Brenda Clarke

Online interprofessional learning: The student experience

Health and social care students in a faculty in the United Kingdom learn together in an interprofessional module through online discussion boards. The module assessment encourages engagement with technology and with group members through peer review. An evaluation of student experience of the module gathered data from 48 students participating in 10 online groups. Analysis of contributions to discussion boards, and transcripts of interviews with 20 students revealed differing levels of participation between individuals and groups. Many students were apprehensive about the technology and there were different views about the advantages and disadvantages of online learning. Students interacted in a supportive manner. Group leadership was seen as associated with maintaining motivation to complete work on time. Students reported benefiting from the peer review process but were uncomfortable with critiquing each others work. Sensitivity about group process may have inhibited the level of critical debate. Nevertheless the module brought together students from different professions and different sites. Examples of sharing professional knowledge demonstrated successful interprofessional collaboration online.

They'll still get the bodily care: Discourses of care and relationships between nurses and health care assistants in the NHS

This paper examines the impact of recent changes in work organisation in the NHS, drawing on research undertaken in two English hospital wards. Nurses’ and health care assistants’ responses to the introduction of a new skill mix are explored through qualitative interview data. The nurses’ perceptions are explored in relation to theories of occupational closure. These suggest that claims to distinct knowledge and ownership of the process of care may be undermined by the reproduction of hierarchical models of work organisation. The data suggest that the nurses’ ambivalence, recognised by managers, seems to limit their effectiveness in resisting fordist practices of routinisation and deskilling. It also impacts upon health care assistants, who seem to be excluded from nursing’s occupational project and whose contribution to care may, as a consequence, be devalued.

Child disability case studies: an interprofessional learning opportunity for medical students and paediatric nursing students.

Context  We describe an interprofessional learning (IPL) opportunity for pre‐qualification medical and paediatric nursing students using community‐based case studies of disabled children and their families.

Women’s experiences of undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery

AIM This paper is a report of a study of womens experiences of coronary artery bypass graft surgery. BACKGROUND Worldwide, coronary heart disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. It has traditionally been viewed as primarily affecting men. However, a growing body of literature exploring gender differences in this area is challenging accepted beliefs, particularly in relation to outcomes. Despite this, awareness of how women interpret and respond to the experiences of cardiac surgery remains limited. METHODS At regional cardiothoracic centres in England and Wales, during 2003 to 2006, data were collected from 30 women preoperatively and at 6 weeks and 6 months postoperatively using semi-structured interviews. A constructivist grounded theory approach was adopted and data were analysed using extensive coding and constant comparison techniques. RESULTS A substantive theory of the public-private dialogue of normality emerged demonstrating that participants faced lifestyle disruptions as they attempted to privately normalize and integrates limitations, while minimizing a public display of illness. During the preoperative period, participants experienced difficulties recognizing and acting on symptoms and endured physical and emotional distress while waiting for surgery. Following surgery, women experienced functional limitations which forced them to relinquish normal activities and roles. As recovery progressed, women came to accept their changed health status and renegotiated state of normality. CONCLUSION The findings increase understanding about the adjustments which women undergoing cardiac surgery make as part of living with a long-term condition and support the need to develop innovative gender-sensitive health education and services.

Facilitating interprofessional enquiry-based learning: Dilemmas and strategies

In 2000 the Faculty of Health and Social Care at the University of the West of England (UWE) introduced a pre-qualifying interprofessional curriculum for ten disciplines: adult nursing, children’s nursing, diagnostic imaging, learning disabilities, midwifery, mental health nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, radiography and social work. The curriculum involved students from these disciplines working together in mixed professional groups of approximately twelve students, to undertake interprofessional modules (IPM), one in each year of study. In the first and second year these groups learn together face-toface; in the third year they learn together online. The pedagogical approach is based on Enquiry Based Learning (EBL) and groups are facilitated by staff from across the faculty. This report summarizes the challenges for group facilitators, drawing on data from case studies of 15 groups learning together face-to-face. Qualitative data was drawn from 28 observations of group interaction, 15 focus groups and 33 student and 14 facilitator interviews. The study of facilitation is part of a larger study (Miers et al., 2005) of student and staff experiences of interprofessional groups. The six key findings were:

An exploration of healthcare professionals’ beliefs about caring for older people dying from cancer with a coincidental dementia:

This qualitative study examined the beliefs of five healthcare professionals about caring for patients dying from cancer with a coincidental dementia. Using a methodology based on Heidegger’s phenomenology the phenomenon under scrutiny was opened out to discover the essence of what it really means for these healthcare professionals to be working with this group of patients.

Learning to work together: health and social care students’ learning from interprofessional modules

This paper reports on a study of student learning about collaboration and discusses the effectiveness of different forms of assessment in facilitating learning. The study was conducted in a large health and social care faculty in which all students on pre‐qualifying professional programmes learn together in modules aimed at developing collaborative skills. Data about student learning were collected through interviews with 42 students and analysis of 53 students’ completed assignments. The paper focuses on two questions: (1) What did students learn about collaborating in groups and about their own collaborative skills? (2) Which forms of assessment were effective in recording this learning? Interview and assignment data demonstrated that students learned about groups and group participation, about themselves in group situations and about the relevance of interprofessional learning to working collaboratively in professional practice. Module 3 (third year) assessments provided evidence of transference of learning from module to practice. Whereas learning logs, completed during the module as a form of reflective assessment, appeared to promote self‐awareness about own collaborative skills, reflective essays, completed after module sessions had ended, provided more opportunities for analysis and to link theory to practice.

Flexibility in Post‐Registration Nurse Education in England

SUMMARY Although increased flexibility has been a characteristic of post‐registration nurse education in the UK in recent times, its nature has not been the subject of in‐depth exploration. The research reported here used questionnaire‐based surveys and case studies of modules and programmes (deemed by providers to be flexible) to reveal the dimensions of flexibility in post‐registration nurse education in England. Forty‐three dimensions were identified under the headings of: provision and access, teaching and learning, the assessment of theory, the assessment of practice and evaluation. This range of dimensions, the complex and interacting purposes of flexible learning and the complexity of the context requires a reflective approach to the task of managing flexible learning.