Differences in Supervision on Peer Learning Wards: A Pilot Survey of the Supervisor’s Perspective

Figures & data

Figure 1 Flow chart of the inclusion of participating hospitals, wards, and supervisors.

Table 1 Summary of Questions in the Questionnaire Distributed for Pilot Testing

Question	Theme	Description
1–7	Baseline characteristics	Checked eligibility for participation, levels of experience and training.
8–13	Student-centredness	Scale of supervisor vs student- led activities in clinical tasks, questions, and initiative. Level of getting to know students as individuals and trust development.
14–23	Learning interactions between students	Nurse supervisors’ perceptions of peer learning activities and perceptions, near-peer learning and interprofessional learning.
24–30	Interaction with other professions	Level of interaction between student nurses and other professions.
31–33	Adaptations to student	Presence of dedicated student facilities and the ward’s support for nurses in their supervisory role
34	Attitudes to work	Factors that motivate supervisors to work.
35–36	Satisfaction	Self-rated satisfaction with education on the ward, and with the prerequisites, staff competence, personal treatment and appropriate content for learning at the ward.

Figure 2 Orthogonal Projections to Latent Structures Discriminant Analysis plot (OPLS-DA), with circles representing the participants from the peer learning wards (PLW, black) and non-peer learning wards (N-PLW, white). Ellipse: Hotelling’s T2 (95%).

Figure 3 Variable Importance in Projection plot (VIP) with a value greater than 1.0. VIP value on the x-axis with confidence intervals in black.

Table 2 Summary of Basic Statistics Comparing PLW and N-PLW from the Pilot Results

Q	Theme	Max total score	PLW		N-PLW		p-value
			Median	(IQR)	Median	IQR
8a-e,g	Active learning by the student	24	13.0	(4.8)	9.5	(4.3)	0.008
8f	Unskilled tasks by the student	4	3.0	(1.0)	2.0	(1.0)	NS
9	Student takes initiative	4	2.0	(1.0)	1.0	(1.0)	NS
10a-c	Student-led questions	12	7.0	(1.8)	6.0	(1.8)	0.043
11a-d	Supervisor knowing learning needs	16	14.0	(3.0)	13.5	(3.0)	NS
12a-d	Supervisor’s knowledge of students	16	13.0	(2.5)	13.0	(2.0)	NS
18a-d	Peer learning activities occurring	16	10.0	(3.5)	8.0	(1.5)	0.015
18e	Perceived use of peer learning	4	3.0	(1.0)	1.0	(1.5)	0.005
19ab	Stress / workload in peer learning	8	4.0	(2.0)	4.0	(1.5)	NS
19cd	Fun when peer learning	8	5.0	(2.0)	4.0	(2.0)	0.027
21a-c	Near-peer learning	6	1.0	(4.5)	N/A	N/A	N/A
23a-c	Interprofessional learning	6	3.0	(1.0)	3.0	(2.0)	NS
25a-c	Interaction with Doctors	6	4.0	(3.3)	3.0	(5.0)	NS
26a-c	Interaction with Occupational therapists	6	1.0	(2.0)	1.5	(3.0)	NS
27a-c	Interaction with Physiotherapist	6	3.0	(3.0)	3.0	(1.8)	NS
28a-c	Interaction with Psychologist	6	1.0	(2.3)	1.0	(1.0)	NS
29a-c	Interaction with assistant nurse	6	6.0	(2.0)	5.0	(3.0)	NS
31a-c	Physical adaptations	6	4.0	(4.0)	0.5	(1.0)	<0.001
33a-c	Support for the supervisor	6	3.0	(3.0)	1.0	(0.5)	0.007
34d	Motivated by interprofessional interactions	4	3.0	(1.0)	4.0	(1.0)	NS
34e	Motivated by interactions with students	4	3.0	(1.8)	3.0	(1.3)	NS
34f	Motivated by administrative tasks	4	3.0	(1.0)	3.0	(1.3)	NS
34g	Motivated by quality improvement	4	3.0	(1.0)	3.0	(1.0)	NS
35	Satisfaction with education quality	10	8.0	(1.0)	7.0	(1.8)	0.026
36	Overall satisfaction with the prerequisites, staff competence, personal treatment and appropriate content for learning at the ward	10	7.0	(2.0)	5.5	(2.3)	0.006

Notes: The table shows median and interquartile range (IQR), p-value for peer learning wards (PLW) and non-peer learning wards (N-PLW). Analysis is based on composite scores for the whole question or individual sub-questions when they measure different variables. Questions in bold have a statistically significant difference, “NS” means that the p-value is not significant. Note that questions not displayed above include qualifying questions (1-7,14-17,20,22,24) as well as excluded questions (13,19e,25e-29e,30,32,34a-c).