First-year Nursing Students Research Articles

Are first-year nursing students' lifestyles coherent with their future career?

Nursing students are going to be professionals in the near future, and as carers, it will be essential for them to behave in a way that will allow them to have a positive influence on the health of others as well as their own health. The objective of this study was to evaluate the lifestyles of first-year nursing students of 2 universities (one in Spain and the other in Colombia). A cross-sectional descriptive study design using validated surveys was adopted. A sample of 140 nursing students enrolled in 2014 in their first year of 2 universities (Seville in Spain, n = 37, and Antioquia in Colombia, n = 93) self-reported the FANTASTICO Lifestyle checklist. Findings reveal that (1) the lifestyles are not appropriate in 1 of 3 of nursing students in both universities and (2) there are statistically significant differences for family items, positive thinkers, the use of safety belts, and alcohol consumption before driving. A high proportion of the study's participants have inappropriate lifestyles that involve risks for the deferred development of chronic diseases. It is necessary for universities to develop educational interventions in the design of nursing degrees to strengthen healthy behaviours during training.

How Much Do Nursing and Teacher Education Students in Norway Learn about Information Literacy in Their First Months of Higher Education?

This paper presents the findings of recent research at Hedmark University of Applied Sciences (HUAS) in Norway. Information literacy (IL) skills of first-year nursing and teacher education students were documented twice during their first year:early in the first semester, before the library’s IL-instructionafter both library instruction and the submission of a paper in which students had use for course materialAll new students at HUAS attend two IL-classes from the library: “Searching for information” and “Evaluating and citing sources,” where students learn to:critically evaluate sourcesavoid plagiarismcite sourcesResearch questions in this study were designed to best reflect the content of the second library course, and did not address search skills. Questions in the pre- and post-surveys were nearly identical, making it possible to compare results and determine whether or not IL-skills had improved after the combination of library instruction and academic writing. The intention of the post-survey was not to measure short-term memory of library instruction, but rather to see what information students retained after writing a paper which required them to evaluate and cite sources and avoid plagiarism.The largest faculties at HUAS are nursing and teacher education, and this research focuses exclusively on students in these professional studies. Before-and-after results, measuring students’ self-assessments and their actual IL-skills, were analyzed to determine whether or not there are significant differences between student groups.Results show a substantial increase in IL-skills for both student groups in all three topics: evaluating sources, avoiding plagiarism, and citing sources. Although there were only small differences between their skills, self-assessments differed significantly, with nursing students showing more confidence in their abilities than teacher education students. Another difference between student groups is that nursing students believe more often than teacher education students that the sources of easily found facts must be cited in academic work, although this is not necessary.

Daring involvement and the importance of compulsory activities as first-year students learn person-centred care in nursing homes.

There has been an increased focus on person-centred care in nursing homes, which is grounded in a therapeutic relationship and fostering personal and holistic care. The nursing profession and nursing education are unprepared for the new expectations. The aim of this article is to present a grounded theory of Daring involvement which explains how first-year nursing students learn person-centred care in nursing home practice. Two hundred and eighty-four reflective journals and eight focus group interviews from 36 first-year students were analysed using grounded theory. The students' main concern was How to become a professional nurse, and was resolved in a two-phased substantive grounded theory called Daring involvement. In the first phase, labelled Musting, students use the strategies of Accepting assignments, Exposing experiences and Reflecting. When students discover the humanity in the older residents, their motivation changes from external to internal motivation and they proceed to phase two; Enlivening the person. This phase has four strategies: Tuning in, Key searching, Overcoming obstacles and Involving in activities. When students discover the residents as fellow human beings and involve themselves in a therapeutic relationship, a reciprocal process starts and both residents and students feel enlivened. The students feel rewarded and this grows their professional identity.

Academic and clinical stress, stress resources and ways of coping among Turkish first-year nursing students in their first clinical practice

AimNursing students face both physical and psychosocial risks such as job stress at work during the training period. The aim of the study was to determine the academic and clinical stress, and the ways first-year nursing students cope in their first clinical practice. MethodsA descriptive, cross-sectional design was used. This study was carried out in the nursing department of Giresun University in Giresun, Turkey. The sampling consisted of 109 nursing students who agreed to participate in this study in the 2014–2015 academic spring term. A Personal Information Form, Ways of Coping Inventory (WCI) and Nursing Education Stress Scale (NESS) were used for gathering data. ResultsStudents generally had moderate levels of academic and clinical stress. Among the academic stressors, the highest frequencies were given to the preparing for the exam (67.9%). Among the clinical stressors, the highest frequencies were given to being criticized by teachers in clinical environments (56.0%), followed by encountering a dying patient (52.3%) and the fear of making practice errors (51.4%). While students mostly used self-confident and optimistic approaches, the social support seeking approach was employed less. The nursing education stress level varied in students according to gender (p<0.05). ConclusionIn summary, the academic and clinical practice stress levels of nursing students were moderate in the first clinical practice. Therefore, it is suggested that a mentoring programme should be used to manage and regulate their academic and clinical practice stress level and to increase their positive coping strategies in nursing schools.

