An evaluation of nursing and midwifery sign off mentors, new mentors and nurse lecturers' understanding of the sign off mentor role

Over twenty years of pedagogical research from Nurse Education in Practice: A bibliometric analysis from 2001 to 2023

AIM

To present a bibliometric overview of pedagogical research from Nurse Education in Practice from its inception in 2001 up until 2023.

BACKGROUND

Bibliometric methods are useful in analysing and understanding the characteristics of scientific publications in a particular field and the influence of specific journals. However, no bibliometric analysis of a nurse education journal has been undertaken to date which would highlight important research trends in this area of nursing and midwifery.

METHODS

A total of 2231 publications (articles and reviews only) from Nursing Education in Practice were retrieved from the Scopus database between 2001 and 2023. Several software applications including Microsoft Excel and VOSviewer were used to undertake bibliometric analysis on this dataset. Publication trends such as country analysis, author analysis, keywords analyses (cluster, content and trend analysis) were generated to help understand the volume and scope of pedagogical nursing and midwifery research in this journal.

RESULTS

There has been a steady increase in pedagogical research from Nurse Education in Practice since its launch in 2001 up until 2018, with a dip in publications in 2022 most likely due to the impact of restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic. The most prolific institutions publishing in the journal are mainly from the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, with over eighty countries represented demonstrating its global reach and impact. Nursing students, nursing education, simulation and learning are some of the most frequent author keywords.

CONCLUSION

The diversity of pedagogies in nursing and midwifery education, clinical learning and supervision in practice environments, and competence and confidence when transitioning to practice are the most popular research areas in Nurse Education in Practice. This study informs nurse and midwife educators and scholars about the volume and scope of pedagogical research in nursing and midwifery. It also makes recommendations on how to improve aspects of scholarship in education and areas for future pedagogical research.

Nursing students' evaluation of clinical practice placements using the Clinical Learning Environment, Supervision and Nurse Teacher scale - A systematic review

OBJECTIVES

To review undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of the quality of their clinical placement experiences by means of surveys conducted using the Clinical Learning Environment Supervision and Nurse Teacher questionnaire.

DESIGN

Systematic review of English language studies published between 2014 and 2020, in any clinical setting, utilising data collected in the decade 2010 to 2020.

DATA SOURCES

Structured searches were conducted in CinahlPlus, Ovid Medline, Scopus, PubMed and Google Scholar.

REVIEW METHODS

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses framed the review.

RESULTS

A total of 111 records were screened, after which 21 studies met criteria for inclusion. Studies were centred on students in Sweden and in 15 other countries. Students' ratings of 'Experience' were positive across five scale subdimensions with means 3.0-3.95 of a possible 5 (overall mean 75.4%). 'Satisfaction' across seven studies was rated highly (mean 4.16 of 5) 83.2% agreement. The highest rated subdimension was Supervisory relationship, with the Role of the Nurse Teacher rated lower and inconsistently. The underlying elements are discussed.

CONCLUSION

Although students' Experience and Satisfaction were rated highly averaging over 75%, there is still room for improvement. Further research is needed to examine how students perceive various components of 'satisfaction' within clinical learning environments because this can be seen as the primary measure of program quality. Research using experimental and observational study designs is needed to compare ways of preparing clinical teachers and reporting measurable learning outcomes for models of supervision that are applicable in varied clinical learning environments.

Developing a 'core of steel': the key attributes of effective practice assessors

BACKGROUND

the Nursing and Midwifery Council has emphasised that its recently introduced standards for student supervision and assessment aim to 'ensure that no one gets onto the register who shouldn't be there'. A key element in achieving this is the new practice assessor role, implemented to bolster practical assessment processes.

AIM

to identify the key personal characteristics of robust practice assessors who are prepared to fail underperforming students.

METHOD

a national study, using a grounded theory approach. Thirty-one nurses were interviewed about their experiences of failing students in practice-based assessments.

FINDINGS

robust practical assessors have a 'core of steel', characterised as having five key features: solidarity, tenacity, audacity, integrity and dependability.

CONCLUSION

organisations should base their selection of practice assessors on how strongly they exhibit these five characteristics. Designating all current mentors as new practice assessors, when it is known that often they are reluctant to fail, could perpetuate failure to fail.

"We'll check vital signs only till we finish the school": experiences of student nurses regarding intra-semester clinical placement in Ghana

BACKGROUND

Clinical practicum is an integral part of nursing education because it provides students with opportunities to perform nursing care and practice specific nursing tasks. In Ghana, little is known about the experiences of baccalaureate student nurses with regard to intra-semester clinical practicum. This study therefore, explored perceptions, challenges, and how the intra-semester clinical practicum affects the learning process of student nurses in a private university in Ghana.

METHODS

Exploratory descriptive phenomenological design was used. Nine in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions were conducted for baccalaureate student nurses in their second, third and fourth years of study. Only those who have attended intra-semester clinical practicum for at least two semesters in the course of their study were recruited. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the participants. The sample size was based on data saturation, however, a total of 33 participants were recruited. Data was analysed using content analysis technique.

RESULTS

The findings show that baccalaureate student nurses perceive the intra-semester clinical practicum as beneficial. It affords the opportunity to translate theoretical knowledge into practice concurrently. However, students recounted their stressful experiences during the clinical period which negatively affected their academic work. Additionally, staff nurses assigned the students to do menial jobs instead of appropriate nursing tasks.

CONCLUSIONS

A review of the "block" method in which students will go to clinicals for a stipulated number of consecutive days in a month and then resume lectures, is worth considering.

Demands on community nurse mentors: Are new models for practice necessary?

