Assessing student expectations and perceptions of a short-term international service-learning experience.

OBJECTIVES: Despite nursing students' need for cultural education, few studies have measured what students expect from international service-learning experiences and how their perceptions of the actual experience compare to these expectations. To increase understanding of global nursing experiences, the purpose of this study was to examine the similarities and differences between nursing students' anticipated (pre-travel) personal and professional developmental expectations and reported (posttravel) personal and developmental outcomes. DESIGN: This study employed a mixed descriptive research design. Quantitative data was secured through survey methodology. Written responses to open-ended questions provided qualitative data for analysis. SAMPLE: Between 2012 and 2017, 43 undergraduate and graduate nursing students at a Midwestern university completed surveys and narratives about their participation in an international service-learning course in Kenya. RESULTS: Students' anticipated learning was achieved through their international experiences. Participants also experienced personal growth, professional development, cultural competency enhancement, and transformation from the educational experience. They also described how their experiences would change their personal and professional lives. CONCLUSION: The depth and breadth of the growth and learning described by students is consistent with the expectations of high-impact educational practices.

Exploring the development of professional values in an online RN-to-BSN program.

BACKGROUND: Development of professional nursing values is critical within registered nurse-to-bachelor of science in nursing programs to prepare nurses for increasingly complex and diverse work environments. The results of previous studies have been inconsistent, with few studies focusing on online registered nurse-to-bachelor of science in nursing programs. In addition, little is known regarding the effectiveness of the educational methods used to support advancement of professional values and ethical practice. OBJECTIVE: The object of this study was to gain an understanding of nursing students' attitudes and beliefs about professional values at entry and exit of an online registered nurse-to-bachelor of science in nursing program that includes a standalone ethics course and integrates American Nurses Association Code of Ethics provisions throughout the curriculum. RESEARCH DESIGN: For this one-group pretest-posttest, quasi-experimental design, longitudinal matched-pair data were gathered at program entry and exit using the Nurses Professional Values Scale-Revised. PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT: In all, 119 students of an online registered nurse-to-bachelor of science in nursing program at a Midwest public university who completed entry and exit surveys between spring 2015 and spring 2018 were included in this study. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: This study was reviewed and determined to be exempt by the university's institutional review board. FINDINGS: The results showed a significant increase in total posttest scores when considering all participants. However, students who took the ethics course after the pretest demonstrated a significant increase in posttest scores, while students who took the ethics course prior to the pretest demonstrated a small increase that was not statistically significant. Significant increases were also found in the professionalism, activism, and trust factors. DISCUSSION: This study supports previous study findings where students scored higher on caring and lower on activism and professionalism factors. The largest gains were made after completing the ethics course. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that requiring a standalone ethics course in the registered nurse-to-bachelor of science in nursing curriculum had a positive impact on self-reported professional values.