Evaluation of a blended training solution for critical care nurses' work environment: Lessons learned from focus groups in four European countries.

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate a blended pilot training course on Healthy Work Environments (HWEs) for critical care nurses as follows: 1) to explore the experience of trainees and trainers who took part in the training; and 2) to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the training program in its potential transferability to nursing practice in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). BACKGROUND: Despite the evidence supporting the association between HWEs and job satisfaction, nursing retention, and patient outcomes, nurses still have high rates of burnout, mental health problems and intent to leave. To address this challenge, a blended training was created and piloted with the aim to highlight the relevance and impact of HWEs, enhancing its transferability to daily practice. The training was based on the six standards of HWEs as proposed by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and created within an Erasmus + project. The pilot was delivered by trainers (critical care nursing educators) to critical care nurses and included six workshops of eight hours each (48 h in total) in each country. DESIGN: After the pilot testing, a qualitative approach, with focus group discussions was used. METHODS: All the trainees (n=82), who had attended at least one workshop were invited to participate in the focus groups. Overall, eight focus groups were held with critical care nurses who participated as trainees (n=39) from four testing countries: Cyprus, Croatia, Spain and Poland. One international focus group was held with trainers who conducted the training (n=4). Four more trainers completed the questionnaire online. All focus group were video recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Then, the national transcripts were translated into English. An inductive thematic analysis was carried out. FINDINGS: Three themes were identified: 1) Valuing the relevance of the training program and a positive learning experience; 2) A powerful insight leading to increased awareness and empowerment in personal and professional life; 3) Challenges identified in terms of training, follow up and management of change. Both trainees and trainers expressed a positive opinion with regard to the content of the training and the didactic methods used. They emphasized the strong influence of the training on their understanding of a HWEs, its impact in an ICU context and the need for action, mainly related to communication issues. CONCLUSION: The proposed blended training program may be used by trainers, who can enable nurses develop the competencies required to influence their work environment, in a context of shared responsibility.

Assessing Nursing Students' Self-Perceptions about Safe Medication Management: Design and Validation of a Tool, the NURSPeM.

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to design and validate a tool for assessing nursing students' self-perceptions about safe medication management. METHODS: A descriptive instrumental study was conducted involving construct definition, development of the tool, analysis of the content validity, and psychometric evaluation. Consensus regarding the content was obtained through a two-round Delphi process, and the resulting tool (the NURSPeM) was administered to nursing students to examine its internal consistency, temporal stability, and construct validity, the latter through exploratory factor analysis. RESULTS: Thirteen experts participated in the Delphi process, which yielded a tool comprising two questionnaires: (1) Self-perceptions about safe medication management (27 items) and (2) the frequency and learning of drug-dose calculation (13 items). The tool's psychometric properties were then examined based on responses from 559 nursing students. This analysis led to the elimination of three items from questionnaire 1, leaving a total of 24 items distributed across seven dimensions. All 13 items in questionnaire 2 were retained. Both questionnaires showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.894 and 0.893, respectively) and temporal stability (ICC = 0.894 and 0.846, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The NURSPeM is a valid and reliable tool for assessing nursing students' self-perceptions about safe medication management. It may be used to identify areas in which their training needs to be enhanced, and to evaluate the subsequent impact of new teaching initiatives.

Nursing students on the frontline: Impact and personal and professional gains of joining the health care workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain.

BACKGROUND: Final-year nursing students in Spain augmented the health care workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic. PURPOSE: To understand the lived experience of nursing students who joined the health care workforce during the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak (March-May 2020). METHOD: Qualitative content analysis of the reflective journals of 40 nursing students in Spain. FINDINGS: The analysis identified four main themes: 1) Willingness to help; 2) Safety and protective measures: Impact and challenges; 3) Overwhelming experience: Becoming aware of the magnitude of the epidemic; and 4) Learning and growth. DISCUSSION: The wish to help, the sense of moral duty, and the opportunity to learn buffered the impact of the students' lived experience. Despite the challenges they faced, they saw their experiences as a source of personal and professional growth, and they felt reaffirmed in their choice of career. Promoting opportunities for reflection and implementing adequate support and training strategies is crucial for building a nursing workforce that is capable of responding to future health crises.

