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The aim of the study was to explore aspects of learning in terms of gain in knowledge, confidence and empathy with immersive virtual reality (VR) from the patient perspective in undergraduate nursing students.

A pilot study integrating immersive VR experiences during clinical courses was facilitated based on the INACSL (2016) standards for simulation practices with a convenience sample of 165 nursing students in three levels of cohorts, using two different VR scenario simulations. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through pre- and post-surveys.

Student participants embodied patients with chronic disease using immersive VR. Findings showed substantial gains in most measures of knowledge, confidence and empathy, with slightly less difference seen in lower level nursing students particularly with empathy and understanding.

Embodiment through immersive VR scenarios was shown to increase learner development. The positive findings from the pilot study justified continuance of integration of immersive VR in nursing education, recommending further use and research.

Simulated learning for nursing has known benefits on knowledge and understanding. Immersive VR is gaining recognition within nursing education as a method to enhance cognitive and affective knowledge. This paper hopes to add insights on the impact of immersive VR for student learning and encourage discussion about the future for innovative immersive teaching and learning approaches for experiential learning.

The purpose of this research is to relate the characteristics transferred from teaching into simulation-based learning in nursing by highlighting how they are presented and, thus, focus on more assertive pedagogical actions in higher education.

The research was performed in the Brazilian context through a survey, and the data were analyzed by the structural equation modeling.

The results show meaningful relationships for the four factors that are impacted by simulation-based learning: clinical reasoning for decision-making, patient safety, self-confidence and knowledge.

This research identified the importance of simulation as an alternative to improving the teaching–learning process, and it can contribute to structuring the nursing program curriculum and other training zones, by enabling the inclusion of new methodological modalities.

The simulation strategy becomes a differential tool in the integration between theory and practice, especially in the nursing program, and promotes teamwork, leadership and communication, self-confidence, critical thinking, clinical reasoning, priority management, decision-taking and conflict management.

This paper aims to examine student exercise physiologists (EPs) and student dietitians’ confidence regarding working with people with severe mental illness (SMI) pre- and post-practicum in a mental health service.

This single-arm, quality improvement project included students completing practicum within a lifestyle programme embedded in mental health services. Student EPs completed 100 h of practicum across 15 weeks as part requirement for their Bachelor of Exercise Physiology degree and student dietitians completed six weeks full-time (40 h/week) for the part requirement of their Master of Nutrition and Dietetics. Students completed the Dietetic Confidence Scale (terminology was adapted for student EPs) pre- and post-practicum.

In total, 27 student EPs and 13 student dietitians completed placement and returned pre- and post-practicum questionnaires. Pre-practicum confidence scores were 90.8 ± 17.1 and 86.9 ± 18.9 out of a possible 140 points for student EPs and student dietitians, respectively. Confidence scores increased substantially post-practicum for both student EPs [mean difference (MD) = 29.3 ± 18.8, p < 0.001, d = 1.56] and dietitian students (MD = 26.1 ± 15.9, p = 0.002, d = 1.64). There were significant improvements in confidence across all domains of the confidence questionnaire for both EPs and dietitian students.

There is a research gap in understanding the confidence levels of student EPs’ and student dietitians’ when working with people with mental illness and the impact that undertaking a practicum in a mental health setting may play. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore student EP and student dietitian confidence in working with people with SMI pre- and post-practicum in a mental health setting.

Clinical placements within healthcare are fundamental to student development and higher education institutions need to ensure that students’ learning within practice is supported. There is an increasing evidence base to suggest that simulation may help to bridge this gap. The purpose of this paper is to describe how a cohort of 85 first‐year mental health students undertook a simulation project, in which they followed the admission of a virtual patient (in the form of an avatar) called Mohammed, to an acute inpatient ward. This simulation project was a two‐week experience for student nurses, whereby they engaged with a virtual service user and worked in teams and as individuals to support his recovery. This project allowed students to practice their clinical skills and communication skills within a safe and supportive environment.

This paper is an evaluation of a two‐week experience for student nurses where they were supported to engage with a virtual service user. It was designed to provide students with exposure to decision making, critical thinking and the application of clinical reasoning in a simulated working environment. Students were able to practice their clinical and communication skills within a safe and supportive environment. Student understanding was measured before the project began, on completion to measure any changes and again when the student had had returned to practice to see if they had maintained their skills.

