Janet Scammell

Enabling interprofessional education: The role of technology to enhance learning

Interprofessional education (IPE) in health and social care undergraduate education is a key governmental driver [DOH, 2001. Working Together, Learning Together. A Framework for Lifelong Learning in the NHS. HMSO, London]. In the UK, IPE has been advocated and developed as a means to encourage effective collaboration in order to improve public sector services [Barr, H., Ross, F., 2006. Mainstreaming interprofessional education in the United Kingdom: a position paper. Journal of Interprofessional Care 20 (2), 96-104]. An IPE curriculum was introduced at the School of Health & Social Care for undergraduate students (n=600) from a variety of health and social care disciplines. As a part of this process, there was a demand for ways to allow students and staff to interact and collaborate through learning resources at different locations and times in order to learn interprofessionally. Blended learning was the chosen approach leading to the development of a simulated web-based community learning resource - Wessex Bay. This paper considers the development of Wessex Bay from technical and pedagogical perspectives. The curricular context for the development is considered and the role of simulation in meeting educational needs is explored. The technical development is outlined followed by an overview of an evaluation of its use in the first two years of the IPE programme. Conclusions are drawn around the strengths and limitations of this approach, including a consideration of further opportunities for developmental work.

Student and Staff Experiences of Using a Virtual Community, Wessex Bay, to Support Interprofessional Learning: Messages for Collaborative Practice

Interprofessional Education (IPE) is a feature of many social work curricula and whilst content is difficult enough to agree, implementation raises further challenges. In 2006/7, IPE was introduced for six undergraduate professionally qualifying programmes, including social work, at Bournemouth University. Challenges included moving beyond shared teaching to collaborative learning; providing parity of learning experience for large student numbers (n = 600+) unevenly spread between professions across a wide geographical area; and supporting staff in adapting to changing learning and teaching practices. Embracing opportunities for technology supported learning, a virtual town known as Wessex Bay was developed in partnership with service users and carers and embedded in the IPE curriculum, accessed through the university Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), Blackboard. Populated by providers of health and social care services, service users and carers and other residents, it enables the facilitation of interprofessional learning and collaborative practice using evolving scenarios. Evaluation using an iterative action research approach was undertaken. Emerging themes for both staff and students include technology issues, teaching and learning strategies, and professional identity. This paper discusses some of the implications for technology supported learning in situations where social work students are engaged in IPE.

Praxis and reflexivity for interprofessional education: towards an inclusive theoretical framework for learning

Abstract While there is growing evidence of theoretical perspectives adopted in interprofessional education, learning theories tend to foreground the individual, focusing on psycho-social aspects of individual differences and professional identity to the detriment of considering social-structural factors at work in social practices. Conversely socially situated practice is criticised for being context-specific, making it difficult to draw generalisable conclusions for improving interprofessional education. This article builds on a theoretical framework derived from earlier research, drawing on the dynamics of Dewey’s experiential learning theory and Archer’s critical realist social theory, to make a case for a meta-theoretical framework enabling social-constructivist and situated learning theories to be interlinked and integrated through praxis and reflexivity. Our current analysis is grounded in an interprofessional curriculum initiative mediated by a virtual community peopled by health and social care users. Student perceptions, captured through quantitative and qualitative data, suggest three major disruptive themes, creating opportunities for congruence and disjuncture and generating a model of zones of interlinked praxis associated with professional differences and identity, pedagogic strategies and technology-mediated approaches. This model contributes to a framework for understanding the complexity of interprofessional learning and offers bridges between individual and structural factors for engaging with the enablements and constraints at work in communities of practice and networks for interprofessional education.

Service user involvement in preregistration general nurse education: a systematic review.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES A systematic review of published studies on service user involvement in undergraduate, preregistration general nursing education (excluding mental health-specific programmes). The objective is to examine how students are exposed to engagement with service users. BACKGROUND The requirement of service user involvement in all nurse education is policy expectation of health professional education providers, in response to the increased public and political expectations. Previous literature reviews have focused solely on mental health. DESIGN Systematic review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines; timeframe 1997-2014; published in English. METHODS Search of CINAHL, Cochrane Review, Education Research Complete, Internurse, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, Scopus, SocINDEX and Web of Science yielded 229 citations; 11 studies met the review eligibility criteria. RESULTS Seven studies used qualitative methodology, two quantitative and two mixed methods. Studies from the United Kingdom dominated (n = 9), the remainder from South Africa and Turkey. The results are described using four themes: benefits and limitations of service user involvement; nursing student selection; education delivery; practice-based learning and assessment. Most studies were small scale; nine had less than 30 participants. Overall the evidence suggests that student, lecturers and service users valued service user involvement in nurse education, to provide an authentic insight into the illness experience. Logistical considerations around support and student cohort size emerged. CONCLUSIONS This is the first systematic review to focus on service user involvement in general nurse education. It reveals that service user involvement commenced later and is more limited in general programmes as compared to equivalent mental health education provision. Most of the evidence focuses on perceptions of the value of involvement. Further research is required to more clearly establish impact on learning and clinical practice. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Service user involvement in nurse education is valued by stakeholders but preparation and support for those involved, including mentors is underestimated.

