Feasibility Assessment of a School Nurse-Led Approach Using Chronic Absenteeism to Establish the School-Based Active Surveillance Process.

This article shares what was learned from the feasibility assessment of a nurse-led school-based active surveillance (SBAS) pilot to track chronic absenteeism using myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) as an exemplar. This pilot encompassed a 3-year period with training and feedback from school nurses (SNs) on data collection and ME/CFS. SNs found that the SBAS process helped them effectively identifying undiagnosed conditions. The assessment revealed the importance of focusing outreach efforts and establishing relationships with the school leadership in developing health policies and programs in the school setting. The pilot data were used to develop a manual to guide SNs for the SBAS process. This can be viewed as a model for SNs in establishing a surveillance to identify and track conditions like ME/CFS. With overlapping symptoms of Long COVID to ME/CFS, this assessment may provide insights for additional efforts to understand the impact of Long COVID on students' education.

The mental health impact of COVID-19 on pre-registration nursing students in Australia: Findings from a national cross-sectional study.

AIM: The study aimed to measure and describe the mental health impact of COVID-19 on Australian pre-registration nursing students. BACKGROUND: The COVID -19 pandemic has had a swift and significant impact on nursing students across the globe. The pandemic was the catalyst for the closure of schools and universities across many countries. This necessary measure caused additional stressors for many students, including nursing students, leading to uncertainty and anxiety. There is limited evidence available to identify the mental health impact of COVID-19 on Australian pre-registration nursing students currently. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was conducted across 12 Australian universities. METHODS: Using an anonymous, online survey students provided demographic data and self-reported their stress, anxiety, resilience, coping strategies, mental health and exposure to COVID-19. Students' stress, anxiety, resilience, coping strategies and mental health were assessed using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale, the Brief Resilience Scale, the Brief Cope and the DASS-21. Descriptive and regression analyses were conducted to investigate whether stress, anxiety, resilience and coping strategies explained variance in mental health impact. Ethical Approval was obtained from the University of New England Human Research Ethics Committee (No: HE20-188). All participating universities obtained reciprocal approval. RESULTS: Of the 516 students who completed the survey over half (n = 300, 58.1%) reported mental health concerns and most students (n = 469, 90.9%) reported being impacted by COVID-19. Close to half of students (n = 255, 49.4%) reported signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. Mental health impact was influenced by students' year level and history of mental health issues, where a history of mental health and a higher year level were both associated with greater mental health impacts. Students experienced considerable disruption to their learning due to COVID-19 restrictions which exacerbated students' distress and anxiety. Students coped with COVID-19 through focusing on their problems and using strategies to regulate their emotions and adapt to stressors. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic has considerably impacted pre-registration nursing students' mental health. Strategies to support nursing students manage their mental health are vital to assist them through the ongoing pandemic and safeguard the recruitment and retention of the future nursing workforce. IMPACT STATEMENT: This study adds an Australian understanding to the international evidence that indicates student nurses experienced a range of negative psychosocial outcomes during COVID-19. In this study, we found that students with a pre-existing mental health issue and final-year students were most affected. The changes to education in Australian universities related to COVID-19 has caused distress for many nursing students. Australian nursing academics/educators and health service staff need to take heed of these results as these students prepare for entry into the nursing workforce. PATIENT OR PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT: The study was designed to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of undergraduate nursing students in Australia. Educators from several universities were involved in the design and conduct of the study. However, the study did not include input from the public or the intended participants.

Undergraduate nursing students' experiences of online education: A cross-sectional survey.

During the coronavirus pandemic, UK Academics were required to adjust their learning and teaching environment and pedagogical approaches, with little guidance or time. Feelings of frustration and uncertainty around student engagement were commonplace across Higher Education Institutions. This was heightened in professionally regulated courses, such as nursing. The shift to online learning created a situation where academics were frequently faced with a 'sea of black screens' and unable to ascertain student engagement. This study investigated undergraduate nursing students' experience of online education during the COVID-19 pandemic. An anonymous survey was distributed to each year of the undergraduate nursing programme and data subsequently analysed. Responses from 54 students revealed that engagement varied between different year groups. There were significant differences between those with pre-COVID (traditional face-to-face) teaching experience (years 2 and 3) and those without (year 1) in regard to self-reported engagement with online learning. The findings from this study revealed some powerful and emotional insights into the experience of online learning amongst UK students undertaking an undergraduate nursing programme during the COVID-19 pandemic.

