Linda Ferguson

Introduction: Globally, Evidence based nursing practice (EBNP) is becoming an expected norm for nursing practice. The small-scale activities surrounding this practice in African countries indicate a need for better approaches to enhance EBNP. One of these approaches is strengthening nursing education through EBNP education. Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to provide strategies to African novice nurse educators to teach EBNP, with the ultimate goal of promoting it in clinical settings when the student nurses enter professional practice. Methods: This is a discussion paper based on the results of a systematic review. Results: In this paper, the authors create an understanding of EBNP, describe the state of nursing education in Africa, and propose the EBNP content to be taught as well as how to teach it. Conclusions: Emphasis is on educational strategies that create student engagement, promote critical thinking, unite clinical and classroom settings, and are cost-effective within the context of Africa.

This paper is a report of a photovoice study of rural nursing preceptorship experiences in Western Canada. Background: Rural preceptorship placements are a vital means of recruiting new nurses to rural settings. Contextual knowledge is essential for students undertaking such preceptorships, as well as for educators, and researchers. It is widely known that rural nurses and their clients share a culture of self-reliance, adaptability and flexible professional boundaries, but the role of preceptors in conveying this culture to students warrants deeper exploration. Methods: Four nursing students and their four rural preceptors (nurse educators) took part in an eighteen month photovoice study, facilitated by the researchers, between 2009 and 2010. Coding of the data and collaborative thematic analysis with the participants yielded a number of conceptual categories, which formed the basis of a photographic narrative of rural nursing preceptorship. Findings: Nursing students learn to manage the competing scripts of policy and community ethos during rural preceptorships. Rural nurses track between professional and personal roles both on and off the job. Familiarity with clients as neighbours, friends and family can lend added personal significance to caregiving, but it can also lead to stress and role dissonance. As community members, rural nurses take part in a tacit economy of reciprocal giving. Conclusion: Rural nurse preceptors teach students that flexible boundaries and reciprocity are aspects of a community code underpinning rural clinical practice. This code, and the social capital it represents, should be factored into nursing curricula as an essential component of rural community wellness.

Although the community of practice (CoP) concept has been heavily utilized in business literature since its inception in the 1990s, it has not been significantly featured in nursing research. With student-centered approaches increasingly infusing nursing classrooms, including opportunities for collaborative learning and the development of student learning communities, it may be time to ask: Do we practice what we teach? Nursing academia faces challenges related to recruitment and retention, scholarly productivity and engagement of new faculty, and increasing demands for collaborative research. Challenges, some would argue, that could be addressed through CoPs; a sentiment reflected in the recent expansion of nursing CoP literature. What is the current state of the application of this concept in nursing academia and what barriers present in the promotion and development of CoPs in the academy? This article addresses these questions and provides guidance for those in search of community.

The purpose of this article is to report the perceptions of students regarding evaluation when placed in a rural setting for their final preceptorship course. The research question was: “What are students’ perceptions of preceptor evaluation?” Thus, a grounded theory method was employed. Twenty-three nursing students placed in rural settings for their precepted practicum experiences were interviewed regarding the evaluation process during their preceptorship experience. The core variable was that feedback is critical for students, much more so than the formal evaluation; and, that students viewed informal evaluation as meaningful and formal evaluation as superficial. The implications are that strategies are required to make students truly authentic partners in evaluation and to make evaluation a useful process in their eyes. The role of the faculty in this process must be reviewed. Feedback is key for students, thus preceptors need educational development in this area.

Aim The purpose of this article was to examine issues that new nurses encounter as they enter nursing practice, particularly in an evidence‐based practice environment. Background These issues are not new. In part, these issues arise from our failure to acknowledge the developmental issues that new nurses experience on entry to practice and the lack of role models in evidence‐based practice and holistic care. Evaluation This article synthesizes research reported over the last decade to delineate the issues of transition to practice and strategies that have proven effective in addressing them. Key issues The key issues relate to the need to support new nurses in evidence‐based and holistic practice, the strategies needed to do so, and the nurse manager's role in this process. Conclusions We must invest resources in assisting new nurses into practice, which may have benefits in terms of both recruitment and retention of new nurses in practice.