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Item How much physiology do fourth year nursing students really remember?(2024) Purani, Sharlini; Narnaware, Yuwaraj; Neumeier, Melanie; Cuschieri, Sarah; Chahal, PaulThere is a growing concern that nursing students struggle to retain adequate physiological knowledge throughout their program to meet their entry to practice competencies. However, how much and when this knowledge is lost over a four-year undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Nursing program is yet to be evaluated. According to Narnaware Y. 2021, physiological knowledge retention has yet to be studied as comprehensively as anatomical knowledge retention in healthcare disciplines, including nursing programs. This study aims to assess the extent of physiological knowledge decline among nursing students by their fourth year. It is evaluated by comparing their understanding of physiological knowledge in the first year after their physiology course and the fourth year after completing their Critical Care nursing course. Physiological knowledge loss was assessed in fourth-year nursing students by quizzing them on ten organ systems using the online quizzing platform – Kahoot. About nine to eleven knowledge and comprehension-level multiple-choice questions were delivered. These scores were then compared to first-year quiz scores on the same content to determine overall knowledge loss over three years. The data was analyzed by using SPSS II and compared using 2-sample t-tests. The findings of this research illustrate a general reduction in knowledge loss, with variations in the decline specific to each system. In medical and allied health students, the knowledge loss was significantly lower than previously reported (Pourshanazari et al., 2013). Compared to the third year, knowledge loss in the fourth year, however, is not significantly different (Narnaware et al., 2021).Item Will virtual labs replace cadavers in the future of nursing curriculum?(2024) Ukrainetz, Kiara; Narnaware, Yuwaraj; Neumeier, Melanie; Cushieri, Sarah; Narnaware, YuwarajWith the decreased use of Cadavers in anatomy classes across Canadian nursing programs due to strict ethical approvals, lack of donors' programs, lab space, and reduced dissection hours, universities must find alternative methods to deliver practical and realistic learning (Narnaware & Neumeier, 2021). Very few nursing programs across Canada are using the Anatomage Table (AT) as an alternative method of teaching and learning in anatomy and physiology despite its life size, realistic, and interactive way to dissect, explore, and understand the human body (Narnaware & Neumeier, 2021). However, using the AT is limited to classroom teaching and cannot be accessed offsite or outside class hours. In our preliminary qualitative study, virtualized laboratory sessions available to students outside the classroom and the freedom to complete the laboratory sessions on one's schedule have proven effective at improving nursing students' understanding and knowledge of t he body. In this study, a Google survey on 15 virtual labs was given to anatomy students in the Fall of 2023. The virtual labs consisted of realistic histology of body tissue and 3D interactive models of body systems. Overall, the majority (74.9%) of students reported that the virtual labs significantly improved their understanding of the body's tissues, and 76.4% of students recommend using virtual labs to future students. The overall response was positive. Virtual labs have proven effective at increasing understanding of the human body and should be included in the anatomy curriculum in the future.Item Research recast(ed): S2E11 - Making it stick: knowledge retention through the nursing program and beyond with Dr. Narnaware(2023) Miskiman, Megan; Schabert, Reinette; Narnaware, YuwarajIn today’s episode, we are joined by Associate Professor of Nursing, Dr. Raj Narnaware, where he discusses his research in teaching pedagogies to improve understanding, knowledge, and overall academic performance and success in the workplace for nursing students and graduates.Item Research recast(ed): S3E6 - Improving the quality of healthcare through supporting health care professionals and caring for the community(2022) Leschyshyn, Brooklyn; Smadis, Natalie; Reisdorfer, EmileneOn today's episode, we talked to Dr. Emilene Reisdorfer about her research in the field of healthcare and nursing. Her focus is on improving the quality of nursing services provided to individuals who are struggling with mental health and addiction disorders. We discuss her work in developing pedagogical approaches that support post-secondary nursing education and how to implement empirically-driven studies that contribute to a better understanding of professional nursing practice. Additionally, we explore ways to support effective public health policy formulation.Item Mindfulness practice reduces hair cortisol, anxiety and perceived stress in university workers: randomized clinical