'Learning in and out of lockdown': A comparison of two groups of undergraduate occupational therapy students' engagement in online-only and blended education approaches during the COVID-19 pandemic

Impact of COVID-19 on Clinical Education for Occupational Therapy Students: A 3-Year Longitudinal Study on Fall Risk Prediction Ability

This study aimed to examine if there were disadvantages to student learning and application when clinical education is canceled due to factors such as COVID-19 pandemic that occurred between 2020-2021. Forty occupational therapy students participated in the study, and they were classified into two groups: those with clinical education (clinical education group) and those without clinical education (inexperienced group). TP-KYT, which assesses a client's ability to predict risk related to falls, was administered in the first and final year. The inexperienced group showed less ability to predict risk related to client falls than the clinical education group.

Outcomes in occupational therapy students' preparation for wheelchair skills training provision

While wheelchair skills training has demonstrated highly effective outcomes for wheelchair users, prevalence of receiving comprehensive skills training is low. Studies demonstrate a wheelchair skills "bootcamp" significantly improves occupational therapy students' capacity to demonstrate wheelchair skill performance; however, how bootcamps impact students' self-efficacy to deliver skills training in future clinical practice is unclear. This study explored a large dataset collected from nine successive student cohorts attending a structured wheelchair skills bootcamp at a single site. Bootcamps were 4-4.5 hours in duration and content was based on the Wheelchair Skills Program. Mean improvement in skill capacity was 34.8% (95% CI 33.5; 36.1) and wheelchair self-efficacy improved by 28.7% (95% CI 27.3; 30.1). Post-bootcamp self-efficacy scores for Assessment (80.9%), Training (78.5%), Spotting (87.4%), and Documentation (70.4%) all improved by 30-40%. Mandatory bootcamps had lower baseline scores but similar post-bootcamp and change scores as voluntary ones. Cohorts during the COVID-19 pandemic had significantly lower baseline scores for wheelchair skill capacity and confidence as well as self-efficacy with assessment, but significantly larger improvements post-bootcamp. An experiential bootcamp is effective across a wide range of occupational therapy student cohorts in preparing them to deliver wheelchair skills training in future clinical practice.

Effectiveness and learning experience from undergraduate nursing students in surgical nursing skills course: a quasi- experimental study about blended learning

BACKGROUND

Blended learning is increasingly being adopted, and yet a gap remains in the related literature pertaining to its skill performance, learning engagement and inner experience in undergraduate surgical nursing skills course.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the changes in skills performance and learning engagement in the application of blended learning, and what it actually brings to nursing students.

DESIGN

The study uses a historical control, two-armed, mixed and quasi-experimental design.

METHODS

The blended learning version of the course was offered to the 2019 class of 334 nursing undergraduates. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected after the course to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the course effects compared with the 304 nursing undergraduates of grade 2017 who adapted traditional learning. Quantitative data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics using IBM SPSS 26.0, and qualitative data were encoded using Nvivo11.0.

RESULTS

There were significant differences in skill performance and learning engagement between the class of 2017 and 2019 (p < 0.001). Combined with further analysis of the interview data, 3 first-level nodes and 8 secondary nodes were determined. Students' opinions, comments and suggestions on the application of blended learning are refreshing.

CONCLUSION

Moving forward with blended learning: opportunities and challenges go hand in hand. Researchers need to continually modify their research designs to respond to variable educational environments.

Not letting a good crisis go to waste - learnings from a fully online professional placement

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on physiotherapy education meant that innovative responses were needed quickly. This paper describes a scholarly approach to changes within an entry-level physiotherapy program where one of its clinical placements was replaced with a fully online unit during 2020, as well as exploring the experiences of students who completed this newly developed online unit.

METHODS

A mixed methods approach was used. Sixteen of a possible 31 students responded to an online survey comprising quantitative and open-ended questions.

RESULTS

The majority of participants were satisfied with the unit and reported that: the unit helped them to learn valuable skills; feedback from educators was helpful; and that they were able to apply to future contexts. Small numbers of students were more ambivalent about the use of online media and tools including discussion boards, the workload and being part of a learning community.

CONCLUSION

The online unit described in this research is evidence that non-traditional forms of clinical education might also address clinically important learning outcomes, provide sustainable options and alleviate some of the stresses that both tertiary providers and healthcare settings endure. However, these types of placement experiences require a paradigm shift from educators, the profession, accrediting bodies and even future students.

"Burnout felt inevitable": Experiences of university staff in educating the nursing and allied health workforce during the first COVID-19 waves

Introduction

Maintaining progress in the face of looming burnout during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic was crucial for the health workforce, including those educating the next generation of health professionals. The experiences of students and healthcare practitioners have been explored to a greater degree than the experiences of university-based health professional educators.

Methods

This qualitative study examined the experiences of nursing and allied health academics at an Australian University during COVID-19 disruptions in 2020 and 2021 and describes the strategies that academics and/or teams implemented to ensure course continuity. Academic staff from nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and dietetics courses at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia provided narratives regarding the key challenges and opportunities they faced.

Results

The narratives highlighted the strategies generated and tested by participants amidst rapidly changing health orders and five common themes were identified: disruption; stress; stepping up, strategy and unexpected positives, lessons, and legacy impacts. Participants noted challenges related to student engagement in online learning and ensuring the acquisition of discipline-specific practical skills during periods of lock-down. Staff across all disciplines reported increased workload associated with converting teaching to on-line delivery, sourcing alternative fieldwork arrangements, and dealing with high levels of student distress. Many reflected on their own expertise in using digital tools in teaching and their beliefs about the effectiveness of distance teaching for health professional training. Ensuring students were able to complete required fieldwork hours was particularly challenging due to constantly changing public health orders and conditions and staffing shortages at health services. This was in addition to illness and isolation requirements further impacting the availability of teaching associates for specialist skills classes.

Discussion

Solutions such as remote and blended learning telehealth, and simulated placements were rapidly implemented in some courses especially where fieldwork could not be rescheduled or amended at the health settings. The implications and recommendations for educating and ensuring competence development in the health workforce during times when usual teaching methods are disrupted are discussed.

Participatory peer research exploring the experience of learning during Covid-19 for allied health and healthcare science students

INTRODUCTION

The teaching and learning experience of allied health and healthcare science students has altered because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Limited research has explored the experience on the future healthcare workforce using participatory research design. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of a global pandemic on the clinical and academic experiences of healthcare student using a co-production approach with student peer researchers.

METHODS

A participatory research approach adopting online focus groups facilitated by students trained as peer researchers was adopted. First, second and final year students from occupational therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry, healthcare science, diagnostic radiography and imaging, radiotherapy and oncology, and speech and language therapy were recruited to six focus groups. Data generated through focus groups were analysed thematically using the DEPICT model to support a partnership approach.

RESULTS

Twenty-three participants took part in six focus groups. The themes identified were: rapid changes to learning; living alongside Covid-19 and psychological impact. Students preferred blended learning approaches when available, as reduced peer interaction, studying and sleeping in the same space, and technology fatigue decreased motivation.

CONCLUSION

Due to rapid changes in learning and the stress, anxiety and isolation created by the pandemic, managing study, personal life and placement resulted in a gap in confidence in clinical skills development for students. Students took their professional identity seriously, engaged in behaviours to reduce transmission of Covid-19 and employed a range of coping strategies to protect wellbeing. A challenge with the move to online delivery was the absence of informal peer learning and students indicated that moving forward they would value a hybrid approach to delivery. Higher Education should capitalise on innovative learning experiences developed during the pandemic however it is important to research the impact this has on student skill acquisition and learning experience.