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Nurse faculty need methodologically rigorous yet accessible techniques to evaluate the impact of their teaching strategies and build a strong body of evidence in nursing education science. Conditional process analysis is one such technique that allows researchers to include multiple variables in a single model to disentangle complex influences that instructional processes, student characteristics, and classroom variables have on learning outcomes. Researchers are encouraged to consider conditional process analysis to test and explain the effects of their educational strategies. Practical tools and resources are described that make conditional process analysis feasible for faculty with a basic understanding of statistical methods. [ J Nurs Educ . 2020;60(5):249-251.] .

There is nearly a century of educational research that has demonstrated that three option multiple-choice questions (MCQs) are as valid and reliable as four or five option, yet this format continues to be underutilized in educational institutions. This replication study was a quasi-experimental between groups research design conducted at three Canadian schools of nursing to examine the psychometric properties of three option MCQs when compared to the more traditional four option questions. Data analysis revealed that there were no statistically significant differences in the item discrimination, difficulty or mean examination scores when MCQs were administered with three versus four option answer choices.

Objective: to build an educational hypermedia about nursing care at usual risk birth and to perform validation of content and appearance., Method: methodological research carried out following the following stages: content and planning of modules; media production and organization of tutorial units; organization of student space, tutor and communication between them; availability of hypermedia; assessment by experts in nursing and informatics; and implementation of proposed suggestions., Results: educational hypermedia showed to be a validated material, since it presented an optimum index of global content of 0.97 and statistical significance in the binomial test for the content and appearance., Conclusion: it is believed that the use of this material with undergraduate students in nursing will contribute to the quality of obstetric care, considering that it is an illustrated technology capable of favoring teaching-learning about normal humanized childbirth.

Purpose: To develop a methodology for identifying the universal nursing competencies required for registered nurses (RNs)., Design: A mixed-methods approach was used., Methods: The research in this article entails a combination of different methodological approaches, namely the Delphi technique and an empirical quantitative nonexperimental study. A total of 14 experts with credentials in the nursing field participated in the former. Consensus was defined as at least 80% agreement. Subsequently, a purposive sample of 321 RNs participated in the empirical quantitative nonexperimental study. The data were collected during 2014., Findings: In the study's first stage, 39 professional nursing competencies were identified using the Delphi technique. In the second stage, factor analysis resulted in seven factors: professional nursing clinical practice; professional communication and quality in nursing; determinants of health and safety in nursing; critical thinking and self-planning of professional work; new knowledge and knowledge transfer in nursing; management and coordination in nursing; and nursing research. Together they explain 74.9% of the variance., Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: In the future, the identification of the national nursing competencies should be considered. The study has some limitations; however, the proposed methodology revealed in this study may be the first step in overcoming them., (© 2019 Sigma Theta Tau International.)

Purpose: To compare pain assessment documentation postopioid administration in hospitalized patients before and after implementing nurse education., Methods: Patients 18 years and older were randomly selected for inclusion if they received 1 opioid dose while admitted to the hospital. Through retrospective chart review, opioid data, including date and time, were collected for each opioid administered. Pain score data, including time and date of documentation, were recorded for analysis. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether a nursing education intervention would improve documentation of pain scores within an appropriate time frame postadministration of an opioid medication. The intervention was a training presentation uploaded to the institution's intranet with an assessment. The primary outcome was measured by comparing the frequency by which nurses documented pain scores following opioid administration before and after education., Results: Three hundred twenty patients (160 patients per time period) were evaluated. The percentage of pain scores recorded within the appropriate assessment time following opioid administration increased from 32.9% to 37.8% ( P = .003). The proportion of appropriate pain score documentation increased 4.9% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.6%-8.2%)., Conclusion: An increase in the documentation of efficacy assessments after opioid administration was demonstrated after nursing education. Further studies should be done to identify additional strategies to increase monitoring as well as to identify a benchmark for institutions with regard to pain management monitoring.

Background: Applying the proper technique for connections in Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) is crucial in preventing potential infectious complications., Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of different education methods in PD application training on the psychomotor skills and self-efficacy of nursing students., Methods: The randomized controlled and experimental study was conducted with a total of 28 nursing student participants. The PD training was provided theoretically and by using a PD simulator for the experimental group and by using videos for the control group. At the end of the training, each student who was included in the experimental and control group were asked to perform PD on the PD simulator one by one. Psychomotor skills were evaluated according to the PD application skill evaluation criteria. Self-efficacy of the students before and after the application was also measured., Results: Psychomotor skill scores of the students were found to be significantly higher in the experimental group, and there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of self-efficacy scores. No statistically significant difference was detected between the self-efficacy scores of the experimental group regarding pre-test and post-test results., Conclusion: This technique can be used to improve the development of psychomotor skills, since the demonstration of the PD application with the simulation technique is effective in the development of psychomotor skills.

