Nursing students' engagement with social media as an extracurricular activity: An integrative review.

OBJECTIVE: To explore primary research evidence reporting the reason for undergraduate nursing students' engagement with social media as an extracurricular activity. BACKGROUND: The formal integration of social media into nursing education has been discussed extensively in previous research. The influence of social media on nursing students' learning and class engagement has also been explored. However, despite the growing volume of literature examining the formal use of social media by undergraduate nursing students, a broader perspective on how and why nursing students engage with social media as an extracurricular activity has not yet been explored. DESIGN: An integrative review. METHODS: A systematic search was performed to find articles published between 2007-2019 using Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Ovid Emcare and CINAHL Plus databases and the Google Scholar search engine. The review process is reported according to PRISMA. RESULTS: Twelve papers met the inclusion criteria, revealing that undergraduate nursing students engaged with social media for many reasons external to their formal curricula. They engaged with social media to keep in touch with others and to entertain themselves, promote learning, find social support, develop a professional nursing identity, share their experiences as nursing students and locate job opportunities. CONCLUSION: Undergraduate nursing students engaged with social media for numerous reasons. It supported students in their academic and personal lives by keeping them in touch with people around them. The students used social media to identify with the nursing profession; however, its influence on their professional identity development is yet to be fully explored. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nursing schools should consider the myriad of reasons students engage with social media in order to optimise their professional development. Understanding how nursing students' professional identity develops via social media may be used to help sustain nursing students and support their transition into practice.

Drug Abuse Educational Program for Saudi University Students: A Pre-test and Post-test Design.

Background and objective Designing a consistent preventive drug abuse program and evaluating the educational needs of diverse target groups, school curricula, and new instructional materials customized to a country's socioeconomic and cultural characteristics should be used. This research aims to assess the influence of an educational program on university students' awareness of drug abuse. Methodology A cross-sectional study using a pre-test questionnaire with predetermined questions was conducted with 102 participants. The educational program about drug abuse prevention measures was subsequently implemented. After the program was completed, a post-test was administered to the students, and the results were compared to the pre-test results. The data were collected from male and female Saudi students at a university in the western area of Saudi Arabia. Results The pre-test findings indicate that the students had already received some information on drug use and abuse, but the post-test results show that their awareness rose as a result of the drug abuse educational program. Conclusion Drug abuse is a major problem all across the world, including in Saudi Arabia. However, educational programs will help to increase knowledge and awareness of this issue.

Nursing Students' Beliefs and Willingness to Implement Evidence-Based Nursing Practice at Umm Al-Qura University: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study.

Background It is essential to provide evidence-based practice (EBP) courses for undergraduate nursing students. For this reason, students' beliefs and intentions to implement EBP should be measured to ensure that EBP courses are effective. Aim The aim of this study is to evaluate Saudi nursing students' EBP beliefs (EBPB) and implementation before they enroll in an EBP course. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. Two scales were used: the EBPB scale and the EBP implementation (EBPI) scale. The questionnaire was available for completion a single time before the second-year nursing students were introduced to the EBP course. Results The study revealed that the mean age for students is 20 ± 0.83. Nearly two-thirds (61.54%) of students are female. It can be noted that 71.5% have not attended any EBP programs. Additionally, 65.38% of students understand the concept of EBP, and 68.46% are willing to apply EBP nursing care. Therefore, there is a positive correlation between the EBPB scale variable and the EBPI scale. Conclusion This study highlights the positive attitude of undergraduate nursing students toward EBP. Nursing education programs must place more emphasis on integrating EBP curricula into their teaching strategies, with a focus on developing students' knowledge, skills, and values in EBP.

The Outlook of Healthcare Providers on the Involvement of Diabetic Patients as Health Promoters for Diabetes Prevention Among Their Family Members: A Qualitative Study.

Background and objective Examples of patients becoming health promoters for diabetes prevention in their own families, although few, are on the rise. Nevertheless, despite this increase in patient involvement in diabetes prevention, there is scarce research regarding healthcare providers' perspectives on the active engagement of patients as health promoters for their family members. In light of this, we aimed to explore the perspectives of healthcare providers working at primary health clinics regarding patient involvement in diabetes prevention among their own family members and close relatives. Methodology This study was conducted between July and December 2022 at the Primary Healthcare Clinics at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, in Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Semistructured interviews based on purposive sampling were conducted with 13 participants, and their data were thematically analyzed. Results Two main themes emerged from the interviews: the patients' readiness to be health promoters and the willingness of healthcare staff to support promoter patients. Healthcare providers perceived the involvement of diabetes patients in promoting the health of their family members and close relatives as beneficial; however, several barriers may prevent these patients from becoming effective health promoters. Conclusions Healthcare providers understand the significance of involving patients with diabetes as health promoters for their family members and close relatives. Patients can offer unique insights into the lived experience of diabetes management, as well as provide practical advice for lifestyle adjustments. Nevertheless, healthcare providers should also recognize the limits of patients' knowledge and skills and ensure that patients receive proper training and support to serve as effective health educators.

