Search

Australian and New Zealand nurses are required to make statutory disclosures as part of their nursing registration renewal. One area of self-disclosure relates to maintaining competence to practise. Nurses are required to develop and maintain a portfolio that demonstrates their assessment of practice, continuing professional development (CPD) and recency of practice in order to meet their registering bodies' required standards. One of the obstacles for nurses is a clear understanding of what constitutes a professional portfolio as well as what is required of them to demonstrate continuing competence. This paper discusses, from both the Australian and New Zealand regulation authorities' perspectives, the maintenance of competency, the requirements for demonstrating CPD, and how a professional portfolio assists in providing this evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medication calculation and administration are commonly performed nursing tasks. A consequence of this frequency is the potential for a higher incidence of medication-related errors. One strategy to assess proficiency in medication calculation is an annual medication calculation competency quiz. Traditionally, these quizzes are done in paper form at an institutional level and require educators or managers to administer and mark the quiz manually by hand. This paper discusses the rationale, challenges and peer-review process associated with the development of an e-learning programme designed to assess proficiency in medication calculation and the quality use of renal medicines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It has previously been shown that nurses can learn clinical nursing skills by e-learning (online), and that many variables will influence how well nurses adopt learned clinical skills using distance education., Objectives: This study aimed to identify and measure the strength of those factors which would simultaneously influence registered nurses' (RNs') beliefs about their own learning about buttonhole cannulation, using e-learning., Design: An online Likert style survey consisting of a list of statements related to knowledge and skill domains considered crucial in the area of buttonhole cannulation was distributed to 101 RNs before and after completing an e-learning programme. Participants were required to identify their current level of self-confidence in relationship to each of the statements., Measurements: Measures of RNs' self-rated abilities to assess and implement buttonhole cannulation after completing a related e-learning program were tested using a Partial Least Squares Analysis (PLS-PATH) programme., Results: The study's results strongly identify that the nurses' ability to meet both clinical and educational outcomes of the renal e-learning module can be predicted by six variables, none of which are directly related to the participants' demographic or clinical backgrounds., Conclusion: These findings support the use of e-learning to teach clinical skills to RNs, and demonstrate the value of Partial Least Squares Analysis in determining influential learning factors., (© 2014 European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses Association/European Renal Care Association.)

Nephrology nurse educators face many challenges related to professional development and resource sharing. In Australia and New Zealand, as well as other countries where the 'tyranny of distance' is a feature, access, equity and lack of educational support due to the geographical isolation of many nephrology units, present particular challenges. This paper reports the findings from a case study of 51 nephrology nurse educators in Australia. Using an exploratory descriptive approach, the study aimed to identify current issues facing nephrology nurse educators and determine the feasibility of developing an online community of practice to support them in their role. An outcome of the study was the establishment of The Nephrology Educators' Network. This network seeks to enhance peer support, collegiality, critical companionship, collaboration, knowledge sharing and the benchmarking of practices for those involved in nephrology nurse education. In this paper, we describe and reflect on some of the outcomes and challenges faced in developing this network., (© 2011 European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses Association/European Renal Care Association.)