Demographic profiling of Caribbean and United Kingdom student nurses' use of social media for professional development

Student nurses' experiences of discrimination and racism on work placements: What can higher education institutions do?

BACKGROUND

There is persistent interpersonal, institutional and structural racism within the health sector and higher education. Such anti-Black and anti-Brown racisms are experienced by nursing students, nursing apprentices and fully qualified nurses. This discrimination intersects with other characteristics, namely gender and student status, which can make the nursing profession an unsafe environment for many.

OBJECTIVES

To understand student nurses' experiences of racism and intersecting oppressions, at university and on work placement.

DESIGN

A qualitative descriptive study with individual interviews and focus groups.

SETTINGS

A widening participation higher education institution in London, UK.

PARTICIPANTS

Twenty-four student nurses and nurse apprentices studying on an adult nursing programme.

METHODS

Students were recruited through purposive sampling. In-depth data relating to student nurses' perspectives and experiences were gathered through two focus groups and three individual interviews conducted by student nurse peers. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and open coding was used to analyse transcripts using comparison and thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Three key themes arose: safety and support in the university space; hierarchical treatment in work placements due to intersecting race and 'student' identities, and; direct racism by patients and staff in work placements.

CONCLUSIONS

Student nurses expressed their vulnerability to discrimination and racism whilst on placement in the National Health Service. More opportunities within university curricula are needed for student nurses to learn about, reflect on, and gain support for managing experiences of discrimination in the health system.

Diffusion of social media in nursing education: A scoping review

OBJECTIVES

DESIGN: Scoping review using Arksey and O'Malley framework to synthesise the data.

SETTINGS

A global scoping review was undertaken to investigate SoMe diffusion in pre-registration nursing education.

PARTICIPANTS

Pre-registration student nurses.

METHODS

A protocol was created and reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews Checklist. 10 data bases were searched: Academic Search Ultimate; CINAHL Complete; CINAHL Ultimate; eBook Collection (EBSCOhost); eBook Nursing Collection; E-Journals; MEDLINE Complete; Teacher Reference Center and Google Scholar.

RESULTS

1651 articles were derived from the search and 27 articles were included in this review. Timeline, geographical origin, methodology and findings of evidence are presented.

CONCLUSIONS

SoMe is an innovation with relatively high perceived attributes, especially from students' perspectives. There is a difference between SoMe adoption in learning by nursing students and universities and the dichotomy between curriculum and nursing students' learning needs. The adoption process is not yet completed for universities. To be able to support learning, nurse educators and university systems should find ways of diffusing SoMe innovation in learning.

International student nurses' use of social media for learning: A cross sectional survey

BACKGROUND

Students use social media for sharing information and connecting with their friends, also for peer support, peer learning and student engagement. Research indicates that approximately twice the number of students were using social media for educational purposes compared to academic staff and almost all students discuss academic issues on social media. However, little is known about how diverse cohorts of student nurses use social media for specific purposes at different stages of their learning.

OBJECTIVES

Identify how student nurses in each country of study use social media for learning. Identify how each generation of student nurses use social media for learning. Identify how student nurses use social media as their education progresses.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional survey.

SETTINGS

The study was undertaken across three countries Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the UK.

PARTICIPANTS

Student nurses from each of the countries that consented to participate met the inclusion criteria.

METHODS

1050 student nurses across the three countries self-completed the cross-sectional survey between March and September 2019. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

RESULTS

WhatsApp® was the most used platform for learning amongst participants. Watching videos and downloading articles represented two-thirds of social media usage for learning. Smart phones were the most used device to access social media. Kruskal-Wallis tests were significant (≤0.001) for checking social media and messaging in lecture, use of social media for studies and classroom activities by country, generation (except classroom activities) and year of education. Use of social media for classroom activities had no significance by generation.

CONCLUSION

Country, generation and year of education are factors that influence the use of social media in student nurses' learning. These should be considered by Universities in curriculum development and in teaching and learning delivery. From a pragmatic approach, social media is available and used by a majority of student nurses and can be widely assimilated into the nursing curriculum.