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Perception on Critical Care among Nurse Student
Chapter 1. The Research Problem and Its Background
Introduction
Critical care is a sophisticated specialty designed to serve the individual and fragile heath care needs of patients and families suffering from actual or probable severe conditions. Critical care nursing entails a holistic perspective to the care of patients bringing a unique set of knowledge, skills, attitudes, as well as competencies. Critical care is not only intellectually challenging, but also emotionally draining (Alasad et al. 2). Little is presently known regarding the perceptions of student nurses’ experiences working in this demanding environment. Many university nursing programs offer …show more content…
brief experiences for students to work in critical care units. This research examines student nurses’ perceptions while working in the critical care unit of a university hospital.
Background of the Study
The dearth of critical care nurses and the mounting numbers of acutely ill patients who need critical care has highlighted the need for nurses being equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to take care of such patients (Alasad et al. 3). Student nurses have offered useful service in critical care for many years and although it is acceptable that it can be a demanding setting, there is a paucity of research addressing the perceptions of their experiences. Student nurses perceptions of their working environment is crucial as it reveals their satisfaction in the nursing field as well as indicates areas for improvement among staff members and mentors (Melincavage 786). Undergraduate critical care nursing training offers an opportunity for students to inculcate basic knowledge and skills in the field of critical care, exposing them to the role of the critical care nurse. Being a demanding profession, it is important to explore the students’ perception in order to determine those who possess the right attitude and particular interest n critical care.
Research Paradigm
A paradigm offers direction to human activities or behavior, guiding their thinking and interpretation of activities (Dash 3). It also provides philosophical ideas on which the research is grounded. This research will be guided by the interpretive paradigm which assumes that the knowledge of reality is obtained only through social construction. Interpretive/constructivist paradigms intend to understand the world of human experience, implying that reality is socially constructed (Cohen and Manion 26). The interpretive research tends to depend on the participants’ views of the event being studied. The use of interpretive paradigm in this study aims at understanding the perception that student nurses undergo while working in critical care units and how the interpretations of such perspectives influences their performance.
Statement of the Problem
The increasing demand for critical care services globally highlights the need to grow the critical care nursing labor force.
Student nurses are a valuable asset to the nursing profession as they bring a wealth of knowledge and skills to help experienced nurses, mentors and preceptors (Alasad and Ahmad 17). While existing literature has examined the competencies and skills necessary for these student nurses, few papers have examined the perceptions student nurses have working in critical care units. The present research will investigate how student nurses perceive their role in the critical care units, with special interest to the challenges or obstacles they face, the benefits they get, their attitudes towards their mentors and preceptors, and the impact of the experiences towards their career …show more content…
choice.
Hypotheses
The researcher hypothesized that the level and amount of skills set and knowledge required to work in critical care is both motivation and challenge of student nurses. Secondly, support from faculty and clinical support is a critical determinant of students’ progress and success in critical care. Thirdly, the socialization process working in the critical care improves student’s communication and interaction.
Significance of the Study
This study presents novel insights into the experiences of student nurses attached to the critical care units. It identifies the anxieties and fears they experience each day and how they shape their performance and eventual career path. It is hoped that these findings of the research will support nurses in the critical care units to relate better with student nurses in order to bring put the best in them. The study will also be beneficial to faculty members in order to tailor their critical care courses to meet the high demands of the job market and equip students with the necessary skills.
Scope and Delimitation
The research’s aim was to probe the perceptions of student nurses on their experiences in critical care. The study was done in a university hospital and elicited comments from undergraduate students of nursing undertaking critical care course in the researcher’s school. A self-reported questionnaire was distributed among the student nurses in the aforementioned hospital to gather their opinions on their experiences in the facility.
Operational Definition of Terms
Critical care nursing- This is a specialty within nursing that handles human responses to specifically life-threatening health issues. Such services are provided mostly by clinical nurse specialists (CNS) as well as acute care nurse practitioners (ACNP) (Alasad et al. 1).
Student nurse- a collegiate enrolled in a medical or nursing faculty working under mentorship or preceptors in a health facility.
Qualitative research-is an inquiry approach in which the researcher analyzes and codes the data for description and according to themes. The researcher construes the meaning of the information gained from the study drawing on personal reflections as well as past research.
