Evaluation of unsatisfactory student performance.

BACKGROUND: The 'failure to fail' phenomenon has been reported in studies involving preceptors and students in nursing and in other practice professions, but it has yet to be the subject of exploration among clinical nursing instructors. Research has revealed that assigning a failing grade in a practice profession is not always a straightforward task; however, passing students who are incompetent in their nursing practice could have a deleterious impact on the quality and delivery of patient care. METHODS: The author interviewed eight clinical instructors who had failed unsatisfactory students to gain an in-depth understanding of each instructor's experience in evaluating these students. Gadamer's hermeneutic principles were used to interpret the interview texts and dialogue with the participants through the hermeneutic circle of understanding, use of the researcher's prior experience and openness to new understanding. FINDINGS: The experiences of the clinical instructors in this study suggest that they have struggled with their emotions, particularly when they were novices, during the multiple personal, professional and organisational challenges that they have encountered within their teaching roles and responsibilities. DISCUSSION: The difficulties and challenges highlighted in this study may offer insight for academic stakeholders in nursing schools on how to mitigate these issues through developing an onboarding orientation and mentorship programme that will support faculty member development in the evaluation of unsatisfactory student performance.

A descriptive analysis of the impact of moral distress on the evaluation of unsatisfactory nursing students.

BACKGROUND: Nurse educators assume a difficult role when evaluating unsatisfactory students, including those at risk for failure in clinical and classroom settings. While the decisional dilemma inherent in evaluating unsatisfactory students has been well documented in literature, little is known about how moral distress impacts the nurse educators' decisions regarding whether to pass or to fail unsatisfactory students. PURPOSE: This article aims to provide a descriptive analysis of the moral dilemmas and the potential impact of moral distress experienced by nurse educators when evaluating the performance of unsatisfactory students in clinical and classroom courses. METHODS: Nathaniel's theory of moral reckoning guided the descriptive analysis of six studies to understand how nurse educators work through moral dilemmas, make decisions, and provide justification for their decisions when evaluating the performance of unsatisfactory students. FINDINGS: Nathaniel's theory has been shown to be helpful in discussing the dilemma of evaluating unsatisfactory students, and it is a suitable framework for nurse educators in working through their dilemmas as a form of structured reflection. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The outcomes of this descriptive analysis highlight the need for educational administrators to provide support to undergraduate nurse educators experiencing moral distress in this type of situation.

The utility of human sciences in nursing inquiry.

AIM: This paper targets novice nurse researchers to highlight how the perspectives of human sciences are useful in understanding people's experiences. BACKGROUND: There is a need to address the utility of human sciences or the humanistic philosophy that values the understanding of subjective experiences in nursing, given that the mainstream development of nursing knowledge is still influenced by the positivist and post-positivist research paradigms. DATA SOURCES: Discussion papers on Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenology, human sciences, and qualitative research were accessed through the databases Cinahl and Medline over the past 30 years. Seminal works on phenomenology were addressed in this paper. DISCUSSION: Using Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenology as a commonly referenced human philosophy and methodology, this paper discusses how Heidegger's (1962) perspective may be used in nursing practice and research. Van Manen's (1990) descriptions of phenomenological science are discussed to address the perspective's value in nursing inquiry and to reveal the biases associated with this humanistic approach. CONCLUSION: The limitations of human sciences should not deter nurse researchers from using this type of nursing inquiry as it can provide an important framework in nursing research, practice and knowledge development. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH/PRACTICE: The author's perspective as a graduate student highlights the importance of human sciences in exploring the experiences of people vital in the delivery of nursing practice. However, researchers wishing to undertake humanistic inquiry should learn the philosophical and methodological underpinnings of their chosen humanistic approach.

The impact of ERI, burnout, and caring for SARS patients on hospital nurses' self-reported compliance with infection control.

Siegrist's (1996) Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) Model provided the theoretical basis for this secondary data analysis that examines the relationship between nurses' ERI and their self-reported compliance with infection control, between ERI and burnout and nurses' compliance, and between nurses' experience in caring for SARS patients and their compliance with infection control. Data for this study came from a collaborative interdisciplinary study examining the barriers and facilitators to implementing protective measures against SARS and other existing and emerging infections among hospital nurses in Ontario and British Columbia. This is the first study to examine the relationship between ERI and compliance with infection control, as well as the impact of nurses' experience in caring for SARS patients on their compliance behaviour with infection control. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses revealed that ERI is a significant predictor of decreased compliance with infection control (beta = -.15, p < .05). While ERI was shown to be associated with burnout (beta = .60, p < .001), the combined effect of these two variables did not significantly improve the prediction of compliance behaviour (beta = -.03, p = .63). Nurses who reported having directly cared for SARS patients were found to have increased compliance with infection control (beta = .15, p < .001) after controlling for demographic and work environment factors. These findings highlight how nurses' adverse workplace environments can affect their work and health and thus, can be used by nursing and hospital administrators to help develop interventions to lower occupational stress and improve health in the workplace.