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Changes to the pedagogy of pre-registration nurse education and training have become a global phenomenon. However, the evidence base to inform responses to these changes and the impact on nursing practice is limited. This paper explores the outcomes of an innovative approach aimed at ensuring responses to these drivers for change, particularly in curriculum development, the organisation, management and delivery of programmes and the enhancement of the student experience, are evidence based. This paper reports on an organisational change project undertaken in a School of Nursing in the North West of England, UK. The project involved 12 interrelated work streams used to explore aspects of the student journey from recruitment through progression to eventual employment. An evidence base was developed through a methodological bricolage that drew upon a robust and authentic mixture of systematic literature reviews, contemporaneous analysis of educational practice and evaluation of the student experience. This was used to underpin the decision making processes required to promote innovation in programme design, to increase the involvement of students in the facilitation and evaluation of their learning experiences, and helped shape the organisational changes required for embedding an evidenced-based culture in the School. Consistent and transformational leadership has been key to the project's success in communicating and managing the changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Drawing upon post doctoral reflections of a shared methodology, the authors explore the use of bricolage as a way of better understanding the inter-related connections between theory, nursing practice and the felt experiences of service users. The origins of bricolage can be traced back to the work of Levi-Strauss, and Denzin and Lincoln’s contribution to qualitative methodologies. Bricolage is a multifaceted approach to the research process. Differing epistemological positions and mixed methods of data collection are utilised to bring a richer understanding of human beings and the complexities of their lived experiences. For the bricoleur the object of inquiry, cannot be separated from its context, that is the language used to describe it, its historical situatedness and the social and cultural interpretations of its meaning as an entity in the world. The paper discusses the importance of being able to move beyond the notion of the research method being merely a procedure, to one that respects the complexities of the lived world. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper focuses on the role of the nurse teacher (NT) in supporting student nurse education in clinical practice. The paper draws on the outcomes of a study aimed at exploring student nurse experiences of the pedagogical relationship with NTs during their clinical placements. The participants (N=549) were student nurses studying on pre-registration nursing programmes in Finland. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation and ANOVA. The study showed that the core aspect of NTs work in clinical practice revolved around the relationship between student, mentor and NT. Higher levels of satisfaction were experienced in direct proportion to the number of meetings held between the student and NT. However, whilst the importance of this relationship has been reported elsewhere, an additional aspect of this relationship emerged in the data analysis. Those NT who facilitated good face to face contact also used other methods to enhance the relationship, particularly e-mail, virtual learning environment and texting. This outcome suggests that NT's interpersonal and communicative skills are as important as their clinical knowledge and skills in promoting effective learning in the clinical practice area. The paper argues for such approaches to be utilised within the emergent opportunities afforded by new communication and educational technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past three decades health policy within the United Kingdom (UK) has consistently acknowledged the potential for nurses to contribute to the health of individuals and communities. The educational curricular of pre and post registration nursing programmes has responded to such health policies by placing greater emphasis on the role of the nurse in health promotion and ill health prevention. AIM: This paper explores how pre-registration student nurses in one university experience the impact of these factors on their preparation for practice. DESIGN: This small scale explorative study used a convenience sample of second year pre-registration student nurses (n=100) studying at one university. Data were collected via four focus groups, and from student evaluations of practice placement experiences and self-reported learning outcomes relating to health promotion practice. FINDINGS: The findings suggest a dichotomy between what is espoused in the underpinning theory of the curriculum and what the student nurses actually experience in practice. It highlights some of the difficulties that student nurses have in effecting the professional and policy objectives and argues if nurses are to turn health promotion rhetoric into reality then health promotion practice needs to be more effectively actualised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The sustained modernisation of the UK primary health care service has resulted in individuals and organisations having to develop more integrated ways of working. This has resulted in changes to the structure and functioning of primary care organisations, changes to the traditional workforce, and an increase in scope of primary care practice. These changes have contributed to what for many staff has become a constantly turbulent organisational and practice environment. Data from a three-year project, commissioned by the North West Development Agency is used to explore how staff involved in these changes dealt with this turbulence. Three hundred and fifty staff working within primary care participated in the study. A multimethods approach was used which facilitated an iterative analysis and data collection process. Thematic analysis revealed a high degree of congruence between the perceptions of all staff groups with evidence of a generally well-articulated, but often rhetorical view of the organisational and professional factors involved in how these changes were experienced. This rhetoric was used by individuals as a way of containing both the good and bad elements of their experience. This paper discusses how these defense mechanisms need to be recognised and understood by managers so that a more supportive organisational culture is developed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]