Nursing students' experiences of using a smart phone application for a physical assessment course: A qualitative study.

AIM: It is important that nurses possess adequate clinical skills so that the patient receives safe and competent care. Smart phone applications (apps) can promote active learning and the long-term retention of knowledge of undergraduate students. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the thoughts and experiences of nursing students who received a smart phone, app-based physical assessment educational intervention. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive approach with in-depth interviews was considered as suitable to obtain a comprehensive understanding of students' experiences of a smart phone-enabled physical assessment course. RESULTS: Based on interviews with 16 nursing students following the intervention, five themes were derived from the analysis of the interview transcripts: "the APP's physical assessment scenarios are very close to real-life clinical situations," "watching physical assessment videos over the APP is a quick way to learn what to do," "the APP is a new way of learning that enhances thinking and reflection," "some nursing students felt that it was out of their depth to analyze the scenarios in the APP," and "the APP needs enhancements in stability and interactivity." CONCLUSION: The findings of this study showed the mobile app as an effective learning aid that promoted transferability of the nursing students' knowledge and past experience. With the help of the APP, the teachers could offer timely guidance to the students.

Qualitative assessment of a blended learning intervention in an undergraduate nursing course.

BACKGROUND: Nurses are experiencing new ethical issues because of global developments and changes in the healthcare environment. Blended learning is one of the various methods used to deliver meaningful learning experiences. Well-designed, properly administered nursing ethics education is essential for nursing students to visualize the role of professional nurses. However, a literature review shows that only a few existing studies have touched on the subject of nursing student experiences with blended learning in a nursing ethics course. PURPOSE: This study examines how undergraduate nursing students respond to a blended learning approach in a nursing ethics course and how blended learning affects the learning process. METHODS: We used a qualitative research design with in-depth interviews. Participants included 28 female undergraduate nursing students who had completed the nursing ethics course. Each interview lasted 50-100 minutes. The researcher conducted all interviews in 2009. RESULTS: The researcher identified six major themes and 13 subthemes from the data. The six themes included (a) enhancing thinking ability, (b) improving problem-solving skills, (c) reflecting in and on practice, (d) perceiving added workload, (e) encouraging active learning, and (f) identifying the value of nursing. Participants felt that the blended learning experience was a generally positive experience. CONCLUSION: Most participants appreciated the opportunity to take a more active role in the learning process, think about issues profoundly and critically, and exercise metacognitive powers in the thinking and decision-making process. Study findings may suggest productive ideas for fine-tuning blended learning models.

[The professional learning website needs of hospital nursing stations: a needs assessment].

BACKGROUND: Healthcare must face the challenges of the information era. Changes in the medical sciences and increasing disease complexity have given rise to many professional learning websites designed to aid nurse learning. However, nurses in Taiwan have only a few poorly designed websites from which to choose. Language barriers and cultural differences often prevent nurses from making the best use of learning websites designed outside of Taiwan. This situation necessitates an investigation into the type of learning website content most needed by professional nurses in Taiwan. PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the types of content in a professional learning website most needed by a group of nurses and to examine factors affecting nurses' content demand. METHODS: Researchers used descriptive and correlational study designs. Random cluster sampling was used to select 43 of the total 70 nursing wards at one hospital in northern Taiwan. Subjects agreed to participate in a cross-sectional survey using a self-structured questionnaire. A total 571 questionnaires (96%) were returned out of 600 sent. RESULTS: The average professional learning website demand score was 4.03 (SD = 0.70). The top three content categories were, respectively, instructions on nursing routines for common diseases, common medication information, and instructions on preparing for common physical examinations. The bottom three content categories were, respectively, description of website purpose, post-learning tests, and online forum. Subject age, marital status, education, hospital department, Clinical Nursing Ladder status, and work experience all significantly affected subjects' content demand profile. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Study findings identified the content categories in highest demand from professional nurses, which can help guide professional learning website design work in the future. Different website versions may be developed to suit different nurse needs and help nurses save time searching for information on such topics as nursing procedures and standard introductions to medical-surgical wards.

[A needs assessment of nursing staff AIDS care knowledge needs].

