Service Learning in the Nursing Bachelor Thesis: A Mixed-Methods Study.

The Final Degree Project (FDP) is a module that, although intended for the completion of a bachelor thesis (BT), consists of theoretical and clinical teaching. Therefore, introducing service learning (SL) can support student adjustments to the real-world professional role. This study plans to evaluate a teaching innovation project that combines BT and SL through Kirkpatrick's four-level model (reaction, learning, behaviour and results). It takes the form of a convergent parallel mixed-methods design study. The participants were 15 final-year students obtaining a Bachelor of Nursing degree, 4 BT supervising mentors and 4 nurses. At the request of a hospital institution, in their BT, students completed a review of evidence-based nursing protocols. For data collection, the researchers used: an SL questionnaire, student narratives, mentor field diaries and nurse interviews. According to student opinion, the results showed high satisfaction rates (4.44 out of 5), the most developed skills were Independent Work and Information Management, but they signal the need to reinforce the research methodology skills. Finally, positive feedback from all participants is that using SL promotes both the opinion that the BT is useful and also promotes a collaboration between academic and clinical settings.

The effect of writing a bachelor thesis on attitudes towards nursing research and development: A cross-sectional comparative study between students and professionals.

BACKGROUND: Research is essential to practice nursing and must be duly enhanced during university training. Therefore, writing a bachelor thesis may help to develop research skills and thus transfer this skill set to practical application. OBJECTIVES: 1) To ascertain whether writing a bachelor thesis has a bearing on attitudes towards nursing research and development; 2) to establish a comparison between groups (students and nurses), and 3) to analyse other factors (work experience, advanced training, research experience) that may influence the relationship between nurses and nursing research and development. DESIGN: A cross-sectional comparative study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The participants totalled 204: 38 nursing students and 166 nurses. METHODS: Data were gathered using the instrument Nurses' Attitudes towards Research and Development within Nursing devised by Björkström and Hamrin (2001) version II validated in Spanish. This instrument consists of 33 statements grouped into 7 factors, whose responses offer 5 alternatives on a Likert scale. RESULTS: Most participants were female (86.3 %), with a mean age of 36 (SD = 11.65). The participants who have written a bachelor thesis obtained a higher score (Mdn = 4.14; range = 2.06) than those who have not (Mdn = 3.98; range = 2.13), with a significant difference (U = 3959.5; p = 0.012) and a moderate effect size (Hedges's g = 0.40). The students are those who obtained the highest scores. Amongst the nurses, educational training is the element that is most positively correlated with attitudes towards nursing research and development (r = 0.340). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that writing a bachelor thesis engenders greater interest and a favourable attitude towards nursing research and development and displays that the most interested group is the students, followed by nurses holding a degree in nursing, and lastly those with a Diploma of Higher Education in nursing. Nurses' educational training is the most influential aspect, standing above researcher or professional experience.

Translation, Adaptation, and Psychometric Validation of the Spanish Version of the Attitudes towards Research and Development within Nursing Questionnaire.

The promotion of research competence is essential for the development of the nursing profession and discipline. The aim of this study was to translate into Spanish, adapt, and validate an instrument measuring nurses' attitudes towards nursing research and development. A quantitative, cross-sectional, analytical design was used for the cross-cultural adaptation and cultural validation of the instrument. A total of 367 participants were selected using intentional sampling. A process of translation, back-translation, expert consultation, and pilot testing was followed. Subsequently, reliability and statistical validity were assessed, a new factor structure was proposed, and means were compared to assess the power to discriminate between factors by groups of participants. The results showed internal consistency tests with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.913. Confirmatory factor analysis of the comparative fit index (CFI = 0.549) and Tucker-Lewis index (TLI = 0.491) indicate that the factors did not match the original clustering model. The new factor structure consisted of seven factors. Between-group comparisons revealed statistically significant differences. In conclusion, the instrument exhibits high levels of statistical reliability and validity compared to the original instrument. The new factorial proposal is consistent, but further research is needed to verify its replicability in other contexts.