{"title":"A multi-theory approach to enhancing empathy, communication, problem-solving, and ethical decision-making in nursing students: A mixed-method study using creative drama","authors":"Esin Kavuran , Tamer Temel , Aybike Bahçeli","doi":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.07.011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.07.011","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Empathy, communication, problem-solving, and ethical decision-making are crucial for nursing students to deliver holistic, patient-centered care. Traditional teaching methods may fall short, highlighting the need for innovative approaches like creative drama.</div></div><div><h3>Aim</h3><div>This study aimed to evaluate the effects of creative drama on the empathy, communication, problem-solving, and ethical decision-making skills of nursing students, guided by Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory and Bandura's Social Learning Theory.</div></div><div><h3>Design</h3><div>This study employed a Sequential Explanatory mixed-methods design, combining a quasi-experimental quantitative phase followed by qualitative interviews to deepen the understanding of the results.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>The study involved 66 first-year nursing students: 32 in the experimental group (creative drama) and 34 in the control group (traditional education). Data were collected through pre- and post-tests using scales measuring empathy, communication, problem-solving, and ethical decision-making. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with selected participants from both groups to gather qualitative insights. Quantitative data were analyzed using <em>t</em>-tests, and thematic analysis was applied to the qualitative data.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The experimental group showed significant improvements in empathy, communication, problem-solving, and ethical decision-making skills compared to the control group. Qualitative findings revealed increased reflective thinking and improved practical application of theoretical knowledge.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The intervention effectively enhanced nursing students' clinical skills. Both quantitative and qualitative results showed that creative drama improves their preparation for practice. Thus, integrating creative drama into the nursing curriculum is recommended.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50077,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Nursing","volume":"60 ","pages":"Pages 157-167"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144828220","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Understanding the phenomenon of failure to fail in unsafe prelicensure nursing students in the clinical setting: A grounded theory approach","authors":"Alice Jane Haines","doi":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.07.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.07.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Failure to fail involves assigning passing grades to students who have not achieved course or clinical objectives at a satisfactory level. The literature has shown that this phenomenon occurs more frequently in the clinical setting due to several issues, including the increased subjectivity of clinical evaluation tools and processes, unclear policies, and lack of administrative support to fail students. The question remains: What is the thought process that is used by faculty to determine if a student passes or fails in a clinical experience?</div></div><div><h3>Purpose</h3><div>To explore the decision-making process used by pre-licensure clinical nursing faculty when they are determining whether to pass or fail an unsafe student enrolled in a clinical course.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A qualitative constructivist grounded theory design was selected. Grounded theory explores a process about which little is known. The decision-making process used by faculty to determine if a student passes or fails a clinical course has never been described in literature. Participants were sixteen prelicensure clinical nursing faculty from associate degree, diploma and baccalaureate programs located in ten United States. Participants were recruited from multiple Facebook nurse educator websites and a group of diploma programs in Western Pennsylvania. A link to the study and consent was provided to each potential participant. Following signing of the consent and providing contact information, faculty were contacted by the investigator. Two semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant. Data was coded with SPSS version 26, NVivo Pro version 12, and analyzed manually.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Six unsafe clinical behaviors that caused students to reach the failure threshold were identified; lack of ability to synthesize the client's plan of care, ineffective interpersonal communication, unacceptable pattern of skills performance, disrespectful mindset/attitude, and deceitful/amoral conduct. Six reasons for faculty failing to fail were also discovered; lack of administrative support to fail unsafe students, ineffective clinical evaluation tools, inconsistent policy enforcement, time pressures, fear of appeals, grievances and lawsuits, and the core category which was identified as role conflict. Lack of support from administration was defined as an absence of backing from the faculty member's immediate supervisor when presented with written documentation proving that a student was clearly unsafe in the clinical setting. In this study, there was a refusal by the administration to allow the faculty member to fail the unsafe student. A substantive theory emerged from the data and was entitled <em>“The Complex Conundrum of Clinical Evaluation.”</em> The theory contained four phases: seeing red flags (identifying the unsafe behaviors), seeking validation (meeting with administration), selecting an outcome ","PeriodicalId":50077,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Nursing","volume":"60 ","pages":"Pages 133-143"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144757502","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Verity Mak, Gabrielle Brand, Nicole Kovach, Julia Morphet
