Nursing Faculty Shortage Impact on Nursing Students: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study.

Background: The nursing education sector has felt the impact of the shortage of nursing clinical instructors (CI) or faculty members. This phenomenon became more profound with the pandemic experience along with the global shortage of nurses in the hospitals. Objective: The study was conducted to explore the lived experiences on learning among undergraduate nursing students in a higher education institution amidst the nursing faculty shortage. Methods: The study was undertaken using a descriptive phenomenological design with seven informants, using Colaizzi's approach for data analysis. Findings: The findings of the study generated three main themes: disruptions in the learning process and platforms, responses to learning disruptions, and learners' call to action. It uncovered substantial disruptions in scheduled lectures, activities, and clinical rotations due to the nursing faculty shortage. Conclusion: The findings underscore the critical need for immediate and comprehensive measures to address the nursing faculty shortage. Despite compensatory efforts by the institution, the impact on learning experience remains significant. This study calls for prompt and effective strategies to rectify the nursing faculty shortage, ensuring optimal learning experiences for student nurses.

Anxiety, depression, stress, and resilience among undergraduate nursing students at Al-Quds university: the impact of war started on October 7 in Palestine.

BACKGROUND: The current outbreak of war in Palestine on the 7th of October 2023, heightened concerns about mental health and well-being of individuals, particularly undergraduate students in Palestine. Such traumatic experiences and political conflict did affect the social, economic, psychological, and academic status of university students in Palestine, in particular, nursing students. However, resilience is one of the moderators which may positively decrease the severity of those negative war-related symptoms. AIM: The study aimed to examine the moderation effect of resilience on the relationship between sociodemographic and personal characteristics and depression, anxiety, and stress among undergraduate nursing students in Palestine. DESIGN AND METHODS: A quantitative, descriptive-correlational design utilized to investigate anxiety, depression, stress, and resilience among nursing students. A convenience sample of 325 nursing students recruited from Al-Quds University were asked to respond to a self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 325 nursing students participated in this study. The analysis showed that the majority of the participants were experiencing extremely severe anxiety levels (43.7%, n = 142), while 25.5% (n = 83) were experiencing extremely severe depression and 14.5% (n = 47) were experiencing high-stress levels compared to 60% (n = 195) of the students were at their normal resilience level. There were statistically significant differences in the resilience based on sex (t323 = 2.994, p = .003). Knowing that males have higher resilience mean scores (M = 3.06, SD = 0.35) than females (M = 2.93, SD = 0.41) indicates higher resilience in males than females. After performing two steps of hierarchical regression, the results revealed that resilience negatively moderated the relationship between sociodemographics and depression, and anxiety. CONCLUSION: This study offers valuable insights into the mental health status of undergraduate nursing students in Palestine during the war. The results indicated that resilience is one of the pivotal moderators that may buffer anxiety and depression. The findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to address the diverse mental health needs of this population, considering the complex interplay of individual, demographic, and contextual factors. Future research should continue to explore these dynamics and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions promoting mental well-being during conflict.

A cross-sectional survey on COVID-19 phobia and its influencing factors among undergraduate nursing students.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the psychological well-being of undergraduate nursing students in China. It is vital to have an understanding of their COVID-19 phobia and its predictors, especially during transitions in public health policy. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the situation and factors contributing to COVID-19 phobia among nursing students in Southwestern China. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in December 2022 among nursing undergraduates in southwestern China. A convenience sample of 317 undergraduate nursing students from all grades at a medical university in Chengdu was assessed using the COVID-19 Phobia Scale (C19P). RESULTS: The mean COVID-19 Phobia Scale (C19P-SC) score was 52.92 (± 13.02), indicating moderate levels of phobia, with gender, chronic disease, and perceived susceptibility being significant predictors. 11.67% of the students reported an infection history, while 81.39% knew an infected individual. Notably, fourth-year students showed significantly higher phobia level than first-year. Gender, chronic disease, perceived susceptibility, and risk significantly predicted COVID-19 phobia, explaining 16.4% of the variance Results of the thematic analysis revealed four main themes related to COVID-19 phobia and career choice among nursing undergraduates: concerns of infection risk, professional commitment, compromise and acceptance, and confronting phobia. CONCLUSIONS: This study discovered a significant level of COVID-19 phobia among undergraduate nursing students and identified several risk factors, including being female, having chronic diseases, perceiving a high susceptibility to the virus, and perceiving a high level of harm after infection. These findings highlight the importance of educators focusing on the mental well-being of nursing students, particularly seniors, to reduce the impact of phobia on their social interactions and career aspirations. This will help ensure that they are well-prepared for their future roles in healthcare.

