Clinical Nurse Specialists' Perceptions of a Mental Health Patient Portal.

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to explore clinical nurse specialists' views of the potential influence of a mental health portal on nursing practice and to identify portal implementation strategies. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive approach was used. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 5 clinical nurse specialists. Two independent coders conducted an inductive content analysis of the transcribed interviews to generate codes describing patterns in the data to identify originating themes. RESULTS: The content analysis uncovered the following 4 themes: (1) implementation strategies, (2) nurse likelihood to recommend, (3) impact on nursing practice, and (4) perceived influence on patients. CONCLUSION: Direct care nurses may benefit from education and coaching on how to document in the record using patient-centered language that is understandable to patients who may be reading it. In addition, the use of patient portals should be designed to fit into nurses' existing clinical workflows. Finally, more research is needed to identify the benefits and unintended consequences of patient portals within a mental health context.

Integrating a Career Planning and Development Program into the Baccalaureate Nursing Curriculum. Part II. Outcomes for New Graduate Nurses 12 Months Post-Graduation.

New graduate nurses' (NGNs) transition into the nursing workforce is characterized as stressful and challenging. Consequently, a high percentage of them leave their first place of employment or the profession entirely within one year of graduation. Nursing literature describes this complicated shift from student to registered nurse, however, limited attention has focused on strategies that could be implemented during students' academic programs to prepare them for this difficult transition period. Therefore, a longitudinal intervention study was conducted to examine the influence of a career planning and development (CPD) program on the development of career resilience in baccalaureate nursing students and at 12 months post-graduation (NGN). The findings support including structured and progressive curriculum-based CPD opportunities in academic programs, not only for the positive outcomes that accrue to students, but also because of the benefits they extend to NGNs as they make the transition to their first professional nursing role.

Integrating a Career Planning and Development Program into the Baccalaureate Nursing Curriculum: Part III. Impact on Faculty's Career Satisfaction and Confidence in Providing Student Career Coaching.

As career satisfaction has been identified as a predictor of retention of nurses across all sectors, it is important that career satisfaction of both new and experienced nursing faculty is recognized in academic settings. A study of a curriculum-based career planning and development (CPD) program was conducted to determine the program's effects on participating students, new graduate nurses, and faculty. This third in a series of three papers reports on how the CPD intervention affected faculty participants' sense of career satisfaction and confidence in their role as career educators and coaches. Faculty who participated in the intervention CPD intervention group reported an increase in confidence in their ability to provide career coaching and education to students. They further indicated that their own career development served to enhance career satisfaction; an outcome identified as a predictor of faculty career satisfaction. Study results suggest that interventions such as the one described in this paper can have a potentially positive impact in other settings as well.

Integrating a Career Planning and Development Program into the Baccalaureate Nursing Curriculum: Part I. Impact on Students' Career Resilience.

Student nurses often embark on their professional careers with a lack of the knowledge and confidence necessary to navigate them successfully. An ongoing process of career planning and development (CPD) is integral to developing career resilience, one key attribute that may enable nurses to respond to and influence their ever-changing work environments with the potential outcome of increased job satisfaction and commitment to the profession. A longitudinal mixed methods study of a curriculum-based CPD program was conducted to determine the program's effects on participating students, new graduate nurses, and faculty. This first in a series of three papers about the overall study's components reports on undergraduate student outcomes. Findings demonstrate that the intervention group reported higher perceived career resilience than the control group, who received the standard nursing curriculum without CPD. The program offered students the tools and resources to become confident, self-directed, and active in shaping their engagement in their academic program to help achieve their career goals, whereas control group students continued to look uncertainly to others for answers and direction. The intervention group recognized the value of this particular CPD program and both groups, albeit differently, highlighted the key role that faculty played in students' career planning.

Undergraduate nursing students integrating health literacy in clinical settings.

BACKGROUND: Analyzing students' performance and self-criticism of their roles in promoting health literacy can inform nursing education in a social environment that expects new graduates to be health promoters. OBJECTIVES: The pilot study reported here aimed to a) analyze students' understanding of and sensitivity to issues of health literacy, (b) identify students' perceptions of structural, organizational, and political barriers to the promotion of health literacy in social and health care organizations, and (c) document students' suggestions for curriculum changes that would develop their skills and competencies as health-literacy promoters. DESIGN: A qualitative pilot study. SETTING: A collaborative undergraduate nursing degree program in the metropolitan area of Toronto, Canada. PARTICIPANTS: Sixteen undergraduate, Year 4 nursing students. METHODS: Signed informed consent was obtained from the participants. Participation was unpaid and voluntary. Recruitment was through an email invitation sent by the School of Nursing Student Affairs Coordinator. Three, one-time individual interviews and three focus groups were conducted. All were audio-recorded. Recordings were transcribed, and the transcriptions were coded using the qualitative software ATLAS ti 6.0. The interview data were submitted to thematic analysis. Additional data were gathered from the two-page self-assessments in students' academic portfolios. RESULTS: Sensitivity to health literacy was documented. Students performed best as health promoters in supportive teaching hospitals. Their performance was hindered by clinical settings unsupportive of health education, absence of role models, and insufficient theoretical preparation for health teaching. Students' sensitivity to their clients' diversity reportedly reinforced the interconnection, in multicultural healthcare settings, between health literacy and other social determinants of health and a growing demand for educating future nurses in expanding their role also as health promoters. CONCLUSIONS: Students recommended more socially inclusive and experiential learning initiatives related to health teaching to address education gaps in classrooms and practice.

Outcomes of a career planning and development program for registered nurses.

The impact of a career planning and development program (CPDP) for registered nurses (RNs) on nurse and system outcomes was examined. The CPDP was effective as participants were able to create a career vision and individualized career plan.