{"title":"Exploring priority areas to establish quality improvement education partnerships: A nominal group technique study","authors":"Verity Mak, Gabrielle Brand, Nicole Kovach, Julia Morphet","doi":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.07.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.07.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Quality improvement partnerships between higher education and healthcare organizations are emerging as a valuable way to engage pre-licensure nursing students in this content. There are no agreed guidelines to assist with the establishment of these partnerships.</div></div><div><h3>Aim</h3><div>To convene key stakeholders with the objective of reaching consensus on the following question: What needs to happen to establish quality improvement education partnerships between higher education and healthcare organizations?</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A nominal group technique was used, adhering to the STROBE guidelines. Participants generated ideas to answer the question individually before sharing and discussing them within the group. Participants then independently voted and ranked the ideas in order of priority to reach consensus.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Thirty-nine ideas were generated during the nominal group technique meeting by the five participants. A consensus was reached on ten priority areas required to establish quality improvement education partnerships.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>These priority areas can be used as a starting point for the establishment of quality improvement education partnerships for pre-licensure nursing students. The results can be used internationally to guide pre-licensure nursing and health professions academics towards the inclusion of quality improvement education partnerships in curricula to develop quality improvement knowledge and skills of students which they can apply on entering the workforce.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50077,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Nursing","volume":"60 ","pages":"Pages 101-106"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144721803","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sıdıka Kestel PhD, RN , Afra Çalık PhD, RN , Mustafa Kuş BsC
{"title":"The effect of chatbot-supported instruction on nursing students' history-taking questioning skills and stress level: A randomized controlled study","authors":"Sıdıka Kestel PhD, RN , Afra Çalık PhD, RN , Mustafa Kuş BsC","doi":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.07.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.07.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Comprehensive history-taking is crucial for patient assessment, prioritisation of care, and planning of care. While direct instruction methods effectively explain history-taking processes and components, they provide insufficient opportunities for practice, necessitating the implementation of supplementary teaching strategies.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>This study aimed to examine the effects of AI chatbot-supported history-taking training on nursing students' questioning skills and clinical stress levels.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>This randomized controlled study with pretest-posttest was conducted with 82 “first-year” nursing students. The students were randomly assigned to either an intervention (n = 41) or a control (n = 41) group. The intervention group underwent history-taking using the traditional teaching method (theoretical training, watching a video, and clinical practice) plus an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot; the students in the control group were trained only with the traditional method.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The intervention group demonstrated significantly superior performance in two specific components: history of present illness and review of systems (p < 0.05). Clinical stress levels showed mixed results, with significant differences in Challenge and Benefit subscales but no difference in overall stress scores between groups.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Chatbot-based history-taking instruction is efficacious in improving students' history-taking questioning skills in specific components of history-taking, but not in clinical stress.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50077,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Nursing","volume":"60 ","pages":"Pages 93-100"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144695285","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Megan M. Keenan , Emma Kientz , Nicole P. Crossley , Julie A. Hoff
{"title":"Practitioner-teacher model implementation within a newly integrated academic health system: Lessons learned","authors":"Megan M. Keenan , Emma Kientz , Nicole P. Crossley , Julie A. Hoff","doi":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.07.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.07.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>United States healthcare systems face an imminent need to recruit and retain direct care registered nurses (RNs), driven in part by high nurse turnover rates, which contribute to substantial economic and non-economic burdens. The pandemic exacerbated nurse turnover rates, while colleges of nursing simultaneously experienced a faculty shortage lending to fewer baccalaureate prepared RNs entering the workforce. Our large academic health system experienced similar challenges while the College of Nursing (CON) rapidly increased student enrollment to meet the need for additional RNs requiring an immediate and creative solution.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Together, the CON and academic health system established a unified practitioner-teacher model supporting currently employed RNs meeting faculty criteria to fully step into the teaching component of their professional nursing practice. Interested RNs were invited to accept a formal appointment in the CON and use up to 10 % of their full-time equivalent (FTE) to supervise student clinical rotations.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Of the qualified RNs (<em>n</em> = 300), those with confirmed support supervised clinical rotations during the first semester (<em>n</em> = 14) but decreased starkly during the second semester (<em>n</em> = 3). Post-implementation survey results indicated general satisfaction with the optimized role; however, barriers to participation were notable.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Challenges related to communication, reporting structure, and role expectations hindered participation and suggested lessons learned for future implementation of this model.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50077,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Nursing","volume":"60 ","pages":"Pages 86-92"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144687249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bimbola Akintade , Camille Brockett-Walker , Juan González , Shannon Idzik , Kechinyere Iheduru-Anderson , Keisha Indenbaum-Bates , Michael Jones , Yvette Lowery , Danielle McCamey , Pamela Reis , Vernell DeWitty
