Comparing didactic approaches for practical skills learning in Scandinavian nursing simulation centres: A qualitative comparative study.

AIM: To explore and compare the didactic approaches to practical skills learning at simulation centres in Scandinavian universities and university colleges. BACKGROUND: Academic simulation centres are an important arena for learning practical nursing skills which are essential to ensure competent performance regarding patient safety and quality of care. Knowledge of didactic approaches to enhance learning is essential in promoting the provision and retention of students' practical nursing skills. However, research on didactical approaches to practical nursing skills learning is lacking. DESIGN: A qualitative comparative design was used. METHODS: During November and December 2019, interviews were conducted with a total of 37 simulation centre directors or assistant directors, each of whom possessed in-depth knowledge of practical skills in teaching and learning. They represented bachelor nursing education in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. A qualitative deductive content analysis was conducted. RESULTS: The results revealed all five predetermined didactical components derived from the didactical relationship model. Twenty-two corresponding categories that described a variation in didactic approaches to practical skills learning in Scandinavian nursing simulation centres were identified. The didactical components of Learning process revealed mostly similarities, Setting mostly differences and Assessment showed only differences in didactic approaches. CONCLUSION: Although various didactic approaches were described across the countries, no common approach was found. Nursing educational institutions are encouraged to cooperate in developing a shared understanding of how didactic approaches can enhance practical skills learning. IMPLICATIONS FOR PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE: Cross-country comparisons of practical nursing skills learning in Scandinavian countries highlight the importance of educator awareness concerning the impact diverse didactic approaches may have on competent performance in nursing education. Competent performance is pivotal for ensuring patient safety and the provision of high-quality care. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No Patient or Public Contribution. REPORTING METHOD: This study followed the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research reporting guidelines.

Clinical and biochemical impact of vitamin B6 deficiency in primary sclerosing cholangitis before and after liver transplantation.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: We previously demonstrated that people with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) had reduced gut microbial capacity to produce active vitamin B6 (pyridoxal 5'-phosphate [PLP]), which corresponded to lower circulating PLP levels and poor outcomes. Here, we define the extent and biochemical and clinical impact of vitamin B6 deficiency in people with PSC from several centers before and after liver transplantation (LT). METHODS: We used targeted liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to measure B6 vitamers and B6-related metabolic changes in blood from geographically distinct cross-sectional cohorts totaling 373 people with PSC and 100 healthy controls to expand on our earlier findings. Furthermore, we included a longitudinal PSC cohort (n = 158) sampled prior to and serially after LT, and cohorts of people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) without PSC (n = 51) or with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) (n = 100), as disease controls. We used Cox regression to measure the added value of PLP to predict outcomes before and after LT. RESULTS: In different cohorts, 17-38% of people with PSC had PLP levels below the biochemical definition of a vitamin B6 deficiency. The deficiency was more pronounced in PSC than in IBD without PSC and PBC. Reduced PLP was associated with dysregulation of PLP-dependent pathways. The low B6 status largely persisted after LT. Low PLP independently predicted reduced LT-free survival in both non-transplanted people with PSC and in transplant recipients with recurrent disease. CONCLUSIONS: Low vitamin B6 status with associated metabolic dysregulation is a persistent feature of PSC. PLP was a strong prognostic biomarker for LT-free survival both in PSC and recurrent disease. Our findings suggest that vitamin B6 deficiency modifies the disease and provides a rationale for assessing B6 status and testing supplementation. IMPACT AND IMPLICATIONS: We previously found that people with PSC had reduced gut microbial potential to produce essential nutrients. Across several cohorts, we find that the majority of people with PSC are either vitamin B6 deficient or have a marginal deficiency, which remains prevalent even after liver transplantation. Low vitamin B6 levels strongly associate with reduced liver transplantation-free survival as well as deficits in biochemical pathways dependent on vitamin B6, suggesting that the deficiency has a clinical impact on the disease. The results provide a rationale for measuring vitamin B6 and to investigate whether vitamin B6 supplementation or modification of the gut microbial community can help improve outcomes for people with PSC.

