When practicing nurses accept responsibility for preceptoring nursing students, they use and deve... more When practicing nurses accept responsibility for preceptoring nursing students, they use and develop the teaching skills that are part of their professional practice. However, they need both support in the role and mentoring to develop their skills. Inservice educators and experienced preceptors often provide that support and education. Based on a qualitative study of preceptoring nurses, the author explores preceptor needs for support, the type of support required, and faculty roles in the provision of this support.
The author explores self-confidence as a desired outcome of preceptored clinical experiences. In ... more The author explores self-confidence as a desired outcome of preceptored clinical experiences. In a qualitative study, the value of student confidence in nursing role performance, the impact of positive preceptor-student relationships on confidence development, and specific strategies to enhance confidence in preceptored learning experiences are described. Preceptors described caring relationships including modeling, dialogue, commitment, mutual respect, and acceptance, to illustrate the impact of such relationships on the development of student confidence in nursing role performance.
Preceptored clinical experiences are much valued by nurse educators as a means of exposing studen... more Preceptored clinical experiences are much valued by nurse educators as a means of exposing students to the expertise of practising nurses; however, with increasingly stressful work situations, preceptoring nurses need faculty support to fulfill their roles in a satisfying and effective way. The author reports on a qualitative study that examined preceptors' views of faculty roles in preceptored clinical experiences and details preceptors' expectations of faculty support. Five main themes were identified. Preceptors stressed the following important faculty functions: (1) accessibility, (2) information provision, (3) evaluation of student performance, (4) advocacy for precepted students, and (5) mentor to preceptors, especially for nurses who are prepared at the diploma level or who lack experience in preceptoring. Various preceptors indicated differences in their needs for faculty assistance in each function, but all functions were confirmed as necessary to the effective func...
Educators acknowledge the value of objectives in planning educational sessions and in evaluating ... more Educators acknowledge the value of objectives in planning educational sessions and in evaluating outcomes of those sessions. However, they often express frustration in writing educational objectives. The author explores methods of writing objectives in the three domains of learning.
International Journal of Women's Health and Reproduction Sciences, 2021
Objectives: Globally, breast cancer is the commonest cancer in women. Empirical literature indica... more Objectives: Globally, breast cancer is the commonest cancer in women. Empirical literature indicate that it is the second cause of cancer-related mortality in high-resource regions, while it is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths among women in poor-resource regions. This study presents the suitability of the health belief model (HBM) as a framework for carrying out a comprehensive assessment of women with late-stage breast cancer in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This qualitative study employed interpretive description as its methodological approach, while the HBM was the conceptual framework. Two institutional review boards granted approval to conduct the study. Thirty women with advanced breast cancer were recruited for the study using purposeful sampling techniques. Components of the original HBM were identified to carry out the investigation. Data analysis was inductive. Results: Findings indicated that the participants viewed breast cancer as a definite threat- bot...
This comparative study investigated similarities and differences between nurse preceptors and nur... more This comparative study investigated similarities and differences between nurse preceptors and nurse educators in their valuing of selected clinical competence criteria in evaluation of the clinical performance of baccalaureate nursing students. An assumption basic to the study was that if performance criteria were valued differently, student evaluations could differ. Analysis by multiple t tests and discriminant analysis demonstrated that preceptors and educators are more similar than different in their valuing of the selected performance criteria. Significant differences were demonstrated on individual items relating to application of theory to practice and nursing care planning. Although setting of nursing practice was a significant factor in the valuing, experience and educational preparation of the preceptors were not.
