Nurse education today
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Nurse education today · Aug 2007
The perceptions of undergraduate student nurses of high-fidelity simulation-based learning: a case report from the University of Tasmania.
This paper reports a qualitatively informed curriculum research project in the three-year Bachelor of Nursing (BN) at the School of Nursing and Midwifery (SNM) at the University of Tasmania. The project investigated the perceptions of second year undergraduate nurses and their academic teachers of their experiences of high-fidelity simulation using the Laerdal Vital Sim Nursing Kelly and Nursing Anne technology(2) as part of their preparation for clinical practice. An associated curriculum benchmarking audit was also undertaken. ⋯ Students believed that simulation is an innovative strategy that promotes active learning and has great potential for developing clinical competence and increasing confidence prior to practise. The academic staff reported a similar belief about the potential of high-fidelity simulation in a case-based curriculum. The associated curriculum benchmarking audit provided evidence to support further integration of high-fidelity simulation in the undergraduate nursing program.
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Nurse education today · Aug 2007
Exploring haematology nurses' perceptions of specialist education's contribution to care delivery and the development of expertise.
The role that educational preparation may play in the delivery of care and the development of expertise is a point of some debate [Manley, K., Garbett, R., 2000. Paying Peter and Paul reconciling concepts of expertise with competency for a clinical career structure. Journal of Clinical Nursing 9 (3), 347; King, L., Macleod Clark, J., 2002. ⋯ The report concludes that, for these specialist practitioners, specialist educational input had a beneficial impact on their levels of knowledge and confidence. Further to this, involvement in higher education had enabled them to become more active in the learning process. Perhaps the key finding of the study was the assertion by respondents that specialist educational input had enabled them to develop their specialist practice to a level that experience alone could not achieve.
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The importance of continuing education for nurses has been increasingly emphasized in the nursing literature since the beginning of the profession. The concept of continuing education is often used as a substitute for associated terms such as continuing professional development and lifelong learning, thus highlighting a need for its clarification. The purpose of this article is to explain and describe continuing education, in order to encourage a broader understanding of the concept among nurses. ⋯ Examining everyday discourse used in the nursing literature identified the critical attributes, antecedents and consequence of continuing education in nursing. As a result, the emerging attributes of the concept are synthesised into a conceptual model. The article concludes with an exploration of the application of the concept of continuing education within nursing and its implications for professional development.
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Nurse education today · May 2007
ReviewComputer mediated conferencing - a hope or hype for healthcare education in higher learning?: A review of the literature.
In view of the increase use of computer mediated conferencing (CMC) by nurses with other health care professionals in health care education, this literature review provides insights into the experiences and issues surrounding the use of the technology by nursing students and their use with other health care students. It is an important initial step in designing and developing strategies in the use of CMC. This literature review also aims to structure the available research findings of needs and experiences of other health care students and students from disciplines other than health care to provide the best approximation of what nursing students will experience in diverse groups for inter-professional learning. ⋯ Priority needs should be central in the preparation of student in the constructivist learning environment. Concerted efforts should not be just about increasing students' technological competence, but on addressing the socio-psychological dimensions in CMC.
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Nurse education today · Apr 2007
ReviewAddressing medication errors--The role of undergraduate nurse education.
Medication errors are a persistent problem in today's National Health Service (NHS). Many factors contribute to drug incidents occurring, from the initial prescription stage through to administration and arise from both individual and system failures. The literature identifies the multi-disciplinary nature of the problem and highlights the important contribution that nurses make with regards to ensuring medication safety. ⋯ An educational initiative was therefore introduced to address this problem. A "Medication Safety Day" which focused on the causes of medication errors was implemented to highlight how and why drug incidents may occur. This initiative recognises that nurse education should not only ensure adequate theoretical knowledge of pharmacology but should also equip students with an awareness of how many diverse factors may contribute to the occurrence of medication errors.