The caring concept, its behaviours and obstacles: perceptions from a qualitative study of undergraduate nursing students.

Developing caring competences is considered to be one of the most important aims of undergraduate nursing education and the role of clinical placement is recognised as special in this regard. Students' reflection on caring, their experience and obstacles in being caring is recommended as a key strategy in the process of teaching and studying the nursing discipline. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe the concept of caring, its manifestations and possible obstacles while caring, as perceived by first-year nursing students before and after their first clinical placement. Qualitative content analysis of 15 Polish students' narratives written before and after their clinical experience in the form of text-diaries was undertaken. The findings revealed that students entered their nursing education with a deep humanistic vision of caring both on theoretical and practical levels and the first clinical placement has enriched this vision. Expressive caring was more appreciated by students than the instrumental one and their concept of caring was coherent with the caring behaviours as described in their narratives. Several internal and external obstacles for caring have been reported by students, indicating a specific tension between their ideal of caring and their practical experience of caring in the clinical reality.

Investigating the effect of emotional intelligence education on baccalaureate nursing students’ emotional intelligence scores

Nursing students, particularly at the time of entering clinical education, experience a great deal of stress and emotion typically related to their educational and clinical competence. Emotional intelligence is known to be one of the required skills to effectively cope with such feelings. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of training on first-year nursing students’ levels of emotional intelligence. This was a quasi-experiment study in which 69 first-year nursing students affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences were assigned to either the control or the experimental groups. The study intervention included of an emotional intelligence educational program offered in eight two-hour sessions for eight subsequent weeks. In total, 66 students completed the study. The study groups did not differ significantly in terms of emotional intelligence scores before and after educational program. Although the educational program did not have an effect on students’ emotional intelligence scores, this study finding can be explained. Limited time for exercising the acquired knowledge and skills may explain the non-significant findings. Moreover, our participants were exclusively first-year students who had no clinical experience and hence, might have felt no real need to learn emotional intelligence skills.

Understanding the effects of eczema

EMOTIONAL AND practical support is crucial for the families of children with eczema. This was the main feedback from a workshop organised by the charity Eczema Outreach Scotland for first-year nursing students at the University of Edinburgh.

Predicting factors of positive orientation and attitudes towards nursing: A quantitative cross-sectional study

BackgroundPrevious studies have identified various reasons for students to choose a career in nursing. Students at the start of their programme hold a great variety of images and perceptions of nursing which can affect their orientation and attitudes towards their future profession. ObjectivesThis paper aims to examine nursing students' orientation and attitudes towards nursing at the beginning of their educational programme, and to explore predictors of positive orientation and attitudes. DesignThe study used a quantitative cross-sectional design. SettingsA survey was conducted among first-year nursing students at four nursing universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands. ParticipantsQuestionnaires were administered to all students enrolled in a bachelor of nursing programme (n=1414) at these universities. MethodsRespondents completed a survey consisting of: 1) Nursing Orientation Tool, 2) Nursing Attitude Questionnaire, and 3) demographic data such as gender, living status, nursing experience, preliminary training, first-choice programme, and career choice. Kruskal Wallis tests, with post hoc Mann Whitney U tests, were used to compare group scores. Multiple regression was performed to investigate predictors of positive orientation and attitudes towards nursing. ResultsStudents in this study sample (n=1244) strongly agreed with statements related to caring, nursing expertise, professional nursing knowledge and the application of this knowledge. Predictors of positive orientation and attitudes towards nursing include having nursing/caring experience, indicating nursing as the first choice for study, preliminary vocational training, and a desire to make a career in nursing. ConclusionsData from this survey suggest a link between personal and environmental characteristics and motivations to select nursing as a career. Understanding which factors predict positive orientation and attitudes towards nursing could offer educators a tool in the recruitment and selection assessment of new students.

