Community nursing needs to expand its workforce in the United Kingdom in the immediate future, to accommodate the requirements of an ageing population and the rationalisation of care delivery to community settings resulting from Sustainability and Transformation Plans. It has been reported internationally that student nurses do not always value or learn from their community placements and that this may contribute to an apprehension regarding working in the sector after graduation. This mixed methods study, using a survey and a focus group, investigated students' views of their community placement experiences in relation to the learning environment, their clinical facilitator and the use of a structured learning package to prepare and guide development of skills and knowledge. The triangulated data indicate that students enjoyed their community placements as learning environments, had excellent relationships with their clinical facilitators, and would welcome a more structured information package as an approach to preparation and placement learning. Highlights• Some student nurses do not enjoy or appreciate their community placements.
This DOH funded project aimed to increase the volunteering capacity and the personalisation agenda in 3 organisations which support those with long term conditions, the frail elderly and individuals who are at the end of life.The project sought to create new volunteering opportunities for young people aged 16-18 by challenging the paternalistic and risk adverse attitudes of care providers who were reluctant to let young people volunteer with patients.Project management methodology was used to deliver the project. The organisations held meetings with current staff/volunteers and literature was provided to explain the nature of the project and to answer any questions.All VIPs received comprehensive training which promoted the values of compassion, dignity, communication skills and care supporting tasks, eg assisting people at mealtimes.This first stage of the VIP project has been highly successful and has introduced young volunteers into areas that have not previously been available to them. The key outcome is that, with the right support and training, young people can make a very positive contribution to the personalisation agenda of caring and support. The feedback from staff, patients and the young people themselves has been very positive and they appreciate the employability benefits of being part of the VIP scheme.The project has benefited the hospice in a number of ways, saving money and time eg escorting patients to health appointments etc. However, the wider gains have been the proactive engagement of the hospice in the local community, working with schools and colleges, supporting young people to gain employability skills. By creating volunteering opportunities for young people in these areas, stereotypical attitudes and perceptions can be changed as young people become more informed about how to support personalised, compassionate care for the elderly and dying.
Materials for fusion reactors: Containing a star on Earth Sandy (Alexander) Knowles, the Associate Professor in Nuclear Materials at the University of Birmingham, explores experimental metallurgy research and its structural materials to withstand the extreme temperatures inside nuclear fusion reactors. Fusion Energy provides near limitless energy without generating carbon emissions, or long-live radioactive waste. This entails it can be used for its energy density and small land usage, making it capable of providing stable base-load electricity, making it an ideal solution to our present energy challenges. Companies globally are currently seeking new approaches to fusion energy with development and fast deployment timelines, ultimately seeking to bring fusion to market sooner, potentially before 2040. Representing a ‘moonshot' innovation – with equivalence to the moon landing in terms of the pace and scale of developments needed, this collaborative societal grand challenge of fusion energy is a new opportunity for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), at all levels.
Background: Leadership is an essential element in the skills of healthcare professionals at all levels. This is true for Registered Nurses as well as Nursing Associates, who are registered professionals with a two-year foundation degree programme as role preparation. Objective: This paper reports a study examining potential gains that might accrue from leadership and team-working module in year two of the Nursing Associate Foundation Degree programme at one university in the South West of England. Methods: We conducted a mixed-methods study in the summer of 2020, with a pre- and post-module survey using the Student Leadership Inventory – Self, and a virtual focus group on the video conferencing software Zoom ™. Results: The survey results showed a statistically significant difference between Student Nurse Associates’ scores before and after the module, with a moderate effect size. The virtual focus group confirmed benefits that included growing personal confidence amongst those that attended and that they could identify leadership styles and team dynamics in practice. Conclusion: As effective leadership is associated with patient safety and quality of care, we conclude that not only has this module been effective, but also that such preparation for practice can have important real-world impacts beyond the classroom.
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