Pediatric Nursing Course Research Articles

CULTURE-SPECIFIC CAREGIVING COMPETENCE OF STUDENTS TAKING PEDIATRIC NURSING COURSE, DIFFICULTIES EXPERIENCED, AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SOLUTION

Amaç
 Bu araştırmada; pediatri hemşireliği dersi alan öğrencilerin
 kültüre özgü bakım verme yeterliliği, yaşadığı
 güçlükler ve çözüm önerilerinin belirlenmesi amaçlanmıştır.
 Gereç ve Yöntem
 Araştırmaya 169 öğrenci dahil edilmiştir. Araştırmanın
 verileri “Tanıtıcı Bilgi Formu” ve “Hemşire Kültürel
 Yeterlik Ölçeği” kullanılarak online olarak toplanmıştır.
 Verilerin analizinde SPSS 20.0 programı kullanılmış
 olup demografik özelliklere göre karşılaştırmalar
 t-testi ve ANOVA ile gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmanın
 yürütülebilmesi için etik kurul onayı ve katılımcılardan
 bilgilendirilmiş onam alınmıştır.
 Bulgular
 Araştırmaya katılan öğrencilerin yaş ortalamaları
 22,72±1,77 yıl ve çoğunluğu (%74) kadındır. Öğrencilerin
 Hemşire Kültürel Yeterlik Ölçeği’ne verdikleri puan
 ortalaması 72,20±11,41 olarak hesaplandı. Farklı bir
 kültürden gelen hastaya bakım verme deneyimi olmayan
 öğrencilerin kültürel yeterlik düzeyleri (75,03±10,91)
 deneyimi olan öğrencilere göre (70,73±11,44) anlamlı
 düzeyde yüksek bulunmuştur (p=0,019). Hemşirelik eğitimi
 boyunca alınan derslerin farklı kültürdeki hastalara
 bakım vermede yeterli olduğunu düşünen öğrencilerin
 kültürel yeterlik düzeyi (74,76±9,34) yeterli olduğunu düşünmeyenlere
 göre (69,15±12,88) anlamlı düzeyde yüksek
 bulunmuştur (p=0,002).
 Sonuç
 Hemşirelik eğitimi boyunca öğrencilerin yabancı dil
 eğitimi konusunda desteklenmesi, farklı kültürlere
 özgü uygulamaların ders içeriklerinde yer alması ve
 mümkün olduğunca öğrencilere değişim programları
 ile farklı ülkelerdeki hastalarla çalışma imkanı sağlanmasının
 kültürel yeterlik düzeyini artıracağı düşünülmektedir.

Therapeutic communication skills level among students undertaking the pediatric nursing course and the associated influencing factors

AimThe present study to determine the level of therapeutic communication skills among the students undertaking the pediatric nursing course and explore the associated influencing factors. MethodsThis descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 140 nursing students who took the pediatric nursing course. Data were collected using a Nursing Student Information Form and the Therapeutic Communication Skills Scale for Nursing Students. The mean and percentage calculations, t-test, ANOVA test, and regression analysis were conducted to analyze the correlations between the participants' descriptive characteristics and their mean scores on the scales. ResultsThe participants' mean scores obtained on the total Therapeutic Communication Skills Scale for Nursing Students and all of its subdimensions were observed to have a statistically significant correlation with variables such as gender, grade point average, willingness to select the nursing department, satisfaction with the nursing department, difficulty in establishing communication, perceived ability to establish social relations, difficulty in communicating with a child, perception of childhood life, experience with child care, fondness for children, interest in playing therapeutic games with children, and perceived ability to communicate with children. In Model 1, certain descriptive characteristics (satisfaction with the nursing department, difficulty in communicating with a child, experience with child care, interest in playing therapeutic games with children, and perceived ability to communicate with children) explained 52.4% of the therapeutic communication skills scores of the pediatric nursing students and were statistically significantly. ConclusionsIn this study, it was determined that some of the descriptive characteristics of the students who took the pediatric nursing course had a significant effect on their therapeutic communication skills. Implications for practiceIn order to develop the therapeutic communication skills of students undertaking a pediatric nursing course, it is necessary to support these students with a standard curriculum that includes student-centered, innovative, and interactive educational methods, such as role play, case analysis, and video-based learning. It is also recommended to conduct comparative studies on different educational approaches for nursing students undertaking pediatric nursing courses or meta-analyses to evaluate the effectiveness of such approaches.

