Exploring strategies for promoting the use of research findings in practice

Following the integration of nurse and midwifery education into institutions of higher education in the United Kingdom, a number of studies have shown that a defined clinical framework for nursing and midwifery lecturers in practice areas is lacking. The aim of this study was to explore strategies that nurse and midwifery lecturers from one higher education institution in south east England can use to work collaboratively with nurses and midwives to promote the utilization of research findings in practice. A cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire was sent to a sample of 60 nurse and midwifery lecturers and 90 clinical managers. Response rates of 67% (40) and 69% (62) respectively were obtained. The main strategies suggested were to make clinical staff more aware of what research exist in their specialties; to help them to access research information from research databases; and to critically appraise this information. Other strategies were for teachers to run research workshops on site; to undertake joint research projects with clinical staff; to set up journal clubs or research interest groups; and to help formulate clinical guidelines and protocols which are explicitly research-based.

Verbal abuse experienced by student nurses

Aim: This paper is a report of a study to describe the nature, severity, frequency and sources of verbal abuse experienced by nursing students while gaining clinical experience. Background: Verbal abuse of healthcare workers is currently receiving considerable attention and nursing students have been identified as a group vulnerable to experiencing workplace verbal abuse. Method: Questionnaires were distributed in 2005 to a convenience sample of 156 third year nursing students from one pre-registration nursing programme in England. A total of 114 questionnaires were returned, giving a response rate of 73.0%. Findings: Experience of verbal abuse was reported by 45.1% of respondents, 34.5% had witnessed other students experiencing this and 65.5% reported that they were aware of other students experiencing verbal abuse. The incidents involved patients in 64.7% of cases, 15.7% involved visitors or relatives and 19.6% involved other healthcare workers. Students reported experiencing threats to kill them, racial abuse and sexually oriented verbal abuse, with the majority of incidents occurring in general medical, mental health and general surgical clinical areas. Conclusion: Education and healthcare providers should prepare students to manage negative verbal exchanges during nursing education, and policies and support networks relating to managing verbal abuse in clinical practice should be available to nursing students.

Exploring strategies for promoting the use of research findings in practice

Following the integration of nurse and midwifery education into institutions of higher education in the United Kingdom, a number of studies have shown that a defined clinical framework for nursing and midwifery lecturers in practice areas is lacking. The aim of this study was to explore strategies that nurse and midwifery lecturers from one higher education institution in south east England can use to work collaboratively with nurses and midwives to promote the utilization of research findings in practice. A cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire was sent to a sample of 60 nurse and midwifery lecturers and 90 clinical managers. Response rates of 67% (40) and 69% (62) respectively were obtained. The main strategies suggested were to make clinical staff more aware of what research exist in their specialties; to help them to access research information from research databases; and to critically appraise this information. Other strategies were for teachers to run research workshops on site; to undertake joint research projects with clinical staff; to set up journal clubs or research interest groups; and to help formulate clinical guidelines and protocols which are explicitly research-based.

Nursing resources and patient outcomes in intensive care: a systematic review of the literature

Objectives: To evaluate the empirical evidence linking nursing resources to patient outcomes in intensive care settings as a framework for future research in this area. Background: Concerns about patient safely and the quality of care are driving research on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of health care interventions, including the deployment of human resources. This is particularly important in intensive care where a large proportion of the health care budget is consumed and where nursing staff is the main item of expenditure. Recommendations about staffing levels have been trade but may not be evidence based and may not always be achieved in practice. Methods: We searched systematically for studies of the impact of nursing resources (e.g. nurse-patient ratios, nurses' level of education, training and experience) on patient Outcomes, including mortality and adverse events, in adult intensive care. Abstracts of articles were reviewed and retrieved if they investigated the relationship between nursing resources and patient Outcomes. Characteristics of the studies were tabulated and the quality of the Studies assessed. Results: Of the 15 studies included in this review, two reported it statistical relationship between nursing resources and both mortality and adverse events, one reported ail association to mortality only, seven studies reported that they Could not reject the null hypothesis of no relationship to mortality and 10 studies (out of 10 that tested the hypothesis) reported a relationship to adverse events. The main explanatory mechanisms were the lack of time for nurses to perform preventative measures, or for patient surveillance. The nurses' role in pain control was noted by One author. Studies were mainly observational and retrospective and varied in scope from 1 to 52 units. Recommendations for future research include developing the mechanisms linking nursing resources to patient Outcomes, and designing large multi-centre prospective Studies that link patient's exposure to nursing care oil a shift-by-shift basis over time. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interprofessional attitudes amongst undergraduate students in the health professions: a longitudinal questionnaire survey

Background: Interprofessional education (IPE) introduced at the beginning of pre-registration training for healthcare professionals attempts to prevent the formation of negative interprofessional attitudes which may hamper future interprofessional collaboration. However, the potential for IPE depends, to some extent, on the readiness of healthcare students to learn together. Objectives: To measure changes in readiness for interprofessional learning, professional identification, and amount of contact between students of different professional groups; and to examine the influence of professional group, student characteristics and an IPE course on these scores over time. Design: Annual longitudinal panel questionnaire survey at four time-points of pre-registration students (n = 1683) drawn from eight healthcare groups from three higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK. Results: The strength of professional identity in all professional groups was high on entry to university but it declined significantly over time for some disciplines. Similarly students’ readiness for interprofessional learning was high at entry but declined significantly over time for all groups, with the exception of nursing students. A small but significant positive relationship between professional identity and readiness for interprofessional learning was maintained over time. There was very minimal contact between students from different disciplines during their professional education programme. Students who reported gaining the least from an IPE course suffered the most dramatic drop in their readiness for interprofessional learning in the following and subsequent years; however, these students also had the lowest expectations of an IPE course on entry to their programme of study. Conclusion: The findings provide support for introducing IPE at the start of the healthcare students’ professional education to capitalise on students’ readiness for interprofessional learning and professional identities, which appear to be well formed from the start. However, this study suggests that students who enter with negative attitudes towards interprofessional learning may gain the least from IPE courses and that an unrewarding experience of such courses may further reinforce their negative attitudes.

The assessment and development of drug calculation skills in nurse education: a critical debate

The drug calculation skill of nurses continues to be a national concern. The continued concern has led to the introduction of mandatory drug calculation skills tests which students must pass in order to go on to the nursing register. However, there is little evidence to demonstrate that nurses are poor at solving drug calculation in practice. This paper argues that nurse educationalists have inadvertently created a problem that arguably does not exist in practice through use of invalid written drug assessment tests and have introduced their own pedagogical practice of solving written drug calculations. This paper will draw on literature across mathematics, philosophy, psychology and nurse education to demonstrate why written drug assessments are invalid, why learning must take place predominantly in the clinical area and why the key focus on numeracy and formal mathematical skills as essential knowledge for nurses is potentially unnecessary.