This experimental pilot study was aimed at the development of a quality standard to facilitate medication administration error detection, prevention, and reporting among pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing students. Based ...

Human patient simulation (HPS) is a time and cost intensive teaching modality that is used widely in nursing education, and has been implemented with little evidence to support its efficacy (Jeffries & Rizzolo, 2006). Researchers note the lack of reliable tools to measure learning using this teaching modality, and consequentially there is a paucity of research linking critical thinking and simulation (Jeffries, 2007; Kneebone, 2003; Nehring, 2008). Nursing clinical decision making affects patient outcomes. Critical thinking is a key factor in clinical decision making. A review of the relevant literature is equivocal on the use of simulation in undergraduate nursing programs to increase critical thinking skills. The need for further research to develop evidence that simulation can enhance critical thinking is integral to continue and expand the use of simulation as a teaching-learning strategy in undergraduate nursing programs (Hayden, Smiley, Alexander, Kardong-Edgren, & Jeffries, 2014). The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to evaluate the effect of simulation implementation on nursing students’ critical thinking skills, as measured by Health Education Systems Incorporated (HESI) exit exam critical thinking sub-scores from cohorts of baccalaureate nursing graduates, in an undergraduate nursing education program. Benner’s (1984), model From Novice to Expert, provides a theoretical framework for identifying knowledge acquisition and level of clinical expertise based on skill competency, knowledge, and experience, and underpins this study. The findings from this study may: (a) provide insight into the relationship between simulation and critical thinking; and (b) may strengthen current nursing programs to provide meaningful learning experiences in the education of nursing students that can impact learning outcomes and can affect patient safety in the future. Nursing education programs are challenged to ensure that nursing graduates have the knowledge and higher order critical thinking skills to make accurate clinical decisions, and to provide safe, high quality, cost effective care (National Council of State Boards of Nursing [NCSBN], 2013; National League of Nursing [NLN], 2003)....

Literature supports guided reflection and clinical judgment development as key components to enhancing students’ knowledge and preparation for complex nursing care. Faculty are challenged to prepare new nurses to enter the ...

Introduction: Some health care providers may be reluctant to care for patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The inclusion of educational opportunities for students ...

The National League for Nursing (NLN) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) profess that nursing education has not kept pace with evolving practice requirements and innovative technologies. Nurse educators have been charged ...

While nurse educators believe their graduates are prepared for practice, experienced nurses view new graduates as inadequately prepared and needing improvement in basic psychomotor and clinical reasoning skills. This study ...

Caring, according to Jean Watson (1979), is the “core” and “essence” of nursing. The link between wisdom (knowledge) and caring can be achieved for the faculty member, according to Berkowitz (2011), if more attention is ...

In an attempt to address healthcare disparities, nursing programs have been charged with increasing success rates of minority students to increase diversity within the profession. Despite an upsurge in enrollment numbers of minority students in nursing programs, attrition rates are higher for minority students as compared to majority students. Persistence is paramount for minority students to overcome barriers encountered while pursuing an education in nursing. Perceptions of faculty caring behaviors may heighten nursing students’ academic self-efficacy. This heightened academic self-efficacy may increase the likelihood of persistence consequently increasing the probability of success. Using relational-cultural theory (RCT) as a lens, this study investigated the relationship between perceived faculty caring behaviors and nursing students’ academic self-efficacy, and explored whether the relationship was more significant for minority students as opposed to majority students. A transformative explanatory sequential mixed methods design was employed to answer the research questions. Quantitative data were collected using two standardized instruments: the Nursing Students’ Perception of Faculty Caring and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. Informed by the quantitative data, interviews followed in the qualitative phase to explore students’ perceptions of faculty caring and the impact on minority students’ desire to persist. The results of a Pearson correlation suggested there is no statistically significant relationship between perceptions of faculty caring behaviors and academic self-efficacy. Additionally, the results of a one-way ANOVA yielded no statistical difference among ethnicities in regard to perceptions of faculty caring behaviors or academic self-efficacy. Qualitative data were collected during interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi’s (1978) phenomenological method. The following themes emerged from the qualitative data analysis: Impetus to Pursue a Career in Nursing, Nursing: It’s Not Everyone’s Journey, Overcoming Hurdles: Sources of Inner Strength, Faculty Behaviors: Thermostats for the Learning Climate, and Faculty: Neither Primary Influences or Deterrents of Minority Student Success. The qualitative findings suggest that while faculty behaviors do have an impact on minority students in regard to program selection, they are not primary influences for minority students’ determination or desire to persist....

Background: The mission of nursing programs is to prepare as many students as possible to pass the first-time attempt on the National Council Licensure Examination- RN (NCLEX-RN®). If a school’s first-time pass rate drops ...

Background: Nurses entering the workforce may have limited education in gerontological nursing. Therefore, many nurses are unprepared to provide quality care to older adults. An unprepared nursing workforce could negatively ...