International nurse education research collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic: Researchers' perspectives.

BACKGROUND: International research collaborations in nurse are increasing. However, collaborations in international nurse education research are limited compared to clinical nurse studies. This paper presents the experiences of seven investigators of a multi-country study while conducting collaborative research among nurse students across five continents. OBJECTIVE: This paper aims to describe the experiences and challenges of conducting an international nurse education research and to propose recommendations to enhance these collaborative research experiences. METHODS: Narrative perspectives from nurse educators on the international nurse collaborative experience were described in this discussion paper. RESULTS: International collaboration in nurse education research was a positive and enriching experience. While several challenges were experienced by the collaborators, the presence of facilitating factors, benefits of collaboration, and opportunities for personal and professional growth and development outweighed the challenges. Team leader attributes, active engagement, commitment, genuine interest, and cultural sensitivity are essential in creating a successful international nurse research project. CONCLUSION: International collaborative nurse research fosters expansion of nurse knowledge through sharing of expertise and development of culturally diverse perspectives.

Expedited upskilling of intermediate care nurses to provide critical care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

AIM: Describe the strategy, efficacy and preferred mechanisms of training used to rapidly upskill intermediate care nursing staff to provide critical care during the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN: Descriptive study. METHODS: The strategy used from March through December 2020 to upskill nurses in an intermediate care unit to administer critical care upon rapid conversion of the intermediate care unit to an intensive care unit for coronavirus disease 2019 is described. Training and education included paired staffing models, interdisciplinary education, skills days and self-directed learning. Nurses engaged in this upskilling process were surveyed to evaluate their confidence in new critical care competencies and educational preferences. RESULTS: Of 38 intermediate care nurses, 35 completed training and began independent intensive care practice. Nursing confidence in critical care competencies increased steadily. Nurses demonstrated the greatest preference for peer education models, particularly those incorporating the hospital's pre-existing medical intensive care nurses. PATIENT AND PUBLIC CONTRIBUTIONS: No patient or public contributions were made to this manuscript.

Strength of cross-sector collaborations in co-designing an extended rural and remote nursing placement innovation: Focusing on student learning in preference to student churning.

AIM: To describe the strength of a cross-sector and multi-university collaboration in co-designing an extended nursing placement innovation in rural and remote Australia. CONTEXT: Registered nurses are Australia's largest health workforce. Short-duration placements can limit nursing student exposure to rural and remote practice, impacting student capacity to tailor and contextualise their practice, navigate complex inequities, establish a sense of belonging and consider rural practice post-registration. Extended nursing placements have been recommended to address these challenges, but there are no guidelines governing their development and limited resources to support implementation. APPROACH: Methods adopted in program development included the following: (1) collaboration establishment; (2) co-defining challenges confronting nurse education in these contexts; (3) co-developing guiding principles; (4) co-designing a new approach to nurse education, the Extended Nursing Placement Program (ENPP); and (5) the co-contribution of stakeholders to program design, implementation and evaluation. Regional stakeholders include a NSW and Victorian Local Health District/Service, three Aboriginal health services and the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. University participants include two metropolitan universities, a University Department of Rural Health and final-year Bachelor of Nursing students. Program implementation in Semester 1 of 2022 with seven final-year nursing students. CONCLUSION: The authors propose that the adoption of collaborative approaches can contribute to re-framing student nurse education and the development of a rural-ready nursing workforce. These approaches can provide regions and universities with the opportunity to avoid student churn whilst promoting the attainment of skills required to work, live and thrive in these locations.