Several emergent themes were identified: first, students acknowledged a greater level of learning during activities which they considered most challenging and in some cases the least enjoyable. This raises questions about the management of emotions in unfamiliar learning situations and of student expectations around the “Gamification” of learning. Students wanted increased interaction with the avatar and there is potential to continue to develop this project in terms of measuring application of knowledge and student performance by using innovative assessment and engagement strategies.

This project provides a platform for the active contribution of service users, carers and specialist teams. It allows educational input to closely align to practice needs, for lecturers to support and feedback on practice experiences and it opens up flexible and remote working for students. With an understanding of the principles and practice behind it, this project could be adapted for other practice and managerial learning events. Some examples include: multi‐disciplinary team‐building activities, to form part of an assessment or interview process, or integrated within a provider's own polices and opportunities for practice learning, such as preceptorship.

This paper explores opportunities for creative engagement in learning with service users, practice teams and students and it highlights the need for an evidence base around simulation for mental health nurse education.

The purpose of this paper is to review existing research on whistleblowing in healthcare in order to develop an evidence base for policy and research.

A narrative review, based on systematic literature protocols developed within the management field.

The authors identify valuable insights on the factors that influence healthcare whistleblowing, and how organizations respond, but also substantial gaps in the coverage of the literature, which is overly focused on nursing, has been largely carried out in the UK and Australia, and concentrates on the earlier stages of the whistleblowing process.

The review identifies gaps in the literature on whistleblowing in healthcare, but also draws attention to an unhelpful lack of connection with the much larger mainstream literature on whistleblowing.

Despite the limitations to the existing literature important implications for practice can be identified, including enhancing employees’ sense of security and providing ethics training.

This paper provides a platform for future research on whistleblowing in healthcare, at a time when policymakers are increasingly aware of its role in ensuring patient safety and care quality.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the effects of relational support, educational support and self-confidence on entrepreneurial intentions of undergraduate business students in a university.

To empirically validate the conceptual model and test the hypothesised relationships, the authors collected data from 227 business students at an AACSB-accredited university in Malaysia through random sampling.

The results were based on analyses from structural equation modelling using the SmartPLS software. The findings show that entrepreneurial intention of business students is significantly influenced by educational and relational support; however, the moderating effects of self-confidence in the relationship between educational support, relational support and entrepreneurial intention are not significant. The paper clearly shows that relational and educational supports are two important factors that can influence the entrepreneurial intention of university students.

This research contributes to literature on entrepreneurial motivations and intentions through its empirical findings of the hypothesised relationships. It theoretically contributes to existing knowledge by integrating relevant themes from entrepreneurial motivations theory and the theory of planned behaviour. Finally, it offers alternative recommendations to university authorities and policymakers about business students’ entrepreneurship intention.

The study deals with the problems of development of critical thinking among university students, its connection with motivation for learning and academic achievements of students. The purpose of the study is to define the relationship between academic motivation and critical thinking.

The study involved a survey based on the academic motivation scale. A total of 520 students from four universities in Russia and one Bulgaria University were interviewed.

The analysis of the questionnaires showed that among the students surveyed the types of motivation contributing to self-development and analysis predominate, namely self-development, cognitive, achievement and self-esteem motivation. The null hypothesis of the study that there was no difference between the average score of the critical thinking test (Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, WGCTA) for total sample and the results of students with dominant types of academic motivation that contribute to critical thinking was rejected.

It was revealed that academic motivation has a notable effect on critical thinking and can become a predictor of its development. Several ways have been proposed to track and help students with low academic motivation: regular testing, identification of students with amotivation and strong extrinsic motivation, and psychological support for such students.

Forensic mental health care is a unique field that poses complex demands on professionals. Forensic vigilance is a hypothesized specialty of forensic mental health professionals, allowing them to meet the complex demands of working in forensic settings. Forensic vigilance consists of theoretical and experiential knowledge of mental disorders, theory of offending behavior, the criminal history of patients and environmental observations and clinical judgment. Although this concept has only been recently described and defined, it is still unknown which professional and individual factors are related to forensic vigilance, and if forensic vigilance is related to job stress and burnout symptoms. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between forensic vigilance and several professional and individual factors.

