Evaluating a nursing erasmus exchange experience: Reflections on the use and value of the Nominal Group Technique for evaluation

Identifying undergraduate nurses´ learning requirements and teaching strategies in dementia care education: A nominal group technique

AIM

Identify priorities and reach a consensus on student nurses´ learning requirements and the best-suited teaching strategies in dementia care.

BACKGROUND

Dementia has become a global health priority. Nurses are primary service providers for people with dementia, but they may fall short on professional training. Nursing curricula still lacks a clear educational framework for dementia, meaning that nurse educators must make decisions amidst uncertainty.

DESIGN

Nominal group technique based on the conceptual framework proposed by Van de Ven and Delbecq (1972).

METHODS

A structured face-to-face meeting convened in November 2021 involved nine participants who were directly involved in dementia care. The steps in the technique were (a) idea generation, (b) round-robin recording, (c) discussion, (d) voting and ranking, (e) discussion on the vote and (f) re-ranking. Participants answered two nominal questions. Consent, anonymity, feedback and iteration were guaranteed throughout the process.

RESULTS

The nominal group prioritized theoretical understanding of dementia, communication, caregivers´ needs, comprehensive assessment and ethical practice as learning requirements for nursing students. The outstanding teaching strategy discussed included various approaches to experiential learning.

CONCLUSIONS

The nominal group technique process explored learning requirement priorities for student nurses within a specific context. Participants discussed experiential learning as the best-suited teaching strategy. Findings could support nurse educators to design and deliver better dementia education.

Using the Nominal Group Technique to determine a nursing framework for a forensic mental health service: A discussion paper

The Nominal Group Technique is a method used to explore issues, generate ideas, and reach consensus on a topic. The Nominal Group Technique includes individual and group work and is designed to ensure participants have the same opportunity to engage and provide their opinions. While the technique has been used for around six decades to assist groups, in industry, and government organizations to examine issues and make decisions, this technique has received limited attention in nursing research, particularly in mental health. This discussion paper describes the use of a modified Nominal Group Technique for a study designed to determine a nursing decision-making framework for a state-wide forensic mental health service. Modifications were made to the traditional technique, to enable participants to make an informed and collective decision about a suitable framework for the novice to expert nurses, across secure inpatient, prison, and community forensic mental health settings. The Nominal Group Technique generated rich data and offered a structured approach to the process. We argue that the Nominal Group Technique offers an exciting and interactive method for nursing research and can increase opportunity for minority group members to participate. This technique also offers a time efficient way to engage busy clinical nurses to participate in research, with the advantage of members knowing the decision on the day of the group. Consideration, however, needs to be given to the duration and effect on participant concentration, and if not actively managed by facilitators, the possible emergence of group dynamics affecting individuals' decisions.

Global partnerships in nursing - A qualitative study in lessons for success

Global nursing partnerships can develop cultural competence and standardisation across international nurse education programmes. Issues of context, cultural awareness and modes of engagement can influence the success of international collaboration. The 'Supporting Internationalisation of Traineeships in the Healthcare Sector' project, funded from 2017, brought together nine international partners from Finland, Poland, Spain and the UK to develop a pan-European quality audit process for clinical learning environments. As part of the evaluation, eight project partners were interviewed about the project and their criteria for a successful global partnership. The interviews allowed insight into previously hidden aspects of implementation. The importance of a scoping period for nursing global partnerships was highlighted that built on cultural diversity to explore common understandings. Attention to the use of prior expertise in internationalisation, or project objectives, could accelerate a global partnership to achieve a greater potential in its outcomes and cultural sensitivity. Framed in a clear structure, it is possible for global partnerships to embed ownership, autonomy and individual voice in partner organisations. The research concludes that only by growing international champions through funded and well constituted projects, that a genuine impact on the global health and educational needs in nursing can be met.

A practical guide to the systematic application of nominal group technique

BACKGROUND

Nominal group technique (NGT) is a highly structured, commonly used way of exploring areas of interest and developing consensus. However, it is sometimes conflated with focus group methods.

AIM

To provide a rationale for selecting NGT as a research method and to examine its systematic application in a doctoral Q-methodology study exploring nursing students' perspectives of preserving dignity in care.

DISCUSSION

An outline of NGT is provided, and it is distinguished from focus group methods. As well as providing a step-by-step guide to using NGT, each step is illustrated with its practical application in the study, and the lessons learned concerning the limitations and strengths of NGT in the context of one study are shared.

CONCLUSION

When applied systematically, NGT enables nurse researchers to collaborate in a meaningful and engaging way with participants and generate tangible outcomes relatively quickly.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

This paper offers practical insight into the use of NGT to explore perceptions and develop consensus.

The experiences of nurses who studied abroad with The Erasmus program during undergraduate education: A qualitative study

The globalization of healthcare systems and information has increased the importance of international learning and mobility programs in nursing education. This research aimed to explore and describe the lived experiences of nurses studying abroad with the Erasmus program during their undergraduate education. This is a descriptive phenomenological study. The study sample consisted of 12 nurses who studied abroad during their undergraduate education. The data were collected through semi-structured, face to face in-depth interviews. Colaizzi's seven-step method and NVivo12 software were used to evaluate the data. The study results had five main themes: (1) adaptation process, (2) sources of support, (3) differences, (4) difficulties, and (5) benefits. The nurses considered studying abroad with the Erasmus program as an important opportunity. They reported that this experience made significant positive contributions to them in the personal, professional, cultural, and social aspects.

A qualitative descriptive enquiry of nursing students' perceptions of international clinical placement experiences

International mobility for nursing students is still a relatively new phenomenon. While educators and students are both excited by the opportunity that mobility presents, there are often many challenges inherent within third level organisations and practice organisations. These obstacles not only serve to make international mobility arrangements complex to manage but also mean that these opportunities are only available to very small numbers of students. Furthermore the benefits of undergraduate international exchanges remain largely anecdotal and the elements that facilitate success are not entirely clear. To address these issues, a qualitative study was conducted to identify the elements that characterize a nursing student's successful learning during international clinical placement. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with six students who had completed their international clinical placements experiences in Portugal, Spain, and Italy. Three common themes emerged from the data analysis: relationship with institutions and countries, student's thoughts and feelings and learning outcomes and the role of the nursing student's clinical supervisor. These themes contain seven sub-categories, representing the characterizing elements of the student's experience of mobility in the foreign country. These results are useful to nurse educators internationally to inform clinical learning experiences within exchange programmes.