Identifying undergraduate nurses´ learning requirements and teaching strategies in dementia care education: A nominal group technique.

AIM: Identify priorities and reach a consensus on student nurses´ learning requirements and the best-suited teaching strategies in dementia care. BACKGROUND: Dementia has become a global health priority. Nurses are primary service providers for people with dementia, but they may fall short on professional training. Nursing curricula still lacks a clear educational framework for dementia, meaning that nurse educators must make decisions amidst uncertainty. DESIGN: Nominal group technique based on the conceptual framework proposed by Van de Ven and Delbecq (1972). METHODS: A structured face-to-face meeting convened in November 2021 involved nine participants who were directly involved in dementia care. The steps in the technique were (a) idea generation, (b) round-robin recording, (c) discussion, (d) voting and ranking, (e) discussion on the vote and (f) re-ranking. Participants answered two nominal questions. Consent, anonymity, feedback and iteration were guaranteed throughout the process. RESULTS: The nominal group prioritized theoretical understanding of dementia, communication, caregivers´ needs, comprehensive assessment and ethical practice as learning requirements for nursing students. The outstanding teaching strategy discussed included various approaches to experiential learning. CONCLUSIONS: The nominal group technique process explored learning requirement priorities for student nurses within a specific context. Participants discussed experiential learning as the best-suited teaching strategy. Findings could support nurse educators to design and deliver better dementia education.

Content, implementation strategies and knowledge assessment tool on venous leg ulcers: An e-Delphi study.

AIM: To get consensus on the knowledge and skills that nursing students need to acquire regarding venous leg ulcer care, the strategies that can be applied during education and to design a first draft of a questionnaire to assess knowledge to be validated. BACKGROUND: Venous leg ulcers' care is included on undergraduate nursing education programmes but without specifying the content and training implementation strategies. Different tools have been validated to assess knowledge, but have been found inadequate. DESIGN: An e-Delphi study. METHODS: The participants were Chronic Wound Care expert nurses. Two questions were constructed and agreed on by the research team to define the problem. To answer the third question, a search was conducted for publications on venous leg ulcers, to help design the questionnaire. A 2-round e-Delphi study was conducted from January to March 2022. A panel of 17 experts participated in both rounds. The data were analysed using statistical and qualitative analysis. RESULTS: Content must fulfil knowledge-skill areas: epidemiology, venous pathophysiology and aetiology, classification scales, knowing how to determine a differential diagnosis, treatment, measures for prevention and care of the venous return circuit, quality-of-life scales. As implementation strategies, proposals were made in four areas: subject profile where training is to be acquired, theoretical teaching, practical teaching in the classroom and clinical practice. The average consensus of the questionnaire proposal was high (>86 %) both in relevance and clarity in both rounds. We thereby obtained a questionnaire with 72 items. CONCLUSIONS: Seven categories and eight subcategories were created regarding knowledge/skills that nursing students should acquire. Four categories were recognised as strategies that can be implemented during education. A high level of consensus was reached on the items in the initial versions of the questionnaire.

Teaching and learning about dementia care among undergraduate nursing students: A scoping review.

AIM: Review available evidence on teaching methods and learning outcomes among undergraduate nursing students regarding care for people with dementia. BACKGROUND: The debilitating nature and the rapidly growing number of dementia cases will cause significant increase in the demand of healthcare services. Nurses play an essential role in improving the quality of care for people with dementia, although some evidence suggests that training in dementia care among nurses is poor. DESIGN: A scoping review of the literature. following the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews. The source of evidence selection adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses extension for scoping review. METHODS: Data sources were Medline, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Web of Science, Education Resources Information Centre and Scopus. Inclusion criteria were studies found through database search up to 15th December 2020, published in English or Spanish with data regarding any method used for dementia education among undergraduate nursing students. RESULTS: 19 studies were included in this review. The identified methods were simulation (n = 5), awareness-raising activities (n = 4), placement (n = 3), home visits (n = 3), combined activities (n = 3) and service learning (n = 1). Learning outcomes were measured in terms of knowledge, attitudes, preparedness, empathy, self-confidence, self-efficacy, awareness and students´ perceptions. CONCLUSIONS: This scoping review has found high heterogeneity among dementia education programs and learning outcomes. Nursing education can be enhanced by designing and measuring effective and evidence-based educational interventions so that nursing students develop competencies which make it easier to deliver quality care for people with dementia.

The use of structured debate as a teaching strategy among undergraduate nursing students: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Nurse educators are required to prepare graduates for the increasing complexities of the practice environment. Debate is an active teaching strategy long recognised in many disciplines to promote student-centred learning by enhancing the development of communication skills, collaboration, and critical thinking, all of which are essential skill for future nurses. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare in-class university structured debate implementation methods among undergraduate nursing students, and to identify the effect of such debate methods in the students' learning. DESIGN: A systematic review of the literature. DATA SOURCES: Publications in English identified in multiple databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, Medline and ERIC) from the launch of the database until 26th November 2019. REVIEW METHOD: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guided the review. Studies that investigated the use of in-class debate among undergraduate nursing students as a pedagogical tool were eligible. Information related to the study design, debate process characteristics, evaluation method of the teaching strategy and results were collected. RESULTS: We identified 14 relevant studies describing structured implementation of debate, 11 of which were instructional design and 3 quasi-experimental studies. Heterogeneity was found across the papers regarding topics, timing schedules, group formation and positioning. Most of the studies evaluated implementation using satisfaction questionnaires or subjective observations. Three quasi-experimental studies reported that implementation of debating improved declarative capacity, argumentative capacity, idealistic moral judgment, and realistic moral judgment. CONCLUSIONS: Current studies do not provide enough evidence to understand the scope of structured debating as an instrument to develop personal competences needed in nursing. However, based on the evidence reviewed, we have identified elements to establish a debate-based learning format that might enhance student's learning and future studies.

With a smartphone in one's pocket: A descriptive cross-sectional study on smartphone use, distraction and restriction policies in nursing students.

BACKGROUND: The use of personal smartphones is a reality in healthcare settings. Current research is allowing us to understand in what ways they help with communication and decision making at the point of care and their impact on patient safety. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to characterize the use of smartphones by nursing students, and assess their opinions about the use of such phones as a distracting factor during clinical practicum and smartphone restriction policies. DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS: 234 students from one School of Nursing in Spain completed the survey in 2017. METHODS: A questionnaire was created based on various validated instruments for assessing students' use of smartphones, distraction associated with this use and the development of policies on their use during clinical practice. RESULTS: While 23.3% of participants admitting to using their smartphone for personal reasons at least once during their practicum, they perceived that their own level of distraction was low (6.9%). Notably, the level of distraction associated with others' smartphone use was perceived to be higher than that associated with their own use. Students' opinions about policies were significantly related to the frequency of witnessing other students and nurses being distracted (r = 0.139, p < 0.05), but not to their own distraction experiences (r = 0.114, p = 0.084). CONCLUSIONS: Smartphones are not widely used for professional purposes among nursing students, while personal use is commonplace. Nurse educators, students and nurse mentors need to work together to introduce strategies to facilitate care delivery through the use of mobile devices but at the same time must be aware of the risks associated with distractions, including to patient safety.