Incivility is rude or discourteous behavior that demonstrates a lack of respect for others. Some nurses ignore the dictates of professionalism and exhibit a total disregard for colleagues and peers by purposefully targeting each other with uncivil behaviors. Incivility has invaded the nursing educational environment with deleterious results. Uncivil behaviors perpetrated by nursing students against other nursing students cause psychological and physiological distress for victims and witnesses. The purposes of this quantitative descriptive study were to identify the behaviors that constituted lateral student-to-student incivility, determine the frequency of experienced student-to-student incivility, and describe the coping strategies employed by prelicensure registered nursing students experiencing lateral student-to-student incivility. Prelicensure registered nursing students in associate degree, baccalaureate degree, and diploma programs were recruited online using nonprobability convenience sampling through the email member list of a national student nursing organization. Participants completed the Ways of Coping (Revised)* survey and the Incivility in Nursing Education Revised (INE-R) Survey anonymously online via email accounts. The response rate was 38%. Four behaviors are identified as highly uncivil by 83.1% to 86.1% of the 373 participants: (1) making threatening statements about weapons; (2) threats of physical harm against others; (3) property damage; and (4) making discriminating comments directed toward others. The most frequently occurring incivility behavior (n = 202; 54.2%) is the use of media devices for purposes unrelated to the current educational task. Planful problem-solving (PP) is the coping strategy employed by most participants (n = 88, 23.6%). Data was analyzed comparing participants’ nursing program levels, ages, genders, and ethnicities using descriptive statistics and Kruskal-Wallis analyses. There were no statistically significant differences across these variables.

This study focused on the experiences of ethnic minority nursing students at a predominately white institution, the Health Sciences University School of Nursing in an attempt to learn more about the stress, appraisal, and coping of this group of individuals. The University School of Nursing was selected as a comparison site as it offered a setting with no predominate ethnic group. Faculty•s perceptions of students stress, appraisal and coping were sought to provide a context for the students• experience. A review of the literature indicated that ethnic minority students in predominately white universities experience alienation. At some universities white and ethnic minority students and faculty differ in their perceptions of what should be offered as support to ethnic minority students. Studying the experiences of students at a health care science university, dedicated to the health and care of individuals provided useful insights. Of particular importance was the investigation of what constituted problematic and nonconstructive relationships and structures. Symbolic interactionism, socialization theory, stress, appraisal and coping theory and attribution theory offered sensitizing concepts from which 23 ethnic minority nursing student and 12 nursing faculty interviews were taped, and analyzed. A constant comparative method of qualitative analysis proposed by Glaser and Strauss offered a systematic approach in developing substantive concepts. Common to most nursing students was the phenomenon of making it in nursing school. Making it was characterized by two main categories, being out of control and gaining control. Being out-of-control was understood as the stress producing threats of conflicting demands of family, work and school and being sanctioned, the evaluation and approval by faculty of ones• professional performance. Gaining control included managing multiple demands, reaffirming ones• choice of nursing and disengaging from the student role to becoming a nurse. A set of experiences unique to ethnic minority students was identified when some aspect of ethnicity was central to the problematic experience. A core phenomenon of exclusion as a threat to identity emerged. Three forms of exclusion were identified: (1) linguistic difficulty; (2) interpersonal disregard; (3) ethno-cultural incongruity. Students 1 acceptance of responsibility for the problematic situation influenced their coping strategies. Holding back, keeping silent, disengaging and giving up were the usual coping responses. Only when the stakes were high, for example passing a course, would students speak out, negotiate or confront to in order to preserve their academic progression. Faculty accurately identified students 1 stresses as: staggering under the load, building a professional identity, experiencing isolation and facing cultural unresponsiveness. Faculty misidentified some of students 1 withdrawal coping behaviors as a cultural norm of being quiet or reserved. In addition, faculty offered descriptions of their own stress in teaching ethnic minority students with English as a second language such as trying to decide when to bend over backwards to help the students and when to draw the line. The most important conclusion reached was that ethnic minority students experienced a set of stressors linked to their perceptions of their ethnic status. A major stressor was exclusion, in that it interfered with the core task of becoming socialized as a nurse. Weak social bonds within the school of nursing and to the profession can hamper the recruitment of others from a particular ethnic group to the school and ultimately into the health care profession. A focus on the interpretation of interpersonal events in health care settings is crucial in surfacing the cultural nuances of understanding and meaning. Recommendations were made to: (1) develop an enriched grounded theory and promote mutual understanding through faculty, nursing staff and student group interviews and (2) increase the comprehensiveness of ethnic minority student retention data bases.

