On the 7th of May, I posted the first survey from ThinkTheory19, which I closed on the 29th so it ran for three weeks, with 198 respondents, who took around 3 minutes to answer 7 questions, with the 8th being a free text, optional question. The survey ensured the respondents remained anonymous with no option to reveal their identity, to maintain confidentiality and also to allow the students to express their feelings, particularly if answering the optional, free text question 8.
Students from all over the UK were able to respond, however, the survey was aimed at those who had chosen NOT to carry out a paid placement ("OPT-IN") as a nursing student and instead chose to "OPT-OUT" which seems to be the term used UK wide. So let's get into the results now.
Question 1 seemed like an obvious place to start, knowing that many decisions in life can have influential pressure from peers. 34% felt pressure from their peers towards one of the choices, although this question didn't look at which choice. 47% said they didn't and 19% felt some pressure from their peers:
One student stated the following in the optional, free text box (question 8) relating to question 1:
"I felt there was a lot of pressure from some peers not all and pressure from nhs board to take up placement with them actually stating false truths to make placement more appealling."
Another student said:
"Choosing was quite difficult. Although I didn’t feel pressure from the uni or my peers to opt in I felt like I put pressure on myself."
Question 2 was a flow from question 1, where I wanted to find out if students felt or experienced influential pressure from their universities in regards to their choice. Again this question didn't allow students to specify which choice, "OPT-IN" or "OPT-OUT":
53% said no and 15% said some, with 33% suggested they did feel pressure towards a choice from their university. Looking at the free text box again, one student said the following relating to question 2:
"Got no guidance from uni or rather no pressure either way but no communication at all from adviser of studies."
With another stating:
"The university are bad with communication and when you ask they simply say 'this is the only information I am allowed to give students, the rest is just for staff'."
Question 3 brings question 1 and 2 together by asking the students if the pressure from peers and/or universities influenced their decision and the choice they made:
Nearly three quarters said no (72%) however over a quarter (28%) responded yes, they did end up making a choice based on the pressure from peers and/or universities.
One response relating to question 3 from a student was as follows:
"I think it was a horrible choice to make us chose."
With another responding:
"The university were very supportive and made all the information clear. Personally I was worried and scared about what to choose, I was torn between my duty as a student nurse and my role as a parent."
Question 4 was aimed at gauging how students felt about their choice which would be then explored further in further questions. It may be students clicked the "middle of the line" however the results suggest an average rating of 2.58 where 5 was Great and 1 was Poor. By looking further into the individual responses, 51 students (25.76%) chose 1 star and 23 (11.62%) chose 5 stars:
See some student responses relating to this question here:
"I initially choice was placement had to change to theory. Now feel terribly guilty."
"Feel like I let the side down, I asked for a shielded placement for health reasons but none were available so now I just feel like I should be helping but can’t."
"The whole thing was a farce from start to finish. The communication and leadership from the university was abysmal."
Question 5 is the question that would show an evidence base that a project such as ThinkTheory19 was needed, and indeed the feelings from students all over the UK. The survey asked students to choose 3 of the options. For each positive feeling option, the survey also included the opposing negative feeling. Bearing in mind these students are students who chose the theory option, as you can see the top 3 selections are Unsupported, Anxious and Guilty. The 3 least selected options are Unconcerned, Guiltless and Appreciated:
Some student comments relevant to this question are as follows:
"I felt guilty that I wasn’t supporting the organisation I will hopefully work for in the future"
"I feel the university supported me very well in my decision for theory and were able to give the best answers they could with the information they had."
"Felt very anxious about not knowing what to expect and like they wanted us to go into placement rather than choose theory."
"The university has majorly let me down, I didn’t have a fair choice and no reply from them when I was concerned about the placement I was given therefore I’ve had to do theory."
"I personally feel single parents weren't supported enough to be able to choose practice."
"We were told we could continue as we were as one of our options. We chose this and then this option was taken away and we were forced to either defer or sign up. I feel we were almost railroaded into this."
Question 6 aimed to gauge what influenced students choice, not regarding their peers or university. A learning reflection from this was the Other option, as 71 students chose this option, yet the survey didn't offer the option to say more about what Other meant. It would have been great to have a free text box here. Personal Health was the most selected option, with Didnt Feel Confident being the least selected:
See some students comments about their choice here:
"Ultimately I think I made the correct decision for myself and my family."
"Feel discriminated against due to long term conditions- little correspondence from uni about placement or what our future holds. No low risk placement option offered."
"The financial worry played a big part in my decision. Had I had the option to opt in without being paid then I may have decided to opt in."
Question 7 was the last mandatory question and looked at how students are feeling about their education and programme moving forward, particularly regarding missing out on a number of months worth of clinical experience via supernumerary placements. The results suggest an average rating of 2.36 where 5 was Great and 1 was Poor. By looking further into the individual responses, 61 students (30.81%) chose 1 star and 11 (5.56%) chose 5 stars:
Again, here are some comments from students relating to this question:
"Worried would fall behind. Seeing friends doing things in placement and them learning and knowing you aren't able to be doing the same is a worry."
"I feel that not being in placement until October time is going to affect me as I won’t be as confident when I go out in October and will have lost a lot of skills."
"I am taking a day at a time and I will qualify and I may not be with my peers to graduate but I will graduate."
From question 8, the free text optional question, it was clear a small number of students may have completed the survey who were students on paid placement rather than online theory, therefore reflecting on this, any further survey should point out the target audience more clearly. Also from this question, one student felt the survey was biased, which of course was not the intention of the survey and this feedback will be retained and reflected on to make any further survey even further free from bias. Here is said students comment:
"This survey comes across very biased and I dont think allows those who have chosen to express their experience appropriately. I fully understand that these are unprecedented times and we could not expect the same information/support from them with this as we usually get. This has not been taken into consideration by the survey creator."
Please also find attached, all the student's responses to the optional, free text box in question 8, which asked: "Any comments you wish to share about your experience in choosing?" I have detracted certain words/sentences that I felt would identify the student and possibility breach their anonymity. Please do take the time to open up the file and read through the free-text responses as they are the most important part of the survey with some difficult comments to read. It is clear out of the responses in the free text box, the feeling is a negative one.
Thank you for taking the time reading this write up on the survey responses and thanks to all the students who took the time to complete the survey.