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Bazian report (2015a) explored international mentorship models that focus less on 1:1 mentorship than on an increased ratio of students to a mentor, and this was used to inform the RCN (2015b) mentorship recommendations document to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). The need to examine new models for mentorship and make recommendations for future practice was identified, despite the Bazian report ( RCN, 2015a ) stating that among developed countries and national regulators and professional bodies, the UK seemed to possess the most detailed policy and guidance on student nurse mentoring. The models mentioned were not community nursing-focused, as this group of nurses visits people in their own homes. The need for new community mentorship models will be examined, alongside the need to support increasing numbers of student learners in practice, as the NMC is revisiting the Standards for Learning and Assessment in Practice ( NMC, 2008 ) and has provided draft guidance of forthcoming changes for mentors inviting comments, due to be refined and published 2018. This article will examine the challenges and benefits to community nursing of adopting new models of mentorship delivery.

A mixed-methods study exploring sign-off mentorship practices in relation to the Nursing and Midwifery Council standards

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To investigate the current practice and experience of sign-off mentors in one NHS trust.

BACKGROUND

In the UK, sign-off mentors support nursing students in their last clinical placement and are accountable for the final assessment of fitness to practice as a registered nurse.

DESIGN

Mixed-methods study.

METHODS

The focus was on two key Nursing and Midwifery Council standards: the requirement for students to work at least 40% of their time on clinical placement with a sign-off mentor/mentor; the sign-off mentor had one-hour-per-week protected time to meet the final placement student. Data were collected through two audits of clinical and university documents and an experience survey administered to all sign-off mentors in one trust.

RESULTS

The audits showed that only 22/42 (52%) of students were supervised by their sign-off mentor/mentor at least 40% of the time, whilst 10/42 (24%) students never worked a shift with their sign-off mentor. Only one student met their sign-off mentor every week. Complete data were available in 31/64 (47%) sign-off mentors, of whom 21/30 (70%) rarely/never had reduced clinical commitment to mentor final placement students. Furthermore, 19/28 (68%) met their student after their shift had ended with 24/30 (80%) reporting not getting any protected time.

CONCLUSION

Sign-off mentors have inadequate time and resources to undertake their role, yet are accountable for confirming the student has the required knowledge and skills to practise safely. The current model needs urgent review to improve mentoring standards.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Understanding how the role of the sign-off mentor is working in practice is critical to ensuring that the Nursing and Midwifery Council standards are met, ensuring students are well supported and appropriately assessed in practice, and mentoring is given the high profile it deserves to guarantee high-quality care and protecting the public.

Support for mentors-an exploration of the issues

Nursing and midwifery mentors are fundamental to the process of ensuring future practitioners are adequately prepared and supported during the practice element of their degrees. However, there is evidence to suggest that the infrastructure and support for the mentoring role is not always adequate. This article provides a review of some of the issues including the emotional labour associated with supporting pre-registration students, difficulties in accessing protected learning time for mentoring, and lack of supportive networks for mentors to develop within the role. The authors make recommendations on what is required to ensure that the mentor role is better acknowledged, supported and resourced.

Lastnosti mentorja in mentoriranca z njunih medsebojnih vidikov: opisna raziskava mnenj dijakov, študentov in mentorjev

Uvod: Lastnosti mentorja so za odnos med mentorjem, dijakom in študentom zdravstvene nege zelo pomembne. Namen raziskave je bil ugotoviti, katere lastnosti mentorjev so pomembne z vidika dijakov in študentov zdravstvene nege, in obratno, katere lastnosti mentorirancev, tj. dijakov oz. študentov, so pomembne z vidika mentorjev. Metode: Uporabljena je bila kvantitativna deskriptivna metoda raziskovanja. S spletnim anketnim vprašalnikom je bil anketiran 201 anketiranec, od tega 50 dijakov srednje zdravstvene šole (3. in 4. letnik), 97 študentov prve stopnje zdravstvene nege (2. in 3. letnik) ter 54 mentorjev v kliničnem okolju. Uporabljena je bila deskriptivna statistika, test hi-kvadrat ter metoda analize variance oz. analiza povprečij. Rezultati: Ugotovljeno je bilo, da mentorji menijo, da odnos med mentorirancem in mentorjem ni odvisen od mentorjeve starosti. Komunikacija je pomembna vsem trem skupinam anketirancev. Medsebojno spoštovanje je enako pomembno dijakom, študentom in mentorjem. Mentorjem je poleg dijakovega oz. študentovega spoštljivega odnosa najpomembnejše, da se dijak oz. študent zaveda svojih nalog in zadolžitev (x = 4,6). Najbolj zaželena lastnost mentorja je, da si vzame čas (x = 4,7) za dijaka oz. študenta ter da je organiziran in dostopen. Diskusija in zaključek: Med raziskovalnimi skupinami je opaziti razlike v dojemanju lastnosti in vrlin mentorjev. Vsem raziskovalnim skupinam je pomembna mentorjeva sposobnost komunikacije ter ustvarjanja kreativnega okolja.

The role of the sign-off mentor in the community setting

In an move to identify nursing as an all-graduate profession, the Nursi Midwifery Council standards identified that future nurses need to be equipped with the skills and knowledge to lead and deliver high-quality care. Inorder to have these skills within the changing context of health care, students need to experience care delivery across a range of community, hospital and other settings. Students have to undertake a final clinical placement of 12 weeks at the end of their programme, commonly called a consolidation placement, and are allocated a sign-off mentor to confirm they meet the requirements for entry to the register. Placement capacity within primary care settings continues to be a challenge alongside the need for providing a sign-off mentor. This article discusses some of the challenges and opportunities of the role of the sign-off mentor and the potential impact for encouraging newly qualified recruitment in this area.