Pediatric nursing students’ self-efficacy regarding medication administration and clinical comfort and worry: A pre-posttest comparative study of nurse mentoring versus peer mentoring

AimThis study aimed to examine the effect of mentoring practice by graduate nursing students and clinical nurses on students’ self-efficacy in pediatric medication administration, clinical comfort and worry levels of students taking pediatric nursing courses. BackgroundChildren are a highly sensitive group against medication administration errors. Improving the self-efficacy of student nurses who will work with this group toward medication administration is essential. Mentoring programs can increase students’ skills and self-efficacy by reducing their stress levels during clinical practice. DesignThe research is a two-group pretest-posttest randomized controlled experimental research design. SettingsThe study was conducted in the pediatric units of a training and research hospital located in the Western Black Sea region of Turkey between October 1, 2022 and December 30, 2022, as part of the clinical practice of the Pediatric Nursing course in the fall semester of 2022–2023. ParticipantsThe study sample consisted of 143 students (peer mentoring group=73, nurse mentoring group=70) who were 3rd-year students taking the pediatric nursing course. MethodsParticipant information form, Medication Administration Self-Efficacy Scale in Children for Nursing Students (MASSCNS) and Pediatric Nursing Students Clinical Comfort and Worry Tool (PNSCCWT) were administered to the students before the clinical practice. Then, the groups received mentoring practice in the clinical practice area for 14 weeks. At the end of the practice, MASSCNS and PNSCCWT were administered to the students again. ResultsThe groups were homogeneously distributed when compared according to descriptive characteristics (p > 0.05). The self-efficacy scores of the students in both groups after clinical practice were significantly different from those before clinical practice (tnurse=-4.724, pnurse=0.000 <0.05; tpeer=−3.742, ppeer=0.001 <0.05). ConclusionsThis study’s results indicate that nurse mentoring and peer mentoring effectively increase nursing students’ self-efficacy during pediatric clinical practice. While nurse mentors decreased students’ worry, peer mentors increased students’ clinical comfort levels.

Training program concerning employ energetic learning strategies among pediatric nursing students: developmental study

Background: Strengthening pediatric nursing students to keep pace with digital development so that they can choose an active learning strategy that suits their educational goals, identify educational resources, and have the ability to evaluate themselves. Purpose and Design: This study was adopted a quasi-experimental pre and posttest equivalent experiment and control group, design to examine the effects of training program on developmental level of pediatric nursing student’s related to employ energetic learning strategies and self-efficacy. Sample and Setting: Hundred nursing students who enrolled in Pediatric Nursing course in nursing faculty, Benha university, Egypt. Instruments Tool 1: The Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) to measure learning and study practices and attitudes. Tool II: " Modified Short version self-efficacy (SES) to measure student’s self-efficacy. Tool III: "Modified Short version the flow state scale (FSS) to measure positive optimal experience experiment group only post applies on pediatric nursing course content. Results: There was statistically positive correlation between pediatric nursing students&#39; female gender with urban residence and well-mannered developmental level concerning the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory, employs energetic learning strategies and their self-efficacy soon after training program. The majority of subgroup pediatric nursing students’ trial reported that high score and narrated efficiency learning strategies was animation videos and simulation in practical content and web/computer assisted learning and problem-based learning in theoretical content. Conclusion and Recommendation: Research assert that training program was effective and linked with high developmental level of pediatric nursing students about employing active learning strategies and self-efficacy. Distributing the content of the pediatric nursing curriculum on energetic learning strategies and directing students to learning the course according to the appropriate strategy type this is after their creativity in applying.

