Transitioning to university as a nursing student: Thematic analysis of written reflections

Coping strategies used by undergraduate first-year nursing students during transition from basic to higher education: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

The undergraduate first year of a nursing program is regarded as a difficult and challenging part of the nursing course, due to the variation experienced in the transition from basic to higher education compared to other first-year courses. This causes stress, which could contribute to students' lack of coping with the transition to the university. These challenges call for coping strategies to ensure resilience among this cohort of undergraduate nursing students.

METHODS

An exploratory descriptive qualitative research design was adopted to assess the coping mechanisms used by first-year nursing students during transition from basic to higher education. Data was gathered through four online focus group discussions which were conducted using the Microsoft Teams app, with participants purposefully selected from the two campuses where the study was conducted. The focus group discussions were recorded and transcribed verbatim for analysis. Data was analysed by the researcher and the co-coder using qualitative content data analysis.

FINDINGS

Three categories emerged from the data: experiences of transition from basic to higher education, coping with transition from basic to higher education, and recommendations for coping with transition from basic to higher education. Participants expressed that they use the following six coping strategies during the transition from basic to higher education: adaptive coping, appraisal-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, problem-focused coping, social coping, and seeking help from mentors.

CONCLUSIONS

Transition from basic to higher education is challenging for undergraduate first-year nursing students. The study suggests that there is a need to standardize and contextualize the support measures for undergraduate first-year nursing students during their transition from basic to higher education in order to enhance their ability to cope.

Nursing students' expectations and career preferences before clinical placement in mainland China: A qualitative exploration

AIM

To explore nursing students' expectations and career preferences before their clinical placements.

BACKGROUND

Clinical placement is an important adaptation stage through which nursing students become nurses. Nursing students' expectations of clinical placement are not always met. There is a huge demand-supply gap in the nursing labor force and ensuring successful nursing placements could offset this gap.

DESIGN

This study adopted a descriptive qualitative design.

METHODS

Each participant was interviewed in the weeks before the start of their clinical placement. Interviews were semi-structured and audio recorded. Data were analyzed using Clarke and Braun's thematic analysis.

RESULTS

This study included 25 students (11 males and 14 females; age 20-21 years), which was sufficient to reach data saturation. We identified 138 codes and six themes emerged: a) expectations of role transition; b) expectations of self-enhancement; c) expectations of teaching styles; d) fears and worries; e) preliminary career preferences; and f) motivating and obstacle factors of engaging in a nursing career.

CONCLUSIONS

Nursing students had various expectations of their upcoming clinical placements alongside certain worries and fears. More predictive and targeted strategies need to be considered to ensure the success of clinical nursing placements. Further research should explore and verify strategies to meet nursing students' expectations and promote their preference for a nursing career.

Expectations of learner nurses in sampled clinical areas of the Limpopo province, South Africa

BACKGROUND

Nurse training in South Africa requires placing learner nurses in real-life setting for them to gain practical experience. To complete their training and be competent practitioners, learner nurses must have expectations and aspirations when they go for practice.

AIM

This study sought to understand learner nurses' expectations at clinical learning areas during placement.

SETTING

Four clinical learning areas in the Limpopo province were purposely sampled. Tertiary, regional and district hospitals were sampled to obtain information from different levels of care.

METHODS

A qualitative, descriptive and contextual design was used to explore the expectations of learner nurses during clinical placements. Permission to conduct the study was obtained from various bodies and ethical considerations were ensured. Nonprobability purposive sampling was used, and six focus groups were formed. Each focus group discussion (FGD) had six to eight participants. The FGDs were according to level of study, with the third and fourth levels each having two FGDs because of the number of participants.

RESULTS

The following three themes emerged: milieu in the clinical learning areas, learning in the clinical areas and self-actualisation.

CONCLUSION

The clinical learning areas are institutions of promoting learning through practice. They should promote learning and offer support to learners so that learners meet their expectations, which may prevent discouragement and attrition.