Nursing is possible owing to a series of intricate systemic relations. Building on an established tradition of sociological research, we critically analysed the nursing profession in Chile, with an emphasis on its education system, in the light of social systems theory. The paper's aim was to explore basic characteristics of nursing education as a system, so as to outline its current evolution. Drawing on recent developments in nursing, we applied an empirical framework to identify and discuss functionally differentiated systems that are relevant to nursing and observe communications between them. We found that the dynamics of nursing as a whole develop from communications with closely related systems, including the nursing profession and the education system more broadly. While the discipline (as a system of representations) strives to control the profession (as an applied occupational field), the necessities of practicing nurses imply other forces mediating the making of the profession, a process framed by market dynamics in education and health., (© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Pilot studies are a commonly described type of study in the nursing education literature. Although nursing education researchers continue to label small, single-site, hypothesis-driven studies as pilot studies, the consensus in other fields as to what constitutes a pilot study has changed over time to focus more narrowly on issues of feasibility and acceptability of study interventions and interactions. Nursing education researchers are encouraged to adopt more modern definitions of pilot studies that substantially reduce (or eliminate) the focus on inferential statistical testing while increasing the focus on practical and procedural aspects of study design and implementation. This article highlights the historical evolution of the term pilot study and provides researchers with suggestions about the purpose and focus of pilot studies that support development of the science of nursing education. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(8):457-459.]., (Copyright 2018, SLACK Incorporated.)

Nursing researchers have been encouraged for decades to address the validity of their statistical conclusions in part by accumulating evidence from studies that are capable of correctly identifying relationships between variables when those relationships are truly present. However, it has been noted that only a fraction of nursing studies appear to have undertaken power analyses to help mitigate the risk of Type II statistical conclusion errors. This Methodology Corner article reviews some of the major aspects of power analysis procedures and reiterates recommendations that researchers who plan to use inferential statistical analyses also conduct a power analysis to guide decision making about target sample sizes to increase the validity of study findings. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(5):262-264.]., (Copyright 2018, SLACK Incorporated.)

Studying the effectiveness of educational interventions is centrally important to building the science of nursing education. Yet, the design most commonly used in the study of nursing education interventions-the single-group, preand posttest design-provides limited evidence to support claims of intervention effectiveness. In this Methodology Corner installment, the limitations of the single-group, preand posttest design are outlined and a review of the requirements for establishing stronger arguments for causality is presented. To overcome the limitations of single-group, preand posttest designs, nursing education researchers are encouraged to employ study designs and procedures that can significantly strengthen researchers' claims of intervention effectiveness. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(2):69-71.]., (Copyright 2018, SLACK Incorporated.)

Like many other fields and subfields within the social sciences, education, and medicine, nursing education research has a long history of giving p-values associated with common statistical tests a position of primary importance in interpreting study findings. Global, transdisciplinary efforts are underway to diminish the role p-values play in making judgements about the significance of study findings by changing the threshold p-value used to pronounce statistical significance, through the use of Bayesian statistics, and through efforts to report effect sizes alongside p-values. In this month's Methodology Corner installment, the focus is on effect sizes and their role in enhancing the value and utility of nursing education research studies. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(11):645-647.]., (Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.)

Background: There is an increase in students enrolled in higher education diagnosed with mental illness or experiencing symptoms suggestive of mental health issues (MHI). This has a significant impact on the faculty-student relationship., Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify the basic social psychological process that occurs when nursing faculty interact with students with MHI., Design: Grounded theory methodology was implemented to identify the basic social psychological process that occurs when faculty encounter students with MHI. Thirteen nursing faculty were interviewed. Data were analyzed using line by line coding and constant comparative analysis., Results: The resulting substantive theory, navigating the faculty-student relationship in the context of student MHI, is an iterative four-phase process: noticing, responding, experiencing, and reflecting., Conclusion: This theory provides a framework for understanding how nursing faculty recognize and address student MHI. The theory can be used to establish interventional strategies and best practice guidelines.