Training program concern employ energetic learning strategies among Pediatric nursing students: developmental study

AbstractBackground:Strengthening pediatric nursing students to keep pace with digital development so that they can choose an activelearning strategy that suits their educational goals, identify educational resources, and have the abilitytoevaluate themselves.Purpose and design: This study was adopted a quasi-experimental pre and posttest equivalent experiment andcontrol group, design to examine the effects of training programon developmental levelof pediatric nursingstudent’s related toemploy energetic learning strategies and self-efficacy.Sample and setting:hundred nursing students who enrolled in Pediatric Nursing course in nursing faculty,Benha university, Egypt.Instruments:Tool 1: The Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) to measure learning and studypractices and attitudes. Tool II: " Modified Short version self-efficacy (SES) to measure student’s self-efficacy.Tool III: "Modified Short version the flow state scale (FSS) to measure positive optimal experience experimentgroup only post applies on pediatric nursing course content.Results:There was statistically positive correlation between pediatric nursing students' female gender withurban residence and well-mannered developmental level concerning the Learning and Study StrategiesInventory, employs energetic learning strategies and their self-efficacy soon after training program. Themajority of subgroup pediatric nursing students’ trial reported that high score and narrated efficiency learningstrategies was animation videos and simulation in practical content and web/computer assisted learning andproblem-based learning in theoretical content. Conclusion and recommendation: Research assert that trainingprogram was effective and linked with high developmental level of pediatric nursing students about employingactive learning strategies and self-efficacy.Distributingthe content of the pediatric nursing curriculum onenergetic learning strategies and directing students to learning the course according to the appropriate strategytype this is after their creativity in applying.

Inclusion of Disability Content in Simulation: An Evaluation of the Learners' Perspective on the Effectiveness of a Pediatric Tabletop Simulation.

Despite recommendations to include disability content in nursing education, nursing students have little exposure to disability education, which would help to develop necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes in learning to care for patients with disabilities. This study evaluated learners' perceptions of the effectiveness of a tabletop simulation in meeting their learning needs related to nursing care for children with disabilities and their families. The research design was a descriptive educational intervention study. Nursing students (n = 234) enrolled in the pediatric nursing course attended the simulation as a required part of their coursework. The majority of the students found the tabletop simulation with disability content to be an effective educational intervention. The results obtained from this study indicated that the tabletop simulation was an effective educational strategy for nursing students' learning to provide care for children with disabilities and their families.

Evaluating the French version of an online training course for a pediatric pain assessment scale

There is no French-language training to educate nurses on the use of the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) pain scale, whose scores guide the treatment of pediatric pain. The aim of this study was to evaluate a French online training program for the FLACC scale offered to Francophone undergraduate nursing students. Online training was offered to nursing students enrolled in a pediatric nursing course. Participants completed online questionnaires pre- and post-training to assess their perception of their knowledge and confidence, the accuracy of their pain assessment scores, as well as the usefulness and user-friendliness of the training. The FLACC online training improved students’ perceived knowledge (p = 0.0004) and confidence (p = 0.0053) in the FLACC pediatric pain scale. Students’ accuracy of severe pain assessment scores significantly improved (p = 0.0159) and slightly improved for moderate pain (p = 0.6363). However, accuracy for mild pain assessment was slightly decreased post-training (p = 0.7686). An improvement of the quality of videos linked to mild pain, and the quantity of videos for all levels of pain, is required for this study to be replicated among a larger sample. The online training fills the gap in nurses’ lack of knowledge about the use of the FLACC pain scale and improves access to quality training in French.

Perceptions of third and fourth year nursing students enrolled in a pediatric nursing course regarding the concept of child abuse: A metaphorical study