Exploring a learning model for knowledge integration and the development of critical thinking among nursing students with previous learning: a qualitative study protocol.

Students often struggle to apply their knowledge of bioscience to their care practice. Such knowledge is generally learned through remembering and understanding, but retention quickly fades. They also experience difficulty progressing to higher-order cognitive skills such as applying, analyzing, evaluating, and even creating, which are necessary to develop soft skills, such as critical thinking, in the care profession. In order to improve existing programs, there is a need to better understand students' prior learning experiences and processes. The proposed study will explore the previous learning experiences of nurses enrolled in a two-year nursing program at a Taiwan university and identify the challenges they face in integrating multidisciplinary knowledge and developing critical thinking competency. The study will adopt a constructivist grounded theory methodology to collect interview data. The findings are expected to improve higher cognitive learning performance and inform the revision of the two-year nursing curriculum.

The effect of web based and traditional self breast examination education on nursing students' knowledge, skills and self-directed learning skills: A randomised controlled study.

AIM: The aim of this study is to examine the effect of web based self-breast examination education on nursing students' knowledge, skills, and self-directed learning skills in self-breast examination. BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer among women, mortality rates are still high today. It is critical to improve the knowledge and skills and raise the self-awareness and health consciousness of individuals and society about self-breast examination, which is important in the early diagnosis of breast cancer, in order to lower mortality rates. Accordingly, one of the basic nursing skills aimed to be acquired by nursing students future nursing professionals is a self-breast examination. DESIGN: This study was conducted with a randomised, controlled, and experimental trial. METHODS: A total of 90 students were included in the study: the intervention group (n=43) and the control group (n=47). Intervention group students participated in web-based SBE Education.Control group students participated in SBE Education based on a traditional learning model.A Student Information Form, the Self-Breast Examination Knowledge Test, the Self-Breast Examination Skill Rubric, and the Self-Directed Learning Skills Scale were used in the study. Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, and Wilcoxon test were run to analyse the data. RESULTS: It was observed that the control group had a higher score in self-breast examination knowledge than the intervention group during the intervention period and the follow-up period after 15 days. No difference was noticed between the groups after the intervention for self-breast examination skill score, but the intervention group had a higher score than the control group for self-breast examination skill during the follow-up period after 15 days. No significant difference was noted between the groups for self-directed learning scores. This result validated hypothesis H4. This result refuted hypothesis H1, H2, H3, H5. CONCLUSIONS: Web based education on self-breast examination improves students' breast self-examination skills and self-directed learning skills, but not their knowledge level of self-breast examination.

Internship and postgraduate entrance examination: A qualitative study on the psychological experience of undergraduate nursing students under dual pressure in China.

Background: With the development of nursing positions and nursing disciplines in China's tertiary hospitals, the number of people applying for the master's degree in nursing is also increasing year by year. Postgraduate examinations are held during internship, so nursing students face the dual pressure of testing and internship, which brings varying degrees of negative experiences and emotional fluctuations. Objective: To explore the psychological experiences and influencing factors of undergraduate nursing students under the dual pressures of clinical nursing internships and postgraduate examination preparations. Design: Descriptive qualitative study. Method: Purposeful sampling was used to recruit 18 participants from eight tertiary hospitals in China between October and December 2023. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted, with interview recordings transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was then applied to the data. Results: Four themes were identified: negative experiences under dual pressures, coping mechanisms for negative experiences, motivational effects under dual pressures, and evaluations of significant individuals. Nursing students improved their overall abilities through internships and exam preparations, gaining a clear understanding of themselves and certain hospital roles. However, at this stage, students also experienced adverse psychological experiences for various reasons. Thus, they employed several methods to alleviate their psychological stress, aiming for a better state to face internships and exam preparations. Conclusion: Schools and hospitals should pay more attention to the needs of nursing students under dual pressures, monitoring their emotional states, and providing psychological support to enhance their stress-coping abilities. It is important to ensure the overall well-being of students while strengthening the motivational effects of internships and learning experiences.

