A multi-centre study of learning styles of new nursing students.

AIMS: To describe beginning nursing student learning styles and to determine whether there are relationships between learning style and sociodemographic or educational background. We also aim to compare these data with the normative values of the 3.1 version of the Kolb learning style inventory and verify its reliability. BACKGROUND/LITERATURE: Learning style is related to the way in which an individual interacts with learning conditions, involving cognitive, affective, physical and environmental aspects. In nursing education, few studies have focused on knowing the learning styles of beginning nursing students, despite the need for students to develop critical thinking skills required of nurses. DESIGN: Descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational, multi-site study. METHOD: The study took place at five universities in Brazil and one university in the United States. Data were collected from a sample of beginning nursing students (n = 176) in 2019, using the Portuguese and English 3.1 versions of Kolb's learning style inventory. RESULTS: Most students' learning styles were classified as divergers (34.10%), while 28.41% were assimilators, 23.86% were accommodators and 13.63% were convergers. Kolb describes learning as a four-stage cyclical process grounded in experience. The mean score of one learning stage, the concrete experience, showed those who attended public high schools compared with private high schools was higher (mean = 26.22; p = .0019), and there were different results between Brazilian state universities, Brazilian federal universities and the American university (p = .0149). CONCLUSION: The diverger style was the most common among beginning nursing students in Brazil and the United States. There was a significant relationship between learning style, the educational background of students, the type of institution they attend and their previous experience with some active learning methodologies. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Aligned with Kolb's experiential learning theory, nurse educators must be aware of student learning styles so they may use teaching strategies to meet their students' needs.

Nursing Student Medication Administration Practice in the Clinical Setting: A Descriptive Study.

BACKGROUND: Nurses are instrumental in preventing medication errors that cause patient harm. Increased practice and educational interventions are suggested to prepare nursing students to safely administer medications. However, a quantified account of the reality of nursing student medication administration practice in the clinical setting is unknown. METHOD: This cross-sectional descriptive study assessed the frequency and quality of nursing student medication administration practice in the clinical setting. A convenience sample of prelicensure nursing students (n = 222) completed an electronic Nursing Student Medication Administration Survey after each clinical day for one semester. RESULTS: Overall, participants on average had one medication administration experience, administered two drugs, and administered medications to one patient. Most medication administration experiences were supervised by bedside RNs. CONCLUSION: Medication administration opportunities in the clinical setting are unpredictable and vary by facility and nursing program policy. Further investigation is necessary. [J Nurs Educ. 2022;61(3):137-142.].

Nursing Student Medication Administration Performance: A Longitudinal Assessment.

BACKGROUND: Nurses must be adequately prepared for safe medication administration. PURPOSE: The specific aims of the study were to compare first- and final-semester nursing students' medication administration performance, describe graduating nursing student performance, assess the long-term effect of an Individual Simulation-Based Experience (ISBE), and determine if nursing assistant experience impacted performance. METHODS: The study was a longitudinal, descriptive, experimental, 2-group pretest-posttest design. The Medication Administration Safety Assessment Tool was used to assess nursing student (n = 68) medication administration performance at 3 points in time: after learning the skill, after participation in an ISBE or traditional practice session, and prior to graduation. RESULTS: Only one-third of senior nursing students accurately demonstrated medication administration. There was no significant difference between first- and last-semester performance. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest nursing students are not prepared for safe medication administration upon graduation. The reality of practice opportunities to perform this skill throughout a nursing program should be examined.

Implementing a New Capstone Leadership Clinical Course.

BACKGROUND: Nurse educators are challenged to ensure clinical education meets the changing health care environments and needs. PROBLEM: New nurses remain unprepared for practice, have insufficient foundational leadership capacities, and lack systems-thinking awareness. APPROACH: Responding to educational gaps, increased enrollment, and scarce clinical placements, faculty used an eclectic education model to develop a new capstone leadership clinical course that included 5 types of experiences. The total acute care clinical hours were reduced, while adding leadership-focused experiences and simulated learning. OUTCOMES: Stakeholders' evaluations indicate the pilot provided opportunities to strengthen students' leadership capacity, systems thinking, and professional identity while still providing sufficient practice managing care of multiple patients, engaging in teamwork, and applying evidence. CONCLUSION: The new clinical course addressed students' transition into practice needs and enrollment capacity issues. Thoughtful planning by invested stakeholders, communication among faculty, and clear expectations are necessary to implement eclectic clinical models.

