Engaging Nursing Students in Mental Health Concepts Through Multiple Teaching Modalities.

BACKGROUND: Utilizing multiple active learning strategies may facilitate knowledge, critical thinking, communication, and attitude regarding mental health concepts in nursing students. METHOD: Faculty in an accelerated 12-month baccalaureate nursing program delivered mental health nursing concepts utilizing team-based learning (TBL), a video response assignment, faculty-led clinical in an inpatient psychiatric hospital, and a standardized patient simulation. Twenty-two nursing students (71%) voluntarily completed a faculty-derived instrument to evaluate the efficacy of each learning experience on knowledge, critical thinking, communication, and attitude. RESULTS: Students favored in-person clinical (73%-91%) and TBL (68%-77%) in terms of the perceived effectiveness to improve knowledge, critical thinking, communication, and attitude toward the mentally ill. Standardized patient experiences (45%-64%) were not rated as favorably but did fare better than video-response assignments (32%-45%). CONCLUSION: Research is needed to provide a formal evaluation of mental health teaching modalities. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(6):359-363.].

Preparing for Next Generation NCLEX ® Through Team-Based Learning: Student Perspectives.

ABSTRACT: The Next Generation NCLEX ® requires higher levels of understanding for new registered nurses to practice safely. Team-based learning (TBL) offers a rigorous but pragmatic approach to achieve that aim. TBL employs collaborative strategies for structured problem-solving, a key focus of contemporary nurse educators. In this prospective study, a faculty team at a second-degree, accelerated baccalaureate nursing program within the southeast United States evaluated student perspectives of TBL. Overall findings revealed positive student experiences ( n = 30, with three students on an alternate plan of study) in all aspects of the method.

Virtual Reality Based Guided Meditation for Patients with Opioid Tolerance and Opioid Use Disorders.

BACKGROUND: The management of acute pain in patients with pre-existing opioid tolerance or opioid use disorders presents unique challenges. In light of the concerns regarding opioid use, safe and effective alternatives to opioid medications are of increasing interest. AIMS: This study was conducted to determine if the use of guided meditation delivered through immersive virtual reality can reduce pain in patients with opioid tolerance or opioid use disorders, including opioid abuse or opioid dependence. DESIGN: A quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test study design was used. SETTINGS: A 31-bed inpatient orthopedic/trauma unit in the southeastern United States. PARTICIPANTS/SUBJECTS: Subjects of the pilot study were hospitalized adults over the age of 18 with pre-existing opioid tolerance or opioid use disorder who were experiencing acute pain. METHODS: This pilot study examined the effect of a 10-minute guided meditation activity through immersive virtual reality on the reported acute pain of hospitalized adults (n = 11) with pre-existing opioid tolerance or opioid use disorders. The Calm® application on an Oculus Go® virtual reality head-mounted display was used for the meditation activity. RESULTS: Before the intervention, the mean patient-reported pain rating was 6.68, and the mean pain score after the virtual reality experience was 3.36. Using the Wilcoxon signed rank test, this was a statistically significant difference (p = .003). Patients were also observed and queried regarding any significant side effects or other incidental findings, none of which were reported. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that the use of guided meditation through virtual reality can result in statistically significant reductions in patient-reported pain scores.

Early Immersion Clinical for an Accelerated BSN Nursing Program.

ABSTRACT: Ensuring clinical competency and judgment in nursing students is critical. Developing ways for students to obtain this goal in a second-degree bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) program is challenging. One method described here is the early immersion clinical (EIC). Occurring concurrently with health assessment and fundamentals courses, EIC allowed for quick application of skills in the context of clinical care. Weekly clinical objectives were aligned with objectives for both courses. This article describes how EIC was implemented in a 12-month second-degree accelerated BSN program.

Health assessment validation: Challenging tradition.

BACKGROUND: Undergraduate health assessment courses aim to prepare nursing students to conduct systematic physical assessment of patients. Competency in the undergraduate health assessment course is traditionally validated by student demonstration of a memorized, comprehensive physical examination. PROBLEM: Often, this validation requires performance of an exhaustive list of physical examination skills rather than the typical physical assessment performed by the generalist nurse in the hospital setting. This precedent to "do it all" does not align with competency-based education and may cause students to be ill-prepared for clinical practice. APPROACH: Faculty in a 12-month second-degree accelerated BSN program adapted the comprehensive physical assessment validation to better reflect a clinically relevant bedside assessment. The process, results, challenges, and recommendations are described. Here, the redefined comprehensive physical assessment included evaluation of the patient's general appearance, activity, vital sign measurements, pain, and key assessment of the neurologic, respiratory, cardiovascular, integumentary, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary systems. In alignment with the AACN recommendations, students were also validated on focused assessments. CONCLUSION: This change improved the students transition to clinical practice. We challenge faculty to prepare students for real-world nursing assessment by adapting validations to closely mirror bedside practice.