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AIM: To explore the direct relationship between financial stress and mental health and wellbeing of nursing students and characterise the effectiveness of available support mechanisms. DESIGN: Systematic integrative review. DATA SOURCES: Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, Education Research Complete, MEDLINE, ProQuest Central, PsycNET, Scopus and Web of Science were searched in January and October 2024. METHODS: Studies reporting a direct relationship between financial stress and mental health and wellbeing in nursing students were included. Data related to sources of financial stress, mental health impacts, and support mechanisms were extracted, synthesised narratively, and reported thematically. RESULTS: Findings from nine studies reveal that financial stress significantly affects nursing students' mental health and wellbeing, contributing to emotional distress and reduced quality of life. Financial stress arises from personal, academic and clinical sources, with the intensity varying based on individual demographic profiles and fluctuating throughout their educational journeys. Marginalised and underserved groups experience greater impacts due to pre-existing disadvantages. Current support mechanisms are largely reactive, providing only short-term relief and failing to address root causes. Additionally, students' efforts to alleviate financial stress in one domain often exacerbated it in another. CONCLUSION: This review highlights the multifaceted and compounding effects of financial stress on nursing students' mental health and wellbeing. Proactive strategies, including structured employment programs, embedded financial literacy education, and transparent pre-enrolment information offer promising solutions. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION: While financial stress cannot be fully eradicated, targeted support for at-risk students can mitigate its impacts, improving their mental health and educational outcomes. IMPACT: This review addresses the critical issue of financial stress among nursing students, highlighting its disproportionate impact on marginalised and underserved groups. It underscores the need for proactive interventions and systemic reform to improve educational experiences globally. REPORTING METHOD: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 Statement. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient or public contribution. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO: CRD42024514262.

<p style="text-align: justify;">School placement plays a critical and complex role in student teacher development as well as in their professional dispositions and career attitudes. It is where theory and practice meet, teaching skills are developed, professional relationships formed and future careers envisioned. This mixed methods study explores student teachers’ experiences with and perspectives about new models of extended school placements developed in Ireland following significant policy and programme reform. Data was collected through interviews and questionnaires with one of the first cohorts to experience a reconceptualised initial teacher education programme, including extended school placement periods in a variety of school settings. This paper will explore student teachers’ perspectives regarding the value of the extended placement and factors influencing their professional learning, agency and sense of belonging. Overall, our findings confirm the pedagogical benefits of the extended placement in two different school settings for student teachers’ professional learning. However, they also highlight how a number of factors, including the existence (or absence) of school support structures, school culture, peer networks, paid or unpaid additional workload and financial pressures impacted on student teachers’ capabilities to develop their skills and professional agency, their sense of belonging and, in some cases, their physical and mental health.</p>

BACKGROUND: Resilience contributes to mental well-being, hence expediting recovery from stressful events. Health professions students, in particular, often experience heightened levels of stress and anxiety due to academic demands and other stressors. This study aimed to explore the factors contributing to resilience and identify support systems that universities can implement to help undergraduate health professions students build resilience and manage their mental well-being. METHODS: A total of 28 students from the fields of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Dietetics and Nutrition participated in semi-structured interviews. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The interviews were stopped when data saturation was achieved. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Thematic analysis of the interviews identified five key themes contributing to resilience: life experience, socioeconomic factors, personal attributes, support resources, and role modelling. Universities play a crucial role in fostering resilience among health professions students through soft skills training, workplace-oriented training, mentoring, and extracurricular activities. These opportunities enable students to develop and strengthen resilience in both formal and informal settings. Such initiatives not only equip students to manage future career challenges but also support their overall personal and professional development. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided a comprehensive understanding of the contributing factors to health professions students' resilience. The availability of support resources together with a nurturing environment provided by university are crucial. By fostering resilience, students are better prepared to navigate the challenges of the demanding professions and develop the emotional fortitude necessary for long-term success in healthcare.