There are various tools available in acute and primary care settings to support decision making about safe-staffing levels. Calculating safe staffing levels is about more than just the number of people on duty. It must reflect skill mix and tasks, and this is more complex outside traditional nursing roles. It is essential that research nurses, who work in multidisciplinary teams collecting the evidence that underpins safe and effective healthcare, are equipped to practise safely, but staffing level tools do not take their unique roles into account. This article describes University Hospitals Bristol Research Work Plan Tool (BRIS-TOOL), developed to enable research managers to identify skill mix in their teams and support effective study planning. It also discusses how the tool accurately reflects research teams' productivity. Finally, the article suggests that the tool can be used to profile research posts, illustrate the breadth of work undertaken in these posts, inform study design and help clinical colleagues to understand research roles better.

Speed posters were used as an alternative concurrent session option during a national nursing education conference. The session format was received positively by both participants and presenters, and, as a result, recommendations for use were developed by the conference planners. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2016;47(8):344-346., (Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.)

Introduction: Oral feeding is a complex physiological process. Several scales have been developed to assess the ability of the neonate to begin suck feedings and assist caregivers in determining feeding advancement. However, feeding premature neonates remains an ongoing challenge and depends above all on caregivers' feeding expertise. We will evaluate the effect of a nurse training programme on the achievement of full oral feeding with premature neonates., Methods and Analysis: The study design will be an interrupted time series design with 3 phases: (1) A 6-month baseline period; (2) a 22-month intervention period and (3) a 6-month postintervention period. The intervention will consist of an educational programme, for nurses and assistant nurses, on feeding patterns in neonates. The training modules will be composed of a 2-day conference, 2 interactive multidisciplinary workshops, and routine practice nurse coaching. A total of 120 nurses and 12 assistant nurses, who work at the neonatal unit during the study period, will participate in the study. All premature neonates of <34 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA) will be included. The primary outcome will be the age of tube withdrawal PMA and chronological age are taken into account. The secondary outcomes will be the transition time, length of hospital stay, competent suckle feeding without cardiorespiratory compromise, rate of neonates presenting with feeding issues or feeding rejection signs, and current neonatal pathologies or deaths during hospital stay. A segmented regression analysis will be performed to assess the impact of the programme., Ethics and Dissemination: Approval for the study was obtained from the Hospital Ethics Committee, and the Institutional Review Board, as well as the French Data Protection Agency. The findings from the study will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals, national and international conference presentations and public events., Trial Registration Number: NCT02404272 (https://clinicaltrials.gov)., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/)

Aim: This article reports the use of Twitter as an intervention delivery method in a multisite experimental nursing research study., Background: A form of social networking, Twitter is considered a useful means of communication, particularly with millennials. This method was chosen based on current literature exploring the characteristics of millennial students., Method: Ahern's Model of Adolescent Resilience served as the theoretical framework. Participants were 70 junior-level baccalaureate nursing students, ages 19-23, at two state-supported universities., Results: Twitter was found to be a convenient, cost-effective, and enjoyable means of intervention delivery for the researcher. Participants in the experimental and control groups expressed positive feelings about the use of Twitter., Conclusion: The findings contribute to future efforts to use social media in nursing research and education to increase faculty-student engagement, promote critical reflection, provide social support, reinforce course content, and increase the sense of community.

The author, who has had previous experience as a nurse researcher, has been engaged in helping nurse lecturers to undertake evaluation research studies into innovations in their teaching, learning and assessment methods. In order to undertake this work successfully, it was important to move from thinking like a nurse researcher to thinking like an educational researcher and developing the role of the nursing lecturer as researcher of their teaching. This article explores the difference between evaluation and evaluation research and argues for the need to use educational research methods when undertaking evaluation research into innovations in teaching, learning and assessment. A new model for educational evaluation research is presented together with two case examples of the model in use. The model has been tested on over 30 research studies into innovations in teaching, learning and assessment over the past 8 years., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) must be prepared to care for the rapidly increasing numbers of older adults with mental health needs. All 363 graduate nursing programs in the United States were surveyed regarding the nature and extent of geropsychiatric nursing (GPN) content across program curricula and their perceptions of the influence that the APRN Consensus Model has exerted on preparing the next generation of APRNs to meet the growing needs of the older adult population. Of the 202 schools responding, 138 reported GPN content in one or more clinical programs, with the majority of content in non-PMHNP programs. Only 17 schools reported offering a GPN program, track, or minor. The majority of schools (n = 169) perceived that they were adequately well-prepared to meet the APRN Consensus Model's guidelines regarding inclusion of aging-related didactic and clinical educational experiences in all APRN education programs; nearly two thirds (n = 132) perceived a moderate to significant influence of the Consensus Model on institutional infusion of GPN into curricula. Compared with a similar survey 10 years ago, there was little change in the proportion of schools reporting GPN in clinical programs and few schools provide GPN programs, tracks, or minors. Implications for nursing education and practice are discussed., (© The Author(s) 2015.)

