Dolly Goldenberg

Professional socialisation of nursing students as an outcome of a senior clinical preceptorship experience

The study purpose was to examine the effects of a senior clinical preceptorship experience on the professional socialisation of nursing students. Corwins (1961) conception of the professional nursing role and literature on professional socialisation provided the model for the study. A three-group, pre- and post-test design was used. The voluntary, non-randomised sample was drawn from 242 senior community college, baccalaureate and RN-BScN nursing students. Instruments were the Lawler-Corwin (1988) Nursing Role Conception Scale and the Lawler-Stone (1988) Health Care Professional Attitude Inventory. Demographic data were collected. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the mean scores among the three groups. For statistically significant (p < 0.05) F tests, Student-Newman-Keuls multiple comparison tests were used to determine which pairs of groups were different. Pre-post scores were compared using paired t-tests. Following the preceptorship, on the Lawler-Stone subscales, the groups became more professional and more similar in attitude. On Corwins three role conceptions, the total group reported less role conflict, with the community college students having the least and the RN-BScN students the most amount of conflict. The mixed results emphasise that professional socialization requires further research, especially as an outcome of a preceptorship experience for RN-BScN students.

Computer Conferencing in Graduate Nursing Education: Perceptions of Students and Faculty

The authors report the perceptions of students and faculty who participated in a computer conferenced (CC) graduate course in nursing. Ten graduate students and three faculty members completed a course evaluation form, which included items about learning, interaction, environment, technical support, and satisfaction with CC. Responses indicated the CC medium offered a creative and flexible alternative for learning. Course participants perceived benefits such as enriched learning, meaningful interactions, opportunities for reflection, satisfaction with the technology, and the convenience of learning from a distance. These results have implications for facilitating continuing education.

Consortium approach for nurse practitioner education.

Consortium approach for nurse practitioner education In 1995, a 10-university consortium approach to deliver a post-baccalaureate primary care nurse practitioner programme funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health was launched throughout Ontario, Canada. A combination of traditional and distance teaching methods, in English and French, were used. A 5-year research project was initiated to evaluate the entire programme, the effect of nurse practitioners on patient and health-care system outcomes and examine practice patterns. Participants included deans and directors (n=10), regional co-ordinators (n=5) and course developers, some of whom were also course professors (n=8). This article is a report of the evaluation of the consortium programme after the first year from the perspective of groups involved in implementation and delivery. Results of qualitative analyses of participant perceptions from researcher-led focus groups and asynchronous electronic interviews provided the framework for the evaluation, and revealed the rationale for the consortium method, strengths, limitations and recommendations. Sharing ideas, resources and delivery and increased student access in remote areas were perceived as positive outcomes. Limitations included the short time period to develop programme content, identify and plan for distance education resources, and too little communication between universities and students. Researchers concluded that the consortium approach was effective for nurse practitioner education. Key factors identified for programme planning were communication, resources, curriculum and workload. Included among the recommendations was to allow sufficient time for role and course development before beginning a similar programme.

Hardiness and anxiety as predictors of academic success in first-year, full-time and part-time RN students.

BACKGROUND The levels of hardiness and anxiety and their relationship with academic success were examined using the Personal Views Survey and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. METHOD The instruments were administered to a nonprobability convenience sample of 41 full-time and part-time RN students enrolled in a BSN completion program. RESULTS Participants perceived themselves as possessing moderately high levels of hardiness (mean = 72.90) and low levels of anxiety (state mean = 39.33; trait mean = 40.18), but for some, these characteristics did not relate to academic achievement. Statistical significance was set at .05. CONCLUSION These findings indicate how hardiness and anxiety can affect academic success, particularly in adult students, and provide some direction for educators and administrators in maximizing educational endeavors.

Reciprocal learning among students in the clinical area.

Reciprocal learning is a cooperative, collegial method in which there is mutuality of student to student or student to faculty interaction, assistance, and benefits. This teaching method is congruent with curriculum revolution concepts. The authors describe reciprocal learning and provide an example of its application in the clinical area. Guidelines for implementation of the strategy are presented.

A facilitative approach to learning about curriculum development.

Graduate students have high ambitions and desire excellence in their work. Creating learning opportunities that capture this drive and help them achieve and exceed their goals is a challenge for educators. This article describes two teaching approaches, group process and an adaptation of Bensusans escalator model, which were used in a graduate nursing course to help students learn about curriculum development. Students participated as a faculty group, submitting successive iterations of their work as they developed hypothetical curricula. Benefits students identified from course facultys critiques of their submissions included experiencing enhanced self-direction, self-esteem, and mutual respect among students and between students and course faculty, as well as authentic curriculum development in a safe, caring, and supportive context. This article discusses the strengths and limitations of this pragmatic and productive learning approach to preparing future nurse educators for their role as curriculum developers.

Critiquing as a Method of Evaluation in the Classroom

The criticism model of evaluation in a humanistic educative paradigm is a shared teacher/student evaluative activity based on a trusting relationship in which students become connoisseur critics. Among the standards for critiquing are criteria for student/teacher interactions and criteria for learning activities. The author provides examples of student/teacher critiquing activities employed in a graduate nursing course and suggests ways for faculty to develop skills in the critique method of evaluation.