Nurse academics and the teaching of undergraduate nursing numeracy: A cross-sectional study of self-reported confidence and anxiety.

BACKGROUND: Numeracy and mathematics are terms that can cause anxiety, not only in students, but this emotion can also be experienced in teachers. Anxiety can inhibit teacher performance and is correlated with low self-confidence. The anxiety felt by school teachers when teaching mathematics is widely reported, however, the self-reported confidence and anxiety levels of nurse academics when teaching numeracy concepts to undergraduate nursing students has never been studied. AIM: To explore and analyse Australian nurse academics' self-reported confidence and anxiety levels when teaching nursing numeracy to undergraduate nursing students. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Australian universities that provide an undergraduate nursing degree leading to nursing registration. PARTICIPANTS: Australian nurse academics employed either permanent full time or part time; casual /sessional; or on a fixed term contract, who teach nursing numeracy and medication calculations to undergraduate nursing students. METHODS: A combination of convenience and purposive sampling was used to recruit Australian nurse academics (n = 170). Data were collected between Nov 2023 and Feb 2024 using an online survey platform. RESULTS: Almost 50 % of participants self-reported feeling either not confident or somewhat confident and very or somewhat anxious when teaching nursing numeracy. There were no significant differences in overall confidence and anxiety based on demographic variables, indicating this is a widespread issue. A non-significant trend towards level A academics experiencing higher anxiety and less confidence was noted. CONCLUSIONS: A significant proportion of students are being taught nursing numeracy by nurse academics who lack confidence and experience anxiety, which can be transferred to students, affecting learning and performance. The downstream consequences are potentially poor numeracy skills in students and compromised patient safety. Strategies that have been effective in reducing school teachers' anxiety could be used to support nurse academics.

Exploring academic and clinical nurses' perspectives on evidence-based nursing course for undergraduates from perspectives of academic-practice partnerships: a qualitative study.

AIM: To explore nurses' perceptions of evidence-based nursing courses for undergraduates through academic-practice partnerships. DESIGN: A deductive thematic analysis based on the practice-academic logic model. METHODS: Fifteen academic and clinical nurses were interviewed between November and December 2023, either online or through face-to-face meetings. Each interview lasted 20-30 min. The interview outline was constructed based on the practice-academic partnership logic model, which was followed during the process of recorded, analyzed, and checked. RESULTS: Themes identified include inputs (e.g., stakeholder commitment), activities (e.g., communication), outputs (e.g., nursing projects), and outcomes (e.g., improved competence). These themes highlight the various aspects and outcomes of academic-practice partnerships in evidence-based nursing courses. CONCLUSION: Effective academic-practice partnerships are crucial for developing evidence-based nursing courses, leading to positive educational and professional outcomes. IMPACT: Nurses' perceptions provide valuable guidelines for developing effective evidence-based nursing courses. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient or public users participated in this study.

Development of an evidence-based nursing practice course framework for undergraduate nursing students from a perspective of academic-practice partnerships: A Delphi study.

AIM: To develop an evidence-based nursing practice course framework for undergraduate nursing students from a perspective of academic-practice partnerships. BACKGROUND: Academic-practice partnerships could play a crucial role in bridging theory-practice gap in evidence-based nursing education. However, there is a lack of evidence-based nursing practice course framework for undergraduate nursing students from a perspective of academic-practice partnerships. DESIGN: A Delphi study. METHODS: The Delphi study was conducted by literature analysis, qualitative interview and Delphi expert consultation to develop this course framework. 15 and 12 experts were involved in round one and round two of Delphi expert consultation, respectively. The consensus threshold of two-round Delphi expert consultation was described by expert's positive coefficient (≥ 50 %), positive coefficient (≥ 70 %), expert authority coefficient (≥ 0.7), coefficient of variation (<0.25) and full score frequency (>20 %). RESULTS: The final course framework includes learning objectives (17 items); teaching chapters of theoretical classes (five items); teaching contents (30 items), methods (12 items) and class hours (9 items) of theoretical classes; and the responsibilities of academic teachers (11 items) and clinical teachers (11 items) in practical classes. CONCLUSION: The course framework developed by this study could provide guidance for evidence-based nursing education of undergraduate nursing students. The effectiveness of this course framework should be verified through further experimental studies in the future.

Centrality and bridge connections between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and professional identity among Chinese undergraduate nursing students: A network analysis.

