Journal of Nursing Education

Includes bibliographical references.

The Single-Group, Pre- and Posttest Design in Nursing Education Research: It's Time to Move on -- A Philosophical Analysis of Clinical Decision Making in Nursing -- Dishonest Behavior in the Classroom and Clinical Setting: Perceptions and Engagement -- Dementia Care Content in Prelicensure Nursing Curricula: A Pilot Mixed-Methods Study -- Teaching Methodologies for End-of-Life Care in Undergraduate Nursing Students -- Interprofessional Education on Adverse Childhood Experiences for Associate Degree Nursing Students -- Students' Knowledge of and Interest in Older Adults: Impact of a Geriatrics Course -- Catalyst for Growth: The Implications of Co-Curricular Experiences for Nursing Education -- Techniques to Promote Reflective Practice and Empowered Learning -- Promoting Faculty Scholarship: A Clinical Faculty Scholars Program.

[Article Title: The Single-Group, Pre- and Posttest Design in Nursing Education Research: It's Time to Move on / Darrell R. Spurlock Jr., p. 69-71] Abstract: Studying the effectiveness of educational interventions is centrally important to building the science of nursing education. Yet, the design most commonly used in the study of nursing education interventions-the single-group, preand posttest design-provides limited evidence to support claims of intervention effectiveness. In this Methodology Corner installment, the limitations of the single-group, preand posttest design are outlined and a review of the requirements for establishing stronger arguments for causality is presented. To overcome the limitations of single-group, preand posttest designs, nursing education researchers are encouraged to employ study designs and procedures that can significantly strengthen researchers' claims of intervention effectiveness.;[Article Title: A Philosophical Analysis of Clinical Decision Making in Nursing / Preetha Krishnan, p. 73-78] Abstract: BACKGROUND:Clinical decision making is a fundamental aspect of nurses' clinical practice and has a direct impact on the health and well-being of each patient. METHOD:An exploratory analysis of the concept of clinical decision making in nursing will be provided from the two predominant theoretical perspectives: the systematic-positivist model and the intuitive-humanistic model. The origin, aim, value, ontology and epistemology, assumptions, communicability, and context specificity of these two models are discussed. RESULTS:As nurses work in ever-changing health care environments, either the positivist model or the intuitive model is adequate to describe the dynamic processes nurses use in clinical decision making. Therefore, it was suggested that the cognitive processes used in decision making were neither completely analytical nor completely intuitive. CONCLUSION:Clinical decision making is complex. A combination of scientific evidence-based knowledge in conjunction with intuition and contextual factors could enable nurses to utilize excellent clinical decision making.;[Article Title: Dishonest Behavior in the Classroom and Clinical Setting: Perceptions and Engagement / Emily Lauren McClung and Joanne Kraenzle Schneider, p. 79-87] Abstract: BACKGROUND:Nursing students sometimes engage in academically dishonest behaviors despite honor codes and policies. We believe that learning more about nursing students' perceptions of and engagement in academically dishonest behaviors will aid faculty in crafting more effective codes, policies, and educational modules. METHOD:Baccalaureate nursing students from accredited programs across the nation were invited to participate in an online cross-sectional descriptive correlational survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive and correlational statistics. RESULTS:Nursing students do not perceive all academically dishonest behavior as dishonest. There is a positive relationship between perceptions of behaviors in the classroom and clinical setting. Students have higher rates of engagement in behaviors they do not perceive as dishonest. Those who engage in the behaviors considered dishonest have higher rates of rationalization. CONCLUSION:Faculty need to delineate to students what behaviors are deemed dishonest in a course. Eliminating ambiguity has potential to reduce engagement in dishonest behavior.;[Article Title: Dementia Care Content in Prelicensure Nursing Curricula: A Pilot Mixed-Methods Study / Modupe Adewuyi, Laura P. Kimble, Sharon L. Dormire and Tanya Sudia, p. 88-95] Abstract: BACKGROUND:Having a nursing workforce equipped to provide quality care for patients living with dementia is essential. The purpose of this study was to investigate how undergraduate nursing programs integration of dementia care content into their curricula. METHOD:Using sequential explanatory mixed methods, a stratified sample of 137 representatives of programs in 11 states with dense elderly populations completed a quantitative survey. A subsample (n = 8) completed qualitative e-mail interviews. RESULTS:Most respondents indicated dementia care content was integrated into their curricula (n = 103, 92.8%). Clinical partnership with dementia care centers was associated with a greater proportion of students interacting with individuals having dementia (p = .02). Curriculum overload was the most significant challenge to integrating dementia content (n = 61, 43.9%). Qualitative themes supported the quantitative results. CONCLUSION:Future research is needed to identify best practices to ensure that nursing curricula provide essential content to meet the care needs of the growing population of individuals with dementia. ;[Article Title: Teaching Methodologies for End-of-Life Care in Undergraduate Nursing Students / Jennifer N. Carmack and Stephanie Kemery, p. 96-100] Abstract: BACKGROUND:The purpose of this literature review was to explore methodologies for teaching end-of-life (EOL) care to undergraduate nursing students. METHOD:Articles were retrieved by searching CINAHL, Academic Search Complete, and MEDLINE databases using the terms terminal care, palliative care, end of life care, undergraduate nurs*, hospice care, baccalaureate nurs*, prelicensure nurs*, palliative nurs*, training, and undergraduate education. A total of 728 articles were preliminarily evaluated for inclusion, with 22 relevant to this literature review. RESULTS:A variety of teaching methods have been studied for efficacy in undergraduate nursing education. CONCLUSION:Comparisons are limited by inconsistencies in instrumentation and the use of multiple teaching strategies in individual studies. More information is needed regarding the effect of interventions on clinical practice. Educational activities should be integrated throughout the learning experience and include elements of didactic teaching, clinical experiences, and application in simulation, including a focus on interprofessional education. ;[Article Title: Interprofessional Education on Adverse Childhood Experiences for Associate Degree Nursing Students/ Jeanette M. Olsen and Sarah L. Warring, p. 101-105] Abstract: BACKGROUND:The health impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is significant. Nurses need knowledge and must work in multidisciplinary teams to address this problem. This study examined the effects of an interprofessional education (IPE) activity with nonhealth care students on associate degree nursing (ADN) students' ACEs knowledge and perspectives on IPE. METHOD:The mixed-methods approach used a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with an intervention and control group and thematic analysis of focus group data. RESULTS:Readiness for Interprofessional Learning scale mean scores indicated positive baseline IPE perspectives. Scores changed minimally for most measures in both the intervention and control groups on posttest. However, four major relevant themes related to ACEs knowledge and two related to interprofessional learning were identified. CONCLUSION:IPE with nonhealth care students is an effective way to teach ADN students about ACEs and infuse interprofessional learning in a nonuniversity setting. However, outcomes are best captured with qualitative data.;[Article Title: Students' Knowledge of and Interest in Older Adults: Impact of a Geriatrics Course / Susan E. Lowey, p. 106-109] Abstract: BACKGROUND:The number of older adults living with chronic conditions is steadily increasing, so nurses must be prepared to care for the needs of this population. However, only one third of nursing education programs include a stand-alone geriatrics course. METHOD:A cross-sectional mixed-methods design was used to compare two cohorts of 46 nursing students. Knowledge, attitude, and interest in older adults were examined using an online survey. The control cohort did not complete the geriatric course. RESULTS:No demographic differences were found between groups. Completing the geriatric course was not correlated with having greater aging-related knowledge. Decreased interest in working with the older adult population was found. CONCLUSION:Findings from this cross-sectional pilot study suggest that previous experience with an aging relative was associated with better aging-related knowledge.

