Promoting self awareness in undergraduate nursing students in relation to their health status and personal behaviours

Comparison of Academic Motivation between Business and Healthcare Students in Online Learning: A Concurrent Nested Mixed-Method Study

While the demand for online education and the diversity of online students have been increasing worldwide, how online students motivate themselves to continuously engage in learning remains to be appraised. Research in the face-to-face contexts reports that academic motivation is central to student success and wellbeing, and the type of motivation can differ by subject. In particular, the motivation of business students and healthcare students can differ considerably. This study aimed to understand the motivation of online students, and compare them between business and healthcare students using a concurrent nested mixed-method design with correlation and thematic analyses. A survey regarding motivation, learning enjoyment, and study willingness was responded to by 120 online students (61 business and 59 healthcare). Business students were associated with extrinsic motivation, whereas healthcare students were associated with intrinsic motivation. While students in both groups enjoyed the pursuit of knowledge, healthcare students valued the process and accomplishment, whereas business students regarded education as steppingstones in their careers. Findings can help educators develop effective motivational support for these student groups.

Nature and extent of intellectual disability nursing research in Ireland: a scoping review to inform health and health service research

OBJECTIVES

To capture the extent and nature of intellectual disability nursing publications in Ireland.

DESIGN

Scoping review using Arksey and O'Malley approach.

DATA SOURCES

Six databases (PsycINFO, CINAHL, Medline, Academic Search Complete, Scopus, Embase) were searched along with a web-based search of the eight academic institutions delivering intellectual disability nurse education in Ireland for publications indexed from the earliest available date to the 31 December 2020.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Publications by an academic, practitioner or student working in intellectual disability practice or education in Ireland relating to intellectual disability nursing, care or education.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

Data pertaining to type of paper/design, authors (academic/professional/student), year, collaboration (national/international), topic/content area and title were extracted from each paper. Data were analysed by two authors using Colorafi and Evans content analysis steps where data was tabulated, and a narrative synthesis undertaken.

RESULTS

The reporting of the review is in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews Checklist. Database and web-based searching resulting 245 articles meeting the criteria for this review. Through content analysis the 245 articles were mapped onto six themes: supporting inclusion, future planning, aspects of health, interventions, education, professional development and research, and personal and professional accounts of caring.

CONCLUSIONS

This review highlights the extent and nature of intellectual disability publications by academic, practitioner or student working in intellectual disability nursing in Ireland together with opportunities for future growth and development. From the findings it is apparent that there is an ongoing need for intellectual disability nurses to define their role across the full trajectory of health provision and to make visible their role in person-family centred support, inclusion, and contributions in health education, health promotion and health management.

Describing the health behaviours of future nurses: a cross-sectional study among Italian nursing students

Academic environments may influence the achievement of healthy behaviors in nursing students. However, the lifestyles among Italian nursing students have been poorly investigated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe the health behaviours of Italian undergraduate nursing students. A monocentric, cross-sectional, study design was performed. The study was conducted in an undergraduate nursing course in the north of Italy (University of Pavia). Data were collected through the list of freshmen in nursing in March 2018 (i.e. first years of the undergraduate program) using an online survey and a purposive sampling, where 134 nursing students were enrolled. The results highlighted that the nursing students observed a varied and balanced alimentation. The most problematic areas are referred to the physical activity and the smoking habits. Future research should frame the trajectory of the undergraduate nursing students over the overall education path, also promoting and testing strategies to address the observed issues, such as limited physical activities and smoking habits. (www.actabiomedica.it)

Strategies to promote nurses' health: A qualitative study with student nurses

Developing strategies to support student nurses' health is a global priority for healthcare organisations and governments. This is because emerging international evidence indicates that improvements in student nurses' health are required to increase the longevity of careers and reduce the loss of time, skill and financial cost of sickness absence and workforce exit. However, we do not know what intervention strategies student nurses think would support their health. The study aim was to explore student nurses' views on factors that influence health-related behaviours and strategies that could improve health. Data were collected through participatory activities during focus groups with student nurses in Scotland. Analysis was theoretically informed and involved mapping to the Behaviour Change Wheel framework. Students identified several factors that influenced health-related behaviours. Four were ranked most important: knowledge, culture, time constraints, and stress. Strategies student nurses thought should be prioritised to improve nurses' health-related behaviours were: stimulating a health-promoting environment by reviewing shift work, improving workplace support, increasing staffing levels, subsidising and role-modelling of healthy food and exercise; and creating applied health-promoting curricula by integrating time and stress management training and lifestyle advice into nursing education. Educational and environmental interventions are needed to support student nurses' health.

Assessing the effect of physical activity and exercise on nurses' well-being

It is generally accepted that physical activity has many health benefits, such as improved cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular fitness and bone health. Despite this, inactivity remains a significant health challenge in the UK and globally, contributing to conditions such as coronary heart disease and diabetes mellitus. Nurses have an important health promotion role in recommending the potential benefits of physical activity to the general public. However, research suggests that many nurses may not be undertaking enough physical activity themselves, despite the active nature of the nursing role. This article investigates the evidence that increased physical activity has the potential to improve the well-being of nurses. The article also examines the effect of physical activity on indicators of well-being, including feeling states such as affect, mood and emotion; depression; and sleep.

