Judith Clare

Best practice principles for the transition from student to registered nurse

This paper disseminates findings of one aspect of a national Australian University Teaching Committee project conducted in 2001. The aim of the study was to describe current experiences and gain stakeholder feedback to derive best practice principles in five key areas. This paper focuses on one of these areas, namely the transition from undergraduate student to graduate nurse. The transition year provides a mediated entry into the nursing profession where the graduate infuses patterns of adjustment, learning to cope, and understanding how and when to seek help and support. Graduates want to be recognised as coping, capable and competent, thus they are preoccupied with defining and adapting to their new role. It follows then that the best aspects of transition are receiving support, being welcomed and accepted into the nursing team, and having your contribution valued. The quality of the graduates transition experience influences their desire to continue practising as a registered nurse, thus affecting retention outcomes. This paper discusses the best and worst aspects of graduate transition, highlighting the best practice principles that provide a supportive work environment and a quality workplace orientation, two critical aspects that facilitate smooth transition.

Theory meets practice: Evaluation of a model of collaboration: academic and clinician partnership in the development and implementation teaching

The difficulty nursing students experience in making the transition from the university to clinical context is attributed to the gap between theory and practice, and education and service. Collaboration between academics and clinicians in the provision of undergraduate education is considered to be a strategy for overcoming these problems. A project team consisting of four academics and six clinicians collaboratively developed and implemented an acute care topic, in the third year of a pre-registration nursing course at the School of Nursing, Flinders University. A review of the literature did not provide examples of collaborative models relevant to undergraduate teaching. The subsequent model, devised by the project team, focused on technical, cultural and interpersonal aspects of collaborative teaching. The model was evaluated by illuminative research methods. Participants in the project included academics (n = 4), clinicians (n = 6) and students (n = 104). Student questionnaires and academic and clinician interviews were used to inform evaluation procedures. The qualitative data was coded and analysed based upon the definitions and characteristics of collaboration described by Henneman et al (1995). Study findings demonstrated that the model was effective in facilitating collaborative relationships necessary for the successful development and implementation of reality-based learning for students.

Planning aged care in Australia: a review and critique of the reforms 1975–96

The residential aged-care reforms implemented a decade ago in Australia have seen the planning of nursing-home beds, hostel places and home/community care using a rigid, demographically-based formula. This planning had its roots in a number of commissioned reports and reviews, and the aim was control over the unsustainable growth of the nursing-home industry and a reversal of the trend toward institutionalisation of the elderly. The demographic profile of the Australian population is changing and the profile of nursing-home and hostel residents has also changed. Community services appear inadequate for a continuum of care and de-institutionalisation. Acute services have adopted a casemix-based system of funding, which has an effect on appropriate care of the elderly by moving more elderly patients out of the acute institutions into the community, hostels and nursing homes. Despite all these shifts, the planning ratio for nursing-home beds remains as set in 1986. This paper provides an overview of the federal governments planning of aged care in Australia from an historical perspective, one which identifies some of the influences that have had a bearing on the planning process. Further discussion centres around what is occurring in aged care, as related to the planning arrangements and with an emphasis on nursing-home-based care. The present planning ratio is restrictive and has not been researched for appropriateness or validity on a national basis, which brings into question its reliability in planning for the future health-care needs of the elderly population. The planning of aged care can only be accomplished with any reliability when the many variables impinging on aged care have been clearly defined.

Rhetoric to practice: the challenge of collaboration of academe and industry.

Community health nursing is a complex practice that encompasses nurses working in many diverse settings. This article discusses the development of a project which focused on better preparation of students for potential employment in community settings. The formation of the working team and the development of the curriculum is outlined. A focus is given to the linking of primary health care principles in the teaching and facilitation of students within hospital and community settings. Comprehensive conclusions cannot be made yet from the projects preliminary findings. However, the process of collaboration has demonstrated several issues. These will have an impact on everyone who has been part of this project, and the issues are discussed in this article. The article provides an overview of the first year of collaboration of a 4-year project.

Reviewing the literature: making 'the literature' work for you

Whilst there are numerous texts that describe the mechanics of a literature review, few discuss the demands of scholarship that are required for an authentic, credible and relevant literature review for research purposes. This paper focuses on the writing-up phase of the literature review and discusses the characteristics of a review that reflect its integrity and confirm the writers authority as an authentic and trustworthy scholar. The characteristics inherent in a quality literature review are described as: explication, verification, integration and attribution. Writing a literature review may seem a daunting task yet with careful consideration of the purpose of the review and organisation of articles and reports it is a very useful and satisfying strategy. This paper provides essential background for this important component of research.