AIM: To construct a network structure for cognitive emotion regulation among Chinese undergraduate nursing students and identify central nodes and to explore the bridge connections between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and professional identity from the perspective of network analysis. BACKGROUND: Undergraduate nursing students are currently in a poor psychological condition and cognitive emotion regulation strategies can help them use positive approaches to regulate their emotions. There may be a link between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and professional identity. DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional study that used network analysis. METHOD: A total of 218 Chinese undergraduate nursing students were selected and surveyed using the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and the Professional Identity Questionnaire. A network analysis model was constructed and the related indices were calculated using R 4.3.0 software. RESULTS: Network analysis showed that the central nodes of undergraduate nursing students' cognitive emotion regulation strategies were positive reappraisal, refocusing on planning and catastrophising; In the bridge network of cognitive emotion strategies and professional identity, professional self-concept, positive reappraisal, benefits of stay and risk of resignation and refocusing on planning were the nodes with the strongest bridge strength. CONCLUSION: The salient central and bridge nodes can serve as potential targets for interventions aimed at improving the mental health of undergraduate nursing students. Nursing educators must be trained in cognitive emotion regulation and appropriately guided to use positive emotion regulation strategies in their studies and work. Educators should focus on the relation between cognitive emotion regulation and professional identity to improve the mental health of nursing students and stabilise the nursing workforce.

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practice Competency among Greek Undergraduate Nursing Students.

For several years, the global scientific community has accepted and recognized the importance of evidence-based practice for nursing science. The main factor for the implementation of evidence-based practice is the competence of undergraduate nursing students towards evidence-based practice, so that they as active nurses are ready for its application in their clinical practice, in order to provide better care for their patients. The aim of the present study is to examine the level of evidence-based practice competency evaluated with the self-reported Evidence-Based Practice Competence Questionnaire. It is important to mention that such a study has not been conducted on nursing students in Greece, but only on registered nurses. A quantitative study based on cross-sectional design was conducted from February to June 2022 in a convenience sample of Greek undergraduate nursing students. The SPSS 26.0 program was used to perform descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses. A total of 175 undergraduate students participated at the Hellenic Mediterranean University Department of Nursing (Greece), specifically from the 2nd and 3rd academic years. The mean score of the Evidence-Based Practice Competence Questionnaire for nursing undergraduate students was 3.03 ± 0.26, indicating moderate evidence-based practice. Among the Evidence-Based Practice Competence Questionnaire dimensions, mean scores of 3.03 ± 0.32 for attitude toward evidence-based practice, 3.01 ± 0.49 for skills in evidence-based practice, and 3.03 ± 0.49 for knowledge in evidence-based practice were obtained. Significant differences among participants' mean Evidence-Based Practice Competence Questionnaire scores regarding gender (p = 0.766), age (p = 0.400), academic year (p = 0.153), and training in the field of research methodology (p = 0.538) were not found. It appears that the level of readiness towards evidence-based practice is mediocre among undergraduate nursing students at a university in Greece. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out new studies in the future, so that there is a correct approach of all the elements that contribute to the readiness of nursing undergraduate students regarding evidence-based practice.

The correlation between social adaptability and academic procrastination of undergraduate nursing students: the mediating role of resilience.

BACKGROUND: How to mobilize nurses students' learning initiative, reduce the incidence of academic procrastination, and improve their social adaptability is a key factor in lowering nursing brain drain and improving nursing quality. OBJECTIVE: To explore the mediating role of resilience in the correlation between social adaptability and academic procrastination of undergraduate nursing students. METHODS: This study is a cross-sectional survey. The researchers conducted an electronic questionnaire survey of 962 nursing undergraduates in Guanzhong District, Shaanxi Province from November 2022 to April 2023, and adopted the intention sampling method. And make the following assumptions: (1) There is a significant negative correlation between academic procrastination and social adaptability. (2) Academic procrastination can directly affect the social adaptability of undergraduate nursing students, and it has a significant negative predictive effect. (3) Resilience can directly affect academic procrastination and social adaptability. At the same time, resilience plays an intermediary role between the two. In this study, the Aitken procrastination scale, the resilience scale, and the social adaptability diagnostic scale were used to evaluate undergraduate nursing students. SPSS27.0 software is used to analyze the data statistically, and the Hayes PROCESS Macro method is used to test the model. RESULTS: The study's findings are as follows: 1) Academic procrastination significantly and negatively impacts social adaptability (c = -0.292, t = -6.407, p < 0.001). 2) Even when accounting for resilience, academic procrastination still significantly predicts lower social adaptability (c'= -0.204, t = -4.338, p < 0.001). 3) The Bootstrap method test of percentile bias correction indicates that resilience serves as a significant mediator between academic procrastination and social adaptability. Bootstrap SE = 0.018, 95% CI = (-0.124, -0.055). The indirect effect contributes to 29.79% of the total effect. CONCLUSION: Resilience not only directly affects the academic procrastination and social adaptability of nursing students, but also partially intermediate the relationship between academic procrastination and social adaptability.