Health promotion programs in higher education: integrative review of the literature

OBJECTIVE

to characterize the interventions of health promotion programs implemented in Health Promoting Universities; to analyze the results of the interventions of health promotion programs.

METHOD

integrative review carried out in EBSCO, PubMed, SciELO, Scopus and Web of Science. Articles published between 2000 and 2014 were selected, with evidence of health promotion intervention programs and evaluation of results. Results: 17 articles were included. The health promotion programs aimed at increasing the welfare of students, with an emphasis on physical activity, sexual health and on improving the environment of health support within the university community.

CONCLUSION

health promotion strategies in an university context do not always result from the convergence between educational, political, legislative or organizational actions that support lifestyles and conditions which are favorable to the health of individuals or groups, and that contribute to improving the physical and social environment.

Realising the dream of becoming a nurse: Underrepresented BSc nursing students experiences

BACKGROUND

This paper describes the experiences of underrepresented BSc nursing students in realising the dream of becoming a nurse in one university. In the past ten years, pre-registration nurse education has become established within higher education in Ireland. This development includes promoting access and inclusion of students from traditionally underrepresented groups in higher education. A third of nursing students currently access places on programmes through routes specifically designed for underrepresented groups.

METHODS

A qualitative descriptive study design provided an opportunity for student voices to be heard. Ethical approval was sought and granted. Eleven students were interviewed nearing completion of a four year BSc Nursing programme. Data analysis followed a thematic approach, in generating themes.

FINDINGS

Three themes emerged from the data: taking the first steps; finding a way and getting through. Findings highlight participants' challenges in balancing study, clinical practice and family life in achieving and realising their dream of becoming a nurse.

CONCLUSION

This study illustrates the nature and complexities of participants' experiences throughout the BSc Nursing programmes towards becoming university graduates, eligible for registration as a nurse. Students from underrepresented groups bring rich and diverse life experiences in preparation for and becoming caring practitioners. It highlights the individuality within participants' experiences and draws attention to the value of personalised support for students. An opportunity to encourage the development of emotional intelligence needs to be fostered within nurse education programmes. Creating positive learning environments is critical to supporting student understanding of compassionate patient centred care. Findings have relevance for global curriculum design and structures to support individual student centred engagement. Further research is required to consider how best to support students from underrepresented groups.

An Investigation on Self-Rated Health of Adolescent Students and Influencing Factors From Sichuan, China

To investigate adolescent students' self-rated health status and to identify the influencing factors that affect students' health status. A stratified cluster sampling method and the Self-assessed General Health Questionnaires were used to enroll 503 adolescent students from Sichuan Province, Southwest part of China. Most adolescent students perceived their self-rated health as “Fair” (29.4%), “Good” (52.1%), or “Very Good” (16.3%). Regarding the sleep quality, most of them rated them as “Fair” (24.9%), “Good” (43.1%), or “Very Good” (19.7%), but 59.7% students reported to sleep less than 8 hours a day, even a few reported to sleep less than 6 hours (4.4%) or more than 9 hours (9.7%). A considerable number of students (41.1%) reported that they “Never” or just “Occasionally” participated in appropriate sports or exercises. As to the dietary habit, a significant number of students (15.7%) reported that they “Never” or “Occasionally” have breakfast. Students from different administrative levels of schools (municipal level, county level, and township level) rated differently (P < 0.05) in terms of their self-rated health, Health Behaviors, Sleeping, Dietary behaviors, Safety Awareness, and Drinking and Smoking behaviors. In general, Chinese teenage students perceived their own health status as fairly good. However, attention needs to be paid to health problems of some of the students, such as lack of sleep and exercise and inadequate dietary habits, etc. More concerns need to be addressed to students from different administrative levels of schools, and strategies should be put forward accordingly.

What works to encourage student nurses to adopt healthier lifestyles? Findings from an intervention study

The health and lifestyles of student nurses has been widely explored internationally finding relatively high levels of smoking, low levels of physical activity and unhealthy diets. Not only does this have implications for productivity, personal health and the ability to do the demanding job of nursing, but unhealthy behaviours are also associated with a reluctance to undertake health promotion in their roles. Stress, time constraints and the irregular routine of nurse training were cited as barriers to a healthy lifestyle. Three types of accessible interventions were piloted to encourage the adoption of healthier lifestyles by student nurses: an educational session on having 'healthy conversations' with patients, an accelerometer to record steps, and an online personal wellness tracker. There was low take up of the offers designed to motivate behaviour change but students did welcome the educational input on how to have a 'healthy conversation' with a patient. This project highlights the need to incorporate programmes that addresses student nurses' health behaviours within nurse education, and at salient time points (e.g. induction or just before going on placement) over the course of study.

Predictors of physical activity and barriers to exercise in nursing and medical students

AIMS

To investigate physical activity levels of nursing and medicine students, examine predictors of physical activity level and examine the most influential benefits and barriers to exercise.