Further research exploring students' perceptions is needed to understand the relationship between the geriatric course and attitudes toward aging.;[Article Title: Catalyst for Growth: The Implications of Co-Curricular Experiences for Nursing Education / Jeremy N. Davis, Katherine Sullivan and Anissa Guzman, p. 110-114] Abstract: BACKGROUND:Co-curricular experiences provide an opportunity for learning outside of a university classroom. A co-curricular retreat was developed to engage students, faculty, and staff in learning about social justice. Through guided activities and deep discussions, participants explored privileged and oppressed identities in a safe environment. METHOD:Pre- and postsurveys were collected. Quantitative and qualitative data, including personal narratives from two nurse educators, were described. RESULTS:Participants reported feeling less confident about their knowledge about socially constructed identities after the retreat, with deepened awareness of a need to learn. CONCLUSION:Co-curricular retreat exercises led to new insights among student and nurse educator participants, which stimulated ongoing education. Exploration of personal identities is a beginning step toward cultural competence-an essential quality in the nursing profession. Co-curricular experiences focused on social justice having implications for promoting social justice-a core nursing value-as well as developing cultural competence among nursing students and nurse educators.;[Article Title: Techniques to Promote Reflective Practice and Empowered Learning / Connie Kim Yen Nguyen-Truong, Andra Davis, Cassius Spencer, Melody Rasmor and Lida Dekker, p. 115-120] Abstract: BACKGROUND:Health care environments are fraught with fast-paced critical demands and ethical dilemmas requiring decisive nursing actions. Nurse educators must prepare nursing students to practice skills, behaviors, and attitudes needed to meet the challenges of health care demands. Evidence-based, innovative, multimodal techniques with novice and seasoned nurses were incorporated into a baccalaureate (BSN) completion program (RN to-BSN) to deepen learning, complex skill building, reflective practice, teamwork, and compassion toward the experiences of others. METHOD:Principles of popular education for engaged teaching-learning were applied. Nursing students experience equitable access to content through co-constructing knowledge with four creative techniques. RESULTS:Four creative techniques include poem reading aloud to facilitate connectedness; mindfulness to cultivate self-awareness; string figure activities to demonstrate indigenous knowledge and teamwork; and cartooning difficult subject matter. CONCLUSION:Nursing school curricula can promote a milieu for developing organizational skills to manage simultaneous priorities, practice reflectively, and develop empathy and the authenticity that effective nursing requires.;[Article Title: Promoting Faculty Scholarship: A Clinical Faculty Scholars Program / Ann Minnick, Ruth Kleinpell and Linda D. Norman, p. 121-125] Abstract: BACKGROUND:The importance of supporting and promoting faculty scholarship in nursing is acknowledged, but the reality of scholarship for faculty engaged in clinical teaching can be challenging. METHOD:The article describes the development and initial results of the scholarly practice program. Mentorship, time, and limited funding are essentials for the program. RESULTS:After submitting detailed proposals, 15 faculty were chosen to be project leaders in the first 2 years of the program, resulting in 15 presentations, three posters, 19 publications, and a webinar, to date. External continuing funding has been secured by three projects. Additional dissemination efforts are awaiting peer review. CONCLUSION:The program has successfully increased the level of scholarship among clinical teaching faculty and contributed to the faculty's professional satisfaction. Faculty have increased experience and ability to conduct clinical quality improvement. Experience supports targeted, substantial support for projects, rather than a general average faculty allocation strategy to promote scholarship.