Experiences and needs of nursing students during pandemic outbreaks: A systematic overview of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Recent epidemics have placed overwhelming demands on health systems, leading at times to the deployment of nursing students during the crisis. Little is known about the impact this experience has on students. Although studies have explored nursing students' knowledge about infection control, there are no specific recommendations regarding how these issues should be addressed in nurse education. PURPOSE: To conduct a comprehensive systematic overview of the literature concerning nursing students in the context of emerging infectious disease epidemics or pandemics caused by zoonotic viruses. METHODS: Systematic overview. RESULTS: Forty-eight articles were included. Five themes were identified: education; knowledge, concern about risk and preventive behaviour; willingness to work during a pandemic outbreak; experiences and emotional impact; and ethical dilemmas. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to enhance nurse education to ensure that students have adequate education in infection prevention and control and the opportunity to develop the skills and attitudes required to provide care to infected patients during a pandemic. The outcomes of these education programmes would need to be evaluated using valid and reliable instruments so as to enable comparisons to be made to prepare future nurses to deal with new pandemics in an increasingly globalized world.

Autocompetencia para el trabajo en final de vida. Versión española de la Self-Competence in Death Work Scale / Self-competence in death work. Spanish version of the Self-Competence in Death Work Scale

Objetivo: El objetivo de este trabajo fue traducir al español la Self Competence in Death Work Scale (SC-DWS) y determinar sus propiedades psicométricas de validez y fiabilidad. Método: Participaron 106 profesionales de enfermería de unidades hospitalarias relacionadas con cuidados al final de la vida. Los participantes respondieron un cuestionario que contenía las formas españolas de los siguientes instrumentos: Escala de Autocompetencia para el Trabajo en Entornos al Final de Vida (SC-DWS), Escala de Significado de Vida (PLSS), Inventario Revisado de Ansiedad ante la Muerte (DAI-R), Escala de Ansiedad y Depresión (HADS) y Escala de Autoeficacia General (GSE). Resultados: Se obtuvo un alfa de Cronbach de 0,71 para la SC-DWS. El análisis factorial identificó una estructura configurada por cinco factores significativos que explicaban el 59,9% de la varianza. Las puntuaciones de la escala SC-DWS presentaban un coeficiente de correlación positivo y significativo con Autoeficacia (GSE) y Significado de la vida (PLSS) y negativo con Ansiedad general, Depresión (HADS) y Ansiedad ante la muerte (DAI-R). Discusión: La versión española de la SC-DWS presenta aceptables propiedades psicométricas. Este instrumento, que permite evaluar la competencia de los profesionales de los cuidados en entornos relacionados con el final de la vida, podría también utilizarse para valorar la eficacia de intervenciones dirigidas a la adquisición de habilidades y estrategias de afrontamiento ante el sufrimiento y la muerte

Objective: The aim of this study was to translate into Spanish the Self Competence in Death Work Scale (SC-DWS) and to explore its psychometric properties of validity and reliability. Method: Participants were 106 nursing professionals, who worked in units related to care at the end of life. Participants answered a questionnaire containing the Spanish forms of the Self-Competence in Death Work Scale (SC-DWS), Perceived Life Significance Scale (PLSS), Death Anxiety Inventory-Revised (DAI-R), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and General Self Efficacy Scale (GSE). Results: A Cronbach's alpha coefficient of .71 was obtained. The factorial analysis yielded five significant factors that accounted for 59.9% of the variance. The scores of the SC-DWS presented a positive and significant coefficient of correlation with Self-efficacy (GSE) and Meaning of life (PLSS) and negative with General anxiety and Depression (HADS) and Death anxiety (DAI-R). Discussion: The Spanish form of the SC-DWS has acceptable psychometric properties. This instrument could be used for evaluating competences of the professionals that work in environments related to the end of life. Likewise, it could be used to assess the efficiency of interventions directed to the acquisition of skills and coping strategies for suffering and death

Self-competence in death work. Spanish version of the Self-Competence in Death Work Scale. / Autocompetencia para el trabajo en final de vida. Versión española de la Self-Competence in Death Work Scale.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to translate into Spanish the Self Competence in Death Work Scale (SC-DWS) and to explore its psychometric properties of validity and reliability. METHOD: Participants were 106 nursing professionals, who worked in units related to care at the end of life. Participants answered a questionnaire containing the Spanish forms of the Self-Competence in Death Work Scale (SC-DWS), Perceived Life Significance Scale (PLSS), Death Anxiety Inventory-Revised (DAI-R), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and General Self Efficacy Scale (GSE). RESULTS: A Cronbach's alpha coefficient of .71 was obtained. The factorial analysis yielded five significant factors that accounted for 59.9% of the variance. The scores of the SC-DWS presented a positive and significant coefficient of correlation with Self-efficacy (GSE) and Meaning of life (PLSS) and negative with General anxiety and Depression (HADS) and Death anxiety (DAI-R). DISCUSSION: The Spanish form of the SC-DWS has acceptable psychometric properties. This instrument could be used for evaluating competences of the professionals that work in environments related to the end of life. Likewise, it could be used to assess the efficiency of interventions directed to the acquisition of skills and coping strategies for suffering and death.