Exploring UK undergraduate healthcare students' perspectives on how to effectively design IPE: A qualitative study.

Objectives: To explore healthcare undergraduates' views on how to design effective IPE. The need for interprofessional education implementation in undergraduate healthcare education is gaining wide recognition globally. Students' views about their learning experiences can offer useful insights to advance teaching and learning courses. Thus, in the IPE literature, students' views on how to effectively design IPE can help shape future IPE plans. Methods: Purposeful sampling was used to recruit healthcare students who attended IPE events across three UK institutions. Virtual focus groups were conducted, and audio recorded. Transcripts were thematically analysed and relevant themes were presented under three subheadings, pre, during and post IPE session. Results: Twenty-five students from medicine, nursing, pharmacy, midwifery and other disciplines participated in six focus groups. Students thought IPE should be offered consistently across the programme's years of study to ensure learning continuity. Students from programmes with higher placement hours (nursing and midwifery), suggested more IPE in placement. Pre-IPE sessions, introducing IPE to students attending for the first time was perceived to be important as the lack of awareness/understanding of IPE could adversely impact their willingness to attend and their engagement. During IPE, interaction with other students was perceived as the core of an effective IPE session. Students reported difficulties in communication with other students via online IPE sessions and thought they were less engaged compared to face-to-face sessions. Post-IPE, students valued reflective exercises, whereas traditional formal assessment was seen as a barrier to engagement with the learning. Conclusion: Students considered IPE valuable to prepare for future practice. However, students felt that IPE experiences could be enhanced with proper planning to ensure regular compulsory IPE exposure. For better IPE experiences, IPE design and delivery should be in line with each healthcare programme's unique learning and training curriculum.

Does Education Improve Nurses' Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills, and Practice in Relation to Pain Management? An Integrative Review.

BACKGROUND: Pain is undertreated in both adults and children and a major factor linked to this is nurses' lack of knowledge as evidenced by studies undertaken globally. OBJECTIVE: This review sought to explore the effects educational interventions can have on nurses' knowledge, attitudes, skills, and practice regarding pain management. DESIGN: An integrative review DATA SOURCES: Systematic search of CINAHL, MEDLINE, AMED, EMBASE, and Psych INFO. REVIEW/ANALYSIS METHODS: Five major databases were systematically searched from the year 2000-December 2019 with a total of 33 studies included in the final review. RESULTS: The literature revealed that many nurses had inadequate knowledge and a poor attitude towards pain at baseline, which may be improved through educational intervention. However, misconceptions remained at post-intervention, particularly regarding pharmacological pain management. CONCLUSIONS: Education is a possible means to enhance nurses' knowledge and improve attitudes and practices in pain management. However, there was some evidence that this may decline over time, and continuous professional updates are likely required.

The impact of education on the knowledge and attitudes of Ghanaian nurse tutors towards the assessment and management of pain in children: A quantitative study.

BACKGROUND: Undertreatment of pain in children is an international problem as many children reports unresolved moderate to severe pain. One key factor which may contribute to under treatment of pain in children by nurses is lack of knowledge. In Ghana opportunities for nurses to learn about pediatric pain have been limited due to gaps in the undergraduate curriculum and inadequate continuing professional education post qualification. OBJECTIVE: To assess tutors' knowledge and attitudes to pediatric pain management before and after an educational workshop. DESIGN: Single group pre-test-post-test design. SETTING: One Ghanaian Nursing Training College. PARTICIPANTS: All (37) nursing tutors in the college. METHOD: Total population sampling was used to access 37 tutors, data were collected using the Knowledge and Attitude Survey Regarding Pain at 3 stages; pre-intervention, immediately after the train-the-trainer based Pediatric Pain Educational Workshop and at 3-months follow-up. Data from the survey were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: Results at pre-intervention showed low scores in the survey. However, post-intervention results at both the immediate and 3-months follow-up stages revealed a significant increase from pre-intervention: Mean (SD) of 20.35 (4.56), to immediate follow-up Mean (SD) 26.93 (5.02), and 3-months follow-up Mean (SD) 25.19 (5.80) and a p-value of <0.001. CONCLUSION: The results suggest tutors' knowledge and attitudes regarding pediatric pain management can be directly improved through a nurse tutor focused educational program. However, knowledge declines with time and as such there is the need for regular update through Continuing Professional Development activities.

The expectations and experiences of blended learning approaches to patient safety education.

E-learning facilitates access to educational programmes via electronic asynchronous or real time communication without the constraints of time or place. However, not all skills can be acquired via e-learning, thus blended approaches have emerged, where traditional academic processes have been combined with e-learning systems. This paper presents qualitative findings from a study evaluating a blended approach to patient safety education. The 3-day face-to-face training in Root Cause Analysis supported by e-learning resources was designed by the National Patient Safety Agency. The study evaluated the efficacy of the blended learning approach, and explored how operational practices in NHS organisations supported staffs' skill in using electronic resources. Data collection techniques included pre and post-course Confidence Logs, Individual Interviews, Focus Groups and Evaluation Questionnaires. Students' views on blended learning varied. Some were positive, while others felt e-learning did not suit their preferred learning style, or the subject matter. Many students did not engage with the e-learning resources. Lack of awareness regarding the e-learning component, combined with inconsistent access to computing facilities may have contributed to this. For this reason a series of recommendations are outlined to guide those wishing to adopt blended learning approaches in the future.