Civic Engagement Experiences of Students Preparing for Roles as Clinical Nurse Specialists

• Published in: Nursing forum (Hillsdale) Vol. 52; no. 2; pp. 88 - 96
• Main Authors: Embree, Jennifer L., Yueh‐Feng Lu, Yvonne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Hindawi Limited 01.04.2017
• Subjects: Adult; Attitude of Health Personnel; Citizen participation; Civic engagement; clinical nurse specialist; College students; Community Participation - methods; Community Participation - psychology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate - methods; Education, Nursing, Continuing - methods; Education, Nursing, Continuing - standards; Educational evaluation; Female; graduate nursing education; Health care policy; Humans; Interdisciplinary aspects; Leadership; Learning activities; Male; Mass Casualty Incidents; Nurse Clinicians - education; Nurse Clinicians - trends; Nurse specialists; Nurse's Role - psychology; Nursing; Nursing education; Polls & surveys; Professional development; Professional relationships; Public health; service learning; Specialists; Students; Students, Nursing - psychology; United States > US; graduate nursing education; clinical nurse specialist; service learning; Civic engagement; learning activities
• ISSN: 0029-6473; 1744-6198
• DOI: 10.1111/nuf.12170

AIM Clinical nurse specialist (CNS) students at an urban Midwestern university participated in a study to describe their satisfaction with civic engagement (CE) learning activities. METHODS A descriptive and cross‐sectional study design housed a faculty‐developed CE learning module with four learning activities: (a) gaining interprofessional collaborative practice leadership experience in a mock incident command experience; (b) identifying, researching, and writing a legislative letter about an area of public and/or health policy concern; and (c) developing a professional online network LinkedIn account with experienced CNSs; (d) identifying potential mechanisms for achieving board membership on a civic or professional nursing organization. Faculty developed an online survey to determine student satisfaction through quantitative and qualitative data. Participants completed the survey at the end of the course. RESULTS Satisfaction with CE learning activities ranged from a mean of 6.07 to 6.75 on a 7‐point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating more satisfaction. The overall mean score for CE activities was 6.27 (SD = 0.61) and mean score for course objectives’ satisfaction was 6.55 (SE = 0.70). Students reported high satisfaction with their learning as a result of the CE activities. CONCLUSIONS CNS students perceived high satisfaction with learning from the CE activities in this study.