The current study investigated whether forensic vigilance is predicted by years of work experience and the Big Five personality traits by means of an online survey among forensic mental health professionals and whether forensic vigilance is associated with work-related stress, burnout and workplace satisfaction.

The 283 forensic mental health professionals who responded to the survey indicated that forensic work experience, but not general experience, positively predicted forensic vigilance. Forensic vigilance was negatively associated with Neuroticism and positively associated with Openness to experience and Conscientiousness. Forensic vigilance did not predict work-related stress, burnout symptoms and workplace satisfaction. Personal accomplishment was positively related to forensic vigilance.

Findings of the present study increase the understanding of the construct of forensic vigilance. The findings presented here highlight the importance of differences between professionals in terms of experience and personality. Training programs should capitalize on experience, while taking personality differences in consideration. Personality differences are relevant in hiring policies and team composition. Finally, to reduce workplace-related stress and burnout symptoms, institutions should consider known factors that influence work-related symptoms (e.g. experienced autonomy) rather than forensic vigilance.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first effort to study forensic vigilance in relation to personality, work experience and experienced workplace-related stress and satisfaction.

The purpose of this paper is to explore newly graduated nurses’ experiences of their preparation for psychiatric nursing practice in Malawi. Knowledge of how basic or undergraduate nursing training programs prepare nurses for mental health services will inform educators to maximize the teaching and learning processes. Students are a key stakeholder in professional training hence an understanding of their experiences of training programs is critical.

A qualitative exploratory study was undertaken. In total, 16 newly graduated nurses with six months work experience at three psychiatric hospitals in Malawi were purposively sampled and recruited into the study. One to one interviews which lasted almost 45 minutes were conducted. Data were analyzed using content analysis.

Findings show that training programs fall short in preparing students for psychiatric nursing practice. Participants reported little attention to the specialty as compared to other specialties by educators. Inadequate academic support during practice sessions was highlighted by the majority of participants.

The study needed to compare the findings with experiences of students who have been allocated to other nursing specialties.

Psychiatric nursing specialty remains the least preferred career choice for many nursing students. However, preservice nursing education programs are expected to socialize, motivate and prepare students for psychiatric practice as well. It is therefore critical to understand gaps that exist in student preparation for psychiatric nursing services in order to improve mental health training.

Workforce development is crucial to the offender personality disorder (OPD) service to provide contemporary, evidenced care and treatment. This study aims to provide an overview and the research evaluation results of a regional higher education programme delivered to a range of criminal justice workers used on the OPD pathway.

Three modules were developed and delivered; these are (1) enhancing understanding (20 students), (2) formulation and therapeutic intervention (20 students) and (3) relationships, teams and environments (17 students). A mixed-methods study evaluated participant confidence and compassion. Pre, post and six-month follow-up questionnaires were completed. Additionally, a series of focus groups were conducted to gain in-depth qualitative feedback with a cross-section of students across the modules (N = 7). Quantitative data was collected and analysed separately due to the three modules all having different content. Qualitative data was analysed, and a synthesis of qualitative findings was reported from data taken across the three modules.

A total of 52 students participated, drawn from three modules: Module 1 (N = 19); Module 2 (N = 18); Module 3 (N = 15). Confidence in working with people with a personality disorder or associated difficulties improved significantly following completion of any of the modules, whereas compassion did not. Results have been synthesised and have assisted in the future shaping of modules to meet the learning needs of students.

Further evaluation of the effectiveness of educational programmes requires attention, as does the longer-term durability of effect. Further research is required to explore the post-training impact upon practice, and further exploration is required and larger sample sizes to draw definitive conclusions related to compassion.

This unique model of co-production that draws upon the expertise of people with lived experience, occupational frontline and academics is achievable and well received by students and can be reproduced elsewhere.

The positive uptake and results of this study indicate a need for expansion of accessible OPD workforce training opportunities across the UK. Further research is required to explore student feedback and comparisons of effectiveness comparing different modes of training delivery, especially in light of the pandemic, which has forced organisations and higher education institutions to develop more digital and distance learning approaches to their portfolios.

This novel research provides an evaluation of the only higher education credit-bearing modules in the UK focussed solely upon the OPD workforce and aligned with the national drive for non-credit bearing awareness level training “knowledge and understanding framework” (KUF).