Measuring student nurse professional socialisation: the development and implementation of a new instrument.

The role of the clinical teacher is poorly understood, particularly the role they play in supporting the professional socialisation of student nurses. In part this lack of understanding is due to the inadequacy of existing tools to measure the phenomenon. This paper reports on the development and trial of a tool that attempts to illuminate the effects this role has on the development of the newest members of the profession. Selected results of the trial with Australian undergraduate Bachelor of Nursing students and their Clinical Teachers demonstrate that Clinical Teachers are important adjunct socialising agents particularly for mature students and students who enter the profession for altruistic reasons. Further, female Clinical Teachers indicate that they are more involved in certain aspects of student professionalisation than their male counterparts. The development of the tool followed interviews with Clinical Teachers and graduates from 2 universities. The tool trial then used a multi-site cohort study design, with N=196 students (from 3 universities) and N=58 Clinical Teachers (from 2 universities).

Supporting student nurse professionalisation: the role of the clinical teacher.

This paper reports aspects of the findings from the qualitative component of a mixed methods research study that investigated the role of the Clinical Teacher in student nurse professional socialisation. Graduates and Clinical Teachers were interviewed to identify the domains where the support of a Clinical Teacher was crucial in the students' development of a professional identity. Emergent themes were clustered into seven (7) domains as follows: Professional role concept; Acculturation; Acquisition of Knowledge; Acquisition of Skill; Acquisition of Professional Values; Assimilation into the Organisation; and a seventh domain encompassing the role model attributes of Clinical Teachers. The domains are presented alongside exemplars from the interviews, in order to illustrate the importance of the support of a Clinical Teacher.

A comparison of the hand hygiene knowledge, beliefs and practices of Italian nursing and medical students.

AIM: This paper reports a study examining the hand hygiene knowledge, beliefs and practices of Italian nursing and medical students with the aim of informing undergraduate curricula. BACKGROUND: In comparison with registered nurses, physician status is a risk factor for non-compliance with hand hygiene guidelines. Little research has been conducted to determine if differences between the professions in relation to hand hygiene are apparent at the undergraduate level. Cross-disciplinary studies that may provide an insight into this topic are lacking. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample of 117 nursing and 119 medical students in a large university in Rome, Italy, to determine their hand hygiene knowledge, beliefs and practices. The data were collected in 2007-2008. RESULTS: Nursing students' hand hygiene knowledge (F = 9·03(1,230); P = 0·003), percentage compliance (Z = 6·197; P < 0·001) and self-reported hand hygiene practices (F = 34·54(1,230); P < 0·001) were significantly higher than that of medical students. There were no statistically significant differences between hand hygiene beliefs. Mean scores on the knowledge questions were low for both groups, reflecting primarily a knowledge deficit in relation to the use of alcohol-based hand rubs to decontaminate hands in the healthcare setting. CONCLUSION: Statistically significant disciplinary differences in hand hygiene knowledge and self-reported practices were apparent among undergraduate Italian healthcare students. Further research is needed to determine the causative factors. The overall low scores on the knowledge items indicate that these students require further education on hand hygiene, particularly in relation to the use of alcohol-based hand rubs.

Evaluation of clinical practice improvement programs for nurses for the management of alcohol withdrawal in hospitals.

The most common alcohol-related chronic condition for hospitalisation is alcohol dependence which can lead to an alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS). The aim of this paper is to report on a quality improvement program in an Australian rural area health service for the screening and management of alcohol withdrawal and the effect of two types of nursing education and training approaches: a self-directed competency training package and a more traditional in-service program. The measure of improvement was compliance to nine clinical standards or core competencies for the assessment and treatment of the AWS derived from the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol-Revised (CIWA-Ar) scale and the NSW drug and alcohol withdrawal clinical practice guidelines. An audit of medical records using a standardised protocol for the nine standards was conducted at baseline (n=100) and follow-up (n=340) across eleven hospitals in the area. Results indicated that in three hospitals, where 70 nurses completed the self-directed competency training, there was a higher total compliance score across the nine standards compared to eight hospitals where 238 nurses received the in-service program. The self-directed competency program was also rated highly by nurses who participated in the program. The benefits of self-directed competency training are discussed as well as future recommendations for improving nurse education strategies for managing alcohol withdrawal.

Is nurse education sexist? An exploratory study.

A cross-sectional population survey of students enrolled at an Australian university was undertaken using a web-based survey, to examine the perceived prevalence of sexism and gender discrimination in each of their programs, with the aim of determining how nursing student perceptions compare to those of non-nursing students. A total of 221 students participated in the study. Results indicated that there was a perception of sexism involved in a range of programs, as well as perceived gender discrimination. Male students in general felt significantly more affected by this perceived discrimination than did female students. Moreover, students in the nursing program felt significantly more affected by both sexism and discrimination than non-nursing students, and this was particularly the case for male nursing students. These findings may have implications for the recruitment and retention of males in nursing, in a context where shortages of nurses is a problem internationally.

A study of the effects of social change on health in the Republic of Palau.

This study was conducted in the Republic of Palau. It aimed to examine the impacts of social change on health. Grounded Theory research method was used and data were collected from interviews, observations and archival sources. Results of the study indicated that social change has affected all major social institutions, and that the impacts seem to fall more heavily on men. These changes are reflected in public health outcomes.

The natural holistic imperative.

Biodiversity is nature's expression of the principle of holism. This 'natural holistic imperative' is manifested in all aspects of the environment. While environmental health originated through a concern for protecting humans from environmental risks, it is now concerned with protecting the environment from the activities of humans. In order to protect the health of humans, there is a need to be concerned with protection of the biosphere. Moreover, the environmental crisis is essentially a crisis in spirituality, and a spirituality that respects and nurtures the non-human parts of our universe as much as it does the human ones is likely to be the only means of securing the health and happiness of humanity.

The Ultraviolet Spectrum of the FeF Radical: A Study of the (6)Pi-X(6)Delta and (6)Phi-X(6)Delta Band Systems at 330 and 323 nm Respectively.

Two band systems of FeF have been recorded at Doppler-limited linewidths by laser-induced fluorescence. The 330-nm system provided data for three subbands of the (0,0) band of the (6)Pi-X(6)Delta system and showed that levels of the (6)Pi(5/2) and (6)Pi(3/2) components are significantly perturbed. In the 323-nm system, the (0,0) band of the (6)Phi-X(6)Delta system was found to be overlapped by the (1,0) band of the (6)Pi-X(6)Delta system. Data were obtained for three subbands of the (1,0) (6)Pi-X(6)Delta system and for five subbands of the (0, 0) (6)Phi-X(6)Delta system. This work considerably extends the previous study by Pouilly et al. (B. Pouilly, J. Schamps, D. J. W. Lumley, and R. F. Barrow, J. Phys. B 11, 2281-2287 (1978)) because it is a higher resolution study with a lower temperature production of FeF by a continuous flow discharge method. The data recorded were combined with millimeter-wave data for FeF in the X(6)Delta state and fitted with an effective Hamiltonian to determine the major parameters for FeF in the X(6)Delta, (6)Pi, and (6)Phi electronic levels. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.