Impact of professional identity on learner well-being of undergraduate nursing students of "double tops" universities: Mediating effect of self-regulated learning.

OBJECTIVES: The pressure of internal competition at the college level has increased in recent years in China with an impact on nursing students' learning and well-being. This study aimed to investigate the current situation and factors affecting professional identity, learner well-being and self-regulated learning of undergraduate nursing students in the Neijuan ecology of the "double tops" universities, and to explore the relationships between these three variables. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was adopted to conduct an online survey of 322 Chinese undergraduate nursing students from seven "double tops" universities. The survey included socio-demographics characteristics, students' professional identity, learner well-being, and self-regulated learning. RESULTS: Results of Pearson correlation analysis showed that professional identity was significantly and positively correlated with learner well-being (R = 0.795, p < 0.001); professional identity was significantly and positively correlated with self-regulated learning (R = 0.843, p < 0.001); and, self-regulated learning was significantly and positively correlated with learner well-being (R = 0.852, p < 0.001). After mediation effect testing, self-regulated learning had a mediating effect between professional identity and learner well-being (95 % CI 0.366-0.548, p < 0.001). Professional identity had a positive predictive effect on self-regulated learning (a = 0.570, p < 0.001), and self-regulated learning also had a positive predictive effect on learner well-being (b = 0.798, p < 0.001). The direct effect of professional identity on learner well-being (0.225) and its mediating effect (0.455) account for 33.1 % and 66.9 % of the total effect (0.680), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The learner well-being of undergraduate Chinese nursing students is in the middle to upper range, and it is crucial to enhance professional identity and develop students' self-regulated learning to improve their learner well-being. This study provides empirical evidence to support the mediating effect of self-regulated learning on the relationship between professional identity and learner well-being among undergraduate nursing students in "double tops" universities. Universities are expected to strengthen career planning guidance and professional competence training for students as early as possible in order to develop quality nursing education programs that produce graduates who enter and remain in the workforce.

Exploring the association between internet addiction and time management among undergraduate nursing students.

BACKGROUND: Modern undergraduate nursing students face unique challenges as digital natives balancing internet activities with the substantial academic demands of nursing studies. Given the detrimental effects of internet addiction on students' academic performance and well-being, having time management skills is crucial. AIMS: To assess the prevalence and levels of internet addiction and time management and their association among undergraduate nursing students. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, survey-based research design was used. SETTING: The Faculty of Nursing at Alexandria University in Egypt. SUBJECTS: A stratified random sample consisting of 825 undergraduate nursing students. TOOLS: The internet addiction test and time management questionnaire were utilized to collect data. FINDINGS: Internet addiction was prevalent among 98.8% of students, with 56.0% exhibiting mild levels, 40.0% showing moderate levels, and 2.8% having severe levels. A statistically significant negative correlation was found between students' internet addiction and overall time management (r= - 0.387, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: A considerable level of internet addiction was revealed among the great majority of undergraduate nursing students; however, many students also demonstrated strong time management skills. Furthermore, internet addiction and overall time management were negatively associated, indicating that students with higher levels of internet addiction tend to have poorer time management abilities. RECOMMENDATIONS: Individual counseling and educational training programs should be developed to teach nursing students how to manage time and effectively plan internet usage.

Attitude and level of satisfaction on objective structured practical examination and traditional practical examination among undergraduate nursing students.

