Assessing Undergraduate Student Nurses' Performance in Various Public Health Roles Using Simulation

Understanding the student's experience of community health nursing simulations

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to explore nursing students' experiences after completing community health nursing simulation encounters.

METHODS

The study used a descriptive qualitative design. Through conventional content analysis, the research team analyzed the experiences of 73 nursing students after participating in community health nursing simulation encounters. The data come from nursing students' responses to three post-simulation qualitative questions.

RESULTS

Nursing students identified both positive aspects (simulation as a great learning method, useful in understanding community health nurses' roles, faculty's role in facilitating an effective learning environment) and opportunities for improvement (needing for clear objectives, expectations, and roles).

CONCLUSIONS

Community health nursing simulation encounters can be a powerful educational method to help students experience and understand the roles of community health nurses.

IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE

Augmentation of the pre-brief component will further improve students' simulation experiences.

Replacing community clinical hours with an antepartum simulation-based experience

BACKGROUND

Community and population health is an essential part of pre-licensure nursing education. Securing community clinical sites for large cohorts of nursing students is challenging. Individual community sites in nursing specialty areas, such as women's health, limit the number of students, making it difficult to provide a consistent clinical experience for all students. The literature shows simulation is an effective alternative to traditional clinical hours.

PURPOSE

This article describes a pilot simulation-based antepartum experience in the community setting. This simulation-based experience replaced the clinical hours for a previous traditional clinical experience in the community setting, for which students were only able to observe and not interact. The objectives were to allow students to be engaged in communication, patient education, and anticipatory guidance with a live patient.

METHOD

Faculty at a large southeastern university created an antepartum simulation-based clinical experience focused on important elements of obstetrics and maternal health assessment utilizing standardized patients.

RESULTS

Student responses from the post-simulation survey showed 96 % strongly agreed they were more confident in communicating with clients.

CONCLUSION

Faculty concluded this simulation-based experience is an effective alternative to traditional community clinical experiences in the antepartum setting.

Nursing Students' Perceptions of a Community Health Street Outreach Experience: Thematic Analysis

BACKGROUND

There has been increased focus within nursing to address social determinants of health (SDOH), and nurse educators are urged to integrate SDOH into the curriculum, strengthen community and public health (CPH) clinical experiences, and provide service-learning opportunities. Therefore, student feedback was sought for a CPH clinical experience involving street outreach.

METHOD

Two groups of nursing students conducted street outreach with unstably housed individuals in an urban area in the eastern United States. Focus groups and thematic analysis were conducted.

RESULTS

Students expressed high levels of satisfaction with the experience. The following themes were identified: Influence of Prior Experiences, Transformational Experience, and Making a Difference. Following the CPH experience, the majority of students reported they were considering working in CPH nursing.

CONCLUSION

Engaging in street outreach and similar experiences has the potential to improve nursing students' perceptions of CPH clinical experiences and prepare them for careers in CPH nursing. [J Nurs Educ. 2022;61(7):394-397.].