ISTOCKPHOTO
Welcome to a great Students Helen Green and Grant Byrne are happy to share some insights with this year’s intake of nursing undergraduates
Peer support is essential, whether in person or online One thing I always found helpful as a nursing student was the support of those around me. It may take time to make friends, especially in a large cohort, but those on the course with you can offer powerful support. During my course, I was part of a peer mentoring scheme, which mainly involved face-to-face meetings and emails between second or third-year students and first-year students. It worked well for the bigger issues people faced, but so many of the first-years had smaller questions. As a student mentor, I worked on ways to improve communication, particularly through social media. Facebook has an enormous potential for offering peer support. It has the benefits of being fast and accessible, and can reach large numbers of people quickly. It can be used to share ideas and experiences in a positive way to show others that they can cope with the course ahead. We were always careful to make our online community private. At the end of my university course, I was part of a research group that analysed the benefits and drawbacks of using Facebook as a medium for peer support. We found the main benefits were: It is familiar to students. Informality means even minor questions can be asked of members. Responses can be immediate. It improves team building and community spirit. Drawbacks included the potential for unprofessional posts, and the fact that non-users of Facebook were excluded. Despite the drawbacks, the value of having the support of peers one click away should never be underestimated. Now qualified, I am involved in developing a similar idea for newly qualified nurses. Rebecca Coxon is a staff nurse at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Helen Green says: I am a mature student, having had a career in publishing. But as my career developed, I realised this was not for me. I knew I wanted to be involved
with people and to make a difference to people’s lives. Having previously been a student in an unrelated subject area, I was quite unaware of how different nursing would be at university. The balance of various priorities in terms of academic learning and practice is really demanding. I have been inspired by the many nurses I have worked with, not just mentors and lecturers but staff nurses and others. I have been impressed by their willingness to impart their extensive knowledge, and by their recognition that students are the next generation of the profession Helen Green aims for critical care
Academic integrity leads on to ethical practice Establish strong values while studying, and the principles needed to be a nurse will follow Starting your journey in nursing education can be exciting and nerve-wracking. Educational standards are high for nursing students because practice standards are high for nurses. People expect you to demonstrate the knowledge, skill, and judgment to practise safely and ethically. Research tells us that unethical conduct displayed by students is linked to unethical
professional behaviours. For nursing students, the expectation that you behave in an ethical manner in practice and school takes on additional significance. Greg Dodd, a recent nursing graduate from the University of Ontario, points to the danger of passing off others’ work as your own. ‘Plagiarism or the use of others’ work without acknowledgement,
68 september :: vol 29 no 4by:: ${individualUser.displayName} 2014 STANDARD Downloaded24 from RCNi.com on Oct 07, 2015. For personal use only. NoNURSING other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
STUDENT SUPPLEMENT
and meaningful career and deserve their time and effort. I am applying to join the Royal Naval Reserve because I would like to work in critical care. I feel passionate about this. You do not get many chances in life to put yourself in those situations and I am looking forward to the challenges that will bring. Grant Byrne says: When I was younger, I cared for my grandparents, which gave me and insight into older people’s care. It doesn’t mean I will automatically be a good nurse, because caring for your grandmother is very different to caring for patients. But it does enable you to say: ‘If this patient was my gran or my mum, I would like them to be treated like this.’
can occur unintentionally or even unknowingly,’ he says. Newly qualified nurse Jacqueline Mangal, also recently graduated from Ontario, says: ‘Integrity and ethics begin with your own values. Your work is a representation of who you are and the kind of nurse you strive to be.’ Following the standards of academic integrity is one important way of living out the high ethical expectations of nursing. Here are some tips for ensuring academic success: Read and understand the academic integrity policies of your programme. Speak to your tutor or librarian if you are unsure what plagiarism is or how to cite others’ work.
