AIM: The aim was to describe variations in how doctoral students conceive their learning process to become researchers in the light of their professional background as nurses. BACKGROUND: Nursing research is an emerging discipline and the number of nurses who acquire a doctor's degree is increasing. METHOD: The study had a descriptive, qualitative design with a phenomenographic approach and was carried out by means of 20 interviews. RESULTS: Three different description categories emerged: (1) A learning process that provides a synthesis of different parts of the research process aimed at developing preparedness for action within the nursing profession. (2) A learning process where practical problems are integrated with and problematised in relation to scientific theories. (3) A learning process involving the transformation from nurse to researcher. CONCLUSIONS: The description categories revealed that the focus was on solving problems that occur in health care and synthesising them by means of research tools. Furthermore, the doctoral students explored different ways of understanding and developing their awareness of the nature of research. Focus was also on the nursing profession and practice and a shift towards the role of a researcher was evident.

The benefits of process-oriented group supervision are difficult to evaluate, as the validity and reliability of the existing instruments have been questioned. The aim was to develop and test the psychometric properties of a questionnaire in order to evaluate the effects of process-oriented group supervision on nursing students during their three-year nursing education. A 55-item Process-oriented Group Supervision Questionnaire (PGSQ) with a developmental design was formulated on the basis of a literature review and the expectations of nursing students who participated in a three-year nursing education programme (N = 176). Construct validity and internal consistency reliability were tested at the end of each study year: year 1 (T1), year 2 (T2), and year 3 (T3) by means of exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach’s coefficient. An adequate explorative factor analysis (principal component analysis, varimax rotation) with an Eigenvalue >1.0 and factor loadings >0.40, reduced the questionnaire to 18 items comprising three factors labelled educative, supportive and developmental, which explained 60.2% at T1, 71.8% at T2, and 69.3% at T3 of the total cumulative variance. The corresponding Cronbach’s coefficient figures were 0.89 (T1), 0.94 (T2) and 0.93 (T3). The 18-item PGSQ is considered to be a short and useful tool due to its satisfactory validity and reliability figures.

To avoid test-driven learning, there have been discussions regarding the use of more formative assessments in health care education to promote students' deep learning. Feedback is important in formative assessment, but many students ignore it; therefore, interventions should be introduced which stimulate them to reflect on the new knowledge.

The aim for this study was to explore if Virtual Patient (VP)-based formative assessments, in connection with self-evaluations, had an impact on postgraduate pediatric nursing students' development of clinical reasoning abilities. Students' self-evaluations served as the basis for measuring progress. Data was analysed using deductive content analysis.

The findings showed a clear progression of the clinical reasoning ability of the students. After the first assessment, the students described feelings of uncertainty and that their knowledge gaps were exposed. At the mid-course assessment the awareness of improved clinical reasoning was obvious and the students were more certain of knowing how to solve the VP cases. In the final assessment, self-efficacy was expressed.

VP-based assessments, in connection with self-evaluations, early in the education resulted in a gain of students' own identification of the concept of clinical reasoning, awareness of what to focus on during clinical practice and visualised expected clinical competence. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The aim was to explore the major concerns of specialist nurses pertaining to academic learning during their education and initial professional career. Specialist nursing education changed in tandem with the European educational reform in 2007. At the same time, greater demands were made on the healthcare services to provide evidence-based and safe patient-care. These changes have influenced specialist nursing programmes and consequently the profession. Grounded Theory guided the study. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire with open-ended questions distributed at the end of specialist nursing programmes in 2009 and 2010. Five universities were included. Further, individual, pair and group interviews were used to collect data from 12 specialist nurses, 5-14 months after graduation. A major concern for specialist nurses was that academic learning should be "meaningful" for their professional future. The specialist nurses' "meaningful academic learning process" was characterised by an ambivalence of partly believing in and partly being hesitant about the significance of academic learning and partly receiving but also lacking support. Specialist nurses were influenced by factors in two areas: curriculum and healthcare context. They felt that the outcome of contribution to professional confidence was critical in making academic learning meaningful. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

Involving and supporting the family members and caregivers of people with mental illness is essential to high-quality mental health services. However, literature suggests that there is a lack of engagement between family members and mental health nurses (MHNs). Lack of knowledge among MHNs is often cited as one of the main reasons for this lack of engagement. The aim of this review was to explore the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are required by MHNs to enable to them to work more effectively with families affected by mental illness. A literature based critical review was used to access and review 35 papers in order to extract concepts that could inform the design of eLearning materials to assist MHNs advance their knowledge in this area. Two overarching themes were identified; ‘Mental health problems and the family’ and ‘Working with the family’. From these themes, the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to work more effectively with families are described. The findings from this review provide a descriptive account of the knowledge skills and attitudes that are required for effective family work. In addition, the review provides an empirical foundation for education programmes in the area. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd

Aim: The aim of the study was to describe variations in clinical nurses' conceptions of how an alternative supervision model influences their competence in assessing nursing students in clinical practice. Background: Nursing education programme in Norway includes 50 weeks of clinical studies. Due to changes in the education system and increased focus on evidence-based practice, alternative models of supervision and assessment have been developed. Method: The study has a qualitative and descriptive design using a phenomenographic approach. Informants were 49 clinical nurses from five different nursing homes. Results: The clinical nurses' experiences are described through three description categories: 'pressure', 'encouragement' and 'development'. The informants experienced demands from the University College and colleagues, but personal and professional development was encouraged through group supervision and written information from the University College. Conclusions: The alternative supervision model supported the clinical nurses in the assessment of the nursing students, and their role as educators. The alternative supervision model also seems to strengthen the relationship between field of practice and University College.