Value creation in a learning community: an interprofessional partnership between nursing home care, education and students.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the value created in a learning community - comprised of different professionals and nursing students - at a nursing home. METHODS: A case study approach was used. Data were collected between 2019 and 2021 through self-reports, observations and stories (interviews, diaries). RESULTS: The template analysis revealed nine transcending themes, six associated with preexisting value-creation cycles (expected, immediate, potential, applied, realized and transformative value) and three other relevant themes: contextual, factors and value-creation initiators. CONCLUSIONS: A nursing home learning community comprised of diverse professionals in partnership with nursing students shows a variety of value creation and seems to potentially leverage interprofessional and lifelong learning activities, on top of formal nursing education. It is recommended to integrate the value-creation cycles into the processes of learning communities to promote collective decision-making. Research on both the final level of students involved and having residents participate in the learning community would be worthwhile.

The potential for learning within hospital learning communities: the interplay between nursing practice and education to support research ability.

Objectives Nurses must contribute to the development of professional practice and thereby improve quality of care by using their research abilities. Therefore, learning communities comprised of nurses, students and teachers were created in a hospital. Methods A qualitative descriptive methodology was used. Three learning communities were purposefully selected, and members were asked open-ended questions about their learning and activities in multiple data collection sessions. Data were analyzed by means of an inductive process. Results Both individually and collectively, members learned about research in general, research terminology and methods. They learned about asking questions and critical thinking, and, specifically through collective learning, they learned about the differences between education practices. Activities were carried out primarily to continue personal learning. Conclusions Learning within the learning communities was mainly research-oriented and therefore potentially suitable for enhancing research ability. Implications are offered to support the formulation of community activities.

Learning community participation: A valuable opportunity for transferring actions and behaviors within the nursing learning and working context?

AIM/OBJECTIVE: Indicating how community participation transfers to application within the nursing learning and working context. BACKGROUND: Preparing nurses to drive advances in health care requires the integration of working and learning. Learning communities are therefore recommended to connect students, educational programs and health care organizations. DESIGN: A multiple case study with three hospital learning communities was conducted during the 2019-2020 academic year, partly during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The main data were collected by conducting three group interviews and 21 individual interviews with members. A hybrid thematic analysis approach was used. RESULTS: Seven themes originated from the analysis: learning community features, learning community preconditions, learning community needs, impetus, application, research context and meaningfulness. Individual members applied acquired knowledge, skills and attitudes later or in other situations. Depending on the case, collective application manifested as inventing, consulting or reusing, but this seemed less sustainable in the research context at the time. CONCLUSIONS: Application within the nursing learning and working context occurs and is sustained at the individual level even when there are no organized learning community sessions in times of crisis. Framing and facilitators' support can be used to encourage collective application.

The Impact of Community Learning During a Participatory Nursing Research Project.

BACKGROUND: Community learning is one approach to promote research competencies and to involve nurses and nursing students in research. This study examines the impact of community learning according to participants-both those inside and outside the community-in a joint nursing research project at a hospital. METHOD: A qualitative design was selected using a participatory approach. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, reflections, conversations, and patient input during 2 academic years. RESULTS: Thematic analysis showed 11 themes, which were organized into three clusters: realization, transformation, and influencing factors. Participants perceived changes in practice and described how their perspectives have changed on care, education, and research. Reconsiderations led to some new or revised strategies, and influencing factors were associated with the contemporary context, degree of involvement, and design/facilitation. CONCLUSION: The impact of community learning emerged and extended beyond community boundaries, and the indicated influencing factors must be taken into account. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2023;54(3):131-144.].