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.

An educator's toolkit for virtual simulation: A usability study.

BACKGROUND: The rapid change brought on by COVID-19 meant that many educators adopted virtual simulation quickly, often without having a strong background in the pedagogical principles of virtual simulation. To address this resource gap, a team of 21 Ontario virtual simulation-experienced educators created the freely available, online, interprofessional Virtual Simulation Educator's Toolkit. The Toolkit provides the theory, practical strategies and resources needed to teach effectively with virtual simulation. Because the Toolkit would include new content, resources and numerous untested design elements, the team conducted a usability test. DESIGN: A usability study, that followed a three-step process, was conducted. Participants were asked to carefully review the Toolkit, including all interactive components and complete an online survey based on the Technology Acceptance Model, to measure the ease of use and utility of the Toolkit. Lastly, participants were interviewed. PARTICIPANTS: In keeping with sampling principles for usability studies, twenty experienced virtual simulation educators from different disciplines participated in the study. METHODS: A validated survey and one-on-one interviews were used to measure educators' perceptions of the ease of use and utility of the Toolkit and their recommendations to improve it. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data were coded and themes developed. CONCLUSION: The score of 90 % on the Toolkit Experience Survey indicated that participants found the Toolkit both easy to use and useful. Results from the interviews indicated that a practical, accessible professional development tool is urgently needed to support education with virtual simulation. Because the Toolkit introduces educators to different ways of implementing virtual simulation, as well as options, process considerations, and tools to enhance their teaching with virtual simulation, different disciplines and educators with different levels of simulation experience may benefit by using it.

Nursing Student Engagement in Cultural Humility Through Global Health Service Learning: An Interpretive Phenomenological Approach.

Introduction: This study explored how global health service learning supported nursing student engagement in the process of cultural humility and how it shaped student understanding of themselves and their ability to develop supportive intercultural relationships. Methods: Written reflections were collected from eight second-year students while on a 9-day practicum in a low-resource Caribbean country. Six students participated in posttrip interviews. Thematic analysis was used to illuminate the students' lived experience. Results: Four student themes emerged: (1) overcoming challenges, (2) opening our eyes, (3) seeing difference as a strength, and (4) learning with and from each other. While participants were inherently ethnocentric, the process of cultural humility curbed their sense of superiority and enabled the development of supportive intercultural relationships with their hosts. Discussion: This global health service learning was an effective strategy to enhance student nurses' learning about themselves and intercultural relationships and to develop the attributes of cultural humility.

Neighbourhood as community: A qualitative descriptive study of nursing students' experiences of community health nursing.

PURPOSE: Explore the use of a neighbourhood practice placement with nursing students to gain insight into how the experience influenced their learning and how the reconceptualization of community can be a model for students' professional development. BACKGROUND: The integration of community health nursing competencies in undergraduate nursing education is a critical element of student development. Neighbourhood placements have been found to support development of such competencies by exposing students to issues such as culture, social justice, partnership, and community development. DESIGN AND SAMPLE: A qualitative design was used with a sample of 48 Year 3 baccalaureate nursing students enrolled in a community health nursing practice course. METHODS: Students submitted reflective reviews where they responded to questions and subsequently participated in focus groups. Meaning making of narrative data took place using the descriptive qualitative analysis approach. FINDINGS: Students became more self-directed learners and developed team process skills. Some found it challenging to adapt to a role outside of the traditional acute care context. CONCLUSION: Nursing practice in a neighbourhood context requires students to be innovative and creative in problem-solving and relationship building. The placement also requires neighbourhood liaison persons who are adept at helping students bridge the theory-practice gap.