Senior nurse role expectations of graduate registered and enrolled nurses in Australia: Content analysis of open-ended survey questions

Working effectively with consumers: Perspectives from students, teachers, nurses, and consumers

Preparing enrolled nurses (ENs) to effectively work with mental health consumers is crucial to meeting Australia's healthcare demands. This qualitative study aimed to explore various stakeholders' perceptions regarding the mental health knowledge, skills, and attributes (KSAs) required by ENs to engage with individuals experiencing mental health issues, thus guiding future training priorities. The sample comprised 44 participants including 18 students, 3 graduate ENs, 5 experienced ENs, 5 registered nurses (RNs), 4 nurse unit managers (NUMs), 5 teachers, and 5 consumers of mental health services. Focus groups were used to collect data from the students, whilst individual interviews were conducted with all other participants. A thematic analysis revealed communication was the most vital skill for effectively working with mental health consumers. Skills such as critical thinking and clinical reasoning were also deemed crucial, given the volatile nature of the mental health inpatient environment, necessitating effective responses to acute escalations to prevent adverse outcomes for both staff and consumers. Essential knowledge components included understanding mental health disorders, symptoms, and treatments, particularly medications used for mental health issues. Participants also emphasised the importance of attributes like confidence and empathy in supporting and caring for consumers, who often experienced trauma and vulnerability. These findings provide valuable insights into the content that should be incorporated into the diploma of nursing (DN) training to produce competent graduate ENs.

Graduate enrolled nurse readiness to practice: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

In some countries, enrolled nurses (also known as Licensed Practical Nurses) have become essential members of the healthcare team, supporting registered nurses to address patient care needs. Registered nurses' readiness to practice is well documented in the literature, however, less is known about the preparedness of enrolled nurses for practice.

OBJECTIVE

To explore and synthesize the available evidence on the graduate enrolled nurse practice readiness upon completion of their nursing qualification and at the time of entering the nursing workforce.

DESIGN

A scoping review was conducted.

DATA SOURCES

Databases such as CINAHL Complete, Directory of access journal, Cochrane Library, Medline, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest and Google scholar were searched.

REVIEW METHOD

The review was conducted using The Joanna Briggs Institute Methodology for Scoping reviews.

RESULTS

Seven studies were identified for inclusion and two themes were constructed as 'ambiguous roles and expectations' and 'lack of educational preparation'. Findings from the selected studies showed a lack of clarity on the role of an enrolled nurse. In some healthcare settings, enrolled nurses were expected to undertake the same role as registered nurses. Furthermore, it was expected that enrolled nurses would be educationally prepared to work in specialty areas such as mental health, acute care and aged care upon completion of their studies. Though, none of these studies provided any conclusive evidence of whether enrolled nurses were ready to transition to practice.

CONCLUSION

In line with the limited evidence, there is a need to undertake further studies to understand the graduate enrolled nurse practice readiness from graduates' and industry stakeholders' perspectives. The findings will assist the education providers to strengthen their curriculum and health industry to support enrolled nurse transition to practice.

Competencies expected of undergraduate nursing students: A scoping review

AIM

Nursing competencies are crucial indicators for providing quality and safe care. The lack of international agreement in this field has caused problems in the generalization and application of findings. The purpose of this review is to identify the core competencies necessary for undergraduate nursing students to enter nursing work.

DATA SOURCES

We conducted a structured search using Scopus, MEDLINE (PubMed), Science Direct, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Google Scholar.

REVIEW METHODS

We conducted a scoping review using the methodology recommended by the Joanna Briggs Institute, supported by the PAGER framework, and guided by the PRISMA-ScR Checklist. Inclusion criteria included full-text articles in English, quantitative and qualitative research related to competencies for undergraduate students or newly graduated nurses, competency assessment, and tool development from 1970 to 2022. We excluded articles related to specific nursing roles, specific contexts, Master's and Ph.D. curricula, hospital work environment competencies, and editorial.

RESULTS

Out of 15,875 articles, we selected 43 studies, and data analysis with summative content analysis identified five themes named individualized care, professional nursing process, nursing administration, readiness, and professional development.

CONCLUSION

Considering the dynamics of competencies and their change with time, experience, and setting, it is necessary to update, localize, and levelling of the proposed competencies based on the culture of each country.

IMPACT

These competencies provide a guide for undergraduate nursing curriculum development and offer a framework for both clinical instruction and the evaluation of nursing students.

