Development and psychometric testing of the attitude and confidence with oral healthcare among nursing students (ACORN) scale.

AIM: To develop and test the psychometric properties of the attitude and confidence with oral healthcare among nursing students (ACORN) scale. BACKGROUND: Delivering oral healthcare is an essential component of care, which is often overlooked and omitted. A nurse's attitude or confidence may influence how oral healthcare is prioritised. To date, there are no scales that assess both attitude and confidence for nurses when undertaking oral healthcare and thus the ACORN scale was developed. METHODS: The 24-item scale was developed following a three-stage process, which included concept identification and item construction, pilot testing, factorial and discriminant validity and reliability testing. The survey was distributed to nursing students to assess their attitude and confidence in providing oral healthcare. This study has been registered with the Registry of Efficacy and Effectiveness Studies (12940.1v1). RESULTS: Using a before and after intervention survey design, the psychometric properties of the ACORN scale were examined with data collected from two student groups. Exploratory Factor Analysis yielded a two-factor structure, which was verified using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Importantly, aggregated scale scores were able to detect differences in attitude and confidence following oral healthcare education (4.95 versus 5.66, p < 0.01). The Cronbach's alpha for the 24-item scale was 0.94. CONCLUSION: The ACORN scale is a valid and reliable tool that can be used to assess differences in attitude and confidence of students following oral health education. Further research is recommended to test the utility of this scale using other educational interventions with different groups of healthcare providers.

Using Codesign to Develop a Novel Oral Healthcare Educational Intervention for Undergraduate Nursing Students.

To build a nursing workforce that is equipped to undertake oral health promotion and screening, an educational program was needed. With codesign being used in multiple settings, it was selected as the approach to use, with Mezirow's Transformative Learning theory as the underpinning framework. This study aimed to develop an oral healthcare educational intervention for nursing students. Using a six-step codesign framework, nursing students and faculty staff were invited to participate in two Zoom™ Video Communication workshops to codesign the learning activities to be used in the classroom. The codesign process was evaluated through focus groups and analysed using a hybrid content analysis approach. A multifaceted oral healthcare educational intervention was developed. Learning material was delivered using a range of different learning and teaching resources such as dental models, podcasts, and an oral health assessment across two subjects. Multiple approaches to recruitment, the inclusion of participants, and good facilitation of workshop discussions were critical to the codesign of the educational intervention. Evaluation revealed that preparing participants prior to the workshops acted as a catalyst for conversations, which facilitated the codesign process. Codesign was a useful approach to employ in the development of an oral healthcare intervention to address an area of need.

Professional success of men in the nursing workforce: An integrative review.

AIM: To identify and summarize evidence of objective achievements and subjective indicators associated with professional success of men in nursing. BACKGROUND: Despite being a minority group, men in nursing are purported to enjoy hidden advantages. EVALUATION: In this integrative review, studies from seven databases were retrieved and independently evaluated using the quality appraisal tools in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Inductive content analysis and narrative synthesis were conducted, guided by the aim of this review. KEY ISSUES: In total, 12 studies published between 1987 and 2021 were included. Two themes with related subthemes supporting or refuting professional success of men were identified. These were (a) evidence of professional success and (b) challenges to professional success. CONCLUSION: As a minority group, men are highly visible in nursing, which is a double-edged sword. Although men were overrepresented in senior nursing positions of higher salaries than women, they also experienced gender stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination, which reduced the duration of men staying in a specific nursing position. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Findings of this study highlighted the need for nurse leaders to proactively address specific gender issues that are unique to men in the nursing workforce.

Nursing students' clinical performance issues and the facilitator's perspective: A scoping review.

Clinical placement experience is an integral component of nursing education as students acquire the essential knowledge and skills through learning in a supervised clinical environment. The role of the facilitator is pivotal to ensure students are practising safely and competently. The aim of this review was to explore the clinical performance issues identified by clinical facilitators, examine the relationship between students' academic and clinical performance, and factors influencing performance and attrition. A scoping review was undertaken to identify relevant literature, emerging themes and gaps in the literature, searching five electronic databases for primary and secondary papers, and the grey literature. No date limit was set for the review. Fifteen papers met the inclusion criteria. The top three themes relating to clinical performance issues included: i) Poor communication skills, ii) Inadequate knowledge or clinical incompetence and, iii) Unprofessional behaviour. The review also identified the relationship between academic and clinical performance, and negative experiences influencing students' decisions to leave the course. This scoping review highlighted the paucity of literature relating to clinical performance from the perspective of the facilitator, as well as the relationship between student characteristics and clinical performance and attrition.

Hofstede's cultural dimensions as the explanatory framework for performance issues during clinical placement: A mixed methods study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to examine a) if those with reported clinical performance issues were more likely to experience course progression issues or withdrew from the program; b) the relationship between clinical and academic performance; c) the relationship between students social-demographic characteristics and clinical performance issues; and d) the utility of Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory in explaining the clinical performance issues students may experience during clinical placement. METHOD: Retrospective textual reports of clinical issues from 2014 to 2018 were collected. A mixed methods design, particularly Embedded Design, was used. The qualitative data was analysed using Directed Content Analysis using Hofstede's six dimensions as the coding categories, which were further broken down into high and low poles, making a total of 12 subcategories. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was utilised to analyse the quantitative data. RESULTS: Using Hofstede's framework, it was determined that nursing students 21 years and younger were more likely to have issues related to low long-term orientation. Male students were more likely to have issues related to low uncertainty avoidance and also displayed masculinity related issues. Overseas-born students were less likely to experience issues related to low power distance and students that had not failed a unit of study were less likely to have issues related to low long-term orientation. The study also found that students experienced issues related to poor psychomotor skills and language barriers. Furthermore, the study identified that students who experienced clinical placement issues were three times more likely to leave the course. CONCLUSION: Hofstede's cultural dimensions framework can be used to explain clinical performance issues among undergraduate nursing students. Early identification of the students likely to experience these issues can lead to targeted and preventative interventions.