Patrick Lavoie

Simulation in nursing education

PART OF BECOMING a working professional always involves applying knowledge and practicing skills in carefully controlled and monitored settings to get constructive feedback. For many years, nurses have practiced taking BP readings on each other, learned to provide certain kinds of physical care on m

Effectiveness of serious games and impact of design elements on engagement and educational outcomes in healthcare professionals and students: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Introduction Serious games (SGs) are interactive and entertaining digital software with an educational purpose. They engage the learner by proposing challenges and through various design elements (DEs; eg, points, difficulty adaptation, story). Recent reviews suggest the effectiveness of SGs in healthcare professionals’ and students’ education is mixed. This could be explained by the variability in their DEs, which has been shown to be highly variable across studies. The aim of this systematic review is to identify, appraise and synthesise the best available evidence regarding the effectiveness of SGs and the impact of DEs on engagement and educational outcomes of healthcare professionals and students. Methods and analysis A systematic search of the literature will be conducted using a combination of medical subject headings terms and keywords in Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health, Embase, Education Resources Information Center, PsycInFO, PubMed and Web of Science. Studies assessing SGs on engagement and educational outcomes will be included. Two independent reviewers will conduct the screening as well as the data extraction process. The risk of bias of included studies will also be assessed by two reviewers using the Effective Practice and Organisation of Care criteria. Data regarding DEs in SGs will first be synthesised qualitatively. A meta-analysis will then be performed, if the data allow it. Finally, the quality of the evidence regarding the effectiveness of SGs on each outcome will be assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. Ethics and dissemination As this systematic review only uses already collected data, no Institutional Review Board approval is required. Its results will be submitted in a peer-reviewed journal by the end of 2018. PROSPERO registration number CRD42017077424.

Acceptability and feasibility of recruitment and data collection in a field study of hospital nurses’ handoffs using mobile devices

BackgroundThe portability and multiple functionalities of mobile devices make them well suited for collecting field data for naturalistic research, which is often beset with complexities in recruitment and logistics. This paper describes the implementation of a research protocol using mobile devices to study nurses’ exchanges of patient information at change of shift.MethodsNurses from three medical and surgical units of an acute care teaching hospital in Montreal, Canada, were invited to participate. On 10 selected days, participants were asked to record their handoffs using mobile devices and to complete paper questionnaires regarding these exchanges. Nurse acceptance of mobile devices was assessed using a 30-item technology acceptance questionnaire and focus group interviews. The principal feasibility indicator was whether or not 80 complete handoffs could be collected on each unit.ResultsFrom October to December 2017, 63 of 108 eligible nurses completed the study. Results suggest that the use of mobile devices was acceptable to nurses, who felt that the devices were easy to use but did not improve their job performance. The principal feasibility criterion was met, with complete data collected for 176, 84, and 170 of the eligible handoffs on each unit (81% of eligible handoffs). The research protocol was acceptable to nurses, who felt the study’s demands did not interfere with their clinical work.ConclusionsThe research protocol involving mobile devices was feasible and acceptable to nurses. Nurses felt the research protocol, including the use of mobile devices, required minimal investment of time and effort. This suggests that their decision to participate in research involving mobile devices was based on their perception that the study protocol and the use of the device would not be demanding. Further work is needed to determine if studies involving more sophisticated and possibly more demanding technology would be equally feasible and acceptable to nurses.

Using a Wireless Electroencephalography Device to Evaluate E-health and E-learning Interventions

Background Measuring engagement and other reactions of patients and health professionals to e-health and e-learning interventions remains a challenge for researchers. Objective The aim of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of using a wireless electroencephalography (EEG) device to measure affective (anxiety, enjoyment, relaxation) and cognitive (attention, engagement, interest) reactions of patients and healthcare professionals during e-health or e-learning interventions. Methods Using a wireless EEG device, we measured patient (n = 6) and health professional (n = 7) reactions during a 10-minute session of an e-health or e-learning intervention. The following feasibility and acceptability indicators were assessed and compared for patients and healthcare professionals: number of eligible participants who consented to participate, reasons for refusal, time to install and calibrate the wireless EEG device, number of participants who completed the full 10-minute sessions, participant comfort when wearing the device, signal quality, and number of observations obtained for each reaction. The wireless EEG readings were compared to participant self-rating of their reactions. Results We obtained at least 75% of possible observations for attention, engagement, enjoyment, and interest. EEG scores were similar to self-reported scores, but they varied throughout the sessions, which gave information on participants’ real-time reactions to the e-health/e-learning interventions. Results on the other indicators support the feasibility and acceptability of the wireless EEG device for both patients and professionals. Discussion Using the wireless EEG device was feasible and acceptable. Future studies must examine its use in other contexts of care and explore which components of the interventions affected participant reactions by combining wireless EEG and eye tracking.

Web-based educational intervention improves enrolled nurses’ knowledge and performance with deteriorating patients

Commentary on: Liaw SY, Chng DYJ, Wong LF, et al. The impact of a web-based educational program on the recognition and management of deteriorating patient. J Clin Nurs 2017;26:4848–56. Nurses who provide bedside care, including enrolled nurses—or licenced practical nurses in Canada and in the USA—are in a pivotal position to recognise, manage and report on signs and symptoms of patient deterioration. However, many educational interventions to improve recognition and response to patient deterioration are intended for undergraduates or registered nurses; there is a lack of research that examines educational interventions for enrolled nurses. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a web-based educational intervention designed to improve enrolled …