Introducing Twitter as an assessed component of the undergraduate nursing curriculum: case study

To ask: (i) is it feasible to include Twitter as an assessed element of the first-year nursing curriculum; (ii) how should it be introduced and assessed; and (iii) do students think it worthwhile and learn anything from its use? Nursing students need to use social media professionally, avoiding pitfalls but using learning opportunities. This case study (2014-2015) comprised: (i) pilot introduction of Digital Professionalism (including Twitter) with second- and third-year students; (ii) introduction and assessment with a first cohort of 450 first-year students. Based on feedback, methods were revised for; (iii) a second cohort of 97. Students received a face-to-face lecture, two webinars, used chat rooms and were asked to create course Twitter accounts and were assessed on their use. Few second and third year students started optional Twitter use whereas nearly all first years used it. Most students (70·1% first, 88·0% second cohort) thought inclusion of Twitter was worthwhile. Changes from first to second cohort included better peer-peer support, more contextualization and more emphasis on nursing communities. More second cohort students learned from Twitter (44·4% vs. 70·8%) and used Twitter recently (43·3% vs. 81·6%). Students gained wider perspectives on nursing, better understanding of social media, 'being student nurses' and topics like health promotion. Students mostly followed not only online nursing communities but also patient organizations. Including Twitter as an assessed element for first-year nursing students was feasible, students think it worthwhile and other nursing schools should consider introducing it in the broader context of Digital Professionalism.

Factors influencing attitude toward care of dying patients in first-year nursing students

To describe Swedish first-year undergraduate nursing students' attitudes toward care of dying patients. Possible influences such as age, earlier care experiences, care education, experiences of meeting dying patients and place of birth were investigated. The Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale (FATCOD) was used in six universities. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were used. Some 371 students (67.3%) reported overall positive attitude toward caring for dying patients (total mean FATCOD 119.5, SD 10.6) early in their first semester. Older students, students with both earlier care experience and earlier education, those with experience of meeting a dying person, and students born in Sweden reported the highest scores, a more positive attitude. Age, earlier care experience and education, experiences of meeting a dying person and place of birth seems to affect students' attitudes toward care of the dying and need to be considered among nursing educators.

Teaching psychology to student nurses: the use of ‘Talking Head’ videos

Psychology is a central part of undergraduate nursing curricula in the UK. However, student nurses report difficulties recognising the relevance and value of psychology. We sought to strengthen first-year student nurses’ application of psychology by developing a set of digital stories based around ‘Talking Head’ video clips where authentic patients relate their experiences of illness and nursing care. The aim of this article is to discuss the technological, organisational and pedagogical challenges, student and staff evaluations and our recommendations for the future of Talking Heads. First-year student nurses were shown a video clip of a patient talking about their illness experiences followed by a group learning situation linking main themes to psychology and nursing. Students and staff valued the authenticity of patient’s narrative, found the video clip easy to follow, reported a raised awareness of psychological concepts and improved empathetic understanding of chronic illness. Negative evaluations were related to a sanitised, untypical representation and limited internet access. This small-scale study highlighted how patient narrative may enhance students understanding of illness experience. It chronicles the development and evaluation of a Talking Head in a specific context but which may be useful across disciplines. Keywords: Talking Head; student nurses; applied psychology (Published: 18 May 2016) Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2016, 24 : 30891 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v24.30891

OSCE best practice guidelines-applicability for nursing simulations.

BackgroundObjective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) have been used for many years within healthcare programmes as a measure of students’ and clinicians’ clinical performance. OSCEs are a form of simulation and are often summative but may be formative. This educational approach requires robust design based on sound pedagogy to assure practice and assessment of holistic nursing care. As part of a project testing seven OSCE best practice guidelines (BPGs) across three sites, the BPGs were applied to an existing simulation activity. The aim of this study was to determine the applicability and value of the OSCE BPGs in an existing formative simulation.MethodsA mixed methods approach was used to address the research question: in what ways do OSCE BPGs align with simulations. The BPGs were aligned and compared with all aspects of an existing simulation activity offered to first-year nursing students at a large city-based university, prior to their first clinical placement in an Australian healthcare setting. Survey questions, comprised of Likert scales and free-text responses, used at other sites were slightly modified for reference to simulation. Students’ opinions about the refined simulation activity were collected via electronic survey immediately following the simulation and from focus groups. Template analysis, using the BPGs as existing or a priori thematic codes, enabled interpretation and illumination of the data from both sources.ResultsFew changes were made to the existing simulation plan and format. Students’ responses from surveys (n = 367) and four focus groups indicated that all seven BPGs were applicable for simulations in guiding their learning, particularly in the affective domain, and assisting their perceived needs in preparing for upcoming clinical practice.DiscussionSimilarities were found in the intent of simulation and OSCEs informed by the BPGs to enable feedback to students about holistic practice across affective, cognitive and psychomotor domains. The similarities in this study are consistent with findings from exploring the applicability of the BPGs for OSCEs in other nursing education settings, contexts, universities and jurisdictions. The BPGs also aligned with other frameworks and standards often used to develop and deliver simulations.ConclusionsFindings from this study provide further evidence of the applicability of the seven OSCE BPGs to inform the development and delivery of, in this context, simulation activities for nurses. The manner in which simulation is offered to large cohorts requires further consideration to meet students’ needs in rehearsing the registered nurse role.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s41077-016-0014-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

