Service users in the delivery of education

Why should we be involving them?

Lisa Nobes, Senior Lecturer Service Innovation, UCS.

Drivers

User involvement is central to the Government’s modernisation agenda for the NHS (DoH, 2000, 2005)

These policy trends have encouraged educational establishments to re-examine service user involvement in the education of health and social care professionals with the aim of improving partnership working (QAA 2005, NMC 2010)

Challenge for educators

Create value by developing professional education to respond to the context and climate of this change.

Examine the process of service user involvement in education in order to understand how to achieve this value.

Research question

What educational benefit is there for students in involving service users/carers in the classroom?

Aims

To identify the educational benefits for the student when service users are involved in the delivery of pre-registration children’s nursing education.

To provide evidence of educational value by considering these identified benefits and challenges within Eraut’s (1994) framework of knowledge.

Research design

Case study methodology Three sessions Data collection

Participant observation Student focus groups (n=10, 12, 15) Semi-structured interviews with service users

Data analysis Eraut’s framework for professional knowledge

Propositional knowledge is the theory and concepts commonly taught in Higher Education settings

Process knowledge is knowing how to conduct the processes that contribute to professional education: formulating questions, planning, problem-solving, decision-making, managing one’s own behaviour.

Personal knowledge involves the interpretation of experience to gain understanding

The real importance is how the types of knowledge interweave to generate deep learning

Framework Professional Knowledge Eraut (1994)

Student vignettes Propositional knowledge.

“it wasn’t just a diagnosis or a short summary which you’d get in a book, it was interesting and extremely beneficial,”

“it didn’t feel like a lecture, so I feel I personally took it in more,”

“too much time was taken up with the lady from the service. I would have liked to have less of that and more discussion with the parent.”

Student vignettes:Personal knowledge

“understand how they perceive a situation that we as student nurses see on a regular basis.”

“parents may not be honest about their perceptions of healthcare when their child is in hospital, as they feel the care of their child could be compromised.”

“in the future when dealing with parents on the ward remembering they would of liked this asked or that done etc….and to remember the impact of what we say and do.”

Student vignettesProcess knowledge

“we got to ask her questions and she could answer them face to face, we weren’t left wondering about unanswered questions.”

“I always want to ask parents on the ward what it is like to have a child in hospital, have a disabled child etc but always feel that the ward is an inappropriate place/time to do this whereas in the classroom I feel that the parent is more in a position to answer these questions.”

Student vignettesProcess knowledge

“the parent was very openly pleased to discuss and answer any questions that we had, whereas in placement I would feel that I may offend the family.”

“the main difference is time. In practice you do not have the opportunity to sit down and talk for over an hour about the child and their condition.”

Student vignettesProcess knowledge

“feel uneasy asking some questions as you don’t really know the parent and you do not know how much they want to tell you.”

“it’s hard to sometimes get across the right question…..you don’t want to offend them in any way,”

Educational benefits of involving service users in the classroom.

References DoH (2000) NHS Plan London, HMSO.

DoH (2005) Creating a Patient-led NHS: Delivering the NHS Improvement Plan. London, HMSO.

Eraut, M (1994) Developing Professional Knowledge and Competence. Routledge Falmer, London.

NMC (2010) Standards for pre-registartion nursing education: Draft for consultation. Available at http://nmc-uk.org

QAA (2005) Partnership Quality Assurance Framework for Healthcare Education in England. Available at http://www.mhhe.heacademy.ac.uk

Contact Details

Lisa Nobes, Senior Lecturer Service Innovation.

School Pre-Registration Nursing, Midwifery and Interprofessional Studies,

University Campus Suffolk.

l.nobes@ucs.ac.uk