Nurse educators must develop evidence-based strategies that prepare new graduates to function in a dynamic health care environment. Student satisfaction with their clinical learning has been identified as a particular outcome of interest. A secondary analysis of pilot study data was performed to determine predictors of student satisfaction in the medical-surgical clinical environment. All dimensions of the clinical learning environment were measured using a published, validated instrument. Two dimensions, Task Orientation and Individualization, significantly predicted satisfaction, explaining 57 percent of the variance. To improve satisfaction, clinical faculty should make clear assignments, provide specific instructions, maintain organization, and provide individualized attention.

Aim: To explore the decision-making process of BSN faculty when determining which best practices to use for classroom testing., Method: A descriptive, correlational study was conducted with a national sample (N = 127) of full-time BSN faculty. Participants completed a web-based survey incorporating instruments that measured beliefs about evaluation, decision-making, and best practices for item analysis and constructing and revising classroom tests., Results: Study participants represented 31 states and were primarily middle-aged white women. In multiple linear regression analyses, faculty beliefs, contextual factors for decision-making, and decision-making processes accounted for statistically significant amounts of the variance in item analysis and test construction and revision. Strong faculty beliefs that rules were important when evaluating students was a significant predictor of increased use of best practices., Conclusion: Results support that understanding faculty beliefs around classroom testing is important in promoting the use of best practices.

Background: Service-learning programs are becoming more evident in baccalaureate nursing curriculums. Anecdotal evidence describing student perceptions has been written; however, research has not been conducted regarding the in-depth student experience of service-learning with vulnerable populations in inner cities., Method: This study was conducted using Colaizzi's descriptive phenomenological method of inquiry. Through purposeful sampling, 10 students were interviewed who have participated in service-learning throughout their sophomore, junior, and senior years of nursing education., Results: Five themes were identified-Shattering Stereotypes, Overwhelmed With Their Need, Transitioning to Community Caregiver, Advocating, and Reciprocal Benefits-and a fundamental structure emerged., Conclusion: Listening to the voices of students participating in service-learning enables educators to gain an in-depth perspective of their experience and, ultimately, to maximize the service-learning program and improve care delivered to this vulnerable inner city population., (Copyright 2015, SLACK Incorporated.)

Objective: To study the effectiveness of an obstetrics-based advanced cardiac life support education (ACLS OB) program with pre- and postcourse maternal mock code drills and surveys evaluating satisfaction and self-confidence in abilities of labor and delivery (L&D) nurses to perform ACLS algorithms., Design: Quasi-experimental pretest/posttest study., Setting: Obstetric units in a community hospital system., Participants: Labor and delivery nurses (N = 96)., Methods: Nurses rotated through an ACLS OB course when their ACLS recertification was due. Two studies were done. Prior to the class, nurses participated in a maternal mock code drill during annual skills review, and performances were scored. One year later, nurses participated in maternal mock code drills. Results were compared with the previous year's scores. In the second study, pre- and postclass surveys were completed reflecting nurses' satisfaction and self-confidence with successfully completing elements of American Heart Association (AHA) algorithms following attendance at traditional ACLS classes versus ACLS OB., Results: The scores of nurses who completed the ACLS OB course were significantly greater overall when performing ACLS MegaCode algorithms (z = -6.08, p < .001) for 18 of 21 individual elements of the algorithm. Nurses reported statistically significant increases (p < .001) in all 13 elements of satisfaction and self-confidence following completion of ACLS OB over traditional ACLS courses., Conclusions: Emphasizing changes in ACLS for obstetric patients during the precourse and using patient scenarios encountered in obstetric settings improved nurses' performance in maternal MegaCode scenarios. The course also increased self-satisfaction and self-confidence of obstetric nurses in their ability to perform ACLS algorithms., (© 2015 AWHONN, the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.)