BACKGROUND

Healthcare professionals have low levels of physical activity, which increases their health risk and may influence their health promotion practices with patients.

DESIGN

We surveyed 361 nursing (n = 193) and medicine (n = 168) students studying at a UK medical school.

METHODS

Questionnaire survey, active over 12 months in 2014-2015. Measures included physical activity level, benefits and barriers to exercise, social support, perceived stress and self-efficacy for exercise.

RESULTS

Many nursing and medicine students did not achieve recommended levels of physical activity (nursing 48%; medicine 38%). Perceived benefits of exercise were health related, with medicine students identifying additional benefits for stress relief. Most notable barriers to exercise were as follows: lack of time, facilities having inconvenient schedules and exercise not fitting around study or placement schedules. Nursing students were less active than medicine students; they perceived fewer benefits and more barriers to exercise and reported lower social support for exercise. Physical activity of nursing and medicine students was best predicted by self-efficacy and social support, explaining 35% of the variance.

CONCLUSION

Physical activity should be promoted in nursing and medicine students. Interventions should aim to build self-efficacy for exercise and increase social support. Interventions should be developed that are targeted specifically to shift-working frontline care staff, to reduce schedule-related barriers to exercise and to increase accessibility to workplace health and well-being initiatives.

The efficacy of an educational intervention on health behaviors in a sample of Turkish female nursing students: a longitudinal, quasi-experimental study

BACKGROUND

Unhealthy behaviors are a key factors leading to health problems. It remains unclear whether an educational intervention has a long term effect on health behaviors of nursing students.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to evaluate the long term effect of an educational intervention on the health behaviors and examine predictors of change in these behaviors in Turkish female baccalaureate nursing students.

DESIGN

Quasi-experimental design with one-group, pre- and posttest, and 3-year follow-up.

SETTING

The study was conducted in a school of nursing in Turkey.

PARTICIPANTS

One hundred-eight students participated in this study.

METHODS

Data were collected before and after the implementation of the educational intervention by using the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile-I (HPLP-I). Descriptive statistics, the one-way analysis of variance for repeated measures and multiple linear regression analysis were used.

RESULTS

There were significant differences among the three time points in terms of the HPLP-I total and subscales scores (self-actualization, health responsibility, exercise, nutrition and stress management), except for interpersonal support (p<.05). The positive effect of intervention on the HPLP-I total and health responsibility subscale scores was maintained during the 3-year follow-up period (p<.05). The amount of change from pretest to posttest in the total HPLP-I score was the only predictor of the 3-year change in the total scale score (unstandardized β=0.538; p<.001), after adjustment for the potential confounding factors.

CONCLUSIONS

The educational intervention was partially effective in improving all health behaviors of the nursing students over the long term. Nursing students who demonstrated higher levels of benefit from the intervention were more likely to have more positive health behaviors at the 3-year point. The findings of this study highlight the importance of the integration of health behaviors within the nursing curriculum.

Early training in tackling patient obesity: a systematic review of nurse education

OBJECTIVES

This systematic review aims to identify studies that have assessed educational interventions in undergraduate nurse training regarding obesity, and to investigate the interventions' effectiveness.

BACKGROUND

Obesity is a prominent global issue and nurses have an increased role in weight management with patients. The literature has identified various theory-based behaviour change techniques that successfully assist weight management in patients. Thus, training nurses in obesity-related behaviour change techniques is appropriate in preparing them for their future professional role. However, effectiveness of these educational interventions has not yet been assessed.

METHODS

The Centre for Reviews and Dissemination guidelines informed this systematic review. Four databases were systematically searched and articles were assessed against inclusion criteria. Data extraction and quality appraisal forms were developed and completed to identify salient features within the articles.

RESULTS

Eight studies met inclusion criteria. Only two included both baseline and outcome measures, one of which was a randomised controlled trial. Additionally, only one study included an explicitly identified behaviour change technique. Interventions were delivered through a range of methods, however, quality appraisal indicated that all of the studies had poor methodologies and had high risks of bias.

CONCLUSIONS

Studies in this area of research are sparse and are not methodologically robust. Therefore, it is not possible to identify effective educational interventions for nursing students on weight management.

IMPLICATIONS

More robust research is needed to investigate how nurses can be trained to facilitate weight management. Greater transparency of intervention descriptions, particularly around what behaviour change techniques were taught, would allow for replication and appropriate evaluation. Until then, it is not known if current teaching adequately equips nurses to manage obese and overweight patients.

Eating, activity, and supportive environment (EASE) for nursing students

PURPOSE

The feasibility study was designed as a potential model for prevention of obesity at a large college of nursing in the Southwest.

CONCLUSIONS

Pretest median body mass index was 30.4 in the intervention group and 30.5 in the control group, indicating obesity in the student sample. There were no significant changes in posttest measures in the small sample. The thigh circumference change in the experimental group trended toward change with significance of .06.

IMPLICATION

The American Nursing Association launched a Healthy Nurse program in 2012, as healthy nurses are role models for a healthy nation. Updating nursing curriculum and active participation of students in weight management programs will promote their own health and positive role modeling.