This pilot project examined the value of health promotion activities in clinical practice and the personal lives of 28 master’s entry Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) students in their last semester of education. Data collection involved an open-ended questionnaire and focus group discussion. Students expressed concern about finding time for health promotion and noted that patients were often too sick to be appropriate for health promotion. Participants believed that health promotion was better situated in community-based care. Of great concern to students was the lack of role models for health promotion among faculty and staff. Students also noted a decreased ability to attend to their own health while enrolled in the nursing program.

Nursing is a complex profession that has undergone tremendous change, from the provision of mere kindness and support to work that is based in science but focuses on care and nurturing. To reflect this change and allow for future change, contemporary definitions of nursing broadly define nursing practice as the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and the care of ill, disabled and dying people (ICN, 2003).

Contemporary ad campaigns to attract men and women into nursing depict action scenes of nurses racing through hospital halls with patients on gurneys or stationed at the bedside amidst an array of technology (Wilkinson & Van Leuven, 2007). These images reflect the increasing role of technology in nursing care. In addition, nursing faculty face ever-growing lists of “must cover” topics in nursing curricula. These topics are often driven by the growing knowledge base, and commonly centered on skills and technology. This high-tech fast-paced image cannot be dismissed as it does reflect what is commonly seen in today’s hospitals; but these images largely reflect care of the ill, disabled, and dying rather than health promotion and disease prevention activities. If technology and sick care are advertised and emphasized in nursing programs, what role does health promotion play in clinical practice and in the lives of members of the nursing profession?

This pilot project seeks to address these questions. It is part of a program of research examining attitudes, beliefs, and clinical practice surrounding health promotion among nursing students, practicing nurses, and advance practice nurses. In this phase, data were collected from students enrolled in their final semester of a master’s entry Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) program.

Methods
Students were approached for participation via announcement during a regularly scheduled class. Students were invited to participate in a pilot study on health promotion by reporting to school one hour prior to a required course the following week. Participation was voluntary and unrelated to any curriculum requirements. One hundred percent of the class returned for participation in this project.