Data for: Exploring mental health nursing student competence and confidence in treating novel psychoactive substance related health issues in the UK

This dataset comprises two elements of primary data created as part of the research project - qualitative and quantitative data.

The research project had two principles aims pertinent to this description of the dataset. In the study, five participants were recruited, and each of the described research elements described below were administered to each participant. All participants were recruited from Abertay University's BsC (Hons) Mental Health Nursing programme.

The first aim relevant of the study was to assess the efficacy of an evidence-based educational resource designed to improve undergraduate student nurses' self-perceived feelings of knowledge and confidence in treatment of harms to health posed by use of novel psychoactive substances (NPS). This was addressed in the first instance by administration of two anonymised quantitative questionnaires made available online to participants, where the two measures (knowledge and confidence) were addressed via five-point Likert scales applied to each of four pre-identified themes: clinical vigilance and awareness; psychosocial interventions; management of physical symptoms, and management of psychiatric symptoms. Additionally, the questionnaires asked three demographic questions of participants: 'What age are you?'; 'How many years of experience have you had of working in healthcare?', and 'What year of study are you in?'. The first of these two questions used ranges rather than absolutes in possible answers to help in further preserving participant anonymity.

These two questionnaires were identical in their measures, with the pre-test questionnaire being made available to participants, completed and collected prior to their viewing of the educational resource and focus group, and the second, post-test questionnaire being made available after.

The second aim was to gather data regarding participants' remaining educational needs related to NPS after having viewed the educational resource, and thereby inform later educational strategies in this field. This was formatted using a focus group to encourage interpersonal discussion, reflection and - ultimately - a shared narrative on the topic. Further, the focus group was used to gather participant views on the nature of competence in relation to nursing NPS harms to health. This was due to competence generally being considered as an esoteric concept in relation to nursing practice that is difficult measure quantitatively, though is widely agreed to comprise of – at a minimum – elements of knowledge, confidence, and practical skill-level. Pre-planned questions asked by the researcher/moderator during the focus group were:

1. In what ways do you feel that your level of knowledge and understanding of NPS has changed after watching the presentation?

2. In what ways has your level of confidence in treating NPS related health issues changed?

3. Based on your level of knowledge and confidence concerning NPS and your current level of nursing skill, how competent do you feel in treating NPS-related health issues?

4. What gaps in your knowledge about NPS remain after watching the presentation, and what particular topics related to NPS do you think would be valuable for you to learn more about as a nurse?

Two additional, unplanned questions were asked by the researcher to clarify discourse, with these being: 'What's your understanding of the term competency in relation to nursing?' (asked after question 3), and 'Do you feel that your attitudes towards people who use NPS has changed at all in response to the presentation? (asked after question 4)'.

The quantitative data was gathered using questionnaires formatted on Microsoft Forms that were made available online to participants. Formatting was designed to ensure the anonymity of participants. Once the researcher had ensured that all participants had completed each questionnaire, the results were downloaded from Forms in the form of collated results Excel files.

The pre-test questionnaire was made available to participants on 13/4/23. These were completed by all participants by 18/4/23 and collated results were downloaded on that same date. The original data in the form of the Excel download from Forms can be found in 'NPS Questionnaire - Pre-presentation'.

The post-test questionnaire was made available to participants on 24/4/23. These were completed by all participants by 26/4/23 and collated results were downloaded on that same date. The original data in the form of the Excel download from Forms can be found in 'NPS Questionnaire - Post-presentation'.

Both datasets are further collated in the Excel file 'NPS Questionnaire - Quantitative data comparison'. The original unedited pre-and-post datasets are included primarily in the interest of transparency, and the researcher recommends that the aforementioned document is scrutinised in the first instance, due to the relative clarity of the information that is offered there.

The focus group was conducted on Microsoft Teams on 23/4/23 and was recorded using Kaltura. From the latter software, an initial transcript was produced, that was then amended by the primary researcher to ensure that it represented a true and accurate record (i.e., to account for any errors that Kaltura’s automatic transcription had produced). The focus group recording, original and amended versions of the transcripts were made available to the primary researcher’s supervisors, who ensured that the final, amended version represented a true and accurate record. This process took approximately four days (i.e., was completed on 27/4/23). The original Kaltura transcript was in the form of a .txt file (not included here in the interest of participant anonymity), and the amended transcript is in the form of a Microsoft Word file entitled 'Focus group transcript' in the offered dataset.

A blank version of the consent to particpate form and debrief form used in the study are included as supplementary documents to this dataset.