BACKGROUND: The number of HIV infections in Taiwan has been increasingly linear in recent years. At the close of April 2009, Taiwan registered 17, 979 AIDS infections. The average annual infection rate has grown an average 18% during the most recent five year period. Apart from medical problems, the social and psychological problems associated with AIDS are becoming increasingly complicated both in Taiwan and globally with the increasing number of HIV infections. Identifying the knowledge needs of nursing staff members for providing appropriate nursing care to HIV/AIDS patients is important to planning effective in-service nursing education programs. Quality of both patient care and professional development can be promoted. PURPOSE: This study investigated the HIV/AIDS educational needs of nursing staffs and variations in care knowledge needs by individual background. Results provide a reference for in-service education program planners. METHODS: This was a descriptive and correlational study design that used self-structured questionnaires to conduct a cross-sectional survey. A total of 556 structural questionnaires were distributed and 546 completed questionnaires were returned (response rate = 98.2%) and used in data analysis. RESULTS: The average knowledge need score for nursing staffs with regard to HIV/AIDS patient care was > 4 points. The highest three mean scores were (in rank order): follow-up treatment for victims after sexual assault, prevention of injury (e.g., sharp objects, exposure to infected body fluids) and subsequent management, and nursing care of opportunistic infection. The lowest three mean scores were (in rank order): HIV epidemiology, Taiwan HIV policies and regulations, and HIV transmission routes. Nurses who were older, married, or held senior nurse positions had more knowledge needs. CONCLUSION: This study can be a reference for prioritizing the arrangement of in-service HIV/AIDS care education and for formulating hospital policies related to HIV/AIDS patients. Prevention of injury and subsequent management of patients with opportunistic infections should be made mandatory in all health care provider courses. Also, enhancing promotion of safety needles can help reduce needle stick risks for clinical staff.

The perceptions of Taiwanese families who have children with learning disability.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore the perceptions of families in Taiwan of living with a child who have learning disability and the parents perspectives on the cultural influences on their spiritual experiences. BACKGROUND: Traditionally, the family is the most important unit of society, family functioning is a key field of interest among helping professionals who provide family interventions. DESIGN: This study adopted qualitative research with semi-structured interviews. The study analysis used content analysis which was a process of identifying, coding and categorizing the themes in the data. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 117 parents in their homes and were interpreted by using content analysis to extract key conceptual themes from the transcribed interview texts. RESULTS: The findings revealed that the perceptions of families with learning disability children were wide-ranging. The stressors did not occur in a fixed order, they were different in degree and importance from one family to another. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that the experience of analysing qualitative data was extremely valuable for parents in that it aided their own understanding of the real-life experiences of the parents and in coming to know the parents in a richer, more meaningful way. In doing so, nurses need to be aware of their own thoughts and environment without letting it influence others. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The nurse should demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the family's culture and be able to show respect for cultural difference to assess and identify culturally acceptable health-care interventions.

An analysis of clinical teacher behaviour in a nursing practicum in Taiwan.

AIM AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify and assess the teaching behaviours (knowledge, attitudes and skills) observed in nurse educators as they taught in the clinical setting. BACKGROUND: Many quantitative studies have defined and evaluated teaching effectiveness in the clinical area. Some of these studies established instruments to evaluate faculty effectiveness in the clinical setting; however, they tended to be so broad that they were of limited use in understanding clinical teaching behaviours in nursing education. DESIGN: This study explored clinical teaching behaviours in a nursing practicum. Ten nurse educators taught 10 students in the medical-surgical unit at a hospital in Taiwan for about four weeks. Each teacher was observed by the researcher and one other observer for two days during regularly scheduled clinical teaching time. METHODS: Data collection and analysis were done by a qualitative approach. Content analysis is a process of identifying, coding and categorizing the themes in the data. CONCLUSION: The themes of clinical teaching that emerged from data analysis included teaching aims (task-oriented and learner-centred), teacher competence (teacher knowledge, instructional strategies, planning learning experience, teaching priorities, feedback and caring) and teaching commitment (professional identity and giving of self). These findings offer a holistic blueprint of clinical teaching for nursing faculty members, which will enhance the quality of nursing education. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Complexity in nursing education has increased as it is challenged to meet the needs of diverse populations in rapidly evolving and highly technical health-care settings. Clinical teachers must be enabled and empowered to provide students with appropriate knowledge and skills to meet the needs of patients. To develop students' professional nursing identity now and in the future, nurse educators have to commit themselves to both nursing and teaching in clinical settings. More nurses need to be prepared for careers in education at the master's and doctoral levels.

Health-related behavior and adolescent mothers.

OBJECTIVE: To explore health-related behaviors among adolescent mothers living in the rural area of Taoyuan, Taiwan. DESIGN: A cross-sectional descriptive design and nonrandom survey method were used. SAMPLE: The sample consisted of 37 adolescent mothers, identified by public health nurses. MEASUREMENTS: Standardized interview and Adolescent Health Promotion (AHP) questionnaire. RESULTS: Findings revealed a pattern of economic disadvantage. Nearly half of the participants still lived with their biological parents. Two-thirds needed economic support from their parents (generally coming from their biological mother). Thirty-five percent of participants reported never using contraceptives, two-thirds had never had a Pap smear, and 44% did not breast-feed their infants. Nearly 60% of the children were cared for by the biological mothers of the participants. Adolescent mothers with high school education, and who were employed, married, and received parental economic support had better health-related behaviors than adolescent mothers without these characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Although the study sample has geographic limitations, future international studies with similar populations of adolescent mothers in rural settings will help public health nurses understand adolescent mothers' stressors and needs which in turn affect their health-related behaviors. Intervention strategies are needed to encourage behaviors to keep this population healthy.