Sharon Black

Failing a student nurse: A new horizon of moral courage

The factors preventing registered nurses from failing students in practice are multifaceted and have attracted much debate over recent years. However, writers rarely focus on what is needed to fail an incompetent pre-registration nursing student in their final placement. This hermeneutic study explored the mentor experience of failing a pre-registration nursing student in their final placement. A total of 19 mentors were recruited from 7 different healthcare organisations in both inner city and rural locations in the southeast of England. Participants took part in individual reflective interviews about their experience of failing a pre-registration nursing student in their final placement. These experiences were interpreted through a hermeneutic discovery of meaning. The new horizon of understanding which developed as a result of this research is framed within the context of moral stress, moral integrity and moral residue with the overall synthesis being that these mentors’ stories presented a new horizon of moral courage.

Exploring the experiences of young people nursed on adult wards

This paper reports on a study of experiences of young people aged 14 to 18 years who were nursed on acute adult hospital wards in NHS hospitals in England. In spite of British government guidelines, young people from 14 years of age continue to be admitted to adult wards in the UK. Although much has been written about the transition of the young person to adult services, there is little research about the experiences of young people who are nursed on adult wards. Hermeneutic phenomenology was used to explore the lived experiences of eight young people who had been nursed on adult wards between 2004 and 2010. Data were collected in 2010. In-depth interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using Colaizzis framework ( Colaizzi, 1978 ). Themes explored included expectations of what the experience may be like, young peoples first impressions of the ward environment, the feelings of the young person while in hospital, the attitudes of people towards them including, both staff and other patients, and future admissions and how they would cope with readmissions. Better provision needs to be made for young people including appropriately trained staff, adolescent-friendly environments and areas in adult wards that are dedicated to adolescents.

Developing the skills to support nursing and midwifery students with specific learning differences in practice: An evaluation of a learning resource

The literature highlights the difficulties that those supporting students with a specific learning difference (SpLD) in practice may have and calls for more education of practice mentors. As a result of concerns locally, nursing and midwifery students who have a SpLD were interviewed to recount their practice experiences. Short films were made from these stories which formed the basis for developing a learning resource to educate novice mentors and develop their skills to support and assess students with SpLDs appropriately. The learning resource was piloted and evaluated, to investigate the effect the learning resource had on novice mentors’ knowledge about SpLDs and their attitudes, feelings and skills. The learning resource was delivered to 72 novice mentors on a mentorship preparation course. Sixty-one completed pre and post session questionnaires and participated in a world cafe exercise to evaluate the resource. The evaluation results indicated that the resource had a positive effect on novice mentors’ knowledge, skills and attitudes towards students with a SpLD.