Instruments to evaluate undergraduate healthcare student learning styles globally: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Recognizing learning styles is important to maximizing learning outcomes and many instruments are available to investigate learning styles. OBJECTIVE: To investigate instruments with evidence of validity and reliability most commonly used to evaluate undergraduate healthcare student learning styles globally. METHOD: This scoping review of literature was guided by The Joanna Briggs Institute's recommendations for conducting scoping reviews and the PRISMA-ScR (extension for scoping reviews). The protocol is available for access. DATA SOURCES: Databases searched included Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Inclusion criteria were: fully accessible; written in English, Portuguese, or Spanish; and used reliable and/or validated instruments to describe healthcare student learning styles. Articles were excluded if the sample included healthcare professionals, there was no report of the instrument validity and reliability, or was not fully accessible. Data were extracted from each article and entered into Microsoft Office Excel documents for analysis. RESULTS: Forty-seven articles were selected for full review, including cross-sectional, interventional, and longitudinal studies. Eleven instruments were identified with evidence of reliability and validity for assessing undergraduate healthcare student learning styles globally. The most frequently used instruments were Visual, Aural, Read-Write, and Kinesthetic; Kolb's Learning Styles Inventory; and the Honey-Alonso Questionnaire. Most instruments were developed based on a theoretical framework and/or model. CONCLUSION: This scoping review adds to the literature an overview of available instruments which measure healthcare student learning styles with evidence of both reliability and validity. The results indicate the need for further studies to improve learning style instruments for use in intervention studies aimed at improving the teaching-learning process for healthcare students.

Lessons Learned: Raising Awareness of Civility and Incivility Using Semi-Virtual Reality Simulation.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of our web-based, semi-virtual reality simulation was to raise baccalaureate nursing students' awareness of civility and incivility. Educators know civility in nursing is crucial to safe and effective patient care. However, nursing students have reported physiological and psychological distress after experiencing incivility. If nurse educators are unable to better promote civility, the quality of nursing education, and ultimately nursing practice, is threatened. METHOD: We implemented an innovative civility-related, semi-virtual reality, simulation with senior-level nursing students. After attending a faculty-led discussion on the importance of civility and incivility, students participated in a web-based, semi-virtual reality simulation, followed by a synchronous debriefing session. RESULTS: Students reported that the intervention raised their awareness of civility and incivility. CONCLUSION: This article describes the intervention and shares the lessons learned in implementing it so nurse educators may replicate this innovative strategy to raise awareness of civility in nursing education. [J Nurs Educ. 2020;59(8):461-464.].

An Integrative Review Examining Student-to-Student Incivility and Effective Strategies to Address Incivility in Nursing Education.

BACKGROUND: Incivility is a low-intensity, discourteous behavior intended to disrupt or harm positive interaction. If allowed, student-to-student incivility can undermine the educational environment. PURPOSE: The purpose of the integrative review was to examine factors influencing incivility among nursing students and teaching strategies used to reduce incivility in nursing education. METHODS: Qualitative and quantitative studies were reviewed. The Johns Hopkins Research Evidence Appraisal tool was used to narrow down the selection of articles. Content analysis was used to evaluate the qualitative research. RESULTS: Five major points of interest were identified: workload and high expectations contributed to incivility, degrees of incivility, effects of incivility, coping mechanisms among individuals, and effective teaching strategies addressing incivility. CONCLUSION: Continued research on innovative teaching strategies that raise awareness of civility while reducing incivility is warranted.

Adapting Pediatric Clinical Experiences to a Changing Health Care Environment.

Consolidation and regionalization in pediatric acute care hospitals have limited clinical opportunities for prelicensure nursing students. The use of schools as primary learning sites offers an opportunity for a combined pediatric and public health clinical experience for nursing students. The purpose of the study was to compare pediatric knowledge and clinical simulation performance between hospital- and community-based pediatric clinical experiences. Study results indicated no difference between groups based on knowledge or simulation scores.