Management Education: An International Journal, 2014
A priority for healthcare organizations has been health human resource planning. Employee mentori... more A priority for healthcare organizations has been health human resource planning. Employee mentoring is one approach that has been found to contribute to positive workplaces and thus facilitate recruitment and retention of staff. The purpose of this study was to develop a theory of nurse managers' perceptions of their roles in creating mentoring cultures within healthcare organizations. The objectives included: (a) exploring managers' perceptions of their role in creating a mentoring culture, (b) discovering the processes of creating a culture of mentoring, and (c) exploring the organizational features supporting and inhibiting this process of developing a mentoring culture. Glaserian grounded theory was the methodology used to conduct this research and twenty-seven nurse managers were interviewed. Managers believed all employees, from senior leadership to front line employees, needed to be committed to mentoring in order for mentorship to be successful within healthcare organizations and in order for mentoring cultures to be created. Participants identified several strategies that characterized employees’ commitment to mentoring. By implementing these findings, managers can assist to create quality workplaces by increasing job satisfaction and recruitment and retention of employees.
Patient-centred care is a value espoused by most healthcare systems and a concept taught in nursi... more Patient-centred care is a value espoused by most healthcare systems and a concept taught in nursing education programs as a fundamental concept of patient care. In this study, we focused on the patient's experience of patient-centredness, interviewing eighteen patients and eight family members about their experiences as patients on an in-patient acute care medical unit in a large hospital in Canada. Approximately half of the patients expressed satisfaction with their experiences and their involvement in decisions about their healthcare. The remainder expressed concerns about their care that jeopardized their experiences of patient-centredness. These areas concerned issues of communication with and among healthcare professionals, relationships with these care providers, trust and respect in the professional relationships, and general satisfaction with care. Participants provided advice to professional students about ways to interact more effectively with their patients to establish caring, empathetic, patient-centred relationships as the basis for care. We address patient recommendations to support learner understanding of the patient experience both in classrooms and clinical experiences throughout educational programs as a means to enhance their patient-centredness.
New nurses entering professional practice experience significant challenges and, if unsupported i... more New nurses entering professional practice experience significant challenges and, if unsupported in the practice setting, may be slow to develop competence and professional judgement, change employment, or leave the profession. These new nurses learn within the social context of the practice setting, and if they are fortunate, under the guidance of mentors in informal long-lasting relationships. Because of the importance of mentoring to the development of a knowledgeable competent nursing workforce, exploring the concept of mentoring, its context and antecedents, and its relationship to the more commonly used process of preceptorship is vital.
BackgroundThis paper aimed to describe the modification, translation, and psychometric testing of... more BackgroundThis paper aimed to describe the modification, translation, and psychometric testing of the Arabic version of the Belongingness Scale-Clinical Placement Experience (BES-CPE).MethodsThis study included the following phases: modification of the original BES-CPE based on the qualitative findings from a previous study; translation and back-translation of the scale; evaluation of the content validity by experts from Saudi Arabia; evaluation of the internal consistency reliability; and other psychometric properties of the Arabic BES-CPE.ResultThe results demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties. The Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.68 to 0.92.ConclusionThe Arabic BES-CPE is a promising tool that can be used to assess Saudi nursing students' sense of belonging. However, testing the tool with other undergraduate nursing students in a different context is recommended.
BACKGROUND The World Health Organization records indicate that breast cancer is the most common c... more BACKGROUND The World Health Organization records indicate that breast cancer is the most common cancer in women both in developed and developing regions of the world. In developed countries, breast cancer is the second cause of cancer-related deaths, whereas in developing countries, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in women. The empirical literature on Nigeria indicates that women present with advanced stages of the illness. OBJECTIVES To explore the health-seeking behaviors of Southwestern Nigerian women with advanced breast cancer from the time they noticed a breast abnormality to their eventual presentation at the hospital for the management of the illness. METHODS Thirty women with advanced stages of breast cancer in a large tertiary, referral, teaching, and university-affiliated Southwestern Nigeria Hospital were purposively selected for study participation. Participants completed a demographic information form and an in-depth face-to-face, one-on-one, semistructured interview guided by open-ended questions. Data analysis was inductive. RESULTS Findings revealed that women sought divine interventions for the management of breast cancer. Prayer and spirituality were associated with high levels of optimism among the study participants. CONCLUSION Nurses should provide information and counseling to women and the general public on the etiology and appropriate management of breast abnormalities and include the importance of a spiritual dimension of care. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Findings indicate the need to introduce a spiritual dimension to the care of women with advanced breast cancer. Findings also indicate the need for a comprehensive population-based breast health education.