BackgroundChild abuse is an important public health problem as it negatively affects the child's development as well as the child's family and therefore society. Nurses are one of the most important members of the team caring for child abuse victims and are indispensable in terms of child and family education. ObjectivesThe research was carried out to determine the perceptions of third and fourth year nursing students, who took the Child Health and Diseases Nursing course, about child abuse through metaphor. DesignThe research was carried out with the metaphor analysis technique based on the phenomenological method. “Metaphor analysis” is a technique based on the phenomenological research method within the qualitative research methods. SettingsThe study was conducted at a state university in Turkey. ParticipantsWhile the population of the research consisted of nursing department students in a facility, the sample consisted of third and fourth year nursing students who took the Child Health and Diseases Nursing Course. In the study in which 186 nursing students volunteered to participate, the study was completed with 174 students, since the answers of 12 students did not contain metaphors. 174 students who took the course participated in the research. MethodsThe data were collected using the Student Information Form and the metaphor sentence “Child abuse is like … because…” questioning the perceptions of child abuse from June to August 2021. ResultsAt the time of the research, it was determined that all third and fourth year nursing students who took the Child Health and Diseases Nursing course in the institution had negative metaphors about “child abuse”. The harm caused by child abuse to the child and the future has often been compared to natural disasters and catastrophes. Metaphors produced for the perception of “Child Abuse”; it is grouped under a total of five categories: Disaster, Damage, Never Beginning, Never Been Like Before, and Hunting. ConclusionsChild abuse is a medical, pediatric and public health problem that must be reported. Nursing students' perceptions of the subject are very important, as it is among the duties, responsibilities and roles of nurses. The fact that child abuse is perceived by student nurses as the strong hurting the weak, the irreversible harm, or the fact that something good ends before it begins, reveals the importance of the situation. It clearly reflects the necessity of a course on child abuse in the nursing curriculum. Tweetable abstractIt is important to evaluate the perceptions of child abuse of nursing undergraduate students. @dilek_fatos.

Effect of Progressive Muscle Relaxation Exercise on Anxiety among Nursing Students in Pediatric Clinical Training.

IntroductionPediatric nursing students are expected to work hard to help children realize their full potential by giving care, knowing their growth process, and being responsive to their needs. Students should be able to communicate effectively and solve problems. Nurses who care for pediatric patients experience compassion fatigue as well as moderate to severe levels of work-related stress. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of progressive muscle relaxation exercise on anxiety among nursing students during pediatric nursing clinical training.MethodsA quasi-experimental, pre-post study was conducted in the faculty of nursing at the Arab American University/Palestine. The sample of the study consists of 60 nursing students enrolled in the pediatric nursing course were selected through convenience sampling. This study was conducted on one group of nursing students that received Jacobson's progressive muscle relaxation exercise for five consecutive days per week for two weeks before entering the clinical environment. The S-anxiety scale (STAI Form Y-1) was applied to collect data before and after the intervention.ResultsThe magnitude of anxiety after the progressive muscle relaxation exercise was greater reduced than before (t (59) = 21.1, P < 0.05). There was less anxiety post the program (M = 1.34 ± 0.36) than pre- program (M = 2.83 ± 0.35).ConclusionThe study findings indicated the positive influence of progressive muscle relaxation exercise on nursing students’ anxiety levels in pediatric clinical settings. As a result, it is recommended that teaching programs on this approach be conducted for nursing students at nursing schools prior to the commencement of pediatric clinical practice in order to lessen anxiety.

Script Concordance and the Think-Aloud Approach Through the Lens of Cognitive Apprenticeship Theory.

Script concordance (SC) and the think-aloud (TA) approach informed by cognitive apprenticeship theory can promote clinical reasoning. The purpose of this study was to determine whether SC with the TA approach based on the tenets of cognitive apprenticeship theory facilitated clinical reasoning in senior-level prelicensure nursing students in a baccalaureate program. This study was executed in a didactic pediatric nursing course using a quantitative, nonexperimental design. Creation of the SC/TA learning activity was grounded in cognitive apprenticeship theory and based on the SC testing/TA testing method. Repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed a difference (P = .001 and .003) between earlier and later SC scores for the fall 2018 cohort. The SC/TA teaching/learning activity informed by cognitive apprenticeship theory offers a leveled approach to foster clinical reasoning in prelicensure nursing education.

Changing Student Outcomes Without Sacrificing Student Satisfaction.

Faculty teaching a large class size implemented evidence-based teaching strategies (EBTS) to improve mastery of core concepts in an accelerated undergraduate pediatric nursing course. Pre- and poststudent outcomes were analyzed using data from course assessments and American Technologies Institute (ATI) concept mastery testing to evaluate the effectiveness of course revisions. ATI designates three proficiency levels to determine mastery. A proficiency of level two exceeds the minimum expectations for mastery, whereas a proficiency level of three suggests students exceed NCLEX-RN standards of content. Data indicated implementation of new EBTS facilitated improvement in student content mastery. Students exceeded the minimum expectations for NCLEX-RN standards of pediatric content. Course revisions resulted in all students achieving benchmark on ATI concept mastery testing with a three-fold increase in students achieving the highest level of proficiency. EBTS can be adapted for a large class size learning environment with improved learning outcomes. [J Nurs Educ. 2021;60(3):169-171.].

