Catherine MacFarlane and Wendy McInally (School of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Care)
A key Scottish Quality Enhancement Theme identifies research-teaching linkages as essential to promoting the graduate attributes of students (Quality Assurance Agency, 2009). With this in mind, the Child Health team endeavoured to embed Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) and research into their programme in a manner that would be meaningful and engaging for students, as there had previously been minimal focus on this subject until third year.
The Year 2 EBP and Illness and Injury modules are continually developed and designed to be run concurrently, combining EBP with the pathopyhsiology and care of a range of childhood illness and injuries. Typical scenarios include the child and young person with an acute exacerbation of asthma and the infant with bronchiolitis, where students compile an extended care plan of treatment and nursing management and source relevant, up-to-date evidence to support the care of the infant, child or young person and their family.
These modules provide an excellent example of how students, early on in their programme, can develop sufficient knowledge, skills and understanding of EBP and research to apply to real-life illness and injury scenarios, and in doing so enhance their fitness to practice and ability to provide high quality nursing care.