Practice education facilitators perceptions and experiences of their role in the clinical learning environment for nursing students: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Clinical placement is recognised as essential for nursing students' development of clinical competence. However, difficulties in providing supportive clinical learning environments are a well-known challenge in nursing education. In Norway, the use of nurse educators in joint university and clinical roles has been recommended as an initiative to strengthen the clinical learning environment and enhance the educational quality. In this study we use the term practice education facilitator in a generic sense for these roles. The aim of this study was to explore how practice education facilitators can contribute to strengthen the clinical learning environments for nursing students. METHODS: This study has a qualitative explorative design with a purposive sample of practice education facilitators affiliated to three different universities located in southeast, mid-, and northern Norway. Individual in-depth interviews with 12 participants were conducted during spring 2021. RESULTS: A thematic analysis resulted in four themes: "coherence between theory and practice"; "student support and guidance during placement"; "supporting the supervisors to support the students" and "factors influencing the practice education facilitators' performance in their role". The participants experienced that the practice education facilitator role contributed to strengthened clinical learning environments. However, their performance in the role was found to be contingent upon factors such as time allocated for the role, personal and professional attributes of the post holder, and a common understanding within the organisations regarding practice learning and role remits for the practice education facilitator. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that the practice education facilitator role can be a valuable resource for clinical supervisors and nursing students in clinical placement. Moreover, nurse educators who are familiar with the clinical area, and who are insiders in both settings, are ideally placed to contribute to bridge the theory-practice gap. The benefits of using these roles, however, were influenced by personal attributes of the post holder, time allocated for the role and the number of practice education facilitators positions, and management anchorage. Thus, to achieve the full potential of these roles, efforts to reduce these barriers should be considered.

Health care provider's responses to children's resistance to peripheral vein cannulation: A qualitative observational study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Health care and treatment should be voluntary, but restraint is often used during treatment of children. Knowledge about how health care providers respond to preschool children's resistance is lacking and can help understand current paediatric care in hospitals. The aim of the present article was to provide knowledge about how healthcare providers respond to preschool children's resistance during the clinical procedure of peripheral vein cannulation. DESIGN: An explorative qualitative research design was developed for this study. METHODS: Observations with video recording were used to collect data. Eight nurses and seven physicians participated in the study (n = 15). Their responses to preschool children's (n = 6) resistance were studied during 14 attempts of peripheral vein cannulation. Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) were used. RESULTS: The healthcare providers made 380 responses to children's resistive expressions, interpreted within four main types, responses to acknowledge the child, responses to distract the child, responses to persuade the child and responses to reject the child. All main types of responses were used by both nurses and physicians. Regardless of the amount of resistance the children expressed, all children received distracting and acknowledging responses. Rejecting responses were used approximately twice as much in the implementation phase as in the preparation phase. Distraction, persuasion and rejection began in the preparation phase and increased in the implementation phase. CONCLUSIONS: The main types and sub-types of responses showed how healthcare providers use a wide array of responses to meet children's resistance during peripheral vein cannulation. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The results can enable health care providers to become aware of their own practices during peripheral vein cannulation and other clinical procedures and to elaborate on their use of responses that can be considered intrinsically less child-friendly.

Medical Complications of Anorexia Nervosa.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe the medical complications of anorexia nervosa (AN) to enable a consult-liaison psychiatrist to be familiar with these complications when involved with the care of a hospitalized patient with AN. METHODS: Comprehensive PubMed search of English language publications of adult patients with AN was carried out using keywords, phrases, and medical subject headings of anorexia nervosa-medical complications, cardiac, osteoporosis, gastrointestinal, hematological, and endocrine. The database search was restricted by time of publication of studies from 2005 to 2020. RESULTS: Every organ system can be adversely affected by AN. Most are fully reversible with time and informed medical care. A multidisciplinary team is needed to optimally care for patients who are hospitalized as a result of the medical complications of their AN. CONCLUSIONS: Consult-liaison psychiatrists are asked to help in the care of patients with AN who are admitted to a hospital because of a medical complication of their illness. Being familiar with these complications and their treatments will optimize their hospital stays and the care provided. In addition, involving other relevant ancillary services is an important care consideration.

