Teaching and learning modalities for continuing professional development in the long-term care: A rapid synthesis review.

AIM: To describe the various teaching and learning modalities for the delivery of Continuing Professional Development activities for health care professionals in the long-term care sector. BACKGROUND: Continuing Professional Development is a key activity that organisations undertake to achieve effective workforce planning, recruitment, retention and upskilling strategies in long-term care settings. During the Covid-19 pandemic there was a rapid move to online modalities of Continuous Professional Development, but there is a paucity of evidence in relation to their effectiveness compared with face-to-face, or in-class learning. DESIGN: A rapid synthesis review. METHODS: MEDLINE, CINAHL and HEALTH BUSINESS ELITE databases were used to identify relevant articles that were published between 2016 and 2022. Original studies of any design investigating Continuing Professional Development activities, with or without a comparison between interventions or activities were included. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was followed. The Kirkpatrick model was adopted as a globally recognised method for evaluating training programmes. RESULTS: After a full text analysis, 34 papers were included in the review. Face to face was the most common method of delivery followed by online, while blended (a mix of face-to-face and online delivery) was the least common method used. The teaching modalities were not associated with specific learning contents, but were used for a range of content. Most studies obtained positive outcomes following implementation of the educational interventions. Kirkpatrick Level 4 (results) was the most commonly measured outcome. CONCLUSIONS: While blended learning was the least common method of delivery, it was found to be more beneficial for learners than face-to-face or online exclusively. There are now new spaces to learn and new technologies that allow us to 'reimagine' where, when and how we teach. This requires Continuing Professional Development providers to design and tailor their courses according to health professionals' learning needs and the clinical contexts where they work. We recommend that Continuing Professional Development providers involve employers when designing teaching and learning activities for Long Term Care workers, to decide which modalities enable effective knowledge translation.

Examining family and community nurses' core competencies in continuing education programs offered in primary health care settings: An integrative literature review.

AIM: To identify gaps in existing family and community nurse (FCN) continuing education programs and to investigate whether FCN core competencies are covered in continuing education programs offered in primary health care settings. BACKGROUND: In global pandemics such as COVID-19, there is an urgent need for staff development using transformative learning and help registered nurses build up their competencies and form a new professional identity as family and community nurses (FCNs). Therefore, FCN education programs become of high importance to enhance nurses' core competencies through continuing education. METHODS: An integrative review of the literature was conducted applying the Whittemore and Knafl methodological strategy for studies published between 2015- June 2021. RESULTS: FCN core competencies, including the "decision-making process, navigation as care coordinator and patient advocate and promoting individual and family health to support the quality of nursing care," were poorly covered in the FCN programs. Specifically, e-health played a very limited role in FCN continuing education, while ethics, managing change, managing disparity and diversity and leadership skills, did not emerge at all. CONCLUSION: The identified gaps can be incorporated into future FCN continuing education programs and may help improve nurses' competence and health care delivery and support new integrated models of care, namely, person-centered and community-based models.

Italian nurses' COVID-19 experiences from mass media interviews: a qualitative study.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is heavily hitting healthcare systems around the world, and nurses are battling in the front line. Previous studies have reported nurses' responses to catastrophic situations, but also interviews released by Italian nurses to the main mass media channels could bear important messages for policy makers and stakeholders. This study describes Italian front-line nurses' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic through television interviews. Methods: This is a descriptive qualitative study. Data were collected through purposive sampling from Italian front-line nurses' interviews during the COVID-19 pandemic. Publicly available interviews between 7th and 29th March 2020 were collected from the websites of national and regional television stations. Thematic content analysis was used to describe, summarize, and classify data into macro themes. The study is compliant with Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research. Results: A total of 21 television interviews were collected from front-line clinical nurses, nursing managers, nursing trade union representatives and representatives of the Nursing Regulator. Thematic analysis yielded four macro-themes: psycho-social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on health professionals; altered patient relationships; personal safety; recognition and promotion of the profession. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated some problems already present, such as the shortage of nurses, but has also turned the spotlight on the nursing profession. Highly involved and affected by the pandemic, nurses have become better known by the public and often also protagonists of public discussions. It is important that nurses' value as allies of the public emerges stronger from this dramatic situation.

Lessons from Italian front-line nurses' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative descriptive study.

AIM: To explore nursing management issues within COVID-19 narratives of Italian front-line nurses. BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected health systems and professionals worldwide. Italian nurses have key messages for nursing leaders following their acute experiences in the pandemic. METHOD: A descriptive qualitative study with thematic analysis. RESULTS: Twenty-three testimonies from clinical nurses were analysed. Six macrothemes were identified as follows: organisational and logistic change; leadership models adopted to manage the emergency; changes in nursing approaches; personal protective equipment issues; physical and psychological impact on nurses; and team value/spirit. CONCLUSIONS: Our testimonies highlighted the huge impact of COVID-19 on the Italian nursing workforce, especially in terms of the high risks associated with caring for COVID-19 patients, exacerbated by the shortage of appropriate personal protective equipment. Nurses had to care for their colleagues and live separately from their families to avoid infecting them, revealing nurses' resilience and the important role of effective and sensitive management. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nurse managers must be prepared for the impact of pandemics on staff and need to ensure availability and replacement of quality personal protective equipment, rehearse strategies for communicating with patients while wearing personal protective equipment and establish protocols for communicating with relatives.

Are data on missed nursing care useful for nursing leaders? The RN4CAST@IT cross-sectional study.

AIM: To describe nurses' reported missed nursing care activities among hospitalized adult patients medical and surgical wards and explore gaps in service provision. BACKGROUND: In 2015, Italy replicated the RN4CAST study, which heralded the exposition of missed care as an international phenomenon. In Italy, nurse-patient workload is high, with high levels of burnout and dissatisfaction reported, all factors associated with missed care. METHODS: A cross-sectional study (n = 3,590) was conducted using the 13-item online Task Left Undone Tool aimed at collecting data on missed nursing care. RESULTS: The frequency of omission of activities ranged between 7% and 50%. There were significant differences between morning, afternoon and night shifts and the various clinical settings. Oral care was the most frequently missed care activity. CONCLUSIONS: This study takes step forward in identifying and reducing missed care on medical and surgical wards, both in Italy and also internationally, which needs to take into account the specific organisational characteristics of each setting. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Although more essential activities are missed less frequently, much is known about the relational deficits such as information giving, education, communication and discharge advice, which managers ought to spearhead through local initiatives to improve these practices.