The study provides valuable information for the development of strategic risk management programs geared at improving the quality of care delivered to clients and presents an opportunity for nurse leaders to implement structured interventions geared at improving nursing documentation in Jamaica. In light of Jamaica's epidemiologic transition of chronic diseases, gaps in nurses' documentation of client assessment, patient teaching, and discharge planning should be addressed with urgency. Patient teaching and discharge planning enable the clients to participate more effectively in their health maintenance process.
Background/Objective: Print, broadcast and social media in Jamaica have highlighted numerous negative attitudes and behaviours of practicing nurses, while anecdotal reports indicate that attitudes and values displayed by a significant number of nursing students have been less than desirable. Professional values of nursing students are engendered during interactions and associations with nursing professionals; therefore, this study aims to determine professional values of nursing students as well as associations between age and professional values. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted among 102 randomly selected third year students from a school of nursing. Data were collected using a modified version of the 5-dimension (Caring, Trust, Professionalism, Activism and Justice) 26-item Nurses Professional Values Scale-Revised (NPVS-R) Tool. This tool has a scale ranging from 1-5 with 1 representing "not important" and 5 representing "most important". Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0. Descriptive statistics including mean and standard deviation were used to summarize the data. Results: The response rate was 98% and all respondents were females aged 19-39 years. Overall mean scores for the tool were high (4.40 ± 0.51). Trust scored highest (4.62 ± 0.41) and Caring lowest (4.20 ± 0.52). Also, of the 26 items, "honest and accurate documentation" scored highest (4.88 ± 0.41) and the item "willing to take risks to protect clients and colleagues", scored lowest (3.15 ± 1.08). The oldest respondents (25-39 years) scored highest on items related to Professionalism but lowest on Caring, Activism and Justice; while the youngest respondents (19-21 years) scored lowest on Professionalism. Conclusions: Caring and Professionalism received the lowest scores. Notably, the value of Professionalism increased with age while the Caring value decreased. In an effort to improve all professional values among future nurses, a multi-dimensional approached should be undertaken to maintain the standards of nursing care and to improve public perception.
This study explored baccalaureate students' perception of the characteristics of an effective clinical instructor utilizing the Whitehead Characteristics of Effective Clinical Instructor Rating Scale. The instrument is a 39 item 5 point Likert-type scale that measures, interpersonal relationships, personality traits, teaching practices, knowledge and experience, and evaluation procedures. This descriptive, cross-sectional study utilized a sample of 110randomly selected second and third year students from an urban school of nursing. Results showed that students regarded all characteristics as important (m= 4.05 to 4.76). A comparison of the means for the characteristics of an effective clinical instructor by year group, showed significant differences between the year groups for all five categories (p= 0.0001). A comparison of the mean characteristics of effective clinical instructors by age groups revealed statistically significant differences between the mean scores of interpersonal relationship (p= .005), personality traits (p= .024), teaching practices (p= .027) and evaluation procedures (p= .047). Students placed high levels of importance on the characteristics of the Clinical instructor. Therefore to ensure a suitable environment for learning, nursing schools could establish interactive feedback sessions with students and clinical instructors to ensure both groups have an understanding of their expectations of each other.
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