Archives > Volume 20 (2023) > Issue 2 > Item 09 DOI: 10.55521/10-020-209 Katherine Drechsler, DSW, LCSW-SAUniversity of Wisconsin-Whitewater drechslk@uww.edu Candice C. Beasley, DSW, LCSW-BACS Tulane Universitycbeasley@tulane.edu Melissa Indera Singh, EdD, LCSWUniversity of Southern Californiasinghmi@usc.edu Drechsler, K., Beasley, C. & Singh, M. (2023). Critical Conversations in Compensating Social Work Field Education: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Social Work Values and […]

The increasing emphasis on embedding work-integrated learning (WIL) in the higher education curriculum has impacted on teaching and learning approaches. While the benefits of incorporating experiential learning in the student experience are recognized by all stakeholders, additional costs incurred by students have not been identified. At the same time the Australian Federal Government's review of base funding has recommended a detailed assessment of the costs of providing student placements across all disciplines - in particular health and education. Data collected from over a thousand Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN) student scholarship applicants indicate travel, accommodation, food, clothing, equipment and loss of income are of major concern especially for students on mandatory, lengthy placements involving relocation. We present a range of data from the five-years of the scholarship to inform discussion of costs from the student perspective which highlighted major concerns. The implications for ACEN are described and recommendations made to improve practice.

Ensuring the employability of graduates is fundamental to the modern mission of higher education institutions. Across the Anglo-American world, universities are focussed on improving the graduate outcomes of their students through diverse strategies that include work-integrated learning programs, study abroad experiences, mentoring, and career development services.

Purpose University-affiliated mentors serve as liaisons between schools and pre-service teachers during practicum placements, offering academic, administrative and relational support. In the context of academic workload intensification, increasing student numbers and the need to respond to issues as they occur in time-pressured environments, the wellbeing of mentors can become compromised. Mentor wellbeing is explored, highlighting corollary impacts of threats to pre-service teacher wellbeing on those who support them. Design/methodology/approach A descriptive single case-study explored mentor lived experiences of wellbeing during the pre-service teacher practicum placement and mentoring process. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with mentors supervising pre-service teacher professional experience placements. Adopting a shadowed data approach, mentors shared their own experiences and reflected on the experiences of others. Data was analysed using thematic content analysis. Findings Mentor and pre-service teacher wellbeing experiences exhibited similar wellbeing indicators, including personal and professional stress, workload strains and ethical dilemmas. Many mentors felt invisible in terms of supports for their own self-care as the focus was on meeting practicum stakeholder and student support needs rather than their own wellbeing. Originality/value Changes to professional experience practices must consider potential impacts on pre-service teachers, in-school supervisors and the university-affiliated mentors as the wellbeing of each is potentially impacted the wellbeing of others in this professional experience triad. Increasing emphasis on work-integrated learning experiences across multiple disciplines invites future comparison and contrast of wellbeing experiences.

The author describes social work education and practice in Italy, also in a historical perspective, and locates them in the present structure of the welfare system. Today the main ongoing challenge is to maintain adequate levels of support to individuals and families who are facing increasing difficulties. The role of an adequate social work education is of great importance in this task.

Rising costs of and returns to college have led to sizeable increases in the demand for student loans in many countries. In the U.S., student loan default rates have also risen for recent cohorts as labor market uncertainty and debt levels have increased. We discuss these trends as well as recent evidence on the extent to which students are able to obtain enough credit for college and the extent to which they are able to repay their student debts after. We then discuss optimal student credit arrangements that balance three important objectives: (i) providing credit for students to access college and finance consumption while in school, (ii) providing insurance against uncertain adverse schooling or post-school labor market outcomes in the form of income-contingent repayments, and (iii) providing incentives for student borrowers to honor their loan obligations (in expectation) when information and commitment frictions are present. Specifically, we develop a two-period educational investment model with uncertainty and show how student loan contracts can be designed to optimally address incentive problems related to moral hazard, costly income verification, and limited commitment by the borrower. We also survey other research related to the optimal design of student loan contracts in imperfect markets. Finally, we characterize key features of efficient student loan programs that provide insurance while addressing information and commitment frictions in the market.