Exploring learning content and knowledge transfer in baccalaureate nursing students using a hybrid mental health practice experience.

BACKGROUND: Little research has been completed exploring knowledge development and transfer from and between simulated and clinical practice settings in nurse education. OBJECTIVES: This study sought to explore the content learned, and the knowledge transferred, in a hybrid mental health clinical course consisting of simulated and clinical setting experiences. DESIGN: A qualitative, interpretive descriptive study design. SETTINGS: Clinical practice consisted of six 10-hour shifts in a clinical setting combined with six two-hour simulations. PARTICIPANTS: 12 baccalaureate nursing students enrolled in a compressed time frame program at a large, urban, Canadian university participated. METHODS: Document analysis and a focus group were used to draw thematic representations of content and knowledge transfer between clinical environments (i.e., simulated and clinical settings) using the constant comparative data analysis technique. RESULTS: Four major themes arose: (a) professional nursing behaviors; (b) understanding of the mental health nursing role; (c) confidence gained in interview skills; and, (d) unexpected learning. CONCLUSIONS: Nurse educators should further explore the intermingling of simulation and clinical practice in terms of knowledge development and transfer with the goal of preparing students to function within the mental health nursing specialty.

Influence of simulated and actual community vaccination clinics on student empowerment and self-efficacy for public health nursing competencies.

OBJECTIVES: To examine students' structural empowerment during simulated learning and actual nursing practice, and assess students' self-efficacy for public health nursing competencies (PHNC) after involvement in a mass influenza vaccination clinic as a community practice experience. DESIGN: A nonexperimental survey design was used with a sample of year three baccalaureate nursing students. METHODS: Students completed a demographic form after the simulated clinic experience, they were assessed for perceptions of empowerment after being involved in the simulated and actual clinic settings, and self-efficacy was assessed after the actual clinic experience. RESULTS: Students perceived themselves as structurally empowered after completing the simulated and actual community vaccination clinics. Students reported a high level of self-efficacy for PHNC after their actual community vaccination clinic involvement. There was a significant correlation between empowerment and self-efficacy, which suggests that when students have access to empowering structures, they feel more confident to enact PHNC that align with practice in the clinics. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that nursing students acquired the necessary knowledge and skills for safe vaccination administration through the combination of simulated practice and participating in an actual public health vaccination clinic.