trial(2023) Gherardi-Donato, Edilaine Cristina da Silva; Gimenez, Larissa Bessani Hidalgo; Fernandes, Maria Neyrian de Fatima; Lacchini, Riccardo; Camargo Junior, Elton Bras; Diaz-Serrano, Kranya Victoria; Melchior, Melissa; Perez, Raquel Garcia; Riquelme-Galindo, Jorge; Reisdorfer, EmileneBackground: Anxiety and stress are common mental health conditions reported by university workers. Practices of mindfulness represent one promising approach as an effective and feasible means to reduce stress, improve mental health and promote well-being; however, there are no clinical trials that have combined long-term stress biomarkers (hair cortisol) and psychometric assessments in a sample of university workers. Objective: This study investigated the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based program on long-term stress, by measuring hair cortisol concentration and perceived stress and anxiety among workers who were undergoing high levels of stress. Method: We conducted a randomized clinical trial at work among the employees of a public university. We compared a group that received the eight-week mindfulness intervention with the wait list group who received no intervention. Results: A total of 30 participants were included in the study, with n = 15 subjects in the intervention group and n = 15 in the control group. Hair cortisol, perceived stress and anxiety significantly reduced after the intervention compared to the control group, which had no appreciable decline in the measured variables. Conclusion: This clinical trial showed the effectiveness of a mindfulness program on mental health psychometric measures (perceived stress and anxiety) and on a long-term stress biomarker (hair cortisol). It can be concluded that an eight-week mindfulness program could be implemented as an effective strategy to reduce stress biomarkers (hair cortisol) as well as perceived stress and anxiety, improving the mental health of university workers.Item Research recast(ed): S2E7 - The surprising link between the climate crisis and healthcare, with Dr. Maya Kalogirou(2022) Ekelund, Brittany; Cave, Dylan; Kalogirou, MayaHow do healthcare and the climate crisis interact? Today we are talking with Dr. Maya Kalogirou, a nurse and nurse educator with a passion for planetary health. We learn all about how health care and the climate crisis interact, and we touch on medical waste, climate advocacy, and the next generation of climate minded nurses and healthcare practitioners.Item Research recast(ed): Following up with Dr. Margot Jackson(2022) Ekelund, Brittany; Cave, Dylan; Jackson, MargotToday we caught up with Episode 10 guest, Dr. Margot Jackson. We learn about her newly secured grant funding and what that means for her research on youth waiting for mental health services in Alberta.Item Research recast(ed): MacEwan celebrates month of scholarship - Health Cities and Dr. Christy Raymond(2022) Ekelund, Brittany; Cave, Dylan; Raymond, ChristyJoin us for a conversation on innovation and technology in health with Reg Joseph and Dr. Christy Raymond. In today’s episode, we stray off the beaten path as we discuss the role of post-secondaries, including MacEwan, in innovation and technology in health. We are joined by Health Cities CEO Reg Joseph, for a collaborative conversation. Health Cities is a not-for-profit corporation working with clinicians, innovators, business and philanthropic organizations to drive better health outcomes and economic growth. Here to collaborate and brainstorm with Joseph, is Dr. Christy Raymond (Dean, Faculty of Nursing) and a strong advocate for nursing research in Canada.Item Research recast(ed): S1E10 - Listening to what youth need with Dr. Margot Jackson(2022) Ekelund, Brittany; Cave, Dylan; Jackson, MargotWelcome back to Research Recast(ed)! Today we talk about participatory research and working with the communities that you’re researching. We also talk about harm reduction, youth mental health and keeping kids safe. Joining us is Dr. Margot Jackson, an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at MacEwan University. Her research, teaching and clinical areas of interest revolve around child and youth mental health, community health, harm reduction and the impacts of the social determinants of health.Item Research recast(ed): S1E8 - A conversation with Lisa McKendrick-Calder(2021) Ekelund, Brittany; Cave, Dylan; McKendrick-Calder, LisaToday we learn about student stressors, coping with mental health in ourselves and others, and how professors are people too. Joining us in the studio is Lisa McKendrick-Calder, a registered nurse and an associate professor in the Faculty of Nursing. About to undertake her PhD - focused on student anxiety - her research interests are rooted in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, with a focus on the mental wellbeing of students and faculty. Check out this video to learn more about what that means!Item Heutagogy: a pedagogical framework for cultivating critical consciousness in nursing