Aim: To offer dramatic poetry as representing findings from narrative research that is more accessible., Background: This article is drawn from the author's doctorate work on how students' stories about their 'clinical' experiences can aid learning., Data Sources: Nursing students' stories of clinical practice experiences when engaged in the care of patients represented as dramatic poetry., Review Methods: Qualitative analytical approaches in narrative data analysis to provide a review of student stories from a variety of perspectives., Discussion: This article illustrates a method for converting story data to poetry. It suggests that a range of audiences can learn from nursing students' stories of clinical practice when translated into dramatic poetry., Conclusion: Audiences can come close to understanding what students are experiencing in practice when engaged in the care of patients and learning from their practice experiences, when these experiences are expressed as dramatic poetry., Implications for Research/practice: Representing findings from narrative research as dramatic poetry can help audiences engage with nursing students' experiences at an emotional level. Enabling researchers and readers to become immersed in the poem transforming their understanding of what the students have learned.

Background: Student nurses identify many barriers to assessing patients' risk for suicide., Objective: This pilot study developed and tested an innovative active learning strategy using simulated standardized patients to determine its effectiveness in teaching suicide assessment skills to a sample of 34 junior and senior baccalaureate nursing students., Design: This study employed an experimental, two-group posttest design and three National League for Nursing/Laerdal Simulation Evaluation instruments. After reading about suicide assessment, the experimental group was exposed to a simulated standardized patient portraying a suicidal patient. The control group received a recorded lecture on suicide assessment., Results: The experimental group demonstrated a significant difference in student scores of self-confidence, satisfaction, and student perceptions of the educational practices (active learning, collaboration, and appeal to diverse learning styles) when compared to the lecture format., Conclusion: Suicide assessment is a critical assessment skill set that can be effectively taught to nursing students using standardized patients., (© The Author(s) 2015.)

As pre-registration nurse education programmes evolve within the United Kingdom, it is imperative to involve patient/client groups within the research process, as the outcome may invoke a change in the care delivery of the registered nurse (RN). This paper focuses upon children and how children might hypothetically contribute to informing a generic nursing programme in their capacity as a rights holder and expert in their own lives. Even though their contribution and value has been debated around their capacity as research advisor, research participant and co researcher, this paper explores how the child's view of their experience of hospital and of the good nurse could be best captured. Research is a powerful vehicle that can enable their voice to equally inform UK nurse educators and policy makers so that the child's health care needs are effectively met in hospital by RN's who complete a generic programme.

Experiential teaching strategies have the potential to more effectively help students with critical thinking than traditional lecture formats. Gaming is an experiential teaching-learning strategy that reinforces teamwork, interaction, and enjoyment and introduces the element of play. Two Bachelor of Science in Nursing students and a clinical instructor created a Jeopardy!(®)-style game to enhance understanding of psychopharmacology, foster student engagement in the learning process, and promote student enjoyment during clinical postconference. The current article evaluates the utility, relevance, and effectiveness of gaming using a Jeopardy!(®)-style format for the psychiatric clinical setting. Students identified the strengths of this learning activity as increased awareness of knowledge deficits, as well as the reinforcement of existing knowledge and the value of teamwork., (Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.)

The aim of this article is to consider the value of qualitative research to inform nurse education and policy for the hospitalized child and young person (CYP). The theoretical issues and tensions inherent in qualitative research with children and young people's nursing are presented in conjunction with a discussion and analysis of how the epistemological and ontological concepts underpin and guide research. It is then followed by an exploration of their influence on enabling nurses to understand the CYP's perspective, before finally leading to an analysis of the impact on the development of policy and research.

Aim: To describe how case study research (CSR) was used inductively as an all-encompassing theoretical framework to examine learning in the workplace., Background: Case study research is a method with strong philosophical underpinnings which provides a framework for exploratory research in real-life settings ( Yin 2009 )., Data Sources: A study of five students' experiences of learning in healthcare environments to explore real-life contexts over the course of two years. The study was rich with empirical data, offering a pragmatic framework for learning in the workplace., Review Methods: Observations, interviews and documents were used., Discussion: As a result of using CSR, the findings were analysed systematically and rigorously. Using multiple methods verified data and strengthened the significance of the findings., Conclusions: This paper focuses on the strengths of using the CSR methodology. CSR embraces qualitative research methods in a rigorous and systematic manner. CSR has been applied to one example of research, addressing each step of the research protocol to use CSR to its full potential., Implications for Practice/research: CSR enables real-life settings to be studied systematically and rigorously, offering examples of practice in nursing and education.

