Development of undergraduate nursing entrustable professional activities through using a participatory design approach.

BACKGROUND: Competencies represent sets of general abilities and attributes that graduating nurses must acquire. Most nursing programs adopt competency based assessment and training approaches to prepare their students to enter the clinical environment. However, some concern has been raised regarding their interpretation and implementation in everyday clinical training. To operationalize competencies for better use in clinical practice, the Entrustable Professional Activities framework (EPAs) was introduced in 2005 by ten Cate. AIM: The aim of this study is to develop a framework of EPAs for an Undergraduate Nursing Program. METHOD: Through using a participatory action design approach, the participants developed a set of EPAs linked with competencies for an Undergraduate Nursing Program. Thematic analysis was performed, and EPAs framework validity was constructed. RESULT: A total of eight core EPAs were developed and each one was operationalized by a brief description and nested within the related core competency domains. Supervision levels and entrustment decisions were determined. CONCLUSION: The development of EPAs specific to undergraduate nursing programs may offer the opportunity to have standardized language to evaluate students' progress toward competency in nursing. It is recommended to conduct further research to improve the developed EPAs.

The Experiences of People with Diabetes during COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown.

Little is known about the theoretical foundation underling the response of people with diabetes managing their everyday routines during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. AIM: To explore the experience of people with diabetes during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in light of the risk perception, response and behavioral change theories. METHOD: A qualitative descriptive design was employed, and Braun and Clark's six step analysis were used for thematic analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted online using Zoom Videos Communication. RESULT: Five themes were defined as follows: (1) perceived the threat and faced their fears, (2) appraised the damage, (3) identified the challenges, (4) modified their routine, and (5) identified the strengths that facilitate the efficacy of their response. There were eight sub-themes within the themes. CONCLUSION: The results of this study may provide an opportunity for nurses to reflect on issues highlighted by the patients regarding more effective communication, knowledge and skill development for people to support self-care during national emergencies.