Critical service learning in community health nursing: enhancing access to cardiac health screening.

Critical service learning (CSL) offers promise for preparing community health nursing students to be advocates for social justice and social change. The purpose of this article is to describe a community based CSL project designed to provide cardiac health screening to an underserviced population, wherein nursing's role in social justice is integrated into nursing practice. First, the relationship between social justice and CSL is explored.

Service learning with vulnerable populations: review of the literature.

The service learning model has been touted as a powerful pedagogical approach, a reasonable option for providing care to vulnerable and diverse populations, and a vehicle for educating nursing students to become agents of social change. The literature on service learning with vulnerable populations in nursing education is reviewed and synthesized in this article. A description of service learning experiences, identification of knowledge and skills learned, opportunities for critical thinking and reflection, and a discussion of factors that act as enablers and barriers to service learning are explored.

Nurses' knowledge, attitudes, and confidence regarding preventing and treating deconditioning in older adults.

Background: This article examines nurses' knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and confidence regarding providing care to prevent and treat deconditioning in hospitalized older adults.

Methods: Data were collected from 157 registered nurses enrolled in a post-registered nurse, bachelor of science in nursing program using a descriptive cross-sectional survey.

Results: Nurses' responses reflected substantial gaps in their knowledge and theoretical understanding of deconditioning, and a strong belief in the need for more education on the prevention of it.

A chronicle of BScN honours/ non-honours outcomes and experiences post-graduation.

This paper reports on a graduate follow-up of the outcomes of participation in an honours BScN program, two to seven years post-graduation. It compares two groups of graduates with high GPA scores, both initially eligible to complete the honours program. One group completed the honours program; the other group completed the regular BScN program.

Unmasking delirium.

The authors use a case study to illustrate the risks of delirium in older adult patients and discuss ways to prevent, identify and manage its occurrence. An estimated 60 to 80 per cent of hospitalized frail older adults experience at least one preventable episode of delirium, often leading to prolonged hospitalization, functional decline, increased morbidity and eventual nursing home placement or death. Delirium is a medical emergency, characterized by acute onset and a fluctuating course that is demonstrated by abrupt changes in mental status and function.

Deconditioning in the hospitalized elderly.

Deconditioning is a complex process of physiological change following a period of inactivity, bedrest or sedentary lifestyle. It results in functional losses in such areas as mental status, degree of continence and ability to accomplish activities of daily living. It is frequently associated with hospitalization in the elderly.

University nurse graduates: perspectives on factors of retention and mobility.

This descriptive study explored the perspectives of 51 university nurse graduates from the St. Francis Xavier University School of Nursing. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected using telephone interviews to study a range of variables including geographic mobility patterns, career satisfaction and attitudes towards recruitment and retention factors.

Honours education: releasing leadership potential.

There is debate within the nursing profession in regard to determining the best approach to Leadership development for the new millennium. Should nursing adopt career pathways Like other disciplines that enable individuals to develop leadership potential in a timely fashion? St. Francis Xavier University (StFXU), the number one ranked undergraduate school in the country (DeMont 2002), has established an innovative strategy that promotes Leadership development at the undergraduate level.