Many studies have reported that nursing students' sense of belonging during their clinical ex... more Many studies have reported that nursing students' sense of belonging during their clinical experiences is essential to their motivation to learn. This study was conducted to learn more about the meaning of sense of belonging, the consequences of sense of belonging, and the factors that affect Saudi female nursing students' sense of belonging in clinical settings. Using interpretive description methodology, the data were collected via semi-structured interviews with 16 students about their sense of belonging in clinical settings. It was conducted in three baccalaureate nursing programs in government institutions in Saudi Arabia. Each interview was audiotaped, transcribed verbatim in Arabic, and translated into English, and the data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results indicated that participation in patient care, a welcoming environment, English language skills, the nationality of nursing staff, and acceptance by nursing staff, patients, and other health care professionals are some of the factors that affect Saudi female nursing students' sense of belonging in clinical settings. The findings may contribute to the creation and support of more effective clinical learning situations for nursing students in Saudi Arabia, improving the quality of their educational experiences and retaining them in the nursing profession.
In a recent photovoice study, fourth year nursing students and their rural nurse preceptors provi... more In a recent photovoice study, fourth year nursing students and their rural nurse preceptors provided us with photographs and commentary documenting their everyday, lived realities, from which we constructed a narrative of preceptorship in the rural nursing context. We found that rural nursing integrates professional and community values, and that landscape mediates this integration in four ways: travel, occupationalism, historicity, and symbolic projection. Rural preceptorships introduce nursing students to dichotomous perceptions of landscape, derived from rural nurses' multiple roles and the competing scripts of official policy versus community bonds. Disseminated in media-rich formats such as exhibitions, photo-essays and online resources, these findings amount to a compelling message to prospective rural nurses, educators, and policymakers: rural nursing is a specialty, too long marginalized, with its own unique challenges and rewards. Keywords: landscape, rural, nursing, pr...
When practicing nurses accept responsibility for preceptoring nursing students, they use and deve... more When practicing nurses accept responsibility for preceptoring nursing students, they use and develop the teaching skills that are part of their professional practice. However, they need both support in the role and mentoring to develop their skills. Inservice educators and experienced preceptors often provide that support and education. Based on a qualitative study of preceptoring nurses, the author explores preceptor needs for support, the type of support required, and faculty roles in the provision of this support.
The author explores self-confidence as a desired outcome of preceptored clinical experiences. In ... more The author explores self-confidence as a desired outcome of preceptored clinical experiences. In a qualitative study, the value of student confidence in nursing role performance, the impact of positive preceptor-student relationships on confidence development, and specific strategies to enhance confidence in preceptored learning experiences are described. Preceptors described caring relationships including modeling, dialogue, commitment, mutual respect, and acceptance, to illustrate the impact of such relationships on the development of student confidence in nursing role performance.
Preceptored clinical experiences are much valued by nurse educators as a means of exposing studen... more Preceptored clinical experiences are much valued by nurse educators as a means of exposing students to the expertise of practising nurses; however, with increasingly stressful work situations, preceptoring nurses need faculty support to fulfill their roles in a satisfying and effective way. The author reports on a qualitative study that examined preceptors' views of faculty roles in preceptored clinical experiences and details preceptors' expectations of faculty support. Five main themes were identified. Preceptors stressed the following important faculty functions: (1) accessibility, (2) information provision, (3) evaluation of student performance, (4) advocacy for precepted students, and (5) mentor to preceptors, especially for nurses who are prepared at the diploma level or who lack experience in preceptoring. Various preceptors indicated differences in their needs for faculty assistance in each function, but all functions were confirmed as necessary to the effective func...
Educators acknowledge the value of objectives in planning educational sessions and in evaluating ... more Educators acknowledge the value of objectives in planning educational sessions and in evaluating outcomes of those sessions. However, they often express frustration in writing educational objectives. The author explores methods of writing objectives in the three domains of learning.
