Yvonne Sawbridge

Nursing is hard emotional labor-time to care for the carers?

Project Summary This project was led by a team of academics from The Scottish Collaboration for the Enhancement of Preregistration Nursing (SCEPRN). The project purpose was to follow up on previous literature reviews completed, that addressed complexity and challenges in providing meaningful feedback to students in the practice learning environment (Haycock-Stuart, Darbyshire & Donaghy, 2013; Pollock, Rice & McMillan, 2015). A qualitative study was conducted utilising individual semi structured interviews (n=7), which explored mentors behaviours in seeking feedback from members of the inter-professional team, and people who access services (PWAS). The purpose was to identify how this data was integrated by mentors to capture both feedback and the assessment process for student nurses. Aim The aim of the project was to identify how mentors use feedback on student performance to inform practice assessment in pre-registration nursing programmes in Scotland. Edinburgh Napier University, University of Glasgow and Queen Margaret University collaborated on the project with a view to:  Updating the reviews of literature of the last 3 years practice assessment in pre-registration nursing programmes.  Identifying how mentors elicit feedback from the Inter-professional Team, patients and carers views of student performance in practice assessment within pre-registration nursing programmes.  Explore mentors’ perspectives of practice assessment and feedback provided to students and Universities, within pre-registration nursing programmes.  Reviewing mentor preparation programmes in Scotland for content on preparation to provide meaningful feedback to students in practice learning.  Synthesising the data gathered within the context of the current evidence base and the updated literature reviews.  To propose any recommendations that may arise from the findings. Questions  How do mentors collect evidence that contributes to the student’s final assessment?  How do mentors elicit feedback from the inter-professional team that informs the student’s final assessment?  How do mentors engage with users of health care services to enable their feedback to inform the student’s final assessment? Methodology This is a qualitative research study, using semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of mentors of student nurses (n=7), from across Southern Scotland. Data analysis was undertaken using Burnard’s approach to thematic analysis (Burnard, 1991, 1996, Burnard et. al., 2008). Findings The two themes were identified from the data were: Collaboration and Gathering formal feedback. Recommendations NHS Education for Scotland Consider developing national systems to support mentors and future mentors to deliver meaningful feedback and feedforward to student nurses during their practice learning experiences. Mentor preparation programmes Review mentorship programmes: To assist mentors to understand the ongoing contribution of feedback and feedforward to student nurses’ learning. To develop mentors’ skills to provide meaningful feedback and feedforward, as this is a critical factor in student learning. Consider the hidden curriculum in the practice areas and enable mentors to develop an understanding of their part in this curriculum Undergraduate nursing programmes Review input for: How undergraduate student nurses learn about meaningful feedback in practice learning. How undergraduate student nurses learn about how to seek meaningful feedback and to assist student nurses to develop feedback seeking behaviours. The development of learning experiences for student nurse that cultivate the capacity to deliver meaningful feedback in preparation for their future mentoring career. Higher education institutions Review the role of summative versus formative feedback in the practice assessment documentation (the Ongoing Achievement Record (OAR)). Consider possible mechanisms for collecting and collating feedback from the IP team.

Organisational support for nurses in acute care settings: a rapid evidence review

Background: It is recognised that if high standards of patient care are to be provided, nursing staff need to be supported in managing the emotional component of their work. Objective: The purpose of the review reported here was to examine the relevant literature to determine which approaches to staff support are effective in enabling nurses to manage the emotional content of their work. Design: A Rapid Evidence Assessment was conducted. Methods: Rapid Evidence Assessment methods were used to identify and evaluate the relevant literature. Data sources: Peer reviewed journal papers retrieved as a result of a systematic literature search. Results: A total of 1,869 papers were identified following two searches of electronic databases and 25 papers were included in the review. Thematic analysis identified three main themes in the papers: The importance of leadership-particularly emotionally intelligent leadership; the impact of aspects of the emotional content of nurses’ work on their practice; and approaches to supporting staff. Conclusions: The results confirmed the recognition of staff support as being crucial to patient care, and the role of leadership and a number of specific interventions including mindfulness, reflection and supervision were reported. However although there are many approaches to the provision of emotional support for nurses, there is little evidence to demonstrate their widespread implementation. It is accepted that emotion is central to nursing, yet how best to manage this in an organisational context is less clear.

PCTS - the real advocates for change

Yvonne Sawbridge, nursing lead of of the NHS Alliance, argues that PCTs have a crucial role in redefining the nursing role.