Abstract: This study has sought to quantify the attitudes of first-year medical, nursing and pharmacy students' towards interprofessional learning, at course commencement. The Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) (University of Liverpool, Department of Health Care Education), was administered to first-year medical, nursing and pharmacy students at the University of Auckland. Differences between the three groups were analysed. The majority of students reported positive attitudes towards shared learning. The benefits of shared learning, including the acquisition of teamworking skills, were seen to be beneficial to patient care and likely to enhance professional working relationships. However professional groups differed: nursing and pharmacy students indicated more strongly that an outcome of learning together would be more effective teamworking. Medical students were the least sure of their professional role, and considered that they required the acquisition of more knowledge and skills than nursing or pharmacy students.

Abstract: This paper discusses how students become able to work with sick patients for whom they may feel disgust or discomfort. It is a sustained engagement with the literature on abjection and disgust and is not the outcome of evaluation research. It considers the role of problem-based learning pedagogy in facilitating students' negotiation of their own discomfort and horror, and describes experiences which enable them to approach abject patients with more comfort and less disgust. The paper argues the importance of creating spaces where students can explore issues which are distressing and disturbing so that they will feel able to remain in nursing.

Abstract: Describes the current use of simulation in tertiary nursing education programmes leading to nurse registration, in Australia and NZ. Determines whether investments in simulation have improved uptake, quality and diversity of simulation experiences. Conducts a cross-sectional electronic survey distributed to lead nursing academics in nursing registration programmes in both countries.

Abstract: In the process of introducing a new disability unit into an undergraduate nursing curriculum in a New Zealand educational setting, the opportunity arose to conduct a small study comparing the attitudes of students nurses to people with disabilities. This paper discusses the literature review, which formed the basis for the study. A range of perspectives and research was identified that explored societal and nurses' attitudes, disability studies in undergraduate nursing curricula, the impact of nurses' attitudes on patient care, and interventions for changing those attitudes. Effective nursing care can be severely compromised through negative attitudes, and concerns are expressed at the lack of attention given to this issue in nursing curricula generally. The literature showed that combining educational approaches with opportunities for student nurses to interact with disabled people provides the most effective means for student nurses to develop positive attitudes towards disabled people. The goal for nurse educators is to ensure the inclusion of disability studies as a core component in undergraduate nursing education.

Abstract: Undertakes an evidence-based practice pilot project to examine the effectiveness of simulation-based learning in teaching nursing students to become aware of the role of stress, anxiety and distraction in medication errors. Stresses the importance of medication-error prevention at the pre-licensure level, by increasing awareness of patient safety culture. Notes the need to teach nursing students self-awareness of the distractions and stresses within the clinical environment and therefore the need for self-care to avoid medication error.

Abstract: Describes a partnership between a NZ nursing programme and a community trust whereby nursing students enrolled with youth at a local high school that promoted health. Argues that the strategy contributes to the students' acquisition of the collaborative skills required to develop nursing partnerships within communities.

Abstract: Explores volunteer actor patients' contribution to developing nursing students' clinical skills from the patient actors' perspective within a simulation learning environment. Describes how actor patients work with nursing students during simulation, providing feedback following each simulation. Conducts focus group interviews with four of these actor patients about their interactions with students, communication, the provision of realism, student engagement, and feedback to students.

Abstract: Argues that undergraduate nurse education contributes to the problem of too few nurses choosing to work in aged care, by constructing working in aged care as a lower-status or less valuable area of work than other health-care areas. Examines the issue using Foucauldian discourse analysis to explore the dominant discourses being deployed in relation to clinical experience in aged care. Collects data through semi-structured interviews with 10 senior academic staff members from NZ tertiary institutions. Analyses interview data to reveal how a 'nurse education discourse' and a 'work-ready discourse' were shaping perceptions of aged care as a clinical experience in a variety of ways. Suggests that how and why aged care is utilised as a space to learn a range of nursing skills has the unintended effect of devaluing and discouraging employment in aged care settings.