Strong leadership: the case for global connections

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To identify how nurse leaders view and experience the opportunities offered by one of the largest global nursing organisations Sigma Theta Tau International. BACKGROUND Worldwide, nursing leadership is challenged with addressing the complex issues impacting on care delivery. International nursing organisations are a means to bring together individuals to promote leadership and scholarship for nursing practice to promote patient safety and quality care. The newly established all-England chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International is a recent addition to the society in terms of nurse leadership in Europe, as such faces challenges as it establishes its identity and seeks to interpret the organisational vision: to advance world health through nursing leadership and scholarship. Moving forward, members views were sought on the goals of the chapter and how they may be enacted. DESIGN In July 2013, all chapter members at that time had been nominated on the basis of achievement in nurse leadership; all were invited to participate in an online survey. The online questionnaire contained a series of closed and open questions. RESULTS Most respondents joined because they believed in the vision and networking opportunities Sigma Theta Tau International provides. Three themes were extracted from the data: the value of networking and communication, leadership and the development of culturally sensitive organisations and the need for shared scholarship for nursing practice. CONCLUSION Findings indicate the growth of effective leadership at all levels of nursing could be harnessed through successful collaboration and keen support for robust connections between practice and education to promote quality care. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Whilst challenging, globalisation presents an opportunity for a nursing society such as Sigma Theta Tau International to work collaboratively to address healthcare issues. A nursing society that explores and resolves its own complex issues by actively promoting leadership and collaborative scholarship reveals a potential to empower the profession to share our collective solutions towards enhancing clinical practice.

Making a connection: the key to humanised care

© 2 01 5 M A H ea lth ca re L td It is a fundamental feature of humanity that on meeting another person, we seek to make a connection. This is central to good nursing, as we are privileged to work with people, often when they are at their most vulnerable. They may be anxious about their health but also about the unfamiliar sights, sounds and language they encounter when receiving care. As ‘insiders’ it is easy to forget how scary healthcare settings can be for patients and their families and to underestimate the impact of a smile or an introduction in reducing fears and anxieties. Giving and receiving an empathetic response connects patients and professionals together at a shared level of human understanding. With this in mind it is salutary for us as nurses to imagine care from the perspective of the care recipient. How might it feel and what might we learn about humanising care? One summer, I was on holiday in France with my family. After a few days, my son, then aged 7, suddenly and unexpectedly became seriously ill. I am a nurse and I speak and understand a reasonable amount of French, so I knew we urgently needed help and how to get it. The local pharmacist told me the location of the nearest hospital with a paediatric department. We arrived late in the evening but could not find the entrance. Eventually we got to the emergency department, where I tried to explain what was wrong, only to find that, in my rising panic, my ability to speak French seemed to have deserted me. I was in an unfamiliar place with a sick child, unable to communicate and very anxious. Nobody spoke English at the hospital, but actually that did not matter. An understanding smile from the emergency department receptionist was the start. She met my eye and listened as I struggled to explain what had happened. She nodded and gently indicated where we should wait. The nurse arrived and introduced herself as Marie, smiled and spoke gently to my son, then sat with us and listened attentively to my story. Despite my anxiety, deep within me I felt an empathetic human connection with these Janet Scammell

Resilience as part of nursing education: supporting nurses in times of austerity

Janet Scammell, Associate Professor (Nursing), Bournemouth University, discusses the challenging environment nurses are working in and the role of resilience in creating a sustainable NHS workforce.

Food for thought: delivering effective nutritional care

Janet Scammell, Associate Professor (Nursing), Bournemouth University, asks whether nurse education places enough emphasis on the importance of ensuring good nutrition and hydration for patients.

‘Prioritise people’: the importance of anti-oppressive practice

Janet Scammell, Associate Professor at Bournemouth University, discusses tensions between person-centred, humanised care and structural pressures.

Service-user involvement in nurse education

British Journal of Nursing, 2015, Vol 24, No 22 1163