Research about retention of nursing students has focused on either specific student characteristics or on nursing students at the university level. A problem experienced by a community college nursing program in Maryland is low completion rates, which can affect the institution and the nursing profession. This qualitative case study explored faculty-related factors leading to success of students in the nursing program at this school, so the low completion rate can be addressed. The conceptual foundations for this study were Tinto's theory of student retention and Jeffreys' nursing undergraduate retention and success model. The research questions addressed how faculty-related factors affected students' success in the nursing program. The study was conducted with 9 second year nursing students and 7 nursing faculty providing information through face to face interviews at a community college in central Maryland. Data analysis was conducted using inductive processes to code, identify, and analyze the themes. The findings of this case study suggested that students can benefit from improving their critical thinking abilities. The findings of this case study also suggested that faculty affect students' critical thinking abilities when faculty are approachable, provide a nurturing environment, and are helpful to students. A professional development workshop for nursing faculty and staff was developed based on the findings from these study results. This workshop will provide guidance to faculty and staff on strategies to assist student with improving critical thinking abilities. Implications for positive social change include addressing the nursing shortage by increasing the number of qualified nursing students from this program, understanding the perspectives of nursing students, and helping to meet the needs of nursing students.

High levels of stress, anxiety, and depression (SAD) can adversely influence physical health, psychological well-being, and academic and clinical performance of nursing students. Numerous studies have identified the factors associated with SAD; however, a paucity of empirical research addresses the relationship of SAD with campus connectedness (CC), perceived social support (PSS), and coping. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study, guided by Lazarus and Folkman's theory of stress, coping, and adaptation, was to determine the prevalence of SAD and examine its relationship with CC, PSS, and coping among undergraduate nursing students of Nepal. Survey research was conducted using depression anxiety stress scale, campus connectedness scale, the multidimensional scale for perceived social support, and brief cope inventory. Among 680 nursing students analyzed, the 51.7% reported moderate to extremely severe levels of SAD. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance revealed a statistically significant relationship among CC, PSS, and coping with SAD (p < .001). A discriminant analysis indicated that depression best discriminated the levels of CC and PSS. The levels of coping were found to be best discriminated by anxiety. The findings can be sourced to create awareness among educators and administrators of nursing colleges about the roles that campus connectedness, social support, and coping strategies play in the occurrence SAD. Future studies can focus on the need to establish mental health screening and social support services, such as counseling centers in nursing colleges, which may bring about a positive social change in the lives of nursing students.

Retention of students through the completion of the nursing degree is a problem that exists at local Texas nursing programs, adding to the nursing shortage at local Texas hospitals. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to identify the best practices used by a local Texas college with graduation rates above the benchmark of 85% set by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The study framework was based on Bandura's theory of self-efficacy and Tinto's theory of student retention. The research questions for the study focused on reasons the college maintained a high retention rate, best practices currently used, changes to best practices, which best practices contributed to student retention, and additional best practices that could be implemented. The boundaries for the case study included current dean's ambassadors, traditional faculty, and recent dean's ambassadors who graduated within 3 months of the project study. The case study method of qualitative research used 30 minute Skype or telephone interviews to collect personal perceptions and opinions from 5 participant volunteers from a 2-year or 4-year nursing program. Data analysis included grouping similar in vivo codes together into major and minor themes. The results of my project study revealed best practices used at the college included faculty availability, faculty support, office hours, mentoring, tutoring, and retention counselors. Only 1 participant had knowledge and was familiar with the term self-efficacy. Based on these results a faculty professional development project was created to provide information on academic self-efficacy in the form of a 3-day, evidence-based workshop. This project may lead to positive social change by providing faculty information that may be used to plan and refine a curriculum on self-efficacies, which could benefit nursing students and increase retention.

Emotional intelligence (EI) is essential for providing quality and competent care in the nursing profession. Because nurses need to be competent in EI, it is important to determine if inherent factors and academic performance contribute to the development of EI. The purpose of this study, guided by the 4-branch ability model of EI by Mayer and Salovey, was to examine the relationship of EI levels and academic performance, gender, and ethnic background in associate degree nursing (ADN) students who attended a community college. Using convenience sampling, 110 ADN students completed the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test and sociodemographic data. Data were analyzed using an independent t-test, and analysis of variances which indicated no statistical significance between EI levels and academic performance, gender, and ethnic background. Although the findings did not show statistical significance, drawing attention to EI among nursing students and nurse educators may increase nurse educators' awareness of the importance of cultivating EI in nurses and the need to incorporate concepts of EI into the nursing curricula. Doing so can effect positive social change because nurses with higher EI may be better able to understand and manage the emotions of others and themselves in stressful situations. The concept of EI is important to incorporate into nursing curricula to provide the nursing student opportunities to practice and apply the concepts learned in an educational setting. Doing so may improve students' preparation to use EI in their nursing careers. Future research could be done to determine if EI levels change throughout a nursing program and to determine if EI skills are taught in nursing programs.

