Implementation of a collaborative online international learning program in nursing education: protocol for a mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: An essential component of becoming a professional nurse is a perspective of global health issues and an awareness of diverse populations. Collaborative online international learning (COIL) using digital technologies, offers meaningful and rewarding opportunities to develop international partnerships between nurses from other countries, without economic, organisational or geographical barriers. Despite reported advantages of using COIL, few COIL interventions have been identified in the nursing literature. The aims of this study are to develop, implement and evaluate a COIL program between Australian and Canadian pre-registration nursing students. METHODS: The study will utilize a mixed methods approach incorporating pre and post-test surveys, focus groups, and semi-structured interviews of key stakeholders. The design will adhere to The State University of New York (SUNY) COIL's criteria for intercultural/international learning opportunities. Participants will be recruited from nursing programs at an Australian Training and Further Education Institute and a Canadian college. Bennett's stages of intercultural competence will provide the theoretical framework for the research. Four specific research interventions will be developed for this project. For students, there will be an online virtual community to allow students and teachers to communicate, socially connect and share resources with each other. Virtual reality simulations will be employed within a virtual global classroom to promote collaborative, intercultural learning. For faculty, a virtual community of practice will provide a platform for faculty to share education and research ideas and participate in collaborate research opportunities. DISCUSSION: This study will evaluate the outcomes of a nursing COIL program. It will measure participants' views on COIL, its contribution to student learning, changes in cultural awareness, organisational impact and research productivity. It will provide nursing students with the opportunity to become global leaders in nursing care and for faculty to develop international research skills and outputs. The findings from the study will allow further refinement of future nursing COIL programs.

Educating health professionals to implement evidence-based falls screening in hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: International evidence-based guidelines advise traditional Falls Risk Assessment Tools (FRATs) should not be routinely used to predict the risk of a patient falling in hospital. However, disinvestment from existing services can be challenging. This study applied evidence-based approaches to education design to implement best practice guidelines. DESIGN: Mixed methods using questionnaires to evaluate health professionals' knowledge of evidence-based falls risk assessment and mitigation, followed by semi-structured interviews with individual health professionals. SETTING: Five Australian hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: There were two cohorts per hospital; Cohort 1 (C1) comprised 10 clinical leaders from nursing and allied health professions. Cohort 2 (C2) included clinicians involved in routine hospital falls screening and prevention. METHODS: 46 clinical leaders received a 3-h high quality education workshop on the latest evidence in hospital falls risk assessment and how to implement a new falls screening and management tool. They were also taught the practical skills to deliver a 1-h education session to C2 (n = 129). RESULTS: The education workshop significantly changed C1's views about evidence-based guidelines for falls screening and prevention. C1 were significantly more likely than C2 to feel confident in assessing falls risk and judging and implementing the best mitigation strategies. After the workshop, C1 were prepared and motivated to educate others on falls prevention and were satisfied with the skills gained. Six months after the workshop, C1 reported feeling more prepared for preventing falls. CONCLUSION: Health professionals benefitted from an interactive education workshop on how to use a new evidence-based hospital falls screening tool to help mitigate risk. An abridged version of the workshop did not result in long lasting effects. Education is an important element aiding disinvestment from non-evidence-based services, and implementation of clinical guidelines.

Education interventions for health professionals on falls prevention in health care settings: a 10-year scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Falls in hospitals are a major risk to patient safety. Health professional education has the potential to be an important aspect of falls prevention interventions. This scoping review was designed to investigate the extent of falls prevention education interventions available for health professionals, and to determine the quality of reporting. METHOD: A five stage scoping review process was followed based on Arksey and O'Malley's framework and refined by the Joanna Briggs Institute Methodology for JBI Scoping Reviews. Five online databases identified papers published from January 2008 until May 2019. Papers were independently screened by two reviewers, and data extracted and analysed using a quality reporting framework. RESULTS: Thirty-nine publications were included. Interventions included formal methods of educational delivery (for example, didactic lectures, video presentations), interactive learning activities, experiential learning, supported learning such as coaching, and written learning material. Few studies employed comprehensive education design principles. None used a reporting framework to plan, evaluate, and document the outcomes of educational interventions. CONCLUSIONS: Although health professional education is recognised as important for falls prevention, no uniform education design principles have been utilised in research published to date, despite commonly reported program objectives. Standardised reporting of education programs has the potential to improve the quality of clinical practice and allow studies to be compared and evaluated for effectiveness across healthcare settings.

Educating health professionals to optimise falls screening in hospitals: protocol for a mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: Falls in hospitals remain a major challenge to patient safety. All hospitalised adults are at risk of falling during their inpatient stay, though this risk is not always realised by patients and clinicians. This study will evaluate the outcomes of a hospital clinician education program that teaches clinicians how to screen for falls risk and assign mitigation strategies using clinical reasoning, rather than relying on a standardised falls risk assessment tool (FRAT). The education program aims to increase clinician knowledge, motivation and confidence in screening falls risk and selecting individual falls prevention interventions. Perceptions of the education intervention will also be examined. METHODS: Participants will be a sample of convenience of nurses and allied health professionals from five Australian hospitals. For each hospital there will be two cohorts. Cohort 1 will be clinical leaders who shall receive a three-hour education program on the latest evidence in hospital falls risk assessment and how to implement a new falls screening and management tool. They will also be taught practical skills to enable them to deliver an effective one-hour in-service training session to Cohort 2. Cohort 2 will be recruited from the workforce as a whole and include nurses and other health professionals involved in routine hospital falls screening and prevention. The investigation will be framed on Keller's Model of Motivational Design and Kirkpatrick's evaluation framework. It will involve a mixed methods pre and post-test questionnaire design inclusive of semi-structured telephone interviews, to triangulate the data from multiple approaches. DISCUSSION: This study will quantify the outcomes of a high-quality clinician education program to increase knowledge of evidence-based practice for falls prevention. It is predicted that positive behavioural changes will occur in health professionals, leading to organisational change and improved patient outcomes. Furthermore, the findings from the study will inform the future refinement of educational delivery to health professionals across hospital sites. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study has also been approved by the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: Preventing Hospital Falls: Optimal Screening UTN U1111-1225-8450. Universal Trial Number (UTN): U1111-1228-0041 (obtained 5/2/19). Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR): ACTRN12619000200189 (obtained 12/2/19).