EXPERIENCES OF FIRST-YEAR NURSING STUDENTS AT A PUBLIC NURSING COLLEGE IN SOUTH AFRICA

Transition from secondary to tertiary education presents unique challenges for first-year nursing students. First year nursing students have to adapt to the unique challenges of clinical practice environments, as their education and training incorporates an almost equal amount of time for class attendance and clinical practice placement. The aim of the study was to explore and describe the experiences of first-year nursing students regarding their teaching-learning environment in the comprehensive four-year diploma programme. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual approach was used. Fourteen second-year students from two Nursing College campuses were purposively selected for the study. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted. Participants were asked to reflect on their experiences of the first year of the nursing programme. Interview sessions were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim by the researcher. The researcher and independent coder later used Tesch’s method of data analysis to analyse and code the transcribed data The findings indicated that the majority of their experiences concerning the teaching-learning environment in the first year of study were negative. These negative experiences related to challenges in the classroom and at the clinical practice environments in relation to their nurse educators and clinical staff members; management challenges were related to lack of resources at the campuses and the reportedly poor communication between campus managers and the students. Nurse educators and professional nurses in clinical practice environments should aim at optimising the teaching-learning environment of first-year nursing students in order to improve student retention and graduation thereby increasing the number of professional nurses in the country.

Immunity of nursing students to measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella in Yozgat, Turkey

Measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) are vaccine-preventable diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the vaccination status of first-year nursing students in Turkey. The sample used was 180 students and immunoglobulin G antibodies against MMRV viruses were determined quantitatively by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Immunity rates to MMRV were 82.8%, 83.3%, 98.3%, and 100%, respectively. The results of this study showed that all of the students were immune to varicella and 32.8% of the students were not immune to at least 1 of the viruses covered by the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine.

Curriculum design for person-centredness: mindfulness training within a bachelor course in nursing

Background: In the academic year 2013/14 the Faculty of Nursing of Fontys University of Applied Sciences agreed on a new first-year course in person-centred nursing, based on the framework of person-centred nursing by McCormack and McCance (2006; 2010). This programme’s components included a group project and presentation, problem-based learning sessions, interactive skills training and mindfulness training. The 400 first-year students received four weeks of intensive training in mindfulness with eight biweekly meetings lasting one-and-a-half hours each. Aims and objectives: This article provides an evaluation of this intensive four-week pilot training for the first cohort of 201 students, with the aim of assessing whether the use of mindfulness is suitable to cultivate relevant nursing ‘prerequisites’ for person-centred nursing. Conclusions: A strength of the present study was that it was a ‘real life study’ within the curriculum of first-year nursing students. The screening of the self-reflection reports revealed that the mindfulness training had positive effects on self-reflection, self-insight and self-care. The interviews with the mindfulness trainers and the focus group raised a number of issues and ideas for future development and implementation of the mindfulness training. Implications for practice: The value of this study lies in its contribution to linking the development of the person-centred attributes of the nurse and the skill of mindfulness. Moreover, issues are identified relating to the qualifications of those providing mindfulness training, whether mindfulness is best intoduced in the first year or later years, and group pressure among students.