sitting with patients while I am completing my paperwork. Nursing is a difficult course. You have to study, complete essays and exams. We get a good bursary but we have our clinical placements, so we are not paid that much. It’s not easy, but in the end it is all worth it. When I qualify, I want to move to London initially. Eventually I would like to work abroad NS To watch Helen and Grant talk about studying nursing, go to http://youtu.be/BetBZTmq3oA and http://youtu.be/TFTH55uQ2lY
Grant Byrne wants to work abroad
As I got older, my experience made me realise I wanted to work with people and, when I looked into it, nursing was the best job for me. Nurses get involved in all aspects of people’s lives. I have known nurses be invited to weddings and christenings purely because we get close to people. We should celebrate that. I like talking to people and a conversation with someone who has been lying in bed all day is a small thing, but means a lot. I love
Use the university’s resources to help you with your assignments. Capitalise on opportunities to help you develop writing and test-taking skills. Summarise useful points and make a note of the source when you are reading for assignments.
Ethical conduct in assignments Do your own work and be clear about whether an assignment is meant to be done individually or as a group. Accurately cite the work of others – ideas, images and words. that you rely on. Provide the source when you quote, summarise or paraphrase ideas from others. Follow the instructions for the use of calculators or notes in exams and tests.
Helen Green is a nursing student at the University of Southampton and Grant Byrne is studying nursing at the University of Glasgow. Both are members of the RCN RESOURCES RCN Nursing Students www.rcn.org.uk/development/ students Student Life online rcnpublishing.com/page/ns/ students/student-life
Do not use previous assignments – each assignment should be original. Remember that if you use someone else’s exact words, you must put quotation marks around those words and provide an accurate citation. When sharing your assignments with others, it can be a breach of academic integrity if they use your words and ideas, even unintentionally. Ideas from electronic sources such as the internet must always be cited. Sue Coffey is associate professor and Hilde Zitzelsberger is assistant professor at the University of Ontario and Charles Anyinam is professor at George Brown College, Toronto, Canada
NURSING STANDARD 24other :: voluses 29without no 4 :: permission. 2014 69 Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Oct 07, 2015. For personalseptember use only. No Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
Welcome to a great Students Helen Green and Grant Byrne are happy to share some insights with this year’s intake of nursing undergraduates
Peer support is essential, whether in person or online One thing I always found helpful as a nursing student was the support of those around me. It may take time to make friends, especially in a large cohort, but those on the course with you can offer powerful support. During my course, I was part of a peer mentoring scheme, which mainly involved face-to-face meetings and emails between second or third-year students and first-year students. It worked well for the bigger issues people faced, but so many of the first-years had smaller questions. As a student mentor, I worked on ways to improve communication, particularly through social media. Facebook has an enormous potential for offering peer support. It has the benefits of being fast and accessible, and can reach large numbers of people quickly. It can be used to share ideas and experiences in a positive way to show others that they can cope with the course ahead. We were always careful to make our online community private. At the end of my university course, I was part of a research group that analysed the benefits and drawbacks of using Facebook as a medium for peer support. We found the main benefits were: It is familiar to students. Informality means even minor questions can be asked of members. Responses can be immediate. It improves team building and community spirit. Drawbacks included the potential for unprofessional posts, and the fact that non-users of Facebook were excluded. Despite the drawbacks, the value of having the support of peers one click away should never be underestimated. Now qualified, I am involved in developing a similar idea for newly qualified nurses. Rebecca Coxon is a staff nurse at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Helen Green says: I am a mature student, having had a career in publishing. But as my career developed, I realised this was not for me. I knew I wanted to be involved
with people and to make a difference to people’s lives. Having previously been a student in an unrelated subject area, I was quite unaware of how different nursing would be at university. The balance of various priorities in terms of academic learning and practice is really demanding. I have been inspired by the many nurses I have worked with, not just mentors and lecturers but staff nurses and others. I have been impressed by their willingness to impart their extensive knowledge, and by their recognition that students are the next generation of the profession Helen Green aims for critical care
