Michelle Honey

Application of pharmacology knowledge in medication management by final year undergraduate nursing students.

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore final year undergraduate nursing student’s perception of clinical practice situations where they applied, or were not able to apply, their pharmacology knowledge in medication management. Pharmacology knowledge is integrated into practice during medication administration, formulation, dosing and client education. A key finding is that the majority of students do use their pharmacology knowledge in the clinical setting. Despite these encouraging results lack of opportunities and preceptor direction in the clinical context are still barriers to fuller integration and consolidation of pharmacology knowledge. Moreover, students’ perception of lack of pharmacology knowledge and the need for more knowledge as it applies to medication management remains an area for concern. Suggestions for improvement include a student workbook that would draw on both clinical and theoretical activities as different aspects of pharmacology knowledge are applied, as well as increasing preceptor involvement.

Integrated undergraduate nursing curriculum for pharmacology

Undergraduate pharmacology education for nurses has tended to follow one of two broad approaches, either specific courses in pharmacology or an integrated approach, where the pharmacology content is blended with other content. The School of Nursing at the University of Auckland selected an integrated approach to pharmacology education for nurses aligned with constructivist learning theory. The weaving of pharmacology through the three-year undergraduate curriculum is described, showing the development of a pharmacology curricula thread. The significance of supporting curricula content in areas such as communication skills, law and ethics, as well as sound biological science and physiology knowledge are highlighted. A sound understanding of pharmacology knowledge does not develop in isolation. Rather pharmacology education in the undergraduate nurse is the beginning of developing pharmacological reasoning and providing the skills for life-long learning in this ever changing subject.

What helps and hinders indigenous student success in higher education health programmes: a qualitative study using the Critical Incident Technique

Tertiary institutions aim to provide high quality teaching and learning that meet the academic needs for an increasingly diverse student body including indigenous students. Tātou Tātou is a qualitative research project utilising Kaupapa Ma¯ori research methodology and the Critical Incident Technique interview method to investigate the teaching and learning practices that help or hinder Ma¯ori student success in non-lecture settings within undergraduate health programmes at the University of Auckland. Forty-one interviews were completed from medicine, health sciences, nursing and pharmacy. A total of 1346 critical incidents were identified with 67% helping and 33% hindering Ma¯ori student success. Thirteen sub-themes were grouped into three overarching themes representing potential areas of focus for tertiary institutional undergraduate health programme development: Māori student support services, undergraduate programme, and Ma¯ori student whanaungatanga. Academic success for indigenous students requires multi-faceted, inclusive, culturally responsive and engaging teaching and learning approaches delivered by educators and student support staff.

New Zealand nurses perceptions of caring for patients with influenza A (H1N1)

AIM This study aimed to explore the perceptions of the highly specialized nurses who provided extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy for the mostly young and critically ill patients during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. BACKGROUND The 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus caused a global pandemic and also affected New Zealand during that winter. Nine H1N1-infected adult patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome were admitted into an intensive care unit of a large urban hospital for rescue extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy. DESIGN The study used a two-phase mix methods study design. METHODS Phase 1 of the study involved five nurses attending a focus group interview to collect their views of the challenges and issues of caring for these patients. The results of the focus group were used to formulate the phase 2 survey. In total, 25 eligible nurses were invited to complete an anonymous survey; 18 completed and returned surveys giving a 72% response rate. RESULTS The survey identified issues including the acuity and high mortality rate of those affected, nurses working in an isolated environment because of infection control requirements, limited support and being asked to work extra shifts. CONCLUSION Despite these challenges, the nurses felt positive about their experience of caring for the H1N1 patients, and felt the experience advanced their skills and improved job satisfaction. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE For future pandemics, this study identified the need for all staff to have a basic understanding of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; strengthen inter-professional collaboration and communication; provision for more support and recognition of these highly specialized nurses, along with providing regular pandemic updates and offering counselling services.