Reaching out to those we teach about: a qualitative appreciative inquiry of older persons’ experience as mentors in a bachelor of nursing programme during the Covid-19 pandemic

Background: This article describes the development and refinement of a component of a first-year nursing course called ‘Theoretical perspectives in nursing care: complexities in seniors care’. Initially developed in 2020 in response to the pandemic restrictions and guided by the philosophy of person- centredness and person-centred practice, a senior mentorship programme called ‘Engaging with your senior mentor in the community’ has become an important element of the broader theoretical course. Aim: To report on the experiences of older persons living in the community who volunteered to be mentors to first-year bachelor of nursing students, and explain how their experiences informed person-centred quality improvements for future courses. Methods: Appreciative inquiry principles guided the study. Qualitative descriptive design methods – online surveys and focus groups – were employed to evaluate the senior mentorship initiative. Thematic analysis was performed to identify themes that described what the experience of participating in the initiative was like from the perspective of the senior mentors themselves. Findings: Our analysis identified five themes: (a) sharing;(b) contributing;(c) listening;(d) self-reflecting;and (e) communicating expectations. Conclusion: Sharing wisdom informed by lived experience can be a rewarding part of ageing. Senior mentors believed they had contributed in a meaningful way to the student nurses’ learning. Implications for practice: * This article reaffirms that older persons are keen to participate in education initiatives * Insights from the senior mentors will inform educators in health and social sciences who want to incorporate the voices of older persons in their classroom and practice teaching * Older persons should be considered potential partners who can help educators develop a culture of person-centredness to help students prepare to appreciate the older persons in their care

Effects of integrating maternity VR-based situated learning into professional training on students’ learning performances

Educators have recognized the importance of providing a realistic learning environment which helps learners to not only comprehend learning content, but also to link the content to practical problems. Such an environment can hence foster problem-solving skills in nursing training. However, when learners interact in a virtual environment with rich learning resources, they might encounter difficulties if there is a lack of proper guidance, clinical sense, or a well thought-out instructional design process. Hence, this work developed a maternity VR-based situated learning system (MVR-SLS) based on the experiential learning theory to support professional courses in obstetrics. A quasi-experiment was conducted to verify the impacts of this method on learners' learning achievement, OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) competency, problem solving skills, learning engagement, and teaching effectiveness. The experimental results indicate that the new method improved learners' learning achievement, OSCE competency, problem-solving ability, and recognition of learning engagement. Moreover, the learners who learned with the new method showed more active learning behaviors compared to the learners in the control group. Findings of the present study offer concrete suggestions for implementing effective virtual reality (VR)-based learning strategies for medical and nursing textbooks.

Co-producing nurse education with academics, students, service users and carers: lessons from the pandemic.

This article presents a holistic view of re-designing learner-centred nursing curricula in a post-coronavirus pandemic digital educational system while maintaining authentic service user and carer involvement. Higher education is facing turbulent times through ever-increasing recruitment targets and financial demands. This is coupled with increased requirements from health professional bodies to involve students and service users and carers in co-creating curricula. Reflecting on the authors' collective experiences pre-COVID-19, during COVID-19 and looking to the future, they present a service user-and-student-led proposal for the future of digitally enabled nursing education that involves people with lived experience in an authentic way.

Intention and motivation to pursue higher education among registered nurses and midwives: a cross-sectional study during COVID-19.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the intention and motivation of nurses and midwives to pursue their higher education considering several factors. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study were a 16-item online survey was distributed using a convenience sampling method to approximately 12,000 nurses and midwives between May - July 2021. RESULTS: A total of 513 eligible nurses and midwives participated in the study. Most of the respondents were females (76.61%), with a bachelor's degree (72.3%) and well experienced (11-15 years) (35.4%). Most nurses and midwives are highly motivated to pursue higher education (79.14%). The most motivating factor for the respondents is their professional goals (85.2%), While the most dissuading factor was the cost. Regarding COVID-19, about 28% of the respondents said that the COVID-19 pandemic has a negative effect on their desire to go for higher education. CONCLUSIONS: The nurses and midwives were highly motivated to pursue higher education regardless of their demographic status, available resources, and barriers. Furthermore, the eagerness of the nurses and midwives to pursue higher education, which is rooted in their desire to grow in their profession.