The relationship between social media usage by undergraduate nursing students and development of their professional identity: A correlational study.

BACKGROUND: How nursing students perceive themselves as potential nurses in the future is defined as their nursing professional identity. Many undergraduate nursing students present positive attitudes regarding the use of social media. However, the influence of social media usage by undergraduate nursing students on the development of their professional identity is yet to be determined. OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between social media usage by undergraduate nursing students and the development of their professional identity. DESIGN: Descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional study. SETTING(S): Two universities in western Saudi Arabia. PARTICIPANTS: Undergraduate nursing students who used social media. METHODS: An online questionnaire was designed, and its contents were validated. It was then distributed via a Qualtrics link to students' email addresses and via social media between 4th September 2019 and 28th October 2019. Descriptive analysis including frequencies, percentages, medians, and interquartile ranges were reported. Additionally, a number of non-parametric tests were conducted to investigate the relationships in question. RESULTS: In total, 484 questionnaires were included in the analysis. The participants who used social media for educational (p = 0.004), or for professional purposes (p = 0.015) had high scores on the PI scale. The professional identity scores were also positively associated among the participants who followed nurses (p < 0.001), shared their nursing experiences (p < 0.001), and acted as societal educators about the nursing profession (p < 0.001) on social media platforms. CONCLUSIONS: Engagement with social media positively influenced undergraduate nursing students in the development of their professional identity. However, it is notable that the pedagogy of nursing education has been slow to adopt social media into nursing curricula. Nursing students require guidance in terms of how to use social media for their professional development.

Undergraduate nursing students' adoption of the professional identity of nursing through social media use: A qualitative descriptive study.

BACKGROUND: Previous research has addressed nursing course components such as clinical placements that affect students' socialisation processes and the development of their professional identities. Social media is an increasingly important factor that has not yet been explored in-depth in terms of its influence on the development of the professional identity of nursing and is a major gap in our knowledge and understanding of undergraduate nurses' development. OBJECTIVE: To understand the influence of social media usage on the development of undergraduate nursing students' professional identity. DESIGN: Descriptive qualitative study. SETTING: Two universities in Saudi Arabia. PARTICIPANTS: Sixteen undergraduate nursing students. METHODS: Semi-structured and audio-recorded interviews were undertaken between November 2018 and January 2019. The transcribed data were thematically analysed using NVivo 12. RESULTS: Three main themes emerged: Learning about nursing professional identity through social media, adopting the identity of nursing, and students sharing their understanding of nursing professional identity via social media. Students used social media to learn about the nursing profession, and this helped them to develop a sense of belonging to the nursing profession. The students also used social media to share their experiences as nursing students and to enhance society's understanding of the importance of the nursing profession. CONCLUSION: Undergraduate nursing students should be encouraged to develop their professional identity through socialisation. Social media can facilitate the socialisation process of undergraduate nursing students by connecting them with members of the nursing community.

Social barriers experienced by female Saudi nursing students while studying nursing: A phenomenological study.

Saudi Arabia has a shortage of Saudi nurses in the workforce, particularly with limited numbers of local female nurses. Social factors may influence views towards the discipline of nursing thus influencing interest of local females choosing to undetake nursing studies. The aim of this paper is to explore the lived experiences of Saudi female nursing students regarding the social barriers encountered related to studying nursing. Hermeneutic phenomenology guided by Van Manen underpinned the study. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted, and data thematically analysed. Eight female nursing students from one university nursing school in Saudi Arabia participated. Two main themes emerged, the first, 'dealing with social factors', describes the range of social issues encountered by students. The second theme, 'social support', describes support needs and strategies used by students as they faced social issues. This study demonstrates that Saudi female nursing students could generally overcome social difficulties they confronted, particularly when they received viable social support to encourage them in their studies. Therefore, it is important to understand the social factors and experiences that may act as barriers to students completing their nursing studies. This can help in the recruitment and retention of nursing students and design of supportive programs to facilitate their studies.