Correlation Between Academic and Clinical Practice Performance of Nursing Students at a Pediatrics and Child Health Nursing Course; Mizan-Tepi University, Ethiopia.

BackgroundMembers of the nursing profession face problems in relating knowledge with practice. However, there was no study on the correlation between academic and practice performance of pediatrics nursing in Ethiopia.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted at Mizan-Tepi University using 396 nursing students’ academic and practice achievements on a pediatric nursing course. SPSS version 21.0 was used for analysis. Spearman’s rho correlation (rs), one way ANOVA, independent t-test and determination coefficient (R2) were computed at p<0.05.ResultsThe academic performance was strongly correlated with practice performance of the 2015 (rs (394) = 0.7, p<0.001) and 2017 (rs (394) = 0.7, p<0.001) batches of regular students. However, there was a moderate correlation between academic and practice performance for the batch of 2016 regular students (rs(394) = 0.43, p<0.001). There was a moderate correlation between academic and practice performance of the 2015 (rs (394) = 0.6) and 2016 (rs (394) = 0.51, p<0.001) batches of summer students. Linear regression analysis showed that academic performance explained 17.9% to 44.1% of variability in practice performance of the regular students. The linear regression analysis also showed that academic performance explained 26.5% to 41.2% of the variability in the practice performance of summer students. Independent T-test revealed significant mean performance difference by admission type (academic (t (144.7) = 6.43, p<0.001) and practice (t (115.5) = 5.71, p<0.001)). The mean performance difference significantly varied with sex both at academic (t (394) = 3.38, p=0.001) and practice (t (394) = 4.57, p<0.001) levels.ConclusionThere was a moderate to strong correlation between academic and practice performance. In addition to academic performance, variation in practice was also explained by other factors which deserve more study. Enhancing academic performance can further increase practice performance. In general, the achievements of regular and male students at pediatrics was statistically significantly higher than their counterparts. Hence, female and summer nursing students deserve extra support from nurse educators to enhance their performance.

Stone Soup: A Metaphor to Create an Inclusive Learning Environment Within Nursing Education.

This article describes the design of an inclusive learning environment for undergraduate nursing students in a pediatric nursing course. A metaphor of Stone Soup and visual cues representing the collective class diversity was introduced in week one, along with a voiced faculty commitment to learn individual student names. These strategies were incorporated throughout the semester. Student feedback gathered through an anonymous online survey near the end of the semester was positive. Students reported an enhanced understanding of culturally responsive nursing care, a strong sense of belonging in the class, and placed a high value on their own as well as their classmates' input into class discussions. This educational innovation shows promise in yielding high classroom participation, a sense of belonging across diverse groups of students, rich classroom discussions, and heightened student awareness and understanding of culturally responsive nursing care. [J Nurs Educ. 2020; 59(11):651-654.].

The Application Research of Computer Technology in the Teaching Design and Implementation of Pediatric Nursing in Higher Vocational Nursing Specialty

At present, the traditional teaching method is still adopted in the teaching mode of pediatrics nursing in higher vocational education, which can’t get rid of the shackles of subject-based courses. Computer project-based teaching mode is a more successful teaching mode in the teaching reform of higher vocational education, and has made more achievements in higher vocational education. This paper is based on computer technology in pediatric nursing curriculum standards and teaching plans, this paper modularizes and projects the curriculum structure. The implementation of the project-based teaching design in the pediatric nursing project course of higher vocational nursing specialty has completely broken the traditional course mode, which is helpful to make the pediatric nursing task clearer and improve the students’ practical ability.

Developing and Evaluating the Psychometric Properties of the Pediatric Nursing Competency Scale for Nursing Students.

