Search

This paper reports on the first national UK survey of higher education provision related to dementia care. A questionnaire was distributed to lecturers in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in England and Wales seeking information about the amount of coverage of dementia within their pre-registration and pre-qualifying courses for health and social care professionals, and continuing professional development (CPD) courses on dementia care. Information was sought regarding the content of courses, and their relation to a published "dementia curriculum" [Pulsford et al., The contribution of higher education to dementia care, Journal of Dementia Care 11(4) (2003) 27-29]. Results show that coverage of dementia within the mental health branch of pre-registration nursing programmes is very variable, and may be related to the presence of an experienced and committed lecturer within the HEI. Coverage of dementia on adult branch programmes is limited, and sometimes non-existent, despite reported deficits in the ability of general nurses to work effectively with people with dementia. Occupational Therapists and Social Workers receive similar input to adult branch nurses. CPD courses are provided by around 70% of HEIs overall, but there is a shortage of specialised diploma and degree level courses on dementia care. Most areas of the dementia curriculum are covered in both pre-registration and CPD courses, but culture and diversity, young onset dementia, and physical health care may be less well addressed. Recommendations are made for developing higher education provision for professionals working with this group of people.

This paper reports on a survey of practitioners who act as mentors to student nurses from a Higher Education Institution in Northern England. The aims of the survey were to gain a profile of mentors, and to seek their views regarding their degree of support in undertaking the mentoring role, and their experience of mentors' update sessions. Respondents were experienced as mentors. As a group, they felt supported by their work colleagues, but fewer felt that they had adequate support from the HEI or their managers. Respondents wanted more time for mentoring activities, closer links with the HEI before, during and after practice placements, and more user friendly assessment documentation. Respondents did not report difficulty in spending enough time working with students, although this is a frequent complaint of students. Mentors update sessions were often not attended, either through staff shortages, or through lack of information.

This paper discusses an attempt to introduce liberal studies into a Project 2000 nurse education course. The paper reviews the origins of liberal studies and other attempts to nurture the 'whole person' in further and higher education, and describes a 'contract learning' approach to liberal studies adopted at one college of nursing. The results of an evaluative questionnaire completed by students about the liberal studies component of the course are outlined, and the implications discussed.

Role play is regarded as being a useful learning method for assisting student nurses to improve their interpersonal skills. It can provoke strong feelings in students both for and against its use, and the participation rate in role play exercises tends to be low. This paper describes an experiential exercise designed to introduce the concept of role play to students in a way that is hopefully less threatening than role play 'proper', with the aims of encouraging students to discuss the issues around the use of role play, and to reach a decision as to whether they will participate in role play in the future, and on what terms. It is hoped that the opt-out rate from role playing will be reduced, through students becoming more familiar with the method.

Experiential learning methods are increasingly being used in nurse education, particularly in the field of interpersonal skills training. One basic tenet of experiential learning is that participation in such learning should always be voluntary. This tenet raises issues for nurse teachers committed to this approach who come upon a student who persistently opts out of taking part in experiential exercises, leading sometimes to indirect attempts to coerce students into participating. This paper examines these issues in the light of evidence as to the effectiveness of experiential learning methods. It concludes that attempts to coerce students into participation can never be justified, but non-participation should be minimised if the teacher employs good practice in conducting experiential learning.