Delivery of antimicrobial stewardship competencies in UK pre-registration nurse education programmes: a national cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Registered nurses perform numerous functions critical to the success of antimicrobial stewardship, but only 63% of pre-registration nursing programmes include any teaching about stewardship. Updated nursing standards indicate that nurses require antimicrobial stewardship knowledge and skills. AIM: To explore the delivery of key antimicrobial stewardship competencies within updated pre-registration nursing programmes. METHODS: This study had a cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected between March and June 2021. FINDINGS: Lecturers from 35 UK universities responsible for teaching antimicrobial stewardship participated in this study. The provision of antimicrobial stewardship teaching and learning was inconsistent across programmes, with competencies in infection prevention and control, patient-centred care and interprofessional collaborative practice taking precedent over competencies pertaining to the use, management and monitoring of antimicrobials. Online learning and teaching surrounding hand hygiene, personal protective equipment and immunization theory was reported to have increased during the pandemic. Only a small number of respondents reported that students shared taught learning with other healthcare professional groups. CONCLUSION: There is a need to ensure consistency in antimicrobial stewardship across programmes, and greater knowledge pertaining to the use, management and monitoring of antimicrobials should be included. Programmes need to adopt teaching strategies and methods that allow nurses to develop interprofessional skills in order to practice collaboratively.

Exploring the experiences of student mental health nurses from ethnic minority backgrounds working through the COVID-19 pandemic: a phenomenological approach

Background/aims The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds more than any other group. The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of mental health students from ethnic minorities who worked during the COVID-19 pandemic in a mental health NHS trust. Methods This study used phenomenology as the theoretical framework and thematic analysis as a method for data analysis. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 12 student mental health nurses, which were held via Microsoft Teams. Results The four themes that emerged from this study were altruism, a sense of connectedness, support and learning opportunities, and role clarity. Students described a sense of altruism while deciding to opt-in to the extended placement. Some also found their faith to be a source of support and resilience, which provided a sense of connectedness. Support was an essential element that emerged in this study where students could rely on both the university and the mental health NHS trust. The learning opportunities that COVID-19 has presented have helped bridge the gap between the physical and mental wellbeing of patients;however, a lack of clarity in their roles was highlighted. Conclusions Adequate and appropriate policies and guidance to support student nurses are needed when working in crisis situations.

Maternal and Child Health Nursing education before and during COVID-19: An exploratory descriptive study.

BACKGROUND: Major disruptions to higher education during COVID-19 resulted in a rapid shift to online learning and associated adaptations to teaching and assessment practices, including for postgraduate programs requiring practical skill development such as nursing and midwifery. Educator perspectives of this transition have not been widely studied. PURPOSE: This qualitative descriptive study aimed to describe Australian postgraduate Maternal, Child and Family Health nurse educators' perceptions of COVID-19 impacts on student knowledge of theory and practice, and lessons learned through their responses. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were reflexively thematically analyzed. RESULTS: All participants recognized struggles, opportunities and innovations within three key themes: "We've learned how to be flexible": Grappling with COVID-safe teaching and assessment; "Chat rooms and Zoomland": Learning in a virtual community; and "We've had a few struggles": Clinical placement tensions. Educators described a sense of uncertainty, increased flexibility, opportunities for change and new ways of connecting. They adapted by developing new online resources and broadening clinical practicum and assessment requirements to address new practice approaches including telehealth. CONCLUSIONS: Rapidly changing practice requirements and concerns about risk of disease transfer between workplace and placement venues restricted placement opportunities. Educators learned and incorporated new skills and strategies into their teaching, while aiming to meet professional expectations and maintain quality of education. Some strategies are likely to be maintained for future education programs.

An Opportunity of a Lifetime: How Imagination Can Transform Life During a Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a demand for change and innovation in nursing and nurse education. In this paper, the authors tell the story of a nurse faculty member and two of her prelicensure RN nursing students who were evicted from their classroom and clinical site because of the pandemic, but who were able to use their imagination and creativity to explore new ways of teaching and learning nursing and being a nurse. Humility and empathy are critically important aspects of imagination and creativity, particularly in nurse education. The authors also seek to consider these issues from a global perspective, thanks in part to the diversity and international backgrounds of the contributors.

