Care home nursing: Co-creating curricular content with student nurses

Abstract

BackgroundMeeting the complex care needs of an ageing population is a global issue and long term care settings, such as care homes, play an essential role. However, there is a crisis in the recruitment of registered nurses within care homes. Higher educational institutions have a critical part to play in addressing the crisis in recruitment in care homes and it is argued that student nurses can have a significant role to play in co-creating curricular content responsive to population need. ObjectiveTo co-create curricular content on care home nursing with student nurses. DesignCo-creation through collaborative enquiry and a three stage thematic analysis. SettingUndergraduate, preregistration nursing programme in a university in the United Kingdom. ParticipantsStudent nurses from Years One to Four undertaking a Bachelor in Nursing with Honours degree. MethodsSix focus groups and two one to one interviews. ResultsFindings revealed predominantly negative attitudes towards care home nursing. Teaching and practice placements appeared to play a minor role in shaping students' attitudes but rather, gave the unspoken message that for the acquisition of necessary knowledge and skills, care homes were less important than other settings. Most students were initially averse to care home nursing as a career choice. During focus groups/interviews, views shifted from seeing care homes as places where you ‘lose clinical skills’ to places where there is ‘a lot of responsibility’, and also a potentially rewarding career choice. From this attitudinal shift, students made suggestions for developing better curricular content and more positive learning opportunities. ConclusionsA co-creative framework can create a space for mutual learning between students and staff about challenges and opportunities for equipping nurses to meet the needs of ageing populations. Student nurses are open to learning about care home nursing as part of their education and keen to have a more positive exposure.