{"title":"Influence of underrepresented leaders on recruiting and retaining underrepresented faculty and students in nursing programs","authors":"Bimbola Akintade , Camille Brockett-Walker , Juan González , Shannon Idzik , Kechinyere Iheduru-Anderson , Keisha Indenbaum-Bates , Michael Jones , Yvette Lowery , Danielle McCamey , Pamela Reis , Vernell DeWitty","doi":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.07.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.07.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The U.S. population is undergoing a considerable transformation as individuals become substantially older and more racially and ethnically diverse. The nursing workforce should mirror the general population to improve the likelihood that healthcare systems provide culturally appropriate care. However, in nursing education, minority leaders, faculty, and students are underrepresented. All faculty and students can gain unique insights into cultural humility, race relations, and ethnicity from underrepresented nurse leaders. Increasing the number of underrepresented academic leaders may help nursing programs recruit, educate, mentor, and successfully graduate more underrepresented nursing students. This article highlights the importance of underrepresented individuals in academic nursing leadership positions and their influence on recruiting and retaining underrepresented faculty and students.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50077,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Nursing","volume":"60 ","pages":"Pages 123-132"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144749621","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bridging the diversity gap: Leveraging social determinants of learning to support nursing student success","authors":"Cheryl W. Thompson DNP, RN, PHCNS-BC","doi":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.07.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.07.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Despite decades of initiatives to increase nursing workforce diversity, gaps persist between patient population and nursing workforce demographics.</div></div><div><h3>Problem</h3><div>Emphasis on NCLEX pass rates as a program quality indicator, combined with systemic barriers, creates complex challenges that influence admission and progression policies in nursing education. Evidence suggests these factors disproportionately affect underrepresented minority (URM) students, impacting both academic success and workforce diversity.</div></div><div><h3>Approach</h3><div>Drawing from healthcare's successful transformation in addressing social determinants of health, this article provides evidence-based interventions for addressing Social Determinants of Learning (SDOL) to support URM student success and improve nursing workforce diversity. These adaptable interventions can be implemented selectively based on program resources and include comprehensive strategies for creating inclusive cultures, addressing basic needs, enhancing student self-determination, fostering a growth mindset, and developing critical thinking skills.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Nursing programs can leverage SDOL interventions to create supportive environments that enhance success for all students, particularly URM students. By shifting focus from individual deficits to systemic barriers, implementation of these interventions supports maintenance of academic standards while advancing the goal of helping URM students achieve success in nursing education and practice.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50077,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Nursing","volume":"60 ","pages":"Pages 79-85"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144672219","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Perception of scholarly collaboration and its influencing factors among doctoral-prepared and -preparing nurses: A regional nursing society-based survey","authors":"Jinbing Bai PhD, MSN, RN, FAAN (Associate Professor) , Rebecca Koszalinski PhD, RN, CRRN, FIEL, FARN (Associate Professor) , Yuhua Wu BSN, RN (PhD Student) , Lenora Smith PhD, FNP-BC, CRNP, CDP (Associate Professor) , Katherine R. Brooks DNP, AGPCNP-BC (PhD Student) , Theresa Garcia PhD, RN (Associate Professor)","doi":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.07.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.07.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Nurses with research- and practice-focused doctorate degrees complement each other's work and contribute to the advancement of nursing profession. Understanding perceived scholarly collaboration and its influencing factors can facilitate effective teamwork, benefit the nursing profession, and improve patient outcomes.</div></div><div><h3>Purpose</h3><div>This study aimed to investigate the perceived scholarly collaboration and its influencing factors among nurses with or pursing doctoral degrees.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Using a descriptive cross-sectional design, 181 doctoral-prepared and -preparing nurses were recruited using a convenient sampling method. Participants were recruited from a nursing society-based region in the Southern United States and completed an online survey.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Research-focused nurses reported a higher rate of collaboration than practice-focused nurses (73.5 % versus 63.8 %). Young age and early career stage were associated with less scholarly collaboration among practice-focused nurses. Five themes were identified to improve PhD-DNP scholarly collaboration: connections; clarification; education, training, and communication; mentorship; and funding support.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The results highlight the importance of considering age and career trajectory when devising strategies to enhance scholarly collaboration. More studies are needed to identify solutions (e.g. building connections, clarifying role ambiguities, and providing mentorship) to promote PhD-DNP scholarly collaboration.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50077,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Nursing","volume":"60 ","pages":"Pages 71-78"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144655351","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Prelicensure peer mentoring: An integrative review","authors":"Amy Yarbrough EdD, MSN, RN, RNC-MNN, CNE, Laura K. Phillips EdD, RN, CNE, Katie Morales PhD, RN, CNE, Nancy Capponi EdD, RN, CNE, CCRN-K, CEN","doi":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.06.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.06.009","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Peer mentoring is a recommended intervention to enhance students' emotional and academic success. Effective understanding of peer-to-peer mentoring by faculty is necessary to promote student success.</div></div><div><h3>Purpose</h3><div>The purpose of this integrative review is to summarize and synthesize the literature regarding prelicensure peer mentoring relationships and methods in nursing education.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Using Whittemore and Knafl's framework, electronic databases were searched, following PRISMA guidelines, using the terms: <em>nursing student mentoring, peer mentors, peer-assisted learning, student-assisted learning</em>, and <em>clinical peer mentoring</em>. A total of 12 studies were included in the review. Lichtman's three C's of analysis were used to analyze the selected studies.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The themes of priorities, outcomes, and challenges within peer mentoring relationships emerged from the literature.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The evidence in this review can inform best practices for pre-licensure nursing students using peer mentoring. Further research is needed to explore the effect of peer mentoring compared to non-peer mentoring on nursing students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50077,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Nursing","volume":"60 ","pages":"Pages 57-66"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144633059","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}