CONTRIBUTION

This study adds to the body of knowledge in nursing education and practice because when students' expectations are met, their training outcome might be positive leading to competent professional nurses.

Undergraduate versus graduate nursing students: Differences in nutrition, physical activity, and self-reported body mass index

ObjectiveThis study compared self-reported nutrition, physical activity, and body mass index (BMI) in undergraduate versus graduate nursing students.ParticipantsRespondents included 233 undergraduate and 230 graduate nursing students in a Southeastern public university.MethodsThe study was an exploratory, descriptive, cross-sectional comparison administered via online questionnaire including self-reported demographics, nutritional intake, physical activity, and BMI.ResultsUndergraduates reported exercising more than graduate students. Graduate students reported consuming significantly more vegetables than undergraduates; however, more graduate students self-reported BMIs in overweight and obese categories than undergraduates.ConclusionsFindings provide a foundational understanding that interventions or educational programs to improve self-care behaviors of nursing students should be tailored depending on the educational level of the students. Educators must establish self-care skills within nursing students at all levels to help them preserve their health in the fast-paced, strenuous, and stressful work of all echelons of nursing upon completion of the educational program.

Investigating the reasons for missing an outpatient appointment in Royal Hospital, Sultanate of Oman: Perspectives of patients and medical staff in a survey

Introduction

Missed appointments are a major health issue in the healthcare systems globally. They directly impact on the use of hospital resources, patient's health, and can lead to patient's dissatisfaction. This study was conducted to assess the reasons for missing a hospital appointment.

Methods

A survey was conducted with a randomly selected sample of patients who missed their outpatient appointment in Royal hospital, Sultanate of Oman, from March to April 2021 in six clinics. Patients were interviewed via telephone to answer a structured survey. In addition, a self‐administered survey was distributed to medical staff to explore their perspectives.

Results

Two hundred eighty patients and 52 medical staff participated in the study. Frequent patient‐reported reasons for missed appointment were transportation difficulties (11.4%), no longer needing (7.5%), or forgetting the appointment (6.8%); staff‐reported reasons were transportation (23.8%), no SMS received (16.9%), and forgetting the appointment (15.4%). Frequencies of reasons varied substantially between clinics. Family obligations were the main theme in obstetrics (odds ratio [OR] 9.48; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.66‐33.78) and in diabetes clinic (OR 10.55; 95% CI 2.68‐38.58), where transportation issue was the main theme in Oncology clinic (OR 4.83; 95% CI 1.11‐21.02). The recommendations for improvement were mainly around improving the reminder system, the use of telephone reminders, and developing a flexible appointment scheduling system.

Conclusion

Knowing the reasons for missed appointment from patients and health professionals can help to develop effective interventions. The heterogeneity between clinics in reasons for missed appointment indicates for interventions tailored to clinic and frequent reasons.

Nursing students' expectations of their first clinical placement: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Clinical placements are a source of meaningful learning that directly impacts professional development. During the first clinical placement, nursing students' expectations are not always fulfilled, which can lead them to feel lost.

OBJECTIVE

To explore nursing students' expectations before the start of their first clinical placement.

METHODS

Descriptive qualitative study. Participants consisted of second-year nursing students studying at a Spanish public university. Data were collected through a semi-structured interview before the start of the first clinical placement. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis, as proposed by Braun and Clarke.

RESULTS

This study included 15 students (2 men and 13 women; age 19-23 years), which was sufficient to reach data saturation. We identified 176 codes, grouped into three categories: a) Expectations of clinical placements: this category highlighted the desire to learn, to integrate theory into practice, to feel fulfilled and students' observation that they lacked knowledge of the role of family and community nurses. b) Motivations to attend clinical placement, commitment, and willingness to learn. c) Personal weaknesses, such as insecurity and inexperience, especially regarding techniques and procedures.

CONCLUSION

The expectations identified in this study serve to illustrate the need to rethink the strategies that should be used to ensure the success of clinical placements and manage students' stress levels. Further research should explore how these perceptions impact on their performance or change after the end of clinical placements.