Academic integrity leads on to ethical practice Establish strong values while studying, and the principles needed to be a nurse will follow Starting your journey in nursing education can be exciting and nerve-wracking. Educational standards are high for nursing students because practice standards are high for nurses. People expect you to demonstrate the knowledge, skill, and judgment to practise safely and ethically. Research tells us that unethical conduct displayed by students is linked to unethical
professional behaviours. For nursing students, the expectation that you behave in an ethical manner in practice and school takes on additional significance. Greg Dodd, a recent nursing graduate from the University of Ontario, points to the danger of passing off others’ work as your own. ‘Plagiarism or the use of others’ work without acknowledgement,
68 september :: vol 29 no 4by:: ${individualUser.displayName} 2014 STANDARD Downloaded24 from RCNi.com on Oct 07, 2015. For personal use only. NoNURSING other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
STUDENT SUPPLEMENT
and meaningful career and deserve their time and effort. I am applying to join the Royal Naval Reserve because I would like to work in critical care. I feel passionate about this. You do not get many chances in life to put yourself in those situations and I am looking forward to the challenges that will bring. Grant Byrne says: When I was younger, I cared for my grandparents, which gave me and insight into older people’s care. It doesn’t mean I will automatically be a good nurse, because caring for your grandmother is very different to caring for patients. But it does enable you to say: ‘If this patient was my gran or my mum, I would like them to be treated like this.’
can occur unintentionally or even unknowingly,’ he says. Newly qualified nurse Jacqueline Mangal, also recently graduated from Ontario, says: ‘Integrity and ethics begin with your own values. Your work is a representation of who you are and the kind of nurse you strive to be.’ Following the standards of academic integrity is one important way of living out the high ethical expectations of nursing. Here are some tips for ensuring academic success: Read and understand the academic integrity policies of your programme. Speak to your tutor or librarian if you are unsure what plagiarism is or how to cite others’ work.
sitting with patients while I am completing my paperwork. Nursing is a difficult course. You have to study, complete essays and exams. We get a good bursary but we have our clinical placements, so we are not paid that much. It’s not easy, but in the end it is all worth it. When I qualify, I want to move to London initially. Eventually I would like to work abroad NS To watch Helen and Grant talk about studying nursing, go to http://youtu.be/BetBZTmq3oA and http://youtu.be/TFTH55uQ2lY
Grant Byrne wants to work abroad
As I got older, my experience made me realise I wanted to work with people and, when I looked into it, nursing was the best job for me. Nurses get involved in all aspects of people’s lives. I have known nurses be invited to weddings and christenings purely because we get close to people. We should celebrate that. I like talking to people and a conversation with someone who has been lying in bed all day is a small thing, but means a lot. I love
Use the university’s resources to help you with your assignments. Capitalise on opportunities to help you develop writing and test-taking skills. Summarise useful points and make a note of the source when you are reading for assignments.
Ethical conduct in assignments Do your own work and be clear about whether an assignment is meant to be done individually or as a group. Accurately cite the work of others – ideas, images and words. that you rely on. Provide the source when you quote, summarise or paraphrase ideas from others. Follow the instructions for the use of calculators or notes in exams and tests.
Helen Green is a nursing student at the University of Southampton and Grant Byrne is studying nursing at the University of Glasgow. Both are members of the RCN RESOURCES RCN Nursing Students www.rcn.org.uk/development/ students Student Life online rcnpublishing.com/page/ns/ students/student-life
Do not use previous assignments – each assignment should be original. Remember that if you use someone else’s exact words, you must put quotation marks around those words and provide an accurate citation. When sharing your assignments with others, it can be a breach of academic integrity if they use your words and ideas, even unintentionally. Ideas from electronic sources such as the internet must always be cited. Sue Coffey is associate professor and Hilde Zitzelsberger is assistant professor at the University of Ontario and Charles Anyinam is professor at George Brown College, Toronto, Canada
NURSING STANDARD 24other :: voluses 29without no 4 :: permission. 2014 69 Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Oct 07, 2015. For personalseptember use only. No Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
