Nursing Informatics / Annotated Bibliography & Brief Critique Harris, R., Bennett, J., and Ross. F. (2013). Leadership and innovation in nursing seen through a historical lens. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 70(7. 1629-1638.

Aim of the Article and Main Findings

There was a time when technology was a distant vision in the minds of healthcare professionals, but the values that emerged from nurses nearly a hundred years ago are values that should be alive and well today notwithstanding all the wonderful tools that the healthcare field has today. This peer-reviewed article looks into the past to see how (qualitatively) nurses in the UK responded to the leadership style of Dame / Matron Muriel Powell between the years 1920-1980, well before today's nurses are empowered with the advanced technologies and communication standards of today. The point of the research is to review interviews that were conducted with nurses that worked and trained at St. George's hospital in that time frame. Why were these interviews relevant in 2013, when the article was published? A look at how nursing used to be practiced, juxtaposed with today's cutting edge, patient-centered technologies, is a worthy subject to delve in. The interview transcripts of 132 nurses were "analyzed in depth" (between March 2011 and January 2012) and the themes that emerged from the interviews reflected the very strong leadership that Matron Powell displayed. The findings showed that through Powell's hands-on leadership and open communication, nurses under Powell learned how to innovate when change was needed in the workplace. The interviews showed that Powell actually created a hospital culture resulting in the main from Powell's transformational leadership.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The strength of this article is that the staff morale is far better and the outcomes for patients are more positive when nurses are guided by strong leadership -- a lack of leading edge technology notwithstanding. There are many theories available on the best way to develop nurses, but one thing never changes, according to Harris and colleagues: the exercise of leadership from a position of influence and power is absolutely pivotal when it comes to developing competent nursing practices and building highly capable nurses. Another strength, in my opinion, is that leading nursing figures from the past should be referenced, and the skills that were demonstrated by nursing leaders from previous years can be (and often are) entirely germane to today's nurse. As for weaknesses, there were none. A highlight was passages from the historical transcripts, such as: "I remember Matron Powell saying that it was better for granny to see her grandchildren on the ward than it was to give her a pint of blood" (Harris, et al., 2013).

My Evaluation / Opinion of the Article

This was an excellent piece of research, and should be required reading for all nurses in training, at hospitals or in universities. Looking into the positives of the past is a fine way to make the present and the future stronger for nurses and patients.

Saifan, A., AbuRuz, M.E., and Masa'deh, R. (2015). Theory Practice Gaps in Nursing

Education: A Qualitative Perspective. Journal of Social Sciences, 11(1), 20-29.

Aim of the Article and Main Findings

The article in the Journal of Social Sciences takes on the subject of, which is more important in nurse training -- theory (presented in a college or university setting) or clinical training. Of course both aspects of nurse training are vital to a person going into the field, and without nursing informatics presented in clinical environments, would-be nurses today are missing out on the technology revolution -- and not giving patients the cutting edge care they deserve. But the main finding of the article is that nursing instructors are starting to adapt to the idea that the theoretical part of training is gaining speed and there is less emphasis on the clinical part of nurses training. At some point in the recent past it is believed there has been a lack of good communication between instructors from the theory school and the clinical school, which the authors suggest is part of the problem. Nursing students, the authors assert, have become frustrated and dissatisfied because of the lack of reported support in the clinical training milieu. The upshot of the article is that when 500 nursing students were interviewed in their final year of training, the majority reported a lack of emphasis given to "practice education"; the majority also reported that the clinical portion of their training was "complicated and continuously changed" (Saifan, 2015, p. 21).

Strengths and Weaknesses

One weakness that is evident in this piece is the style of reporting what various students responded when asked about theory versus clinical training. Talk to...

A strength of this article is just the fact that there is an intelligent discussion about which aspect of learning (theory / education, or clinical training) should have the most emphasis in nursing.
My Evaluation / Opinion of the Article

This article has value simply because the debate / discussion about the best training for nurses is important. Clearly there is a gap between theory and practice, but there always has been a gap and likely it will always be that way. This piece could be chalked up to the old adage, "Nothing new under the sun."

Skiba, D.J. (2015). Emerging Technologies Center / On the Horizon: Implications for Nursing Education. Nursing Education Perspectives, 36(4), 263-266.

Aim of the Article and Main Findings

Nursing education could well be -- and is beginning to be -- impacted in positive ways by the revolution in teaching technology. This article presents the results of the 2015 Horizon Report, which is put together by the New Media Consortium and the Education Learning Initiative, projects technology trends, the challenges associated with those trends and what technologies are coming into use that aid education. Higher education (including nursing education) is evolving into a digital world where students will not always have to attend university classes but instead will be online, using "dashboards to improve their learning." The main findings in this piece include news for nursing: to wit, NEXus (Nursing Education Xchange, www.winnesus.org/about), which was launched in the 2000s as a way to share doctoral courses. But today, this online course is used by schools all over the United States.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Clearly a strength of this article is the update provided on distance education and how it applies to nursing education and all other aspects of education as well. Nursing students will in the near future be using "hypersituation," which means they will be carrying devices with them "to help facilitate their problem-solving and decision-making" (Skiba, 2015, p. 3). Teachers won't have to search from student-to-student to assure patient safety, Skiba reports based on the Horizon Report. Certain objects in a patient's room will let nurse students become aware of the preferences that patients have for their care, as well as their concerns. The one weakness is that the article didn't delve deeply enough into advantages that digital / distance learning will provide to nurses on duty as well as those in school

Ironside, P. M. (2015). Narrative Pedagogy: Transforming Nursing Education Through 15

Years of Research in Nursing Education. Nursing Education Perspectives, 36(2), 83-88.

Aim of the Article and Main Findings

The main point this author is making is that while "narrative pedagogy" has been used by teachers of myriad subjects around the planet for "more than 15 years," very few innovations or pedagogies have been practiced by nursing educators (Ironside, 2015). This article digs into the literature regarding nursing education and asserts that nursing educators should be embracing many pedagogies that "fundamentally transform" the interaction and relationships between clinicians, students, and nursing instructors. In other words, a myriad of pedagogies should be included in any faculty member's teaching portfolio. Moreover, Ironside asserts that if nursing educators would create refreshing ways of approaching subject matter, better prepared nurse students would emerge. And narrative pedagogy isn't just about sharing stories of offering examples, Ironsides explains. It's about "drawing attention to what stood out as important to nurses in particular situations" (Ironsides).

Strengths and Weaknesses

For starters, because not everyone reading this article would immediately be familiar with narrative pedagogy, Ironsides might have opened the article with a full explanation. Eventually Ironsides does explain that it is a "phenomenological" teaching method in the field of nursing. But there are many fuzzy passages that are more esoteric than substantive in terms of commonly understood nursing concepts. On the other hand, there are strengths because the author is trying to shake things up in the academic world of nurse training.

My Evaluation / Opinion of the Article

There are valuable ideas presented in this article and clearly the author was engaged in a philosophically inspired approach to creative communication and curriculum within the framework of nursing education. The fact that there is no one right way to provide nurses instruction as they are progressing through training is presented toward the end of the article and that -- while it might well have been presented earlier -- is germane…