students(2024) Reisdorfer, Emilene; Maykut, Colleen; Kempfer, Silvana Silveira; Rodrigues, Maria Eduarda de CarliBackground: Nursing education has traditionally utilized andragogical principles with the recent adoption of universal design learning to inform curricular decisions. What is missing is cultural safety and humility to ensure a justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) perspective. Cultivating critical consciousness in nursing education involves restructuring curricula and faculty development. Heutagogy, a unique learning approach, promotes mutual learning through critical self-reflection, self-directed goals, and ongoing professional and societal transformation. Objective: This study described a nursing course that incorporated a critical consciousness theoretical approach and heutagogy as a pedagogical framework to delve into the real-life experiences of individuals living with addiction. Results: Learners viewed themselves as continuously evolving through their learning journey. This perspective aligns with heutagogy, where individuals embrace lifelong learning consciousness and personal responsibility. At this stage, they became self-directed learners, in an innate and internal process of critical [missing text]. Conclusions: Seamlessly blending heutagogy and c critical consciousness offered a comprehensive framework for disseminating not only the requisite skills and knowledge but offering a profound understanding of their role in championing the social and ethical dimensions of health care. These meaningful learning experiences empowered learners to emerge as catalysts for change, diligently and ethical working towards equitable and just healthcare systems.Item Incorporating the 4As to navigate ChatGPT: academic integrity, acquisition, analysis and application. A nursing student and faculty perspective(2024) Maykut, Colleen; Abdul, Raina Edreanne; Miranda, Reuben AntonyNursing faculty must prepare graduates as knowledge consumers and innovators to improve digital literacy. The 4As –refers to Academic Integrity, Acquisition, Analysis, and Application, while the ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence app (created in November 2022) https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt that can quickly gather information for the user. The fourth technological revolution is here and nurses as members of a discipline we must reimagine and build bridges to address the widening chasm currently evident between education and practice. An innovative learning assignment utilizing ChatGPT as an adjunct knowledge assist was explored from both a student and faculty perspective. Insights and recommendations for further course enhancement are offered.Item The use of recovery model in forensic psychiatric settings: a Foucauldian critique(2022) Johansson, Jim A.; Holmes, DaveRecovery, a model of care aimed at patient-led nursing practice emphasizing autonomy, hope and self-determination, has in recent years been adapted for the secure forensic psychiatric setting. Often referred to as ‘secure recovery’, this model suggests the aims of recovery are achievable even in highly restrictive settings. This paper will adopt a Foucauldian perspective to offer a critical analysis of recovery in forensic settings. In providing recovery-oriented care, nurses utilize pastoral power in guiding patients to institutionally preferred outcomes. Akin to Christian religious conversion, nurses engage in a neo-religious conversion of patients to a neoliberal subjectivity of homo-economicus. This path of recovery is grounded in an ethos of personal responsibility and self-government, inseparable from the greater context of neoliberal governmentality. Despite attempts at transforming forensic nursing practice into more egalitarian directions, recovery remains a coercive practice, and fails to meet the overall goals of this paradigm in secure settings.Item The clean and proper self: the relevance of Kristeva’s concept of abjection for nursing(2022) Johansson, Jim A.; Holmes, DaveNurses regularly encounter feelings of disgust in practice, from bodily fluids and wounds to the criminal histories of patients. Though these experiences are widespread in nursing practice, there exists a culture in which they are regularly and intentionally ignored by nurses, and have received little attention in the literature. French-Bulgarian philosopher Julie Kristeva described these feelings of disgust within her psychoanalytic concepts of abjection and the clean and proper self. When nurses experience abjection, they work to protect and maintain the boundaries of the clean and proper self. This paper will employ a conceptual analysis to explore the implications of abjection and the maintenance of the clean and proper in nursing practice, with a specific focus on forensic nursing. A literature review of scientific articles and monographs addressing issues of disgust and abjection was conducted. The work of Kristeva provides the theoretical framework for this analysis. The