BACKGROUND: Objective structured practical examination (OSPE) and traditional practical examination (TPE) are two different methods used to evaluate the theoretical and practical skills among students. The present study assessed the attitude and level of satisfaction of undergraduate nursing students toward OSPE and TPE. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A comparative research design study was conducted at Yenepoya Nursing College in 2022. The samples were 4th year B.Sc nursing students who have experienced both types of examination system and are selected by using the non-probability purposive sampling technique. The selected 102 students are further divided into two groups (51 students in each group) by the chit method: one group for assessing the attitude and level of satisfaction toward OSPE and the other group for assessing the attitude and level of satisfaction toward TPE. The tools used were demographic proforma, structured attitude, and satisfaction scale. The collected categorical data were represented as frequency and percentage, and quantitative data are represented in terms of mean and standard deviation. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the attitude and level of satisfaction between the two groups. RESULTS: The majority [32 (65.7%)] of the participants had positive attitude toward the OSPE, and the majority [30 (61.5%)] of the samples had neutral attitude toward TPE. Most of the students [27 (55.3%)] had a good level of satisfaction toward the OSPE. The majority [28 (56.3%)] of the samples had an average level of satisfaction toward TPE. The median of attitude score was 48.32 with 3.35 inter-quartile range (IQR) on OSPE and 44.40 with 3.35 IQR on TPE. The median of level of satisfaction was 50.95 with 1.69 IQR on OSPE and 46.05 with 1.69 IQR on TPE. CONCLUSIONS: The study concluded that the students have positive attitude and a good level of satisfaction toward OSPE and neutral attitude and an average level of satisfaction toward TPE. The results provide important implications for choosing a different examination strategy and increasing the standard for the educational and evaluation systems.

The relationships among career adaptability, career commitment, career identity, and career well-being in Chinese nursing undergraduates: A longitudinal study.

Exploring the longitudinal relationship between career adaptability, career commitment, career identity, and career well-being among Chinese undergraduate nursing students. A mediation effect analysis was performed. The Career Adaptability Scale, the Chinese version of Career commitment, the Career identity Scale, and the Career well-being Scale were used as research instruments. Six hundred ninety-two nursing students were followed up in two waves to explore the relationships among career adaptability, career commitment, career identity, and career well-being. Model comparison was performed to explore the differences in such relationships between low and high-career interests. Career commitment at T1 mediated the relationship between career adaptability at T1 and career identity at T2 and that between career adaptability at T1 and career well-being at T2. Significant differences were observed between the mediation models of nursing students with high and low career interests. Career commitment plays a longitudinal mediator role in the relationship between career adaptability and career identity and the relationship between career adaptability and career well-being.

Empowerment-based Teddy Bear Clinic for Pre-school Children: A Student-led Educational Project.

Nurses are at the forefront of providing health education for the general public and are leaders in developing health education programs for all ages. Research has shown that the pediatric population often experience anxiety surrounding common medical procedures. However, evidence-based health education has been shown to enhance self-management, increase knowledge, and decrease anxiety in the pediatric population. One such successful evidence-based health education approach designed for the pediatric population is the Teddy Bear Clinic. The purpose of this article is to report on the efficacy of a nursing student-led Teddy Bear Clinic designed to increase the awareness of common medical equipment and procedures in the pre-school pediatric population. This quality improvement project used a program evaluation design to assess the children's knowledge of common medical procedures and equipment. Participants were a convenience sample of 16 children aged 3-5 years old, attending one daycare center in a large city in Atlantic Canada. Findings showed that after participation in the clinic, the pre-schoolers reported a high level of knowledge of common medical equipment and procedures. This project shows that a Teddy Bear Clinic run by senior nursing students can promote community partnerships and enhance health knowledge in pre-school children.

Nurse academics' self-reported insights into the teaching of undergraduate nursing numeracy: A national cross-sectional study.

