Context Student Stress Training e-Mobile Management (SSTeMM) is referenced to the ‘European Framework for Mental Health and Well-being’ and the WHO (Tsouros et al., 1998) Framework of Action for Health Promoting Universities to promote and protect the physical and mental health of students and staff in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Industry based internships, as part of HEI professional courses, such as medicine or nursing, transition the learner from student to qualified status and are formative in terms of heuristic development to cope with stress in the workplace. The impact of STTeMM aligns to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work – EASH - (2013) in its research priorities for 2013 to 2020,‘Develop interventions, programmes and strategies that merge traditional workplace health protection with workplace health promotion and address both work-related risks —organisational and individual psychosocial contexts — and behavioural factors simultaneously'. This logically includes a focus on both the work environment and individual choices and behaviours.’(EASH, 2013:52). Within the context of the promotion of health broadly and retention of the nursing workforce particularly, SSTeMM may be seen significantly to support the European Commission's broad and specific policy goals and to be aligned with EASH priorities with its focus upon sharing good practice and establishing a Pan EU framework for action in order to establish a more effective service engaged approach to the management of work related stress and the promotion of well-being amongst the nursing profession in general across the European Union and, indeed, beyond. Objectives SSTeMM aims to develop an end-user (which we define as internship student, internship mentor, hosting industry and HEI staff) accessible digital mobile platform of targeted work based education, competency training and in vivo self reflection learning opportunities to equip students and mentoring workers with the knowledge, skills and competencies to address occupational stressors (both personal and environmental). The focus will be on a pedagogy that develops personal skills to build resilience that support retention; enhance student internship engagement whilst away from their base HEI and equip such students with a reinforced skills and competency set that will enhance their personal wellbeing once they have entered the world of full time employment following graduation/qualification. Number and profile of the participants Student nurses on internship placement as part of the pre qualification training and their qualified nurse mentors are the target of SSTeMM solution development and implementation. We anticipate a minimum of 200 student nurses plus their internship mentors directly participating in SSTeMM solutions across four national jurisdictions, plus a minimum of 700 student and qualified nurses participating in a survey on identifying student stressors in the work place. Description of Activities SSTeMM involves the analysis of student nurse stressors whilst in internship settings. Based on this data, SSTeMM will develop training packages and guidance to manage stress in the work place delivered through an e-platform and mobile application which will be specifically designed for student nurses on internship and their clinical mentors to use at the time events occur or shortly after. The SSTeMM solution will be localised and Beta tested and then piloted across three to five clinical sites in four jurisdictions (Ireland, Slovenia, Spain and Kosovo). Methodology to be used Multiple synergistic methodologies will be used incorporating literature review, survey, curriculum methods, mobile application development with Beta testing and case studies. Results and Impact Envisaged An analytical toolbox incorporating a stress catalogue and survey instrument. Blended Learning Training Package incorporating mobile application to deliver developed stress training and guidance modular content in the workplace. A training manual and programme to support academic lecturers and clinical mentors. A localised validated SSTeMM solution that be will be open access and available to anyone who wishes to use it. SSTeMM aims to locate and embedd stress management skills and knowledge acquisition through a curriculum that emphasises internship learning as the most effective environment for training student nurses to manage stress and translates into their professional way of working once qualified and in employment. Longer term benefits Establish a more effective service engaged approach to stress management at work amongst the nursing profession that generalises to other disciplines.
Through project implementation SSTeMM aimed to acheive an end-user accessible digital mobile platform of targeted work based education, competency training and in vivo self-reflection learning opportunities and equip students and preceptors with the knowledge, skills and competencies to address occupational stressors (personal and environmental). SSTeMM focused on a pedagogy that would develop personal skills to build resilience which supports retention; enhance student internship engagement and equip students with reinforced skills and competency sets that enhance their personal well-being upon their graduation/qualification. SSTeMM also aimed to directly engage with preceptors, clinical nurses managers and clinical placement coordinators to support them in their support of student nurses on placement. SSTeMM aimed to develop training packages and guidance to manage stress in the work place delivered through an e-platform and mobile application specifically designed for student nurses on internship and their clinical mentors to use at the time events occur or shortly thereafter. Through its implementation, SSTeMM aimed for a more effective service engaged approach to stress management that would generalize to other disciplines.
Student Stress Training e-Mobile Management (SSTeMM) addresses the needs of student nurses to manage their stress whilst in clinical placement. Student nurses suffer from more stress than other students. SSTeMM applied for Erasmus Plus funding to develop an end-user (defined as internship student, internship mentor, hosting industry and HEI staff) accessible digital mobile platform of targeted work based education, competency training and in vivo self reflection learning opportunities to equip students and mentors with the knowledge, skills and competencies to address occupational stressors (both personal and environmental). SSTeMM references The European Framework for Mental Health and Well-being and the WHO Framework of Action for Health Promoting Universities to establish an engaged approach to manage work stress and promote wellbeing in the nursing profession. Within the context of the retention of qualified nurses within the health workforce, SSTeMM may be seen to support the European Commission's broad and specific policy goals which focus upon sharing good practice and establishing a Pan EU framework for action in order to establish a more effective service engaged approach to the management of work related stress.