Susan Shaw

Student Nurses' Misconceptions of Adults with Chronic Nonmalignant Pain

We present findings of a cross-sectional study that investigated the misconceptions student nurses hold, across 3 years of undergraduate education, of adults experiencing chronic nonmalignant pain. Earlier research has identified chronic pain as a leading cause of disability. The knowledge and attitudes of nurses have been found to affect patient experience and treatment. The study reported in this article addressed a gap in the existing research by exploring the misconceptions (inaccurate knowledge and inadequate attitudes) student nurses have of adults experiencing chronic nonmalignant pain. Previously identified misconceptions about patients with this type of pain were used as the basis for this study. Data were collected from a cross-sectional sample of student nurses (n = 430) using a specially designed survey. The study took place between 2001 and 2003 with students due to graduate between 2002 and 2005. The student nurses who participated in this study demonstrated that they held misconceptions about adults with chronic nonmalignant pain to a considerable degree. Students enrolled in semester six held the misconceptions to a slightly lesser degree than those enrolled in semesters one and four. The process of undergraduate education needs to equip nursing students with accurate knowledge about chronic nonmalignant pain and encourage them to develop the appropriate attitudes for working with patients experiencing it. Specific strategies must address gaps in knowledge and attitudes, with the aim of improving patient care.

Health regulation and the prescription – and proscription – of educational practice:

This article discusses the interface between health policy and education. Taking as a case example the power that regulatory “responsible authorities” have under the New Zealand Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 to define scopes of practice of health professionals, including that of educator, the article discusses the implications of such power with regard to health authorities determining curricula, and approving – or disapproving of – certain educators. The authors argue that such power, wielded by government appointees, represents a conservatising agenda, compromises the role of the university to be “a critic and conscience of society”, and threatens the future of both independent health professionals and their educators. The research, conducted over some five years, is informed by relevant publications on professional regulation and the registration of professionals, and a critical review of the publications and websites of the various responsible authorities. The initial hypothesis that these authorities had – and have – different and differing views of this scope of practice and of the extension of their powers, was confirmed.

Reflections from New Zealand: Facilitating Cultural Change

This chapter discusses how interprofessional learning and collaborative practice were embedded into the curricula of a large, diverse health faculty in New Zealand, and the leadership processes required to facilitate a cultural change.