Relationship of academic courses and clinical internships to performance on the National Qualified Examination for Registered Professional Nurses (NQEX-RPN)

Background:Success in the National Qualified Examination for Registered Professional Nurses(NQEX-RPN)is a critical issue for each nursing student and every nursing school.However,to date,little research has been conducted regarding the degree of risk for licensure failure associated with specific academic courses and clinical internships in China's Mainland.Objective:This study aimed to explore the relationship of academic courses and clinical internships to performance on the NQEX-RPN in China's Mainland.Methods:This was a retrospective descriptive study.Two hundred twenty-eight new graduates were recruited froma four-year baccalaureate nursing programin China's Mainland.The scores of academic courses and clinical internships were recorded from the Teaching and Learning administration of the university.The NQEX-RPN performance data was collected from the Provincial Health Department.Personal information was collected from the participants.Multiple stepwise regression was used to identify predictors of the NQEX-RPN.Results:Twenty-three courses and four clinical internships were positively associated with NQEX-RPN performance.Surgical nursing,Medical nursing,Computer basics and Community health care explained the 36.2%of the total variance of Theoretical Knowledge(F=31.313,p=0.000);clinical internships of obstetrics and gynecology nursing,pediatrics and surgical nursing explained the 28.1%of the total variance of Application Skills(F=28.852,p=0.000).Conclusion:Surgical-medicine nursing,Community health care,Computer basics and clinical internships are beneficial in assisting students and educators to identify the risk of students'performance in the NQEX-RPN.

Resilience as a strategy for struggling against challenges related to the nursing profession

Stressors, such as work overload, role conflicts, lack of time, lack of self-care, poor job-related interpersonal relationships, feeling powerless to provide quality care, struggling with competing demands,death, conflict with doctors, peers and supervisors, and inadequate emotional preparation, can be negative, stressful, traumatic, or difficult situations or episodes of hardship for nurses. Situations or episodes of these types can also cause both physical and mental problems, such as fatigue, irritability,lack of concentration, unhappiness, depressive sensation, depersonalization, and emotional exhaustion.Despite all of these challenges, resilience enables nurses to cope with their work environment and to maintain healthy and stable psychological functioning. The aim of this review is to describe the concept of resilience, explain characteristics with which it is related and outline interventions to increase the resilience of nurses.

Diversified Teaching Methods in Nursing:Using Animal Experimentation to Promote Core Professional Competencies in Basic Nursing Training

Objective： The aim of this project was to train highly professional and specialized nursing students from medical colleges to adapt to bedside clinical care by exploring and discussing various methods of injection and IV infusion in animal experimentation to hone the core professional nursing competencies. Methods： Two classes from the 2012 senior graduating nursing class were randomly selected by a computer to conduct the diversified practical teaching methods based on animal experimentation. A hospital environment was simulated by requiring students to perform different types of injections and practical IV infusion techniques. A comprehensive evaluation of the core professional competencies, as well as other integrated competencies, was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the teaching methods. Results： Two-sampled, pairwise u-tests were performed between the scores of the experimental （nursing class 2） and control （nursing class 1） groups. These findings showed that the overall test scores were significantly higher in the experimental group compared to the control group and that the average P-values for the competencies in various categories were 〈0.01, which indicated statistically significant results. Conclusions： Based on the data from this project, diversified teaching methods for basic nursing training founded on animal experimentation can help nursing students perfect their core professional competencies and improve their overall professional standing. The introduction of animal experimentation requires further verification, and an increased acknowledgement of its benefits through the widespread dissemination of this information.