Aim The present study aimed to examine the effect of providing an experiential learning‐based programme to foster competence among nurse managers in the early years of their supervisory roles. Background Nurse managers take supervisory positions without being sufficiently prepared for the task and therefore often experience difficultly in the early years of managerial roles. They need support from their supervisor and require opportunities for development. Methods We developed an experiential learning‐based programme for nurse managers in the first 3 years of a supervisory role. Sixty‐three nurse managers and their supervisors were enrolled. The programme was evaluated using a one‐group pretest‐posttest design. The outcome measures were experiential learning, knowledge, social support, competency as a nurse manager, and sense of coherence. Outcomes were compared using paired t tests. Results Nurse managers showed significantly improved experiential learning (p = .001), knowledge (p < .001) and competence as a nurse manager (p = .002) after participating in this programme. Conclusion This programme increased knowledge, promoted experiential learning, and improved competence among nurse managers. Implications for Nursing Management This experiential learning‐based programme for nurse managers in the early years of a supervisory role fostered competence among nurse managers.

BackgroundIn Japan, there is no decision-making guide regarding long-term tube feeding that specifically targets individuals making decisions on behalf of cognitively impaired older persons (substitute decision makers). The objective of this study was to describe the development and evaluation of such a decision aid.MethodsIn this before-and-after study, participants comprised substitute decision makers for 13 cognitively impaired inpatients aged 65 years and older who were being considered for placement of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube in acute care hospitals and mixed-care hospitals in Japan. Questionnaires were used to compare substitute decision makers’ knowledge, decisional conflict, and predisposition regarding feeding tube placement before and after exposure to a decision aid. The acceptability of the decision aid was also assessed. Paired t-tests were used to compare participants’ knowledge and decisional conflict scores before and after using the decision aid.ResultsSubstitute decision makers showed significantly increased knowledge (P < .001) and decreased decisional conflict (P < .01) regarding long-term tube feeding after using the decision aid. All substitute decision makers found the decision aid helpful and acceptable.ConclusionsThe decision aid facilitated the decision-making process of substitute decision makers by decreasing decisional conflict and increasing knowledge.

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine the relationship between experiential learning and nursing management competency among nurse managers (NMs) in the early years of a supervisory role. BACKGROUND The relevance of experiential learning to the development of NMs has been explored in an effort to harvest the knowledge embedded in shared NM practice narratives. However, the relationship between experiential learning and nursing management competency has not been empirically measured. METHODS The author developed an experiential learning-based program for NMs in the initial 3 years of a supervisory role. Sixty-three NMs were enrolled. The relationship between experiential learning and nursing management competency was evaluated using multiple regression analysis after completing this program. RESULTS The results of multiple regression analysis revealed a significant relationship between experiential learning and nursing management competency (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS A significant relationship was identified between experiential learning and nursing management competence.

BackgroundA tube feeding decision aid designed at the Ottawa Health Research Institute was specifically created for substitute decision-makers who must decide whether to allow placement of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube in a cognitively impaired older person. We developed a Japanese version and found that the decision aid promoted the decision-making process of substitute decision-makers to decrease decisional conflict and increase knowledge. However, the factors that influence decision regret among substitute decision-makers were not measured after the decision was made. The objective of this study was to explore the factors that influence decision regret among substitute decision-makers 6 months after using a decision aid for PEG placement.MethodsIn this prospective study, participants comprised substitute decision-makers for 45 inpatients aged 65 years and older who were being considered for placement of a PEG tube in hospitals, nursing homes and patients’ homes in Japan. The Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS) was used to evaluate decisional conflict among substitute decision-makers immediately after deciding whether to introduce tube feeding and the Decision Regret Scale (DRS) was used to evaluate decisional regret among substitute decision-makers 6 months after they made their decision. Normalized scores were evaluated and analysis of variance was used to compare groups.ResultsThe results of the multiple regression analysis suggest that PEG placement (P < .01) and decision conflict (P < .001) are explanatory factors of decision regret regarding placement of a PEG among substitute decision-makers.ConclusionsPEG placement and decision conflict immediately after deciding whether to allow PEG placement have an influence on decision regret among substitute decision-makers after 6 months.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12877-017-0524-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Purpose: This study aimed to clarify the contents of experiential learning among 10 nurse managers in the early years of a supervisory role who participated in an experiential learningbased program to foster competence among nurse managers and showed obvious changes in their scores on the experiential learning scale after completing the program.Methods: Sixty-three nurse managers participated in this experiential learning-based program, during which they wrote about their experiences in a reflective journal. Furthermore, they completed an experiential learning scale before and after the program. We focused on 10 nurse managers who showed obvious changes in their scale scores after completing the program. Data from 41 reflective journal entries written by these 10 nurse managers were analyzed qualitatively and subjected to descriptive analysis.Result: Contents of experiential learning among nurse managers were categorized as follows: (1) seven categories of challenging tasks that nurse managers struggled with; (2) six categories of reflections of nurse managers; (3) six categories of knowledge and skills that nurse managers acquired through dealing with challenging tasks; and (4) two categories of attempts to apply new knowledge and skills in different situations.Conclusion: Our results indicated the contents of experiential learning among nurse managers who showed obvious changes in their experiential learning scale scores. We believe nurse managers can promote experiential learning by incorporating the contents of this study into their nursing