AIMS: The aim of this research was to explore the teaching of undergraduate nursing numeracy in tertiary education settings in Australia. Specifically, it explored and identified: (1) the most common basic numeracy concepts taught, (2) additional training and resources to support numeracy teaching, (3) who is best placed to teach numeracy and (4) the preferred methods of teaching medication calculations. BACKGROUND: Nurse academics are required to teach nursing numeracy to undergraduate nursing students who enter university unprepared to accurately calculate medication dosages. It is important that students understand numeracy concepts as this is then applied to contextualised clinical applications. Nurse academics teach basic numeracy; however, the literature reveals that nurse academics do not consider themselves mathematics teachers and that experts in this area are better suited to teaching this skill. There are a dearth of studies about the nurse academics who conduct the teaching and this study seeks to fill that gap by exploring firsthand the nurse academics' self-reported insights into the teaching of undergraduate nursing numeracy. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. The setting was Australian universities that deliver an accredited undergraduate nursing degree. METHODS: Purposive sampling was used to recruit Australian nurse academics (n = 170), sessional or permanent who currently teach all aspects of nursing numeracy and medication calculations to undergraduate nursing students. Data were collected between Nov 2023 - Feb 2024 using an online survey platform and analysed using a descriptive content analysis. RESULTS: Nurse academics taught basic arithmetic most commonly (92 %), yet most (90 %) had not received professional development or additional training in how to teach these concepts. To assist with numeracy teaching, resources were requested (47 %) as were the need for mathematics learning support staff (82 %). The formula method was most commonly taught (91 %), however, most participants (94 %) were willing to learn and to teach other methods of calculating medications. CONCLUSIONS: This research suggests an evidenced-based education framework be created to support and guide nurse academics when teaching all aspects of nursing numeracy and medication calculations. Building the teaching capacity of nurse academics in this vital area will enhance student competence and contribute to patient safety.

Lived experience of ethical challenges among undergraduate nursing students during their clinical learning.

BACKGROUND: Undergraduate nursing students may experience several ethical challenges during their clinical learning placement that can lead to moral distress and intention to leave the profession. Ethical challenges are complex phenomena and ethical frameworks may help improve their understanding and provide actionable recommendations to enhance students' readiness for practice. AIM: To explore undergraduate nursing students' ethical challenges experienced during their clinical learning and their suggestions for better ethics education; to illuminate students' experience against a foundational ethical framework. RESEARCH DESIGN: Qualitative study based on interpretative phenomenology. Semi-structured, in-person or at distance, one-to-one interviews were performed, audio-recorded, and transcribed verbatim. The 'Dignity-enhancing care framework' was employed to frame the study findings. PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT: Nineteen nursing graduands attending seven sites of one Northwestern Italian University were interviewed. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION: The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Torino (number 0187646/2023). All participants provided written informed consent. FINDINGS: Students experienced several ethical challenges concerning daily practice such as pain control or the decision to restrain patients, and reported deficient professional ethics with healthcare professionals who demonstrated poor caring attitudes and teamwork. Moreover, they perceived professionals poorly committed to their role of educators and complained of poor support in the learning process. When a supportive, dialogical, and relational context lacked, students experienced negative feelings about the profession and the healthcare system and reported the intention to leave the profession. Dialogue with peers, family members or significant others, nursing educators, and clinical nurse supervisors, as well as self-learning activities and discussion-based teaching methods grounded on real scenarios helped to overcome challenging situations. CONCLUSION: While complying with normative standards, nursing education policies should encourage the adoption of dynamic teaching methods and sustain a regular, dialogical approach within and between the clinical and academic contexts to improve readiness for practice.

Assessing numeracy and medication calculations within undergraduate nursing education: A qualitative study.

AIM: To explore how undergraduate nursing students are assessed on nursing numeracy and medication calculations from the perspective of Australian nurse education leaders. DESIGN: A qualitative study. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 nurse education leaders between November 2022 and January 2023. Braun and Clarke's six phases of thematic analysis were used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Five key themes were identified: (i) high expectations to keep the public safe, (ii) diverse assessment formats, (iii) different ways of managing assessment integrity, (iv) assessment conditions incongruent to the clinical setting and (v) supporting struggling students. CONCLUSION: Nurse education leaders set high standards requiring students to achieve 100% in numeracy and medication calculation assessments, thus maintaining the reputation of nursing and patient safety. However, students struggled to meet this expectation. Diverse assessment formats were implemented, with some examination conditions contrary to clinical practice. Currently, there is no benchmark or independent point of registration examination in Australia, hence the problem is each university had a different standard to judge students' competence. Gaining insight into how these assessments are conducted provides an opportunity to work towards an evidence-based model or benchmark for the assessment of numeracy. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION: Dosage errors in clinical practice threaten patient safety and the reputation of the nursing profession. The accuracy rate of calculations by undergraduate and registered nurses is deficient worldwide. This research highlights a major educational issue, that being the wide variation in how numeracy assessments are conducted with no clear pedagogical rationale for a standardised method. Such assessments would establish a national standard, contributing to quality assurance, the development of the nursing profession and improve patient safety.