Developing a mobile application for assertiveness development through co-creation with student nurses

One challenge novice nurses face at the start of their career is coming to grips with the tumultuous working environment and its social dynamics. Assertive behavior and interprofessional communication play a key role in maintaining one’s health throughout this process: skills which novice nurses feel they lacked in their education. Within their education, clinical placements provide
a true-to-life working environment to train these skills. However, studies show that assertive behavior and interprofessional communication skills are not structurally addressed within this learning environment. To alleviate this theory-practice gap, our study focused on developing a digital tool together with nursing students that helps them structurally reflect upon and monitor these skills. Our main question was: How do students want to reflect upon their assertive behavior and interprofessional communication during their clinical placement using a digital tool?