analysis illustrates that nurses erect boundaries between themselves and patients, with significant consequences for patient care. An enactment of rituals to avoid the uncomfortable feelings of abjection and an effort to maintain the clean and proper self is widespread in nursing practice. Acknowledging the presence of abjection in nursing practice, recommendations are given on how to both embrace and overcome this experience.Item Abjection and the weaponization of bodily excretions in forensic psychiatry settings: a poststructural reflection(2021) Johansson, Jim A.; Holmes, DaveNurses working in forensic psychiatric settings face unique challenges in practice, where they take on a dual role of custody and caring. Patient resistance is wide-spread within these restrictive settings and can take many forms. Perhaps the most disturbing form of resistance entails a patient's weaponization of their bodily fluids, with nurses as their target. The tendency in assigning motive for this act is to relegate to the psychopathology of the patient. This paper will adopt a post-structuralist perspective to reexamine this phenomenon as an act of resistance through the lens of Kristeva's concept of abjection. Patients confined in these set-tings have little sense of control, and in resistance may resort to the only thing available: their bodily fluids. By weaponizing the abject, patients actively violate and permeate the physical and psychological boundaries of nurses—the very boundaries considered crucial to safe and professional forensic psychiatric nursing practice. By recognizing this phenomenon as an act of resistance to confinement and loss of control, nurses may reorient their approach to care in forensic psychiatric settings.Item Canada’s aging federal prison population: health disparity, risk, and compassionate release for older persons convicted of sexual offences(2023) Johansson, Jim A.; Holmes, Dave; Paradis-Gagné, EtienneThe Canadian federal prison population is increasingly aging within institutions that were never intended or designed to meet the complex medical and mental health needs of older incarcerated persons. Increasing numbers of incarcerated persons are “aging in place,” and many are dying within federal correctional institutions. Persons convicted of sexual offenses comprise a large—and growing—proportion of this aging population. The Correctional Investigator Canada has recently called for an expansion of access to compassionate release for the aging federal prison population, yet little progress has been made. In this article, we explore the significant challenges faced by the aging population in federal institutions, including insufficient access to appropriate care, challenges in application for compassionate release, and how questions of risk may affect the potential for community transfer. Questions of risk overshadow decisions on early release of incarcerated persons, especially those convicted of sexual offenses. Nurses play a central role in the provision of care to aging incarcerated persons and in advocacy for better access to services when a patient's needs cannot be met within the institution. This article presents a call to action for forensic nurses in Canada (and beyond) to advocate for both improved services within federal correctional institutions and for expedited access to compassionate release of aging incarcerated persons, especially those nearing end of life. The significant disparity in access to health care for aging incarcerated persons compared with their nonincarcerated counterparts represents a significant concern.Item Undergraduate nursing student satisfaction with open educational resources in a professional communication course(2023) Vihos, Jill; Chute, Andrea; Johnston, Sharon; Pawliuk, Brandi; Buro, Karen; Velupillai, Nirudika; Sampaga, CatherineOpen educational resources (OER) are emerging as reference materials in nursing. The purpose of this study was to explore undergraduate nursing students' experiences with OER and the relationship with demographic variables. Findings from this descriptive survey study reveal that the quality of OER materials and learner experience were highly correlated. Integration scores for the youngest cohort was significantly lower compared to other age groups. The integration of quality OER is correlated with positive student experience.Item Crossing borders: a narrative inquiry into the experiences of international graduate nursing students(2023) Oyelana, OlabisiIn response to the global needs for nursing faculty, and nurses at leadership and advanced clinical practice roles, aspiring students from different countries come to Canada for their graduate nursing education. The positive reputation and the numerous perceived advantages of the education system are particularly compelling to applicants from many developing countries. However, many international students come from different social, historical, political, cultural, and educational backgrounds that deeply influence their