Evaluation of an Older Persons' Assessment Educational Workbook with second year nursing students in the UK
Deborah Coleman
Queen's University, Belfast
Deborah is currently completing her Doctorate of Nursing Practice at Queen's University Belfast and is due to submit her thesis in June 2015. She is a lecturer (education) within the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen's University Belfast. As well as teaching in the undergraduate programme she is Pathway Leader for the BSc (Hons)/Graduate Diploma Specialist Practice in Nursing Care of Older People. Deborah is a Registered Nurse and Specialist Practitioner (District Nursing). With an interest in the health and social care of older people her most recent post in practice was working as a member of a multi-disciplinary team to provide services to older people with complex needs. This developed her interest in the essential skills of patient assessment which has been identified as the cornerstone of quality care provision. The teaching and learning strategies used to support nursing students to develop holistic assessment skills with older people is the focus of her thesis. She maintains an interest in all issues relating to care of the older person, both in practice and education.
Abstract
Background: As a first step to successfully meet the complex health and social needs of older people, patient assessment has become a central feature of government policy and practice in order to ensure that care planning is... [ view full abstract ]
Background: As a first step to successfully meet the complex health and social needs of older people, patient assessment has become a central feature of government policy and practice in order to ensure that care planning is person-centred. A core component of nurse education is clinical practice in order to support the development of clinical skills and competence; therefore it is important to help students and their practice-based mentors to develop and apply older person assessment skills. Therefore, an educational workbook was developed to help 2nd year nursing students to learn a structured, systematic and individualised older person assessment process with the support of their mentor.
Aim: A pilot study to evaluate the impact of an Older Persons’ Assessment Educational Workbook and explore second year nursing students’ competence and their opinions and use of an older person’s assessment skills workbook.
Research Methodology: A pre-experimental design (pre and post-test with no comparison group) was undertaken with n=6 2nd year students in 2014. The outcome measure was the Nursing Competence Questionnaire and results were analysed using the Wilcoxin Signed Rank Test in SPSS version 21. Content analysis of completed workbooks and a survey (n=5) of opinions regarding the workbook was undertaken.
Key Findings- No pre-post-test difference was found in the Nursing Competence Questionnaire with p=0.058 for the total scale. However, as this was a pilot, the study was under-powered and all students’ scores improved. Content analysis of the workbook found that 3 of the 5 participants completed all components of the workbook, with a mean of 1051 words used (Std dev 281.8). Through the survey students reported the workbook as a useful guide when undertaking a patient assessment.
Conclusions: The workbook showed potential as an intervention to help support development of nursing students’ assessment skills in practice.
Authors
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Deborah Coleman
(Queen's University, Belfast)
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Dr Kevin Gormley
(Queen's University, Belfast)
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Dr Janice Christie
(Manchester University)
Topic Areas
Lifecourse, older people or dementia , Education Research
Session
OS-2B2 » OS 2 life course 2 (11:50 - Monday, 30th March, classroom 2)
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