"Please mind the gap": A secondary analysis of discomfort and comfort in intensive care.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore in depth discomfort in intensive care as experienced by patients and attended to by critical care nurses. BACKGROUND: Discomfort in illness is complex and persistent, and its alleviation is a challenge for nurses working in intensive care units (ICU). In previous studies, we showed that ICU patients described little actual pain but suffer from much discomfort. Critical care nurses had a systematic approach to the treatment of pain, but were more haphazard in dealing with other types of discomfort. DESIGN: Secondary qualitative analysis of data from two previous exploratory studies. METHODS: Content analysis was used on existing data from 28 interviews with ICU patients, and 16 field notes and interviews with critical care nurses. Kolcaba's Comfort Theory was applied for further analysis. The COREQ checklist was used. RESULTS: Three themes, "Being deprived of a functioning body", "Being deprived of a functioning mind" and "Being deprived of integrity" characterised the discomfort experienced by ICU patients. The nurses appeared to attend to all areas of discomfort expressed by patients. In need of, and providing acknowledgment and alleviation became a common overarching theme. We identified a comfort gap caused by the discrepancy between the patients' needs and the nurses' achievements in fulfilling these needs. CONCLUSIONS: A gap exists between ICU patients' comfort needs and nurses' achievements in fulfilling these, indicating that discomfort currently is an inevitable part of the critical illness trajectory. Increased knowledge about how the brain is affected in ICU patients and more systematic approaches to assessing comfort needs and enhancing comfort may support nurses in fulfilling patient needs and possibly diminish the existing comfort gap. RELEVANCE FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE: An increased understanding of the complex experience of discomfort in ICU patients may bring about more systematic approaches to enhance comfort and direct for education and further research.

"Pain relieved, but still struggling"-Critically ill patients experiences of pain and other discomforts during analgosedation.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore how critically ill patients treated according to a strategy of analgosedation experience and handle pain, other discomforts and wakefulness. BACKGROUND: Patients experience both pain and discomfort while in the intensive care unit. International guidelines recommend focused pain treatment and light sedation. An analgosedation protocol favouring pain management, light sedation and early mobilisation was implemented in our university hospital medical and surgical intensive care unit in Norway in 2014. The analgosedation approach may affect patients' experiences of the intensive care unit stay. DESIGN: Exploratory, descriptive design using semi-structured interviews. METHOD: Eighteen adult patients treated in intensive care unit >24 hr and receiving mechanical ventilation were interviewed 1-9 days after intensive care unit discharge. Ten patients were re-interviewed after 3 months. Data were analysed using the "systematic text condensation" approach. FINDINGS: Four main categories emerged from the analysis: "In discomfort, but rarely in pain," "Struggling to get a grip on reality," "Holding on" and "Handling emotionally trapped experiences." "Pain relieved, but still struggling" was the overarching theme. Analgosedation provided good pain relief, but patients still described frequent physical and psychological discomforts, in particular related to mechanical ventilation, not understanding what was going on, and experiences of delusions. To come to terms with their intensive care unit stay, patients needed to participate, trust in others and endure suffering. After hospital discharge, patients described both repression of experiences and searching for recognition of what they had gone through. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Despite good pain relief during analgosedation, other discomforts were commonly described. Critically ill patients still experience an intensive care unit stay as a traumatic part of their illness trajectory. Nurses need to attend carefully also to discomforts other than pain.

