Exploring Meditation Profiles and Predictors in Nursing Students.

Background: Nursing students face unique academic and clinical workloads linked to increased stress. Previous studies indicate formal and informal mindfulness meditation provide stress-reducing benefits. This practice aligns with holistic nursing core values of self-care and self-reflection; little is known about meditation practice in nursing students. Objectives: Our study aimed to describe meditation practice and predictors in pre-licensure nursing students. Design: Cross-sectional, multi-site. Methods: Qualtrics surveys queried individual demographics, personal meditation and exercise habits, and indicators of wellbeing. Results: Of 417 participants, 65% (n = 271) reported at least one type of meditation practice. Prayer/spiritual activities were most prevalent (almost 70%), followed by breathing exercises (41%). Meditators reported good or excellent self-rated health status or engaged in exercise (p < .05). Meditators also reported more self-compassion, happiness, and satisfaction with life, and perceived less stress than non-meditators (p < .05). Of all factors studied, only engaging in exercise significantly predicted practicing meditation (OR = 2.05, 95%CI 1.10-3.82). Conclusion: Nursing students who engage in meditation report signs of health and well-being and utilize holistic methods such as prayer and breathing. The intrinsic motivation to engage in healthy habits such as exercise may also help students engage in mindfulness meditation and is an important finding for nursing educators.

Birth, Postpartum, and Home Experiences of Individuals With Lower Extremity Nerve Injury.

OBJECTIVE: To explore birth and at-home postpartum experiences of individuals with lower extremity nerve injury (LENI) related to childbirth. DESIGN: Mixed-methods, descriptive, cross-sectional survey with open-ended questions. SETTING: Closed Facebook support group. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred-thirty individuals who experienced LENI during childbirth. MEASUREMENTS: Two research team members developed the online LENI survey that incorporated suggestions from LENI support group leaders. We used descriptive statistics, linear regression, and Kaplan-Meier survival curves to summarize the quantitative data and used content analysis for open-ended items. RESULTS: We described labor, birth, and postpartum characteristics in our sample, including immediate and long-term LENI symptoms. Falls resulting from LENI were common in the hospital (55.6%) and at home (75.6%). At discharge home, respondents reported low confidence in their ability to care for themselves and their infants as well as high levels of dependence on others. There was an 89.6% prevalence of depression in the first month at home. Approximately 80% of participants rated their degree of healing at 5 years as 80% to 100% healed. Content analysis yielded six themes: (a) Grieving Loss of Current and Future Life; (b) Caregiver Responses That Helped or Hindered; (c) Being in Danger; (d) Experiencing Emotional Turmoil; (e) Dealing With Family, Marital, and Financial Difficulties; and (f) Finding Strength, Overcoming Obstacles, and Experiencing Personal Growth. CONCLUSION: Participants in our sample reported a very high rate of falls, anxiety, and depression at home. Nurses should recognize LENI symptoms, take action to prevent falls, and offer accurate information and referrals.

Discontinuation and the Intention to Reenroll in Undergraduate Nursing Education.

BACKGROUND: This study sought to identify demographic, personal, and emotional characteristics of undergraduate nursing students who have discontinued their program and determine predictors of their intention to reenroll. METHOD: Students who discontinued from a prelicensure BSN or RN-to-BSN program were invited to participate in this study. Survey data collected included factors associated with the decision to discontinue, ratings of emotional distress, and intentions for the future. RESULTS: Respondents reported moderate levels of emotional distress at the time of discontinuation and cited many factors as reasons. Most (53.5%) reported an intention to reenroll in the same program. Predictors of intention to reenroll were gender, race, state of residency, happiness, hopefulness, anger, financial status, and employment responsibilities. CONCLUSION: Understanding factors that may contribute to discontinuing a nursing program can assist in developing strategies for student success. Identifying personal, emotional, and situational variables that influence undergraduate nursing education persistence requires further research. [J Nurs Educ. 2022;61(2):97-100.].

The View From Here: Understanding the Lived Experiences of New Graduate Nurses With 8-10 Months of Experience.

This qualitative study is based on individual interviews with 16 new graduate nurses during their 8th to 10th month of employment. Four themes emerged from the data that reflected their lived experience: well on my way, finding my family, good days/bad days, and in recovery…moving forward. Nursing professional developers play an important role in continuing to support new graduate nurses to complete the transition to practice.

An Exploration of New Graduate Nurses' Transition to Specialty Practice.

New graduates' adjustment to high-acuity specialty areas was evaluated using qualitative methods in a hospital system that uses the Versant New Graduate Residency Program. Subjects were interviewed at baseline in person, answered interview questions at 6 months via computer, and were interviewed at 12 months in person. Twelve themes emerged from the interviews, reflecting intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting new graduate nurse adjustment. Study results were used to evaluate the program and improve the program implementation.

Transition to Practice: The Lived Experience of New Graduate Nurses in Early Solo Flight.

This qualitative study is based on individual interviews with 15 new graduate nurses during their first few months of independent practice. Three themes emerged from the data that reflected their lived experience: feeling overwhelmed, navigating work-based relationships, and finding their flow. Nursing professional development specialists who work with these newly independent nurses are uniquely situated to offer ongoing educational support and to conduct evidence-based conversations with them about the transition to practice.

Characteristics of Academic Coaches in an Online RN-to-BSN Program.

BACKGROUND: To achieve the growth of RN-to-Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs in the face of ongoing faculty shortages, many large online RN-to-BSN programs have embraced the use of academic coaches to assist with course delivery. METHOD: An associational analysis of data collected from academic coaches and their student and faculty evaluators was performed on a sample of academic coaches who were teaching students enrolled in a large online RN-to-BSN program. RESULTS: The multilevel data consisted of 94 coaches who taught in 166 courses. Evaluation data from 12,004 students were captured and connected to each academic coach and course. Overall, the RN-to-BSN coaches received favorable ratings by both instructors and students alike. CONCLUSION: The use of academic coaches can help to expand capacity while delivering a high-quality educational experience. These results indicate that satisfaction with academic coaches has the potential to be very high, from both the students' and the faculty members' perspectives. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(9):520-525.].