International Journal of Women's Health and Reproduction Sciences, 2021
Objectives: Globally, breast cancer is the commonest cancer in women. Empirical literature indica... more Objectives: Globally, breast cancer is the commonest cancer in women. Empirical literature indicate that it is the second cause of cancer-related mortality in high-resource regions, while it is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths among women in poor-resource regions. This study presents the suitability of the health belief model (HBM) as a framework for carrying out a comprehensive assessment of women with late-stage breast cancer in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This qualitative study employed interpretive description as its methodological approach, while the HBM was the conceptual framework. Two institutional review boards granted approval to conduct the study. Thirty women with advanced breast cancer were recruited for the study using purposeful sampling techniques. Components of the original HBM were identified to carry out the investigation. Data analysis was inductive. Results: Findings indicated that the participants viewed breast cancer as a definite threat- bot...
This comparative study investigated similarities and differences between nurse preceptors and nur... more This comparative study investigated similarities and differences between nurse preceptors and nurse educators in their valuing of selected clinical competence criteria in evaluation of the clinical performance of baccalaureate nursing students. An assumption basic to the study was that if performance criteria were valued differently, student evaluations could differ. Analysis by multiple t tests and discriminant analysis demonstrated that preceptors and educators are more similar than different in their valuing of the selected performance criteria. Significant differences were demonstrated on individual items relating to application of theory to practice and nursing care planning. Although setting of nursing practice was a significant factor in the valuing, experience and educational preparation of the preceptors were not.
Management Education: An International Journal, 2014
A priority for healthcare organizations has been health human resource planning. Employee mentori... more A priority for healthcare organizations has been health human resource planning. Employee mentoring is one approach that has been found to contribute to positive workplaces and thus facilitate recruitment and retention of staff. The purpose of this study was to develop a theory of nurse managers' perceptions of their roles in creating mentoring cultures within healthcare organizations. The objectives included: (a) exploring managers' perceptions of their role in creating a mentoring culture, (b) discovering the processes of creating a culture of mentoring, and (c) exploring the organizational features supporting and inhibiting this process of developing a mentoring culture. Glaserian grounded theory was the methodology used to conduct this research and twenty-seven nurse managers were interviewed. Managers believed all employees, from senior leadership to front line employees, needed to be committed to mentoring in order for mentorship to be successful within healthcare organizations and in order for mentoring cultures to be created. Participants identified several strategies that characterized employees’ commitment to mentoring. By implementing these findings, managers can assist to create quality workplaces by increasing job satisfaction and recruitment and retention of employees.
Patient-centred care is a value espoused by most healthcare systems and a concept taught in nursi... more Patient-centred care is a value espoused by most healthcare systems and a concept taught in nursing education programs as a fundamental concept of patient care. In this study, we focused on the patient's experience of patient-centredness, interviewing eighteen patients and eight family members about their experiences as patients on an in-patient acute care medical unit in a large hospital in Canada. Approximately half of the patients expressed satisfaction with their experiences and their involvement in decisions about their healthcare. The remainder expressed concerns about their care that jeopardized their experiences of patient-centredness. These areas concerned issues of communication with and among healthcare professionals, relationships with these care providers, trust and respect in the professional relationships, and general satisfaction with care. Participants provided advice to professional students about ways to interact more effectively with their patients to establish caring, empathetic, patient-centred relationships as the basis for care. We address patient recommendations to support learner understanding of the patient experience both in classrooms and clinical experiences throughout educational programs as a means to enhance their patient-centredness.
New nurses entering professional practice experience significant challenges and, if unsupported i... more New nurses entering professional practice experience significant challenges and, if unsupported in the practice setting, may be slow to develop competence and professional judgement, change employment, or leave the profession. These new nurses learn within the social context of the practice setting, and if they are fortunate, under the guidance of mentors in informal long-lasting relationships. Because of the importance of mentoring to the development of a knowledgeable competent nursing workforce, exploring the concept of mentoring, its context and antecedents, and its relationship to the more commonly used process of preceptorship is vital.