Background: South Africa transformed higher education through the enactment of the Higher Education Act (No. 101 of 1997). The researcher identified the need to develop a model for the mentoring of newly-appointed nurse educators in nursing education institutions in South Africa. , Objectives: To develop and describe the model for mentoring newly-appointed nurse educators in nursing education institutions in South Africa. , Method: A qualitative and theory-generating design was used (following empirical findings regarding needs analysis) in order to develop the model. The conceptualisation of the framework focused on the context, content, process and the theoretical domains that influenced the model. Ideas from different theories were borrowed from and integrated with the literature and deductive and inductive strategies were applied. , Results: The structure of the model is multidimensional and complex in nature (macro, mesoand micro) based on the philosophy of reflective practice, competency-based practice andcritical learning theories. The assumptions are in relation to stakeholders, context, mentoring, outcome, process and dynamic. The stakeholders are the mentor and mentee within an interactive participatory relationship. The mentoring takes place within the process with a sequence of activities such as relationship building, development, engagement, reflective process and assessment. Capacity building and empowerment are outcomes of mentoring driven by motivation. , Conclusion: The implication for nurse managers is that the model can be used to develop mentoring programmes for newly-appointed nurse educators.

This participatory study used PhotoVoice and qualitative description to (a) mentor baccalaureate nursing and college students in workforce diversity research; (b) explore barriers and facilitators encountered by rural American Indian, Hispanic, and other high school students when attending college and pursuing careers in nursing or the health sciences; and (c) model a process of social action to help existing and future students. Baccalaureate nursing and graduate students participated in all stages of research, including dissemination. Five themes emerged from analysis of PhotoVoice data: (a) being afraid; (b) believing; (c) taking small steps; (d) facing fears; and (e) using support systems. Findings underscore the importance of helping students participate in efforts to increase work-force diversity through research. Increasing nursing and health sciences workforce diversity may require strategies developed within and tailored to specific cultures and communities., (Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.)

The nurses' role in providing spiritual care to in-hospital patients is not clearly outlined in the Republic of Ireland (ROI). This and other deficits reveal that there are current gaps in nurses' knowledge and confidence in this area. In response, an educational innovation has been developed and this article reports on its development.

Advancing the science of nursing education will require the discipline to conduct research that investigates complex phenomena, such as students' clinical thinking and decision-making skills, using multiple methods. The research methods developed in other disciplines can provide nursing education researchers with new ways to investigate clinical teaching and learning in nursing. The critical decision method (CDM), derived from psychology and human factors engineering, is a technique by which researchers elicit experts' thinking and the cognitive work informing decision making in the context of practice. This article describes how the CDM was adapted to study nursing students' situation awareness, cues for action, and pattern recognition during clinical experiences. The CDM is a promising method for investigators to use to conduct research in nursing education and to inform the design of clinical experiences to promote these critical abilities., (Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.)

Continuing education providers continue to struggle with the concept of gap analysis, a required component of the needs assessment process in the American Nurses Credentialing Center accreditation program. This column offers information on identifying a gap and examples of how this fits into the planning process., (Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.)

Aim: This study examined how applying the seven principles of effective teaching to designing and delivering an undergraduate nursing research course in a hybrid format affected course quality., Background: Existing research does not adequately describe how the design and delivery processes of hybrid courses affect course outcomes or how these processes address informatics learning resources and students' varying levels of computer skills., Method: A hybrid nursing research course was designed and delivered to 105 nursing students using Blackboard and Tegrity systems. Using a mixed-methods approach, students' satisfaction with the course was measured and achievement was compared with those of a comparable previous cohort that had taken the same course in the traditional format., Results: Students reported high satisfaction with the course and obtained significantly higher scores than students in the previous semester. Concerns included working in groups and the additional workload associated with the online component. CONCLUSION Applying the seven principles of effective teaching in design and delivery can improve the quality of hybrid courses.

Aim: To compare the methodologic quality and study/report characteristics between quantitative clinical nursing and nursing education research articles., Background: The methodologic quality of quantitative nursing education research needs to advance to a higher level. Clinical research can provide guidance for nursing education to reach this level., Method: One hundred quantitative clinical research articles from-high impact journals published in 2007 and 37 education research articles from high impact journals published in 2006 to 2007 were chosen for analysis., Results: Clinical articles had significantly higher quality scores than education articles in three domains: number of institutions studied, type of data, and outcomes., Conclusion: The findings indicate three ways in which nursing education researchers can strengthen the methodologic quality of their quantitative research. With this approach, greater funding may be secured for advancing the science of nursing education.

