post graduate certificate of academic practice
CertHE
| Level | CertHE |
|---|---|
| Student | Ms Carolyn Maile |
| Status | Current |
| Part Time | Yes |
| Years | 2023 - 2024 |
| Project Title | An educational enquiry exploring the lived experience of students studying nursing with the University of Hull who do not complete the raising practice concerns process |
| Project Description | The raising practice concerns process (RPC) within universities is specific to students studying health, education, and social care programmes. The process should be used to report issues of poor patient/client safety, bullying and harassment amongst other issues and is an essential component of safety monitoring within practice organisations. It is well documented through several public enquiries (See The Francis Report, 2013) that reporting of the above issues is vital and when these processes are not followed there can be catastrophic consequences to patient care. According to the Faculty of Health Sciences Quality team (RPC are sent to this team in the first instance), in the academic year of 2021/2022 three (3) RPC processes were implemented. In striking contrast, anecdotally academic staff report through supervision that they are conversing with many students about the witnessing of unsafe and or bullying practice. Milligan et al (2017) found through a systematic review of the literature that little is known of the lived experience of students that report and that there is an emotional burden attached to considering the implementation of raising concerns. This lay firmly within the perceived threat of sanctions from staff. Similarly, Fisher & Kiernan (2019) found that fear of punitive action may hinder students to complete this process. This enquiry sought to understand whether our student demographic share the experiences stated in the literature, offering a lived experience aspect to the literature. The enquiry employed an IPA (interpretive phenomenological analysis) design, deemed most appropriate to explore the lived experience of students of Nursing studying with the University of Hull who do not complete the raising practice concerns process- What influences their decision not to raise a practice concern. Potential participants were invited to contact the principal investigator to take part in a semi structured interview lasting between 30-60 minutes. Participants (total of 3) were then confirmed as consenting via email. Interviews were recorded, and transcribed and thematic analysis completed through identification and clustering. Following analysis, convergent themes of support and knowledge emerged. When explored individually emotional burden can be reduced by university support in understanding what counts as a RPC with individual support from the personal supervisor crucial to allow growth of the student professionally and personally. This approach allows for knowledge exchange to take place which can then influence positively from peer to peer, ultimately removing the fear that can be present when students hear only their peers’ negative experiences. In conclusion, the process utilised by the University is not clear for staff and students and can be developed to be more inclusive and transparent. This should be followed by staff directly exploring RPC with all students in the form of teaching sessions or supervision. The use of case studies may help students interpret whether they can use the RPC and help form real life interpretations that students identify with. Further exploration of understanding the personal supervisor experience in supporting students would be beneficial to understand how a consistent approach to support the RPC to be more successful. References Fisher, M. & Kiernan, M. (2019) Student nurses lived experience of patient safety and raising concerns. Nurse Education Today (77) 1-5. Milligan F, Wareing M, Preston-Shoot M, Pappas Y, Randhawa G, Bhandol J. (2017) Supporting nursing, midwifery and allied health professional students to raise concerns with the quality of care: A review of the research literature. Nurse Education Today (57) 29-39. |
| Awarding Institution | University of Hull |
| Second Supervisor | Catherine Lillie |
| Additional Supervisor | Kate Bridgeman |