Evaluation of the content and interaction in an online clinical conference for students in advanced psychiatric mental health nursing

Clinical conferences have traditionally been a significant part of the education of psychiatric nurses. With the innovation and increasing popularity of Internet courses, the value of these conferences may be diluted or even lost. This study evaluates an online clinical conference for advanced psychiatric mental health students. The issues raised by students in the conferences were relevant to the objectives of the course. Content analysis of representative conferences indicated that the characteristics of involvement: personal, emotion, and metacognition, and interactivity were evident. Students reported advantages to online discussions, but acknowledged the loss of the greater spontaneity in face-to-face meetings.