Evaluating learning opportunities offered to mental health nursing students

This article is based upon a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Anglia Polytechnic University for the degree of Master of Philosophy. The study, completed in 1997, sought to identify factors making a positive contribution to learning within mental health care settings, and, having done this, to develop a means of auditing. Phase One drew on published work; however, it was necessary to determine the contextual validity of factors shown by colleagues to be conductive to learning, since the focus of this earlier work was, in the main, within general adult nursing. Information on the relevance of these factors was obtained from a sample (n = 146) of mental health nursing students, qualified staff, and teachers who responded to a self-completion postal survey, using a questionnaire as the research instrument. Phase Two drew upon the work completed in Phase One. A Likert-type scale audit instrument was developed and administered to a sample (n = 51) of mental health nursing students. In order to test the reliability of this instrument, students'verbal ratings of the quality of their learning experience were compared to numerical ratings provided by the audit instrument resultant from this study. Findings suggest that the instrument provides an effective, efficient means of evaluating learning environments from an individual student's perspective, and as a cumulative profile of student, practice setting and supervisors operating within it. This enables educationalists to identify standards which may be incorporated into future education/service provider contracting arrangements.