Staff knowledge, attitudes and confidence levels for fall preventions in older person long-term care facilities: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Falls are the most common health problem affecting older people in long-term care facilities (LTCFs), with well-recognised adverse psychological and physical resident outcomes, and high staff burden and financial cost. LTCF staff knowledge and skills can play a vital role in providing and promoting fall prevention care.

METHODS

A descriptive cross-sectional survey study was conducted across 13 LTCF sites in the Southwest of Ireland; a sampling frame facilitated inclusion of a range of provider types and facility sizes. An existing questionnaire, based on fall prevention guidance, and examining staff knowledge, skills and attitudes, was distributed in physical and online formats.

RESULT

The response rate was 15% (n = 155), predominantly healthcare assistants, staff nurses and senior nurses. Almost 90% expressed high confidence levels for delivering fall prevention interventions and being aware of how falls affect LTCFs. However, over half underestimated the fall rate in LTCFs, and only 60% had adequate knowledge. Longer experience in working with older people in healthcare services was associated with greater knowledge (p = .001) and confidence in fall prevention interventions (p = .01), while senior nurses had more knowledge than others (p = .01). LTCF staff had lowest knowledge about "identification systems for residents at high risk of falling", "keeping confused residents near nursing stations", "the effect of using antipsychotic medicine on falls", "using a toileting regimen" and "staff responsibility regarding fall prevention efforts". Despite their knowledge gaps, nearly 50% thought they had enough fall prevention training; their main preference for any further fall education training was face-to-face education.

CONCLUSION

The results, with the caveat of a low response rate, show the need for interdisciplinary fall prevention training that is tailored to both the perceived learning needs and actual knowledge gap of LTCF staff and their preferences for learning delivery, as part of an overall approach to reducing fall-related adverse outcomes.

Exploring the role of the second-level regulated nurse in the Australian nursing workforce: An integrative review

BACKGROUND

The enrolled nurse is the second-level regulated nursing role in Australia, with similar roles in other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. A plethora of reports and research papers indicate that this role is seen as integral but under scrutiny by the nursing profession and government bodies. Despite changes such as national accreditation and registration requirements there is a lack of role clarity and delineation, especially between the registered nurse and enrolled nurse roles. As a key nursing role there is the need to ensure it is understood and used to its potential in the nursing workforce.

AIM

To explore key issues that may impact the role of the EN in the Australian nursing workforce.

DESIGN

An integrative review.

METHODS

A seven-step framework was used to review peer-reviewed research papers, scholarly and published government documents, grey literature and government data.

RESULTS

The review identified three themes from 24 documents: understanding the enrolled nurses' scope of practice, standardised practice, and career development.

DISCUSSION

It is posited that a lack of understanding of the enrolled nurses' scope of practice creates confusion between the nursing roles and a lack of standardised practice. There is also an expectation that the enrolled nurses' career progression is to become a registered nurse, which is supported by the high dual registrations. Collectively these factors contribute to the enrolled nurse not feeling valued. Similar challenges to the equivalent role are found internationally.

CONCLUSION

The literature demonstrates a lack of understanding of the enrolled nurse role by the nursing profession. Further work is required to better understand the role and its place in the Australian nursing workforce.

IMPACT STATEMENT

Better understanding of the enrolled nurses' role and its place in the nursing workforce is needed to progress this role.

Redefining scholarship for health professions education: AMEE Guide No. 142

Scholarship is an integral aspect of academia. It shapes the practice of individuals and the field and is often used to inform career progression decisions and policies. This makes it high stakes. Yet it is complex, and ambiguous. Definitions vary and the term does not necessarily translate well across contexts. In this AMEE guide, our aim is to establish a contemporary definition of scholarship which is appropriate to health professions education (HPE). Our specific objectives are to provide guidance to support colleagues in their career development as professional educators and to challenge biases and assumptions about scholarship which may still exist in educational systems and structures. Ultimately, we hope that this work will advance the stature/standing of scholarship in the field. We provide a general definition of scholarship and how this relates to the scholarship of teaching (and learning) (SoT[L]) and scholarly teaching. Drawing on Boyer's seminal work, we describe different types of scholarship and reflect on how these apply to HPE, before moving on to describe different types of engagement with scholarship in HPE, including scope of contribution and influence. Using cases and examples, we illustrate differences in scholarly engagement across stages of a career, contexts, and ways of engaging. We provide guidance on how to assess 'quality' of scholarship. We offer practical advice for health professions' educators seeking academic advancement. We advocate that institutional leaders consider their systems and structures, so that these align with faculty work patterns, and judge teaching and professional practice appropriately. We conclude by offering a new definition of scholarship in HPE.