Chapter 2. Review of Related Literature and Past Studies
According to Alasad and Ahmad (2004), students need clinical experiences working with critically ill patients. Schools and faculty administrator have a crucial role to play in providing student nurses with adequate clinical experience and exposure before they graduate and enter the job market. Intensive care patients need more complex nursing care hence clinical practicum is mandatory in order to produce competent nursing students (Alasad et al. 4). This enables students to apply a variety of skills and to work in interdisciplinary teams and bolster their decision-making. Undergraduate nursing critical care nursing programs provide an opportunity for learners to develop fundamental knowledge and skills for critical care exposing them to their future job markets (Tastan et al. 119).
Exposure to practical skills and familiarity with the tools and equipment in critical care facilities increases the students’ self-confidence. A clinical practicum is also advantageous because it provides students with an opportunity to interact with mentors including nurses and physicians whom they can learn a lot from their expertise and experiences (Williams and Palmer 312). Most of the studies conducted in the field have focused on the skills and knowledge required for students instead of the multiple experiences of students. While these studies have identified the skills necessary to be competent in the field, few have highlighted how the student nurses’ perception on critical care shapes their experience. The educational and social experiences of students working in critical care units will thus be investigated.
Chapter 3. Research Methodology
Research Method
In order to investigate the student’s perceptions on working in critical care, a qualitative content analysis will be used.
Population, Sample, and Sampling Technique
The study was carried in the university’s hospital. The sample included 75 females and 50 males nursing students who enrolled for the course in 2015. Students were asked to note their experiences daily in writing in the course of their clinical training at the facility.
Research Instrument and Data Analysis Procedure
Data were gathered using a special, self-reported learning experience template which was created to aid students capture and organize their thoughts and perceptions. Writing about experiences is an appropriate tool for reflection and commenting because it enables he student nurses to sustain themselves emotional in tier roles. It gives the students the opportunity to tell their personal story about what it is like working in critical care and what it feels to undergo their daily anxieties and fears. Moreover, a daily post-clinical conference was conducted in order to discuss the student’s daily experiences and note their comments.
Statistical Treatment of Data
The self-reported learning experience and the notes jotted down during post-clinical conferences were analyzed quantitatively. The study used descriptive statistics. Similarities were singled out and compared to extant literature and conclusions determined. The qualitative information was analyzed using basic content analysis, exploring for themes, patterns, or trends from the written comments on the questionnaires administered. The development of similar themes/categories was grounded on the systematic and in-depth description of ideas in the students’ self-reports. Categories were created by repeatedly working throughout the forms and through the identification of similar themes throughout out the established categories. This method was meant to render the findings more credible, reliable, transferable and grounded in the original data set, which constituted a constructive description of the learners’ experience.
Works Cited
Alasad, Jafar and Muayyad, Ahmad.
The Process of Clinical Decision-Making in Jordanian Critical-Care Settings. Critical-Care Nursing. 15th International Nursing Research Congress, Ireland, 2004. Print.
Alasad, Jafar, Muayyad Ahamad, Nazir Abu, and Huthaifa Ahmad. Nursing Students’ Experiences in Critical Care Course: A Qualitative Study. Journal of Intensive and Critical Care 1.3(2015): 1-7. Print.
Cohen, Louis and Lawrence, Manion, Research Methods in Education. London: Routledge, 1994. Print.
Dash, Nirod. Research Paradigms in Education: Towards a Resolution. Journal of Indian Education 19.2(1993): 1-6. Print.
Melincavage, Sharon. Student Nurses’ Experiences of Anxiety in the Clinical Setting. Nurse Education Today 31(2011): 785-789. Print.
Tastan, Sevinc, Iyigun Eemine, Ayhan Hatice, and Hatipoglu Sevgi. Experiences of Turkish Undergraduate Nursing Students in the Intensive Care Unit. Collegian 22(2014): 117-123. Print.
Williams, Elizabeth and Palmer, Chris. Student Nurses in Critical Care: Benefits and Challenges for Critical as a Learning Environment for Student Nurses. Nursing Critical Care 19.6(2014): 310-315.
Print.