Background and objective: Patients’ and parents’ involvement in nursing students’ pediatric clinical practice assessment is informal. This study explored patients’ and parents’ perceptions of their role in students’ formative assessment. Approach: Interviews were conducted with patients and parents admitted at the study setting who received care from a nursing student. They were transcribed verbatim. Data was analyzed using a qualitative content analysis while Lincoln and Guba’s criteria of rigor and trustworthiness were upheld. Findings: Three categories emerged from the data: 1) Patients’ and parents’ current involvement in the assessment of nursing students’ pediatric clinical practice; 2) How they would like to be involved; and 3) The benefits and challenges of their involvement. Conclusion: This study has provided an understanding of patients’ and parents’ past encounters with nursing students, the elements of care that they would want to assess, and their perceived benefits and challenges of their involvement.

Safety culture has been demonstrated to be a key factor in high-reliability organizations (HROs), yet healthcare has not achieved a safety culture as seen in HROs despite decades of effort. Student nurses are enculturated into their profession during their pre-licensure education. This period offers an excellent opportunity to teach students the values, norms, and practices of safety culture. However, little is known about the state of safety culture in schools of nursing. The purpose of this study was to examine the state of patient safety culture as perceived by students in pre-licensure nursing programs in the US using a modified version of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC). The School of Nursing Culture of Safety Survey (SON-COSS), the modified instrument created for this study, was administered electronically to a sample of pre-licensure nursing students (N=539) drawn from membership in the National Student Nurses Association (NSNA). The SON-COSS was found to maintain its reliability and validity for use in pre-licensure nursing students. Perceptions of patient safety culture ranged from 81.6% to 23% positive for the 10 dimensions of patient safety culture measured by the SON-COSS. The highest percent positive dimensions for this study were Faculty Support for Patient Safety (81.6%), Teamwork Within Groups (78.3%), and Faculty Expectations and Actions Promoting Patient Safety (68.6%). The lowest percent positive dimensions for this study were Frequency of Events Reported (47.3%), Communication Openness (34%), and Nonpunitive Response to Error (23%). Participants in this study perceived patient safety culture significantly lower for eight of the 10 dimensions measured by the SON-COSS compared to aggregate national data from the HSOPSC (AHRQ, 2016). Only Faculty Support for Patient Safety (81.6%) was significantly higher than the corresponding dimension in the HSOPSC. The results of this survey indicate that students recognize the importance of safety to their faculty, but they do not perceive the presence of a just culture, an essential prerequisite for a culture of safety. This study provides a reliable and valid instrument to measure safety culture in schools of nursing and baseline data to understand the state of safety culture in this population.

Abstract not available

This qualitative exploratory study sought to explore and analyse the perceptions of first year nursing students aged 18-25 years toward older persons in aged care facilities. The expectations of first year nursing students in relation to performing nursing care on older persons was also examined. The students’ perceptions were explored using a photo-elicitation technique to evoke an emotive response. By challenging and confronting the participants with realistic photographs of nursing care, this technique encouraged the research participants to engage in anticipatory reflection prior to their first aged care clinical placement. Data were gathered through demographic questionnaires and semi-structured photo-elicitation interviews. Findings were analysed using thematic analysis. Themes included dissecting what it means to be a nurse, recognising dependence, and the re-visioning of therapeutic relationships including considering patient dignity and empathising with older persons. A youthful reflection on the differences between young and old included participants’ fearing for themselves in future, and this was another identified theme. The photo-elicitation technique challenged and confronted participants as they became aware of the responsibilities of performing nursing care and their belief that they lacked emotional preparedness. Experiencing sensitivity and awkwardness to nakedness of older person’s bodies was also highlighted by most of the participants’ responses. The findings suggest that it is essential in this time of demographic change and the growing ageing population that nursing education responds to the challenge of an evolving health care system by providing qualified, experienced aged care nurses who are familiar with the reality of older people. Therefore, first year nursing students’ transition to aged care nursing clinical placement and the adoption of positive attitudes is paramount. Despite a large number of research studies highlighting nursing students’ disinterest in caring for older persons, there have been few studies investigating educational interventions that could assist in overcoming this negative trend. The findings from this study have important implications for teaching strategies aimed at understanding undergraduate nursing students. Using photography to elicit emotional responses can also assist with reflective practice, which can be useful to enhance self awareness and an aesthetic and personal knowing. Encouraging anticipatory reflection can help socially prepare nursing students, increase their readiness for learning and foster more positive attitudes to caring for older people prior to the students’ initial aged care clinical placement.