Developing theory-informed knowledge translation strategies to facilitate the use of patient-reported outcome measures in interdisciplinary low back pain clinical practices in Quebec: mixed methods study

Background

There is a growing interest among healthcare providers (HCPs) to use Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) in clinical care. PROMs can help improve patient-care provider communication and may be used to inform the need for interdisciplinary care for Low Back Pain (LBP). However, PROM implementation to support clinical decision-making is complex and requires knowledge translation (KT) interventions that will overcome barriers to using PROMs in interdisciplinary clinical settings.

Objectives

to 1) identify potential barriers and enablers to using PROMs in primary care LBP clinical practice from the perspective of healthcare team members, and 2) develop a theory-based tailored KT intervention to facilitate the use of PROMs in interdisciplinary clinical practice.

Methods

We invited 25 HCPs working in an interdisciplinary team to complete a self-administered survey designed based on the Theoretical Domain Framework (TDF) to identify the barriers and enablers to using PROM scores in LBP clinical practice. The questionnaire consisted of 30 questions rated on a 5-point Likert scale (quantitative) and included open-ended questions (qualitative). Quantitative and qualitative data were analysed to estimate the frequency of barriers and enablers. Findings were then reviewed by a panel of four KT experts who mapped behaviour change techniques to barriers identified that informed the design of a KT intervention.

Results

Eighteen HCPs responded to the survey. Factors identified as likely to restrict the use of PROM scores included knowledge, skills, social/professional role and identity, goals, decision processes, beliefs about consequences, environmental context and resources, behavioural regulation, and social influence. A multi-component evidence-based KT intervention was proposed by the panel of experts to address these barriers: a training workshop; educational materials; and use of PROM score reports to HCPs that were all delivered by an opinion leader.

Conclusion

The routine use of PROMs in clinical practice may optimize the quality of LBP care and improve patients’ outcomes. The proposed multi-component KT intervention is expected to be an effective strategy to increase HCPs’ ability to integrate PROMs into clinical decision-making and to engage patients in their care.

Multidimensional Analysis of the Arabic Version of the Actual Scope of Nursing Practice Scale

Background and Purpose: Data were analyzed from a national convenience sample of 3,000 bedside nurses in Lebanon to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the first Arabic version of the Actual Scope of Nursing Practice (A-ASCOP) questionnaire. Methods: The method used in this study was application of the partial credit model using the multidimensional random coefficients multinomial logit model. Results: A-ASCOP subscales (r= .81–.94) and levels of item complexity (r= .95–.98) were highly correlated. Conclusions: As a 26-item scale, the A-ASCOP has high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.93). The A-ASCOP subscales have acceptable multidimensional reliability Expected A-Posteriori/Plausible Value ratio (EAP/PV > .80) and are suitable for descriptive surveys. The three A-ASCOP levels of item complexity were not valid for this sample. We report norms for unidimensional Rasch and 0–100 transformed measures by category of participant.

Development of an Australian nursing critical thinking tool using a Delphi process

AIM

To develop a critical thinking assessment tool for Australian undergraduate nurses.

BACKGROUND

Critical thinking is an important skill but difficult to assess in nursing practice. There are often many responses a nurse can make to a clinical problem or situation. Some responses are more correct than others and these decisions have an impact on a patient's care and safety. Differences in a response can relate to the depth of knowledge, experience and critical thinking ability of the individual nurse.

DESIGN

This study used a Delphi process to develop five clinical case studies together with the most appropriate clinical responses to 25 clinical questions.

METHOD

The Delphi technique was undertaken using the Qualtrics survey tool between October 2016-January 2017. A panel of 13 nursing experts from various geographical locations in Australia participated in the study to review the case scenarios and answers to questions posed. Four rounds of participation were required to achieve a minimum of 80% agreement between participants. Participants were asked to rank answers for 25 multi-choice questions based on the correct nursing management of case scenarios provided and provide feedback as to the accuracy and relevance of the scenarios and answers.

RESULTS

Four rounds of Delphi questions were required to reach consensus on the correct wording and answers for the scenarios. Five case studies have been developed with nursing responses to patient management in rank order from most correct to least correct.

CONCLUSION

Use of the tool should provide confidence that a nurse has met a certain level of critical thinking ability.