Student life - Making politics matter

Nurse lecturer Siobhan McCullough developed a project to help her students become more politically aware. ‘What has politics got to do with nursing?’ This is a question I hear often as a lecturer in nursing with a specialist interest in politics, as is the comment: ‘I did not come into nursing to learn about politics.’

A strategy for maintaining student wellbeing

Pre-registration nursing programmes place many challenges on students and these can affect their health and wellbeing. The wellness recovery action plan (WRAP) is a strengths-focused technique to reduce stress and improve health and wellbeing that was initially used in mental health care. This article discusses the potential for using WRAPs to support student nurses, as well as those studying other health professions. They can be used to enhance students’ educational and clinical self-awareness, reduce anxiety and vulnerability, and enhance resilience, enabling them to cope more effectively with educational and personal challenges.

Student Life - The educational benefits of simulated practice

Simulation learning is used in several health disciplines. The Department of Health defines simulation as ‘any reproduction or approximation of a real event, process or set of conditions or problems’.

Disordered Eating in first year university students: A qualitative study exploring student and support service needs

The paper reports on a qualitative study exploring disordered eating in younger first-year students studying for professional health care related degrees (n=12), and highlights a number of support mechanisms and services required for those students at risk.

Key issues emerging in relation to disordered eating included: concealment; lack of understanding to the nature/risks associated; its use as a stress coping mechanism; isolation; perception as mental health issues with attaching stigma and reticence to acknowledge; invisible experience; wariness of eating in more public refectories. Finally positivity about their arrival at university and that their experience with disordered eating could potentially add to their repertoire as future health care professionals.

Conclusion: The University could; further develop its outreach to new students with a more consistently supportive person-centred program including stress training and more support via student buddying; extend its program on positive mental health; greater awareness particularly the sub-clinical group; consider some small changes and adaptations to the refectory eating areas to better facilitate at- risk students. Finally the University could perhaps better use the first few months of student's arrival at university to help embed a program to develop a stronger sense of coherence and well-being.