Promoting self awareness in undergraduate nursing students in relation to their health status and personal behaviours

The purpose of this article is to report the experience of facilitating, delivering and evaluating a health assessment workshop as part of Assessing and Promoting Health module on the Bachelor of Nursing Science (BNSc) General and Intellectual Disability programme. This module is delivered to 65 nursing students (40 general and 25 intellectual disability) undertaking the first year of the four year programme. The aim of the workshop is to promote health awareness among these undergraduate students. The objectives are to provide students with time to self assess their health knowledge and lifestyle practices. From this students' current health behaviours are discussed in conjunction with recommendations from the Department of Health and Children (DOHC) (2005). Students are then provided with an opportunity to assess the stresses they perceive in their own lives and this is followed by a relaxation session guided by the facilitators. The teaching methods focus mostly on active student participation, demonstration and experience sharing.