Correction added on 10 February 2020, after first online publication: the value of the variance has been corrected from '7.34%' to '70.34%' in the preceding sentence.] There were significant gaps between importance and performance for all seven factors. The importance-performance matrix identified the neurological assessment scales factor as a high priority for continuing education. Emergency department nurses reported lower neurological assessment competency when compared with ward and intensive care unit nurses. The analysis of training needs is beneficial for developing programs to enhance neurological assessment competency. Training in neurological assessment scales is a priority for nurses, and they prefer simulation- and practicum-based methods.