BackgroundThis paper aimed to describe the modification, translation, and psychometric testing of... more BackgroundThis paper aimed to describe the modification, translation, and psychometric testing of the Arabic version of the Belongingness Scale-Clinical Placement Experience (BES-CPE).MethodsThis study included the following phases: modification of the original BES-CPE based on the qualitative findings from a previous study; translation and back-translation of the scale; evaluation of the content validity by experts from Saudi Arabia; evaluation of the internal consistency reliability; and other psychometric properties of the Arabic BES-CPE.ResultThe results demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties. The Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.68 to 0.92.ConclusionThe Arabic BES-CPE is a promising tool that can be used to assess Saudi nursing students' sense of belonging. However, testing the tool with other undergraduate nursing students in a different context is recommended.
BACKGROUND The World Health Organization records indicate that breast cancer is the most common c... more BACKGROUND The World Health Organization records indicate that breast cancer is the most common cancer in women both in developed and developing regions of the world. In developed countries, breast cancer is the second cause of cancer-related deaths, whereas in developing countries, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in women. The empirical literature on Nigeria indicates that women present with advanced stages of the illness. OBJECTIVES To explore the health-seeking behaviors of Southwestern Nigerian women with advanced breast cancer from the time they noticed a breast abnormality to their eventual presentation at the hospital for the management of the illness. METHODS Thirty women with advanced stages of breast cancer in a large tertiary, referral, teaching, and university-affiliated Southwestern Nigeria Hospital were purposively selected for study participation. Participants completed a demographic information form and an in-depth face-to-face, one-on-one, semistructured interview guided by open-ended questions. Data analysis was inductive. RESULTS Findings revealed that women sought divine interventions for the management of breast cancer. Prayer and spirituality were associated with high levels of optimism among the study participants. CONCLUSION Nurses should provide information and counseling to women and the general public on the etiology and appropriate management of breast abnormalities and include the importance of a spiritual dimension of care. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Findings indicate the need to introduce a spiritual dimension to the care of women with advanced breast cancer. Findings also indicate the need for a comprehensive population-based breast health education.
Many studies have reported that nursing students' sense of belonging during their clinical ex... more Many studies have reported that nursing students' sense of belonging during their clinical experiences is essential to their motivation to learn. This study was conducted to learn more about the meaning of sense of belonging, the consequences of sense of belonging, and the factors that affect Saudi female nursing students' sense of belonging in clinical settings. Using interpretive description methodology, the data were collected via semi-structured interviews with 16 students about their sense of belonging in clinical settings. It was conducted in three baccalaureate nursing programs in government institutions in Saudi Arabia. Each interview was audiotaped, transcribed verbatim in Arabic, and translated into English, and the data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results indicated that participation in patient care, a welcoming environment, English language skills, the nationality of nursing staff, and acceptance by nursing staff, patients, and other health care professionals are some of the factors that affect Saudi female nursing students' sense of belonging in clinical settings. The findings may contribute to the creation and support of more effective clinical learning situations for nursing students in Saudi Arabia, improving the quality of their educational experiences and retaining them in the nursing profession.
In a recent photovoice study, fourth year nursing students and their rural nurse preceptors provi... more In a recent photovoice study, fourth year nursing students and their rural nurse preceptors provided us with photographs and commentary documenting their everyday, lived realities, from which we constructed a narrative of preceptorship in the rural nursing context. We found that rural nursing integrates professional and community values, and that landscape mediates this integration in four ways: travel, occupationalism, historicity, and symbolic projection. Rural preceptorships introduce nursing students to dichotomous perceptions of landscape, derived from rural nurses' multiple roles and the competing scripts of official policy versus community bonds. Disseminated in media-rich formats such as exhibitions, photo-essays and online resources, these findings amount to a compelling message to prospective rural nurses, educators, and policymakers: rural nursing is a specialty, too long marginalized, with its own unique challenges and rewards. Keywords: landscape, rural, nursing, pr...
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