Introduction of a Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing workforce: A qualitative study of student and registered nurses.

AIM: To explore the benefits and challenges of a recently introduced Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing workforce from the perspective of Nurses and Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing, in a major metropolitan hospital in Australia in 2020. DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive study was undertaken using individual interviews and focus groups. METHODS: Purposively selected employed Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing and nurses who worked with them were interviewed, using a semi-structured format. Recordings were transcribed and coded using NVivo software. Reflexive thematic analysis using an inductive approach was undertaken. RESULTS: Four major themes were revealed: (i) Navigating the programme, (ii) Belonging and integration; (iii) Patient care; and (iv) Continuing Development. Initial challenges were common, often related to clarifying the scope of practice for the new role. Ongoing issues were associated with gaps in understanding the role and lack of integration into the team. Mostly, nurses and Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing built positive, professional relationships. Nurses valued the Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing knowledge and skill level, reporting improved workload and work experiences when the Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing was on shift. Nurses believed that the Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing enhanced patient care. Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing described positive, therapeutic relationships with patients. Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing employment provided opportunities for new learning, leading to increased efficiency and confidence on clinical placement. CONCLUSIONS: This employment model benefited the Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing and nurses who worked with them. In the absence of adequate training and support, challenges remained unresolved and negatively impacted the experience for nurses. In addition to university-level education and clinical placement, the employment model can create a third space for student learning via on-the-job training. The study supports the ongoing employment of student nurses through the Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing model. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE: Impact This study contributes to the very small body of literature investigating Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing workforces in Australian hospitals. It is the first to explore the experiences of both nurses and students working together in a major metropolitan setting and also the first in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reflected a mostly positive experience for Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing and the nurses who worked with them and highlighted the importance of adequate oversight and support in the implementation and maintenance of a Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing workforce. Employed Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing reported improved confidence, skills, and felt like they started clinical placement at an advantage, ready to step up and learn the Registered Nurse scope of practice. In addition to university-level education and clinical placement, this employment model creates a third space for learning via on-the-job training. REPORTING METHOD: COREQ guidelines were followed in the reporting of this study. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient or public contribution.

Development, implementation, and evaluation of a trauma-informed simulation-based training program for graduate nurses: A single arm feasibility and pilot study.

BACKGROUND: The chance of hospital staff encountering a patient with a trauma history is high. The way health services are offered and carried out are important when engaging with people who have experienced trauma. Implementing training in trauma-informed care (TIC) is part of a cultural change of benefit to both patients and staff. Simulation-based training is a well-accepted method to reduce staff fear and anxiety when working with individuals in distress and to address issues relating to bias and stigma. OBJECTIVES: To provide simulation-based TIC training to graduate nurses. DESIGN: A three-phase process was undertaken to i) create the intervention, ii) determine feasibility, and iii) evaluate the developed training. SETTING: A 600-bed inner-city tertiary hospital in Melbourne, Victoria. PARTICIPANTS: Graduate nurses undertaking their first year of employment (n = 23). METHODS: The content of the training was created using evidence derived from a literature review, a scoping study of available resources, and expert consensus. A pre/post-test within-groups design to assess the safety, acceptability, and effectiveness of the training was undertaken. RESULTS: The Trauma Informed-Simulation Based Training (TI-SBT) aims to increase TIC knowledge and promote TIC behaviours. It is delivered face-to-face over one day and encompasses an education component followed by three immersive patient simulations using professional actors. Analysis found significant improvement in TIC knowledge (p ≤ 0.001, 95% CI = -3.53, -0.47) and behaviours (p = 0.013, 95% CI = -8.88, -5.03). No significant differences were found in measures of anxiety and confidence. Satisfaction with all aspects of the training was high. Qualitatively, participants provided concrete examples of changes to their practice to facilitate TIC. CONCLUSIONS: The developed and novel TI-SBT is a feasible (safe, acceptable, and effective) way of introducing TIC to graduate nurses. These findings provide strong evidence to support a more rigorous evaluation of the training by randomised controlled trial. The TI-SBT has the capacity to not only improve patient care but the experience of hospital staff.

"If somebody just showed me once how to do it": How are workplace cultures and practice development conceptualised and operationalised for early career nurses?

BACKGROUND: An imminent nursing shortage mandates attention to retention of early career nurses. One factor that impacts on intention to stay in the profession is the ability to do the work. Early career nurses rely on supportive cultures to develop the practical skills and knowledge specific to particular workplaces. OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to determine the impact of workplace culture on practice development for early career nurses. METHODS: We undertook a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews conducted with eleven early career nurses at a single metropolitan hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis techniques. RESULTS: Themes identified were learning in the moment, active welcome, confidence, ambiguities in the culture of learning, bullying and navigating the space. CONCLUSIONS: Early career nurses conceive practice development as the acquisition of skills and knowledge particular to the immediate needs of their patients, which they learnt by asking questions. Developing confidence was integral to all aspects of practice development. Complexity and risk on the wards could negatively impact on confidence. Where welcome was explicit and overt the nurses felt that practice development was facilitated. Transition to practice programs supported nurses and some individual nurses were active in assisting nurses to develop. However, workplace cultures were at times indifferent to the learning needs of the early career nurses and some experienced poor workplace behaviour and bullying.