learning experiences in Canada. Working from a space of the inquirer’s personal experience, the aim of this inquiry was to understand the experiences of international graduate nursing students across time, place, and social contexts. The focus was to unravel the two puzzles of this inquiry: What stories across social, historical, political, cultural, and educational borders shaped our identities and ways of knowing? How did our experience in Canada shift our lived stories? Four participants were invited from a Master of Nursing program at a university in Western Canada. Living alongside the participants in a series of conversations for over one year. Multiplicity of borders and identity making, border making, border crossing, and border dwelling were the four sustaining threads that resonated across our narrative accounts. These four threads provided insights into the lived experiences of tensions, the shifting of identities, and the day-to-day challenges that international students face while learning in Canada. Being aware of these experiences and acknowledging them could be a significant stride towards addressing the issues of inequity and exclusion within Canadian graduate nursing education.Item An evolutionary concept analysis of learner-centered teaching(2021) Oyelana, Olabisi; Olson, Joanne; Caine, VeraIntroduction An increasing need for a paradigm shift from traditional teacher-centered teaching model has led to an adoption of learner-centered teaching (LCT) in nursing education. However, programs aimed at LCT barely integrate its principles within their frame of reference, as there tends to be no explicit or clear operationalized definition. The ambiguity and a lack of consensus not only predisposes nursing faculty to erratic teaching practices but also compromises the validity and trustworthiness of any scholarship associated with LCT. Objective The aim of this review was to clarify the concept of LCT for nursing education research and teaching practice purposes. Design and Methods We used an evolutionary framework to review the literature relevant to LCT. Evolutionary concept analysis is a scientific method of inquiry which focuses on analysis of empirical data to identify the attributes, antecedents, and consequences of a concept. Data Sources A comprehensive and systematic review of empirical and conceptual publications from the disciplines of Nursing, Medicine, and Educational psychology provided the sources for this concept analysis. Results. The key defining attributes of learner-centered teaching identified were autonomy, empowerment, engagement, and collaboration. The key antecedents for LCT were trusting relationship, personal responsibility, mutual respect, and empathy. We identified nine primary consequences and an exemplar of LCT from personal teaching experience and the literature. Conclusions LCT is a highly complex concept with many aspects that make it difficult to provide an authoritative definition. However, we identified key attributes, antecedence, and consequences for an operationalization of LCT in nursing education research and teaching practice.Item Learner-centred teaching in a non-learner-centred world: an interpretive phenomenological study of the lived experience of clinical nursing faculty(2018) Oyelana, Olabisi; Martin, Donna; Scanlan, Judith; Temple, BeverleyBackground With the growing complexities in the contemporary health care system, there is a challenge of preparing nurses for the practice demands. To this end, learner-centred teaching has emerged in many nursing curricula in Canada and evidence indicates its effectiveness in developing the essential practice skills in nursing students. It is important to examine the experience of the clinical faculty members who implement learner-centred teaching, as doing so would provide an insight to the factors that may hinder the implementation of learner-centred teaching in the practice settings. Objective This phenomenological study aimed to address two research questions: what does learner-centred teaching mean to clinical nurse faculty? What is the lived experience of clinical nursing faculty who incorporate learner-centred teaching? Methods Ten clinical nurse faculty members who had at least two years of clinical teaching experience volunteered to participate in the study. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview guide and audio recorder. Additional data sources included a demographic survey and a reflective journal. Results Multiple sub-themes emerged from this study from which three significant themes were consolidated: diversity of meanings, facilitators of LCT, and barriers to LCT. However, an overarching theme of “learner-centred teaching in a non-learner-centred world” was coined from participants' accounts of their experiences of barriers in incorporating LCT in the practice settings. Conclusion A collaborative effort between faculty and the stakeholders is paramount to a successful implementation of learner-centred teaching in practice settings.