Background: Communication is an integral part of life and of nurse-patient relationships. Effective communication with patients can improve the quality of care. However, the specific communication needs of older adults can render communication between them and nurses as less effective with negative outcomes. Methods: This scoping review aims at describing the type of nonverbal communication used by nurses to communicate with older adults. It also describes the older adults’ perceptions of nurses’ nonverbal communication behaviors. It followed (Int J Soc Res 8: 19-32, 2005) framework. Grey literature and 11 databases were systematically searched for studies published in English and French, using search terms synonymous with nonverbal communication between nurses and older adults for the period 2000 to 2019. Results: The search revealed limited published research addressing nonverbal communication between older adults and nurses. The studies eligible for quality assessment were found to be of high quality. Twenty-two studies were included and highlighted haptics, kinesics, proxemics, and vocalics as most frequently used by nurses when communicating with older adults; while studies showed limited use of artefacts and chronemics. There was no mention of nurses’ use of silence as a nonverbal communication strategy. Additionally, there were both older adults’ positive and negative responses to nurses’ nonverbal communication behaviors. Conclusion: Nurses should be self-aware of their nonverbal communication behaviors with older adults as well as the way in which the meanings of the messages might be misinterpreted. In addition, nurses should identify their own style of nonverbal communication and understand its modification as necessary in accordance with patient’s needs.

Nonverbal communication is an inevitable art to be effectively mastered by nurses. Nurse nonverbal communication has many benefits when it is effective. For instance, nonverbal communication is important to convey affective and emotional information, and demonstrate respect for and build therapeutic relationships with older patients. As the older population is growing fast worldwide, effective nonverbal communication with older patients is an essential skill for nurses and will improve patients’ satisfaction and the quality of care. Therefore, this article presents a model to guide effective nonverbal communication between nurses and older patients. A Grounded Theory approach guided the study. Data were collected between July 2018 and January 2020 through overt participant observations and individual interviews. Purposive and theoretical sampling were used to select 13 clinically experienced nurses, 4 nursing students, and 8 older adults. Data analysis encompassed open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. The results showed that effective nonverbal communication emerged as the co-phenomenon hinged within context and/or environment and is influenced by certain factors. This model, which is in support of person-centered communication and care, advocates for effective nonverbal communication between nurses and older patients.

Feedback plays an integral role in clinical training and can profoundly impact students’ motivation and academic progression. The shift to online teaching, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighted the necessity of transitioning traditional feedback mechanisms to digital platforms. Despite this, there is still a lack of clarity regarding effective strategies and tools for delivering digital feedback in clinical education. This scoping review aimed to assess the current utilization of digital feedback methods in clinical education, with a focus on identifying potential directions for future research and innovation. A database search using a published protocol based on the Joanna Briggs Institute framework was conducted between January 2010 and December 2023. Six databases were searched, PubMed/MEDLINE, EBSCOhost, Scopus, Google Scholar, Union Catalogue of Theses and Dissertations, and WorldCat Dissertations and Theses. Reviewers independently screened the papers against eligibility criteria and discussed the papers to attain consensus. Extracted data were analyzed qualitatively and descriptively. Of the 2412 records identified, 33 reports met the inclusion criteria. Digital tools explored for feedback included web-based and social sites, smart device applications, virtual learning environments, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. Convenience and immediate, personalized feedback and enhanced formative assessment outcomes were major facilitators of digital feedback utility. Technical constraints, limited content development, training, and data security issues hindered the adoption of these tools. Reports mostly comprised empirical research, published in the global North and conducted on undergraduates studying medicine. This review highlighted a geographical imbalance in research on feedback exchange via digital tools for clinical training and stressed the need for increased studies in the global South. Furthermore, there is a call for broader exploration across other health professions and postgraduate education. Additionally, student perceptions of digital tools as intrusive necessitate a balanced integration with traditional feedback dialogues. The incorporation of virtual reality and artificial intelligence presents promising opportunities for personalized, real-time feedback, but requires vigilant governance to ensure data integrity and privacy. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-022-02151-8

Background: Culture influences nurses’ attitudes towards caring for older adults. Additionally, nursing students’ perceptions and attitudes towards older adults affect their behavior, possibly their career choices and/or the quality of care provided to older adults after graduation. In the context of lower–middle-income countries with a faster growing older adults population compared to upper income countries, the improvement of the quality care, inclusive of nurses’ attitudes towards older adults, is one of the strategies for strengthening nursing and midwifery in Africa. Furthermore, examining nurses and nursing students’ attitudes towards older adults will answer the United Nations’ call for more data to understand the needs and the status of older adults in Africa. Methods: This scoping review will be guided by Arksey and O’Malley’s framework. The search will be performed using Scopus, PubMed databases, Academic search complete, CINAHL with full text, Education source, Health source: Nursing/Academic Edition, with words related to the topic. The reviewers will also use Google Scholar and the reference lists of the relevant articles. Primary studies and grey literature addressing the research question will be included. The search process will include a first stage where two reviewers will perform the title screening and the removal of duplicates, followed by a parallel abstract screening according to eligibility criteria. The second stage will involve the reading of full articles and the exclusion of articles, in accordance with the eligibility criteria. Data will be collated by two reviewers independently and parallel, using a predetermined data extraction form. Discrepancies will involve a third reviewer. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool, version 2018 will be used to assess the quality of the data of eligible articles. A narrative approach containing summary tables and graphs will facilitate synthesis. Discussion: The review will provide insight into nurses' and nursing students’ attitudes towards older adults in African countries. The outcomes will guide future research, practice, and education in nursing.

Undignified care of women during labor has been associated with increased preventable maternal morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to explore midwives’ perspectives on undignified care of women in a midwife’s obstetric unit within a rural community healthcare center in South Africa. Using ethnographic methods, seven midwives were recruited to participate in individual interviews and participant observations were conducted in the unit. Three main themes describing undignified care were identified based on an inductive analysis of observations and interview data. These included a lack of respect for women’s bodily autonomy during labor, structural challenges in the provision of quality maternity care, and the lack of confidential care for women in labor and delivery. The study findings show that obstetric violence remains a serious crisis in the well-being of women during childbirth. Policy development by stakeholders in maternity care, including operational healthcare practitioners, should prioritize training, monitoring, and peer support on dignified care and curbing disrespect and abuse of women during childbirth, which seemed to be deeply rooted in the routine unorthodox treatment of childbirth.

The Kogan’s Attitudes toward Older People (KOP) scale has been used worldwide to explore nursing students’ attitudes toward older adults. It has various translations with good psychometric properties. The French version of the scale was first used on a Canadian population in 2012, then on a French Cameroonian population in 2020. However, its psychometric properties, especially its factor structure, have never been determined.