The Journal of nursing education最新文献

Background: Family nurse practitioners (FNPs) are increasingly called upon to serve in diverse clinical roles, including inpatient settings, particularly within military operations. The Graduate School of Nursing at Uniformed Services University developed and piloted essential clinical competencies for an inpatient clinical rotation for Doctor of Nursing Practice FNP students.

Method: The pilot involved FNP students from Air Force and Navy facilities in 2-week rotations alongside medical students and residents. Competency development was guided by the RIME (reporter, interpreter, manager, educator) framework.

Results: Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, reflecting increased confidence in clinical skills and deeper understanding of in-patient processes. Recommendations included a minimum rotation time of 2 weeks to achieve competency goals. Additionally, this pilot led to implementation of an inpatient rotation being codified into curriculum.

Conclusion: This initiative underscores the importance of inpatient experience in enhancing readiness of military FNPs for diverse health care roles.

Background: Professional identity is fundamental to the way a nurse thinks, feels, and behaves and is developed within a context. Global variance in nursing education and work environments formally and informally create differences in how nursing is performed, valued, and supported. In light of increased nurse migration, identifying differences and similarities is important to inform a more inclusive definition of professional identity.

Method: This qualitative descriptive study analyzed semistructured interviews with nursing students in the United States and the United Kingdom for concurrence and divergence.

Results: Concepts of professional identity are shared but interpreted through a cultural and educational lens, leading to nuanced variations that highlight the social and cultural influence of nursing in that geographic setting.

Conclusion: Teasing out these differences and highlighting similarities becomes a valuable endeavor contributing to a more global understanding of nursing professional identity to inform inclusive, participatory, and intentional educational practices that support its development.

Background: Health literacy is one's ability to find, comprehend, and use information to make health decisions. Nursing students are exposed to health literacy during degree programs, yet no formal education exists across prelicensure associate and baccalaureate curricula. This lack of standardization contributes to poor provider performance and low health literacy rates, leading to suboptimal outcomes. About 80 million Americans have limited health literacy, increasing vulnerability to poor care and outcomes. Since the 1990s, limited health literacy has been linked to preventable admissions.

Method: A multidatabase search (CINAHL, ERIC, MEDLINE) using key terms identified 12 full-text articles analyzing education quality in health literacy and patient education.

Results: Studies show benefits from multimodal health literacy education. Students had foundational skills but limited faculty and curricular support.

Conclusion: Future research should examine standardized curricula and long-term effects on student self-efficacy and patient education.

Background: This investigation compared state legislation and nursing board guidelines that govern simulation-based learning and clinical practice for prelicensure nursing students across the United States and the District of Columbia. Using simulation-based learning facilitates the development of nursing students' critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and clinical judgment safely and effectively. Well-structured simulations aid nursing students during their transition into practice through knowledge application, clinical decision making, and increasing self-confidence and self-efficacy.

Method: This study used a comparative analysis methodology with a systematic approach.

Results: The side-by-side comparison illustrates gaps in clinical and simulation guidelines across the U.S. and illuminates areas of improvement for legislation and policy change.

Conclusion: Findings support the need for clarity in legislative rules related to simulation and clinical practices that focus on evidence-based educational decision making and support students' transition to practice and readiness for the workforce.

Background: Employing an objective assessment of information literacy (IL) skills for evidence-based practice (EBP) is an important consideration for Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs. This study aimed to develop a preliminary measure of IL skills and used it to identify skill strengths and weaknesses.

Method: A cross-sectional method was used to gauge final-semester DNP students' preparedness for evidence-based practice, focusing specifically on IL skills.

Results: The preliminary IL skill competence measure developed in this study was found to be user-friendly and efficient. IL skills were rated as average to below average. No significant correlations between skills and practice variables were found.

Conclusion: This study is the initial step for establishing a routine assessment of IL skills in a DNP program. More attention is needed to validate objective measures of IL skills to inform necessary curricular changes, with the goal of supporting EBP readiness.

Background: Minimum exam averages are an essential component to ensuring academic rigor and subsequent licensure in nursing education, yet there is scant evidence to support such practices.

Method: Using a descriptive correlational design, nursing faculty at a medium-sized program in the Northeast explored the relationship between establishing a 77% (C+) minimum exam average requirement for the program and licensure exam passage rates between the 2023 cohort intervention group and the 2022 cohort control group.

Results: The implementation of an exam average threshold per course produced a statistically significant effect on the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) pass rate (z = -3.481, p < .001) and provided support for the 77% (C+) examination threshold.

Conclusion: A minimum exam average policy may relieve faculty of the moral distress associated with course failures, while also safeguarding academic rigor within the undergraduate program and promoting NCLEX-RN readiness and success.

To finish out the Methodology Corner's focus in 2025 on questionable research practices, attention is called to the problem of HARKing. When research works omit that a finding being reported on and explained was discovered post hoc, a number of unwanted problems can ensue. Several strategies are suggested that might help our community manage the problems associated with HARKing.

Background: Supporting graduate nursing students' well-being is a priority. Meaningful support begins with knowledge of students' health and self-care activities as they begin graduate education. Studies show RNs may suffer from burnout and poor health. These stressors can influence academic success. This pilot study investigated the health and self-care practices of newly enrolled graduate nursing students and identified potential health care needs.

Method: Using an anonymous online survey, this descriptive study explored students' health status, mental health, and self-care practices.

Results: A total of 74 students completed the survey. Anxiety and depression were the most frequently identified chronic illnesses. Approximately half of the students screened positive for depression and anxiety, and more than half experienced burnout symptoms. Lack of exercise and sleep were common. Students lacked knowledge of university health resources.

Conclusion: Results inform the need for nursing programs to provide enhanced, ongoing physical and mental health support for graduate nursing students.

Background: A Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program extended its admission criteria to include both Masters- and Bachelor of Science in Nursing-prepared students, thereby increasing annual average enrollment from 12 to over 100 students. This increased enrollment precipitated a time-sensitive need to overhaul the DNP Project process to accommodate large student cohorts.

Method: A task force was formed and charged with designing the structure, processes, and outcome measures of a DNP Project to accommodate large student cohorts and be scalable in response to future fluctuations in cohort sizes.

Results: Three DNP Project courses, delivered in a series, were redesigned and successfully implemented. Additionally, an innovative faculty workload model was developed and approved by school administration.

Conclusion: Training DNP students to engage in the health care system, implement actions to improve care, and evaluate effectiveness can drive significant improvements in health care and health outcomes and expand their skills as DNP-prepared nurse leaders.