Collaborative Practice Through Simulations in a Multiuser Virtual Environment

Content delivery and clinical education methods have been changing over the last decade in nearly all health professions. Nowhere is this more evident than in the clinical aspects of nursing education. Although nursing has a history of significant clinical experience in its educational programs, schools are increasingly faced Key Points: •Second Life as a platform for collaborative teaching •Developing a collaborative Second Life Simulation •Piloting a clinical simulation in the United States and New Zealand with challenges related to limited clinical placement availability. Many schools of nursing are beginning to explore alternative means of providing a strong clinical component to their courses while maintaining high quality. Along with the use of clinical simulation in laboratories housed on campus, there has also been the adoption of the use of virtual environments as a potential platform for clinical simulation. The use of multiuser virtual environments (MUVEs) has garnered considerable attention by clinicians and educators and is beginning to grow in popularity and practicality for many professions. Among these MUVEs, Second Life (SL), created by Linden Lab (San Francisco, CA), has emerged as one of the most popular environments, with more than 15 million account-registered users and about 1 million active users (users who log in at least once per week). Using a basic free account, users are able to gain a sense of presence by creating a representation of themselves called an avatar. Using the avatar, they are able to interact with spaces, objects, and each other in a real-time environment.

The care manager's dilemma : Balancing human rights with risk management under the intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act 2003

In New Zealand, the Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act 2003 provides diversion for persons with an intellectual disability who have been charged with, or convicted of, a criminal offence. This unique Act moves the responsibility for such ‘care recipients’ from the criminal justice system to a disability sector that values a social model of disability and philosophies of autonomy, choice and normalisation. This research identified dilemmas faced by care managers legally responsible for care recipients. Care managers experienced: tension between imperatives of risk management, rehabilitation and human rights; role ambiguity between ‘custodian’ or ‘therapist’; philosophical incongruity within their services; and ethical dilemmas over decisions to lengthen care orders. The changing care recipient population has intensified these dilemmas: services must now adapt to the needs of young, street-wise people with alcohol and drug problems and histories of criminal behaviour. The article makes recommendations about how these dilemmas can be addressed.

New Zealand newly graduated nurses medication management: Results of a survey

BACKGROUND Nurses play a crucial role in medication management in in-patient settings where their knowledge and skills can detect adverse drug effects and prevent errors. Yet newly graduated nurses are new to practice and have little experience. OBJECTIVES This exploratory study sought to understand how these new nurses applied their pharmacology knowledge to medication management. METHOD A survey was distributed to all registered nurses working in one large urban New Zealand hospital who had graduated within the previous 24 months. FINDINGS Over 70% of nurses who participated in this study indicated strength in applying some principles; resources, formulation, correct dosage, why the drug was given, monitoring and when a drug was not given safely. Two pharmacological principles; understanding the mechanism of action of drugs and drug clearance were applied less well. Whilst previous studies have reported nurses have a lack of pharmacology knowledge, this study does not support this, but rather identifies strengths and areas for improvement. CONCLUSION Recommendations from this study are that orientations for new nurses include commonly used drugs in that setting, extra education for new drugs and continuing education to support new graduates to continue to consolidate their knowledge and skills.

Older Consumers' Readiness for e-Health in New Zealand.

The increase in numbers of older people in the population and their incidence of long term conditions means their readiness for e-health is imperative. This cross sectional survey set in primary health care in New Zealand sought to understand how older people are accessing health information. A convenience sample (n = 263) found one third had been on-line and this was more likely to be those with poorer health. Free telephone services and receiving health information in person were preferred, with little use of email or text messaging found. Information found on-line was considered useful to understand their health conditions, treatment options and for decision-making.

Social media and population health virtual exchange for senior nursing students: An international collaboration

The authors have all engaged in using social media with students as a means for collaboration across national and international boundaries for various educational purposes. Following the explosion of big data in health the authors are now moving this concept forward within undergraduate and postgraduate nursing curricula for the development of population health virtual exchanges. Nursing has a global presence and yet it appears as though students have little knowledge of the health and social care needs and provision outside their local environment. This development will allow for explorative exchange amongst students in three countries, enhancing their understanding of their own and the selected international population health needs and solutions through asking and responding to questions amongst the learning community involved. The connection of the students will be recorded for their use in reflection; of particular interest will be the use of information included by the students to answer questions about their locality.

Creating Teaching Objects: A Case Study of Delivering Recorded Narrations in Nursing Education.

This article evaluates the use of PowerPoint presentations and recorded narrations (developed and saved as Flash content using software called Articulate Presenter) as a tool to help postgraduate nursing students taking a pharmacology course to learn key pharmacological and pharmacotherapeutic concepts. Students found that the teaching objects, provided as additional resources to assist students in learning about difficult concepts, supported them in their learning. Additionally, students reported that while they appreciated the provision of the teaching objects, the objects lacked an interactive component and did not replace interaction with the teacher. Articulate Presenter, as a tool to create a recorded narration, was easy for the teacher to use and promoted teacher independence in the creation of teaching objects.