Student nurses and midwives’ experiences of teaching and learning about ‘making every contact count’ health behaviour change programme: Descriptive qualitative study

Aim/objective: To explore nursing/midwifery students’ experiences of the teaching and learning of units one and two of a national undergraduate curriculum. Background: The 'National Undergraduate Curriculum for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management: Making Every Contact Count’ (MECC) is part of Ireland's national policy to support the prevention of chronic disease by promoting health behaviour change. This is being implemented as a programme within the Irish Health Service and is also being delivered, for the first time in undergraduate medical, allied health and nursing/midwifery education by tertiary education institutes. Design: Qualitative descriptive research. Methods: Purposeful sampling was used to recruit participants (n = 17) from an undergraduate nursing/midwifery programme (n = 131) in one tertiary level Irish institution. Four focus groups were undertaken by two members of the research team, who were not part of the module teaching team. Each focus group was guided by a semi-structured interview guide, recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic data analysis was undertaken. Results: Three main themes were identified, namely: Building foundations and making connections; Personal responsibility and the Ah factor: now I understand. Conclusion: Findings indicate that students had a positive learning experience whilst also highlighting the students’ transition to lifelong learning encompassing adult learning and personal responsibility.