"But Perhaps they could Reduce the Suffering?" Parents' Ambivalence toward Participating in Forced Peripheral Vein Cannulation Performed on their Preschool-Aged Children.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to provide a better understanding of how parents experience the use of restraint during the performance of peripheral vein cannulation (PVC) on their child. DESIGN/METHODS: Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were performed with seven parents and one close relative who had accompanied their 3-5-year-old child while the child resisted the medical procedure of PVC. The analysis was guided by symbolic interactionism and resulted in two themes. RESULTS: The first theme that emerged, "Negotiating What Quality of Performance Should be Expected", was based on 1) Parents expected child-friendly encounters, 2) Performance of PVC caused unexpected and unnecessary suffering for the child, and 3) Parents explained and excused the performance of PVC. The second theme: "Negotiating One's Own Role and Participation in a Child's Suffering During the Procedure", was based on 1) Parents desired to be acknowledged and approached for suggestions regarding ways to ease the trauma surrounding the procedure, 2) Parents expressed uncertainty regarding the consequences that the procedure would have for the children, and 3) Parents desired to play a protective role, and they tended to engage in self-criticism. CONCLUSION: When the PVC was less child-friendly, poorly planned and chaotic or performed with lacking skills, the parents became unwilling partners in the unnecessary suffering of the child. A practical implication is that if pediatric health care providers are aiming for the reduction of restraint, they must better understand parents' expectations and experiences and ensure that the use of restraint is used as the last resort.

An exploration of factors associated with older persons' perceptions of the benefits of and satisfaction with a preventive home visit service.

BACKGROUND: Preventive home visits (PHVs) are healthcare services aimed at promoting the health of home-dwelling older people and to support their abilities to live independently. To enhance effectiveness, studies that explore older persons' experiences of PHVs are needed. OBJECTIVE: To assess older persons' perceived benefits and opinions of a PHV service and explore associations between perceived benefits from PHV and relevant sociodemographic/health-related factors. THEORY: The study was based on a comprehensive understanding of health, as including objective health/disease, subjective health/well-being and coping ability. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was administered during spring 2013 in a Norwegian municipality where nurses had offered annual PHVs to residents aged 75 years and older since 1999. We invited a stratified random sample of 393 PHV users to participate; of these, 161 volunteered. The main outcome variables in the questionnaire were perceived benefits from PHV. Logistic regression models were used to analyse the associations between each benefit and sociodemographic/health-related background variables. RESULTS: Approximately 39% of the respondents reported that PHVs added to their feelings of safety; 66% reported support for ability to live at home; 72% reported support for having a good life, 83% were satisfied with the service, and 90% stated that PHVs are important for older people. Each benefit was associated with different sociodemographic/health-related factors. Support for feelings of safety increased with age. More support for living at home was associated with poor physical health and not living alone. Those without children perceived more support for a good life. Satisfaction with PHV increased with increasing scores on the Life Orientation Scale. Persons with poor mental health and those not living alone more often perceived PHV as important. CONCLUSIONS: Annual, comprehensive PHVs to a general older population may support older persons' health and independence. Low response rate restricts the possibility to generalise the results.

Defining and comparing learning actions in two simulation modalities: students training on a latex arm and each other's arms.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore, describe and compare learning actions that nursing students used during peripheral vein cannulation training on a latex arm or each other's arms in a clinical skills centre. BACKGROUND: Simulation-based training is thought to enhance learning and transfer of learning from simulation to the clinical setting and is commonly recommended in nursing education. What students actually are doing during simulation-based training is, however, less explored. The analysis of learning actions used during simulation-based training could contribute to development and improvement of simulation as a learning strategy in nursing education. DESIGN: A qualitative explorative and descriptive research design, involving content analysis of video recordings, was used. METHODS: Video-supported observation of nine nursing students practicing vein cannulation was conducted in a clinical skills centre in late 2012. RESULTS: The students engaged in various learning actions. Students training on a latex arm used a considerably higher number of learning actions relative to those training on each other's arms. In both groups, students' learning actions consisted mainly of seeking and giving support. The teacher provided students training on each other's arms with detailed feedback regarding insertion of the cannula into the vein, while those training on a latex arm received sparse feedback from the teacher and fellow students. CONCLUSION: The teacher played an important role in facilitating nursing students' practical skill learning during simulation. The provision of support from both teachers and students should be emphasised to ensure that nursing students' learning needs are met. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study suggest that student nurses may be differently and inadequately prepared in peripheral vein cannulation in two simulation modalities used in the academic setting; training on a latex arm and on each other's arms.