Aim: To describe an example of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) in a study about the role of clinical placement, nursing education and patient outcomes., Background: Clinical placement is often considered an essential aspect of nursing education and an invaluable way to prepare students for the reality of nursing. However, many questions about the role of clinical placement remain unanswered, such as duration, style and learning outcomes. QCA is a novel approach to data analysis, which has been used for some time in social science research, and may be useful in tackling such questions., Data Sources: Participants (n= 16) involved in a case study using questionnaire, in-depth interview and document analysis., Review Methods: Few examples of QCA exist in nursing-related research. Examination of approaches to social sciences and educational research, and the conditions that influence nursing education and clinical placement were conducted via a number of online database searches., Discussion: The paper presents an example of how QCA was used to consider whether there is any causal relationship between certain features of clinical placement, such as duration, level of preparation, level of benefit, and the capacity of recently graduated registered nurses to provide a range of nursing interventions for pneumonia, falls and pressure-area care. Effective and contemporary curriculum design requires examination of the components of clinical placement that influence graduates and their learning, particularly important at a time when access to the clinical placement setting is becoming increasingly difficult. This paper should stimulate nurse researchers to consider the potential for QCA and case study in addressing many of the complex questions that lend themselves to research designs with small numbers of participants., Conclusion: This paper will be of interest to nurse researchers looking for innovative approaches to data analysis and educators responsible for curriculum design and the delivery of clinical placement experience., Implications for Practice: A greater understanding of the role o f clinical placement experiences inthe education of nurses has direct implications for the provision of better health care.

The conceptual map is considered a strategy that enables the development of critical thinking skills. The aim of this article was to evaluate concept maps produced by students to obtain an understanding of research projects. This is an experience report based on the Special Topic: concept map of the Graduate Program in Nursing/Federal University of Paraiba in February/2012. Methodology comprised interactive reading of concept maps, installation and use of Cmap Tools software and construction of concept maps. Concept evaluation included coherence, propositions, clarity of ideas and logical relation between concepts. This evaluation of maps revealed consistency among concepts, significant relationships, clarity of ideas and logical relationship between the stages of a research project. Results showed that the concept map is a valid strategy to evaluate the learning-teaching process and can be used for education, research and reflection in the nursing practice.

Competency measurement is central to the optimisation of outcome oriented educational processes in nursing, similar to the concept of evidence based practice. The classification of measurement tools provides the basis for describing the current state of research and development in relation to competence measurement in nursing science, and any gaps are identified. The article concludes with questioning the importance of outcome oriented quality orientation in order to achieve an increase in quality during training. Further methodological developments and qualitative studies are needed to examine the context specific processes of interaction and learning, beyond competence diagnostics., (Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier GmbH.)

There is currently a greater emphasis on community-based health care and, with that, a shift in focus for pre-registration nursing education within policy documents and standards (Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), 2010). This paper reports a mixed methods study that examined the implementation of an initiative that enabled third year adult field student nurses the opportunity to spend the final year of their education within the community setting. Using a questionnaire and focus groups, the views of students at the end of the 12-month period were captured. The diverse approach to the placement provision enabled undergraduate nurses to be fit for purpose and ensured that practice at the point of registration would meet the challenges of working in the community setting. Students developed confidence through the diverse placement provision, opportunities for lone working and the support provided by mentors. This model of placement provision is worthy of consideration by service leads and curriculum planners, particularly in view of the present focus of the NMC's (2010) standards for pre-registration nursing programmes.

The transition from RN to nurse practitioner presents challenges. Because nurse practitioners require deeper critical decision-making abilities to provide safe and quality health care, the Master in Advanced Nursing Practice curriculum implemented reflective case studies to facilitate active and reflective learning. To identify the learning opportunities, we performed a qualitative interpretative study of 77 reflective case studies written by students enrolled in the program. Analysis revealed two categories of learning opportunities-(a) Direct Care, with subcategories of focusing on patients' needs, exploring one's own values, and providing comprehensive care; and (b) Increased Performance Demands, with subcategories of handling independence and dependence, and dealing with emotions. The reflective case study is a powerful educational tool to create and guide a new professional with increased responsibilities for a comprehensive and compassionate response to patients' needs., (Copyright 2012, SLACK Incorporated.)