Primary school children’s participation in selecting children’s nursing students
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Primary school children’s participation in selecting children’s nursing students

Sandra Oldfield Associate lecturer, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, England
Joanna Peto Senior lecturer, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, England
Lynn Knapp Head teacher, Windmill Primary School, Oxford, England

Despite the importance of seeking children’s views in healthcare being widely recognised, there are few reports of child service user involvement in selecting children’s nursing students. At Oxford Brookes University, the children’s nursing team has had three years’ experience of partnership with a local primary school where children have engaged in the selection of children’s nursing students.

At the end of the first year of the initiative an evaluation was undertaken to elicit the children’s views about their experience of participating in an interview day. A modified nominal group technique was used to elicit feedback. The children reported positive experiences of writing and asking interview questions, and of engaging in skills lab activities, although they found aspects of the experience challenging. The findings were similar to those in the literature on this topic. Feedback from the evaluation was incorporated into children’s involvement in the subsequent two years of this initiative. Partnerships between universities and schools can have many mutually beneficial outcomes, but good preparation, support and ongoing evaluation are needed to ensure children’s best interests are safeguarded. Recommendations for future research are also proposed.

Nursing Children and Young People. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2019.e1179

Peer review

This article has been subject to open peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

oldfield.sj@brookes.ac.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Oldfield S, Peto J, Knapp L (2019) Primary school children’s participation in selecting children’s nursing students. Nursing Children and Young People. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2019.e1179

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the children, parents and staff at Windmill Primary School, Oxford; the children’s nursing team at Oxford Brookes University; and participating students for all their support in this initiative and its evaluation

Published online: 01 July 2019

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