Long-term, self-reported health outcomes in kidney donors.

BACKGROUND: The wide use of healthy persons as kidney donors calls for awareness of risks associated with donation. Live kidney donation may impair quality of life (QOL) and result in fatigue. Long-term data on these issues are generally lacking in the donor population. Thus we aimed to investigate long-term self-reported health outcomes in a nationwide donor cohort. METHODS: We assessed self-reported QOL, fatigue and psychosocial issues after donation in 217 donors representing 63 % of those who donated 8-12 years ago. QOL was measured using the generic Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36), fatigue using the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) and psychosocial issues using donor specific questions. For each of the 8 domains of SF-36 and the 5 domains of MFI, we performed generalized linear regression. RESULTS: Donors scored high on QOL with mean scores between 63.9 and 91.4 (scale 1-100) for the 8 subscales. Recognition from family and friends was associated with higher QOL scores in four domains. There were no significant gender differences. Fatigue scores were generally low. Females generally scored higher than males on all five dimensions of fatigue, although significantly only on two. Recipient still alive was associated with lower scores on mental fatigue. Regretting donors scored higher than average on all domains of fatigue. Recipient death, worries about own health and worsened relationship with the recipient influenced willingness to donate in retrospect. Donor age did not affect long-term health outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Eight till 12 years after donation QOL scores were generally high and improved with recogniton from family and friends. Fatigue was independent of donor age and more pronounced in females and in those who regretted donation.

Parent-healthcare provider interaction during peripheral vein cannulation with resistive preschool children.

AIM: The aim of this study was to increase understanding of parent-healthcare provider interaction in situations where newly admitted preschool children resist peripheral vein cannulation. BACKGROUND: Parent-healthcare provider interaction represents an important context for understanding children's resistance to medical procedures. Knowledge about this interaction can provide a better understanding of how restraint is used and talked about. Symbolic interactionism informed the understanding of interaction. DESIGN: An exploratory, qualitative study was chosen because little is known about these interactions. METHODS: During 2012-2013, 14 naturalistic peripheral vein cannulation -attempts with six newly hospitalized preschool children were video recorded. Eight parents/relatives, seven physicians and eight nurses participated in this study. The analytical foci of turn-taking and participant structure were used. RESULTS: The results comprised three patterns of interactions. The first pattern, 'parents supported the interaction initiated by healthcare providers', was a response to the children's expressed resistance and they performed firm restraint together. The second pattern, 'parents create distance in interaction with healthcare providers', appeared after failed attempts and had a short time span. Parents stopped following up on the healthcare providers' interaction and their restraint became less firm. In the third pattern, 'healthcare providers reorient in interaction', healthcare providers took over more of the restraint and either helped each other to continue the interaction or they stopped it. CONCLUSION: Knowledge about the identified patterns of interactions can help healthcare providers to better understand and thereby prepare both parents and themselves for situations with potential use of restraint.

Sufficient competence in community elderly care? Results from a competence measurement of nursing staff.

