Graduate Nurse Educator Students' Perceptions of the Use of Narrative Pedagogy in Online Learning: A Pilot Study

Improving Distress Screening for People with Prostate Cancer: Evaluation of an E-Learning Course to Increase Healthcare Professionals' Knowledge

OBJECTIVES

Psychological distress can occur following diagnosis and treatment for prostate cancer, compromising psychosocial wellbeing. Improved recognition and management of distress by healthcare professionals can enhance clinical practice and promote evidence-based prostate cancer care. This paper explores the effectiveness and feasibility of the online Distress Screening for Prostate Cancer course, designed to improve healthcare professionals' understanding of screening for prostate cancer-related distress. It aims to evaluate whether this e-learning course increases learners' knowledge of distress screening for prostate cancer.

METHODS

Healthcare professionals were invited to enroll in the online course and complete optional evaluation questions. The pretest posttest design identified changes in learners' knowledge about distress screening for people with prostate cancer, including prevalence, risk factors, assessment and management strategies for distress (n = 149). Learners also rated satisfaction in a cross-sectional survey (n = 116). Most respondents were nurses, including Prostate Cancer Specialist Nurses.

RESULTS

Learners' knowledge of distress screening was higher after course completion. Improvement between pre- and posttest results was statistically significant for four of ten items, including risk of prostate cancer-related distress, and suicidality, and the purpose of distress screening. Learners reported high satisfaction with course content, structure, engagement, relevance, and approach. They particularly valued the narrative-based approach and interactivity. Small numbers encountered technological problems and some offered suggestions to improve learner feedback.

CONCLUSIONS

The course improved healthcare professionals' knowledge of distress among people affected by prostate cancer. Learners found the e-learning format feasible and acceptable.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

Deeper understanding of the psychological implications of diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer can help healthcare professionals respond to and manage distress among men and their families, and provide supportive care to improve health-related quality of life. Access to an online course can offer effective, feasible education on distress screening.

Development and psychometric testing of the narrative nursing teaching effectiveness scale: A methodological study

BACKGROUND

Narrative teaching is widely used in nursing education. However, there is currently a lack of valid and reliable tool to assess the effectiveness of narrative nursing teaching from the perspective of nursing students.

OBJECTIVES

This study developed a Narrative Nursing Teaching Effectiveness (NNTE) scale and evaluated its psychometric properties.

DESIGN

A methodological design was used to develop and validate the instrument.

SETTINGS

The study took place at a university in southern China.

PARTICIPANTS

The study involved 283 nursing students enrolled at a medical university in Fujian Province, China.

METHODS

The researchers conducted literature reviews, held focus groups and individual interviews, and utilized the Delphi method to create a pool of indicators for a narrative nursing teaching evaluation system. A pretest was administered to 150 nursing students. Next, the primary study involved 283 nursing students, chosen through cluster sampling, completed a general information questionnaire along with the NNTE scale. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0, Mplus 6.1, and STATA 16.0, and included general statistical analysis, critical test theory, and item response theory analyses.

RESULTS

The researchers created a 42-item scale with four subdomains, explaining 60.32 % of the total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis proved the four-factor model's validity. Cronbach's alpha values for the four subscales ranged from 0.869 to 0.949. The average content validity index of the scale was 0.923 and the item content validity index ranged from 0.872 to 1. In addition, all item characteristic curves displayed desirable shapes, and the test information functions provided precise information.

CONCLUSIONS

The NNTE scale exhibits good psychometric properties, providing a scientifically sound and effective instrument to evaluate the effectiveness of the narrative nursing teaching approach to nursing education.