Ros Carnwell

Community nurses' experiencesof distance learning: implications for autonomy and dependence

This study examines the experience of a group of students studying a range of health modules by distance learning. The sample included qualified community nurses who were studying a distance-learning research-awareness course in order to convert their community qualification to diploma level and nurses who were studying a range of distance-learning courses as access to a BSc(Hons) in Community Health. Modules studied included a range of 15 credit diploma-level modules in health subjects and a 30-credit research-awareness module. One hundred and twenty questionnaires were distributed generating an 80% response rate. Results revealed a preference for flexible but highly structured materials with clear assignment guidance and support. The results raise important issues in relation to autonomy and dependence and how this may interact with learning style and approaches to study.

A patient-focused evaluation of breast care nursing specialist services in North Wales

Background to the study: Breast care services for Wales have developed in response to government requirements that breast cancer care should be delivered only by specialist multi-disciplinary teams in cancer units treating at least 100 new breast cancer patients per year. Study aims: This paper presents the findings of the third stage of a three-stage project. The aim of this phase of the study was to evaluate the Breast Care Nursing Specialist (BCNS) service from the patients’ perspective. Methodological issues: A postal questionnaire was distributed to women with breast cancer who had experienced the BCNS service (n=172). The questionnaire included a 4-point, 28-item Likert scale as well as open and closed questions. Findings/conclusion: The findings revealed positive perceptions of the value of the BCNS service, particularly in relation to support around the time of diagnosis. Areas requiring improvement included meeting information needs of women with breast cancer, availability of BCNSs, and providing emotional support to family members and to women in the longer term as well as providing practical care. It is concluded that increasing the numbers of BCNSs, and providing training in counselling as well as access to information and how this can be shared with women, would do much to address these deficits in service provision.

Meeting research governance requirements by developing a joint research and development strategy between NHS and higher education partners

The Research Governance Framework (DoH, 2001) requires health and social care organisations to promote a research culture in their organisation and ensure that staff are supported in, and held accountable for, the professional conduct of research. In Wales, recent policy documents also necessitate the building of research capacity in health and social care in order to develop a high-quality workforce (WAG, 2002: 31) and deal with recruitment and retention problems by supporting initiatives and developments (NAfW, 2001). A literature search revealed that, although such strategies exist, none were reported to use an action research framework. This paper, therefore, reports on the progress of an action research project to develop, implement and evaluate a Joint Research and Development Strategy between North East Wales NHS Trust and North East Wales Institute of Higher Education. The strategy reported on in this paper used action research as a means of empowering stakeholders to become involved in research, whilst ensuring that the strategy continues to be implemented and evaluated. The paper reports on progress made in the first cycle of this action research process and outlines plans for future cycles.

Dual tyrannies: breaking the chains of campus and distance education

Abstract This paper is based upon a small scale research project (n = 122) concerned with identifying the experiences and learning support needs of students studying distance education modules for access with advanced standing to more traditional campus-based education and training for nurses. The context of the study is two-fold. The first context examined is the increasing concern at national policy levels in the UK of being able to identify the value-addedness of achievement in higher education. The second context is the development planning and goals of one campus-based institution of higher education to develop an approach to the provision of education and training that seriously confronts and overcomes the dual tyrannies of campus and distance education. Often, the two kinds of education are posited as diametric opposites, when the study shows that this ought not to be so. As part of the research, content analysis of the related study packages has been carried out to assess their relationship to lea...

Co-opting Learners: Addressing Their Learning Support Needs through a Learning Support Needs Questionnaire. Part Two. A Comparison of the Learning Support Needs of Campus and Distance-based Community Nurse Students

Abstract This article is a continuation of a previous article (Moreland & Carnwell, 2000) where the development and background of the Learning Support Needs Questionnaire (LSNQ) was explained. The LSNQ identifies and elicits practical, emotional and academic learning support needs, and is followed by an action planning process designed to assist the students to address any learning needs considered important but not met. Following on, this article presents the results of the first application of the questionnaire to two groups of nursing students - one group of distance learning based and one group of campus-based students. Whilst the distance education students overall had lower expectations of the different types of support than campus based students, both groups had significant but slightly different learning support needs. The failure to address the significant unmet learning needs by both the learners themselves and the providing institutions is likely to lead to unsatisfactory learning experiences and reduced achievements, though the results do have to be treated with caution until further research is carried out.