Undergraduate nursing students' learning experiences of a telehealth clinical practice program during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, nurse education institutions are required to create innovative and diverse educational methods to ensure the continued learning of undergraduate nursing students. We developed a telehealth clinical practice program to address this challenge. OBJECTIVES: We explored the students' learning experiences of our telehealth clinical practice program by qualitatively analyzing student reports. METHODS: The participants were fourth-year undergraduate students who had taken the telehealth clinical practice program at Hiroshima University. Data were collected as reports from the participants during clinical practice and analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Of the 59 students who completed the practical training, 26 agreed to participate in the study (consent rate: 44.1%). Sixteen themes emerged from the analysis as the students' learning experiences, and were classified into four thematic categories: (1) recognition of continued self-improvement required to become a nurse and development of a sense of ethics, (2) improvement of knowledge and practical skills in chronic care nursing, (3) acquisition of telehealth skills, and (4) learning through modeling and teamwork, and improvement of self-efficacy. Interacting with persons through telehealth provided an opportunity to learn directly about persons' lives and their experiences of illness, and helped participants develop a sense of responsibility and ethical nursing. CONCLUSIONS: Our study findings indicate that undergraduate nursing students perceived that their attitude, knowledge and skill acquisition improved through this program. We believe that telehealth can have a place as a teaching strategy and this telehealth clinical practice program can be further enhanced the learning effects by combining it with face-to-face training and multidisciplinary education in the future.

Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Undergraduate Nursing Students in a University Setting: A Narrative Review.

(1) Introduction: Undergraduate (UG) nursing students are vulnerable to stress throughout their education, known to result in burnout, with high attrition rates of up to 33%. There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that mindfulness-based interventions are effective for the management of anxiety, depression and wellbeing, thereby reducing stress in healthcare provider populations. The aim of this narrative review was to synthesize and provide a critical overview of the current evidence in relation to mindfulness-based interventions for UG nursing students in a university setting. (2) Methods: A review of the literature was conducted in March 2020 and updated in May 2021, utilising the databases CINAHL, Medline and PsycINFO. (3) Results: Fifteen studies were included in the review, with three common themes identified: (i) the positive impact of mindfulness on holistic wellbeing, (ii) mindfulness-based techniques as a positive coping mechanism within academic and clinical practice, and (iii) approaches to the delivery of mindfulness-based interventions. (4) Conclusions: Mindfulness-based interventions are effective strategies for the management of stress, development of self-awareness and enhanced academic and clinical performance in undergraduate nursing students. No ideal approach to delivery or duration of these interventions was evident from the literature. Best practice in relation to delivery of mindfulness-based interventions for nursing students is recommended for future studies.

Transforming National League for Nursing Advancing Care Excellence for Seniors Unfolding Cases into Virtual Simulations: An Innovative Approach for Interactive Learning.

Background: Two National League for Nursing (NLN) Advancing Care Excellence for Seniors (ACE.S) cases were transformed into engaging and interactive virtual simulation learning experiences due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The purpose of this article is to describe the process of designing and implementing this novel approach to virtual simulation. Results: Faculty aligned each virtual simulation with existing course outcomes, student learning outcomes, concept-based learning principles, and best practices of The International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL) standards. Conclusions: Practical strategies used to convert these unfolding case studies into virtual simulations for a small private Christian university of undergraduate junior level accelerated nursing students will be revealed.

Using simulation exercises to improve student skills and patient safety.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the delivery of nursing training in higher education and how workforce development programmes are delivered. Using simulated practice is an opportunity for experiential and immersive learning in a safe and supported environment that replaces real life. This article discusses the use of simulation in nurse education to improve patient safety.

Ethical Implications for Mentoring and the Discipline of Nursing.

The discipline of nursing is at a crossroads following the pandemic as scores of both budding and seasoned scholars and practitioners have left the discipline of nursing. Lower numbers of experienced nurses are entering into doctoral programs of nursing, especially PhD programs. A mentoring model is needed to guide and retain budding scholars of the discipline. The author of this article presents the humanbecoming mentorship model. It will be used to illustrate ethical straight-thinking implications for the future of the discipline of nursing.