BACKGROUND: Multi-morbidity, poly-pharmacy and cognitive impairment leave many old patients in a frail condition with a high risk of adverse outcomes if proper health care is not provided. Knowledge about available competence is necessary to evaluate whether we are able to offer equitable and balanced health care to older persons with acute and/or complex health care needs. This study investigates the sufficiency of nursing staff competence in Norwegian community elderly care. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 1016 nursing staff in nursing homes and home care services with the instrument "Nursing Older People - Competence Evaluation Tool". Statistical analyses were ANOVA and multiple regression. RESULTS: We found that nursing staff have competence in all areas measured, but that the level of competence was insufficient in the areas nursing measures, advanced procedures, and nursing documentation. Nursing staff in nursing homes scored higher than staff in home care services, and older nursing staff scored lower than younger nursing staff. CONCLUSIONS: A reason for the relatively low influence of education and training on competence could be the diffuse roles that nursing staff have in community elderly care, implying that they have poor standards against which to judge their own competence. Clearer role descriptions for all groups of nursing staff are recommended as well as general competence development in geriatric nursing care.

Resistive expressions in preschool children during peripheral vein cannulation in hospitals: a qualitative explorative observational study.

BACKGROUND: Children may resist common medical procedures, and this may lead to the use of restraint. This can be challenging to all of the involved parties, but empirical research is scarce on children's expressions during these procedures. METHODS: To explore preschool children's resistive expressions during peripheral vein cannulation we video recorded and performed an in-depth analysis of naturally occurring situations with six newly hospitalized preschool children. RESULTS: Fourteen attempts of peripheral vein cannulation were recorded. A typology of resistive expressions was developed consisting of: protest, escape, and endurance. During the expression of protest, the children showed an insistent attitude where they were maintaining their view. The expression of escape was when children were panicked, avoiding hands of adults when being approached. When expressing endurance the children were stiff, motionless and introverted. Less physical restraint is required during endurance, but children still appear to refuse participation. CONCLUSIONS: We identified three types of resistive expressions that can be used to better understand the individual child and inform clinical judgment in challenging procedural situations. This knowledge can help to sensitize health care providers in their attempt to arrange for children's participation.

Characteristics of the relationship that develops from nurse-caregiver communication during telecare.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore the relationship between nurses and caregivers using a web camera and web forum as the communication methods. BACKGROUND: In Norway and other European countries, there is an increased focus on ageing at home, which is aided by technology, as well as formal and informal care. The literature reveals that caregivers endure physical and mental burdens. With computer-mediated communication, such as telecare, it is possible for nurses to provide supportive care to caregivers in their homes. DESIGN: An explorative design using qualitative content analysis. METHOD: Six nurses and nine caregivers with residential spouses suffering from stroke or dementia were interviewed two times over a six-month period. RESULTS: The nurses responded dynamically to the information they received and helped to empower the individual caregivers and to strengthen the interpersonal relationships between the caregivers. While some participants thought that meeting in a virtual room was close and intimate, others wanted to maintain a certain distance. The participants' altered their roles as the masters and receivers of knowledge and experience; this variation was based on a relationship in which mutual respect for one another and an interest in learning from one another allowed them to work together as partners to demonstrate the system and to follow-up with new caregivers. CONCLUSIONS: The flexibility of the service allows the possibility of engaging in a close, or to some extent, a more distant relationship, depending on the participants' attitudes towards using this type of service. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nurses can provide close care, support and information to caregivers who endeavour to master their everyday lives together with their sick spouses. The support seems to help the caregivers cope with their own physical and emotional problems.

Older users' perspectives on the benefits of preventive home visits.

In this article we explore older people's perspectives on the benefits of preventive home visits (PHVs), after long-term follow-up. PHVs are health services intended to promote older people's health and independence, prevent disease, and postpone functional decline. We applied an explorative and descriptive design and analyzed qualitative research interviews of 10 PHV users who had received multiple visits for at least 6 years. We sought manifest and latent content in our analysis. The participants reported benefits falling within four main categories: to feel safe, to manage everyday life, to live well, and to be somebody. Two latent themes emerged: living with an underlying, realistic concern about an uncertain future, and striving to maintain oneself as a person. The perceived benefits of PHVs differed significantly from the outcome measures commonly used in randomized, controlled trials. PHV interventions should have a longitudinal approach and support each person's current needs and valued goals.