AimThis study aims to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Pediatric Nursing Competency Scale for nursing students.MethodsThis study was conducted with 318 nursing students, including third-year students enrolled in a pediatric nursing course and fourth-year students completing a pediatric nursing internship. Factor analysis, Cronbach’s alpha, item-total score analysis, and known-groups comparison were used to assess the research data. In total, 16 items were eliminated from the scale on the basis of experts’ recommendations.ResultsThe scale consisted of 39 items and 8 sub-scales. The 8 sub-scales exhibited 66.4% of the total variance. Both exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed that all factor loads were greater than 0.40. The CFA also revealed that all of the fit indices were greater than 0.85, and the root mean square error of approximation was less than 0.08. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.96 for the entire scale, and greater than 0.80 for all sub-scales.ConclusionThe Pediatric Nursing Competency Scale for nursing students was found to be valid and reliable.

Effectiveness of team-based learning with high fidelity simulation in an undergraduate pediatric course for nurses

Background: Team-based learning (TBL) is a flipped class teaching technique based on principles of collaborative learning. It improves academic test performance in students. Increased satisfaction with learning tasks and enhancement in critical thinking skills is also observed with TBL in nursing education. Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of “conventional TBL” (CTBL) and “TBL combined with high fidelity simulation” on student's attitude and test performance. Methods: The study was conducted in College of Nursing, Jeddah, following Institutional Review Board approval. The study had a two-group posttest only experimental design. Undergraduate nursing students enrolled in the pediatric nursing course were randomly allocated to two groups. Students in Group 1 and Group 2 were taught selected course topics with “CTBL” and “TBL combined with high fidelity simulation” respectively. They filled a questionnaire (comprising of 5-point Likert scale) measuring their attitude toward TBL after completion of the course. They also undertook a test comprising of the same items and the test scores between the two groups were compared. Results: A significant difference (P < 0.001) in test scores the two groups of students was assessed. The difference in mean score of responses between Group 1 and Group 2 was also significant. Conclusion: Test scores of students who covered learning content with TBL combined with high fidelity simulation had better test scores in cognitive test items. A more positive attitude toward TBL was noted in students completing learning tasks with high fidelity simulation in the application phase.

The integration of integrated management of childhood illness into the pediatric nursing course for associate degree nursing students in aceh, Indonesia

The integration of integrated management of childhood illness into the pediatric nursing course for associate degree nursing students in aceh, Indonesia

COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR PEDIATRIC DRUG DOSAGE CALCULATION AMONG UNDERGRADUATING NURSING STUDENTS

Background: Calculation of medication dosages can be the challenging for nursing students. Nurse educators are able to design and develop effective methods that consider the cognitive structures and how the mind processes information to teach pediatric medication content to nursing students. The aim of the study was to compare between two teaching strategies for pediatric drug dosage calculation among under graduating nursing students Research design: A quasi-experimental study research design. Sample: Ninety nursing students in the third academic year who were studying pediatric nursing course who divided into two groups: low fidelity simulation (group I, or the study group) and traditional classroom (group II, or the comparison group). Setting: In the faculty of nursing in the South Valley University conducted this study. The tool of data collection: This study used one tool consisted of two parts: part 1 socio-demographic questionnaire and part 2: pre-dosage calculation test and post-dosage calculation test. Results: Increase mean score of knowledge among nursing students who included in the low-fidelity simulation experience (Group I) (6.69 ± 3.08; 12.71 ± 2.74) pre and posttest respectively as well as increase mean score of knowledge of nursing students who included in the traditional classroom experience (Group II) (3.20 ± 1.75; 11.58 ± 2.02) pre and posttest respectively, there was highly statistical significant p < 0.000. Illustrate that more increase the mean score of performance among nursing students who included in the low-fidelity simulation experience (Group I) than another group 2.58 ± 2.08; 12.73 ± 2.67) pre and posttest respectively. Conclusion: Lack of knowledge of basic math principles before intervention with different teaching strategies but after intervention with different teaching strategies increase the score of knowledge among nursing students who included in the low-fidelity simulation experience (Group I) equals as the score of knowledge who included in the traditional classroom experience (Group II). While increase mean score of performing of nursing students who included in the low-fidelity simulation experience (Group I) better than who included in the traditional classroom experience (Group II) posttest. Recommendations: Replicate the study with a larger sample size of students within each demographic group. Conduct a longitudinal study to measure retention of skills. Research could be conducted to see if the actual rates of dosage calculation errors are decreased in the clinical setting.

COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR PEDIATRIC DRUG DOSAGE CALCULATION AMONG UNDERGRADUATING NURSING STUDENTS

Background: Calculation of medication dosages can be the challenging for nursing students. Nurse educators are able to design and develop effective methods that consider the cognitive structures and how the mind processes information to teach pediatric medication content to nursing students. The aim of the study was to compare between two teaching strategies for pediatric drug dosage calculation among undergraduating nursing students Research design: A quasi-experimental study research design. Sample: Ninety nursing students in the third academic year who were studying pediatric nursing course who divided into two groups: low fidelity simulation (group I, or the study group) and traditional classroom (group II, or the comparison group). Setting: In the faculty of nursing in the South Valley University conducted this study. The tool of data collection: This study used one tool consisted of two parts: part 1 socio-demographic questionnaire and part 2: pre-dosage calculation test and post-dosage calculation test. Results: Increase mean score of knowledge among nursing students who included in the low-fidelity simulation experience (Group I) (6.69 ± 3.08; 12.71 ± 2.74) pre and posttest respectively as well as increase mean score of knowledge of nursing students who included in the traditional classroom experience (Group II) (3.20 ± 1.75; 11.58 ± 2.02) pre and posttest respectively, there was highly statistical significant p < 0.000. Illustrate that more increase the mean score of performance among nursing students who included in the low-fidelity simulation experience (Group I) than another group 2.58 ± 2.08; 12.73 ± 2.67) pre and posttest respectively. Conclusion: Lack of knowledge of basic maths principles before intervention with different teaching strategies but after intervention with different teaching strategies increase the score of knowledge among nursing students who included in the low-fidelity simulation experience (Group I) equals as the score of knowledge who included in the traditional classroom experience (Group II). While increase mean score of performing of nursing students who included in the low-fidelity simulation experience (Group I) better than who included in the traditional classroom experience (Group II) posttest. Recommendations: Replicate the study with a larger sample size of students within each demographic group. Conduct a longitudinal study to measure retention of skills. Research could be conducted to see if the actual rates of dosage calculation errors are decreased in the clinical setting.

Objective structured clinical examination versus traditional clinical examination among nursing students: A comparative approach

The complex nature of clinical competence in nursing consequently poses a challenge in identifying suitable assessment methods that are able to measure all its attributes as well as maintaining reliability, validity and objectivity. So the aim of this study was to compare nursing students’ opinions, feedback and clinical achievements grades in the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) and the Traditional Clinical Examination (TCE) methods. A descriptive research design was used to conduct the study at college of nursing –Immam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IABU), kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A total of 96 undergraduate student nurses enrolled in the pediatric nursing course equally were divided randomly into TCE and OSCE group (n = 48) in each group. Two tools were used, first tool was a structured questionnaire form to collect data related student’s academic number, age, method of exam used, achievement grades in the exam and the overall suggestions to improve the method of exam used where the second tool was a self-administered questionnaire that modified from a Pierre et al. (2004) OSCE feedback questionnaire which included 23 items and categorized under four main dimensions with 3-point Likert scale ranged from agree, neutral and disagree to evaluate students’ opinions and feedback related to the quality, organization, scoring and physical set up of both methods. Results revealed that statistical significant differences were found with higher prevalence of agreement responses among students for OSCE methods related most of items listed in the four dimensions compared to those in TCE. Mean ± SD total score of students’ responses related to OSCE and TCE methods was 104.5 ± 15.6 and 95.3 ± 17.5 respectively where p value = .002. Majority of students 95.8% exposed to OSCE compared to 11.9% of them who exposed to the TCE achieved (A) excellent grades in the exam (score 90%-100%). Conclusion and recommendation, statistical significant differences were observed between students’ opinion and feedback with high prevalence of agreement responses related to OSCE compared to TCE methods. Clinical achievement grade was high among students whom evaluated by OSCE compared to those evaluated by TCE method. The study recommended that OSCE must be used as an integral part of the under graduate nursing students’ clinical assessment.