Pedagogy

Pre-Registration

Medical education

Critical thinking

Likert scale

Nursing

Developmental psychology

Psychology

Medicine

Archives of Disease in Childhood

<h3>Aim</h3> The aim of this paper is to report on the evaluation of an educational innovation designed to enhance pre-registration nursing students’ knowledge and skills in recognising and responding to acutely ill/injured children and young people. <h3>Background</h3> It is recognised that nurses are frequently one of the first note and observe the deterioration of a sick child and also may be the first to encounter a cardiac arrest (Nyman and Sihvonen 2000, Madden 2006). Literature indicates that student nurses require further education in the use and application of life support skills using supportive teaching strategies (Niemi-Murola <i>et al.</i> 2007, Gordon and Buckley 2009); students in this cohort endorsed this in that they specifically identified these areas as vital for their future role as qualified nurses. A combination of simulation and problem based approaches has been found to be more effective than lecture based teaching alone (Wayne <i>et al.</i> 2005, Bruce <i>et al.</i> 2009, Szogedi <i>et al.</i> 2010). <h3>Methods</h3> Final year pre-registration children’s nursing students (n = 40) on a BSc (Hons) Nursing programme completed an educational package delivered over four sessions. The training package consisted of a key note lecture, critical appraisal of clinical guidelines, seminar discussions of real life clinical scenarios, small group skills demonstrations and simulated teaching/testing using manikins. A five point Likert scale questionnaire, measuring students’ self-perceived level of confidence, was used to evaluate the impact of the learning experience. Students completed a qualitative evaluation questionnaire as part of an end of unit evaluation. <h3>Results</h3> Evaluation data revealed improvements in students’ confidence, knowledge and skills. Comparisons of students’ pre and post questionnaire scores revealed a statistically significant positive change in their self-perceived levels of confidence. The programme was positively evaluated as an educational package. <h3>Conclusion</h3> This evaluation supports the role of a combination of teaching strategies to enhance knowledge and skills in undergraduate pre-registration nursing students in recognising and responding to acutely ill/injured children and young people.

G29 An education programme to enhance undergraduate pre-registration nursing students’ skills in recognising and responding to acutely ill/injured children and young people: an evaluation