Nursing older people-competence evaluation tool: development and psychometric evaluation.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To evaluate the quality of care provided to older people, the competence of the nursing staff must be measured. This study evaluates a new instrument called Nursing Older People-Competence Evaluation Tool (NOP-CET). METHODS: A 65-item questionnaire was completed by 1,016 community-based nursing staff and evaluated for validity, reliability, precision, interpretability, acceptability, and feasibility. RESULTS: The survey demonstrated good content validity; conceptually coherent factor structure explaining 54.98% (knowledge items), 65.03% (skills items), and 52.83% (personal attribute items) of the total variance; and internal consistency (.77-.93). CONCLUSIONS: The NOP-CET showed good validity and reliability as a measure of community-based nursing staff competence and may be used in further investigations of competence in older people nursing.

Improving the systematic approach to pain and sedation management in the ICU by using assessment tools.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of introducing a systematic approach to pain and sedation management in the ICU. BACKGROUND: Identification of ICU patients' analgesic and sedative needs decreases the risk of complications and the hospital length of stay. Several studies have reported a lack of systematic assessment. DESIGN AND METHODS: Three assessment tools were implemented in two Norwegian ICUs in a prospective two-site study (April-July 2009). Frequency of pain and sedation documentation, the number of days when a sedation level was prescribed, and the amount of analgesics and sedatives used were documented for 958 ICU days in 139 mechanically ventilated patients. Fifty-five ICU nurses completed a questionnaire on the effects of the assessment tools before and after implementation. RESULTS: Patients assessed by the tools had a documented pain score 2·5 times daily and a sedation score three times daily. A sedation level was prescribed for 70% of the total patient days. A documented match between prescribed and reported sedation level was achieved for 27% of the days. Combinations of continuous analgesia and sedation were prescribed with wide therapeutic ranges. Significant improvements were seen in the units' assessment and documentation routines scored by the nurses after the implementation of the tools. CONCLUSION: Although the tools were well accepted, they were not used as frequently as recommended. The proportion of missing written prescriptions and documentation of sedation levels most likely reflects the nurses' and physicians' poorly defined intentions for the prescribed treatment. The tools applied helped nurses to focus on significant signs and symptoms. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Without well-organised pain treatment and sedation, the risk of oversedation is always present. Our results show that the implementation of tools contributes to a systematic approach of the assessment and treatment of pain and sedation in intensive care.

Nursing students' perceptions of their clinical learning environment in placements outside traditional hospital settings.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore students' opinions of the learning environment during clinical placement in settings outside traditional hospital settings. BACKGROUND: Clinical placement experiences may influence positively on nursing students attitudes towards the clinical setting in question. Most studies exploring the quality of clinical placements have targeted students' experience in hospital settings. The number of studies exploring students' experiences of the learning environment in healthcare settings outside of the hospital venue does not match the growing importance of such settings in the delivery of health care, nor the growing number of nurses needed in these venues. DESIGN: A survey design was used. METHOD: The Clinical Learning Environment Inventory was administered to two cohorts of undergraduate nursing students (n = 184) after clinical placement in mental health care, home care and nursing home care. RESULTS: Nursing students' overall contentment with the learning environment was quite similar across all three placement areas. Students in mental health care had significantly higher scores on the subscale individualisation, and older students had significantly higher scores on the total scale. Compared with other studies where the Clinical Learning Environment Inventory has been used, the students' total scores in this study are similar or higher than scores in studies including students from hospital settings. CONCLUSION: Results from this study negate the negative views on clinical placements outside the hospital setting, especially those related to placements in nursing homes and mental healthcare settings. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Students' experience of the learning environment during placements in mental health care, home care and nursing homes indicates the relevance of clinical education in settings outside the hospital setting.