Using Facebook to enhance commencing student confidence in clinical skill development: A phenomenological hermeneutic study

The purpose of this study was to explore commencing nursing students' experience of Facebook as an adjunct to on-campus course delivery to determine its impact as a learning strategy for improving confidence in clinical skill development. Approaches supporting nursing students in the development of clinical skills have relied on 'real-life' clinical placements and simulated on-campus clinical laboratories. However students continue to report a lack of confidence in their clinical skills for practice. Social networking sites including Facebook are being used as a learning strategy to stimulate active and collaborative learning approaches. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used to provide an understanding of the experience of confidence in clinical skills development for nursing students. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with commencing students about their experience as learners using Facebook and their perceptions of the impact on their clinical skill development. Ten first-year student nurses at one university in south-east Queensland, Australia. Four themes emerged from the data including: 'We're all in this together'; 'I can do this'; 'This is about my future goals and success'; and, 'Real time is not fast enough!'. These themes provide new meaningful insights demonstrating students' sense of confidence in clinical skills was increased through engagement with a dedicated Facebook page. The findings of this study have relevance to academics in the design of learning strategies for clinical courses to further support student confidence and engagement through peer collaboration and active learning processes.

How learning styles and preferences of first-year nursing and midwifery students change

It is important that educators understand learning styles as an evolving individual characteristic. We investigate the changes in learning styles and preferences of first-year undergraduate nursing/midwifery students after six months of preliminary testing. Curry’s ‘onion ring model’ proposes a stable inner ‘Information processing’ style (assessed by instruments such as Kolb Learning Style Inventory) compared to the outer ‘Instructional preference’ style (assessed by the VARK (Visual/Aural/Read–Write/Kinaesthetic) questionnaire), which is more easily influenced by external factors. Therefore, re-examining students after one semester of teaching should result in an increase in multimodal VARK learning with lesser changes to the LSI results. A cross-sectional survey with pre-post design ( n = 96) showed 45% of students remaining in the same VARK mode, 30% becoming more multimodal and 25% showing changes. Surprisingly, the LSI questionnaire showed similar results with 45% of students remaining in the same learning modality and 55% of students changing. This research highlights the dynamic changes within students’ information processing and instructional preferences.

Perceived Sources of Stress Among First-Year Nursing Students in Jordan.

The aim of the current study was to determine the most prevalent sources of stress among first-year nursing students at a military college in Jordan. A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed using a convenience sample of 138 students (females between ages 18 and 22). The Student Stress Survey was used to identify stressors and assess their relative importance. The instrument consists of 40 items divided into four categories of potential sources of stress: (a) intrapersonal, (b) interpersonal, (c) academic, and (d) environmental. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The top five sources of stress reported were: increased class workload (89%), change in living environment (83%), change in social activities (78%), change in eating habits (77.5 %), and change in sleeping habits (76%), with academic sources of stress being the most frequently reported. The results provide valuable information for educators and administrators in nursing colleges to identify types of stress among first-year nursing students and establish strategies to reduce stress among such students, particularly from academic and environmental sources.

First-year nursing students-developing relational caring practice through inquiry.

In the current chaotic health care milieu, it is a challenge to create learning environments that support students to become respectful and community-engaged practitioners who are able to care for self and others. Aesthetic and transformative learning approaches foster students to develop caring attributes. Using relational inquiry and the general principles of transformative learning theory, an aesthetic curriculum project for first-year nursing students exploring the interrelatedness of self, other, and caring was developed and evaluated by nursing faculty. Students' in-the-moment experiences of transitioning into nursing school were enlisted to (a) open the space for deeper learning, (b) support the development of relational caring practice, and (c) foster personal and professional transformations. Aesthetic learning opportunities create experiential moments, where novice students can begin to explore the interconnectedness of self, other, and caring as it relates to their being and becoming a nurse.

Reported clinical outcomes of high-fidelity simulation versus classroom-based end-of-life care education.

Nursing students often experience increased anxiety, lack of clinical skills and poor coping mechanisms when dealing with death and dying for the first time. To design, use and assess the effectiveness of high-fidelity simulation teaching versus classroom-based end-of-life care (EoLC) teaching for first-year nursing students on dealing with their first death experiences in clinical placements. A qualitative phenomenography approach was taken. First-year nursing students (n=187) were randomly allocated to receive either classrtoom-based (n=139) or high-fidelity simulation-based EoLC teaching (n=48). When all participants had returned from their first clinical placement, 12 individual in-depth interviews were carried out. Data were analysed using framework analysis. Comparative data analysis revealed four key themes as clinical outcomes: recognising death and dying; knowledge into practice; preparedness for clinical eventualities; and emotional preparedness. Despite the fact that both strategies improved students' knowledge of EoLC, simulation-based EoLC education was perceived as better in terms of enhanced practical skills and improved emotional experience in their first clinical placement.