Weekly Email Reminders Increase Nursing Students' Use of Empathic Communication: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Empathic communication has numerous patient benefits, yet many nurses do not possess or utilize empathic communication skills.

Purpose: This study compared the efficacy of 2 low-cost, low-resource-intensive interventions to increase nursing students' use of empathic communication.

Methods: The study was a randomized controlled trial with a pretest, posttest, and 3-month follow-up test.

Cinemeducation: teaching family assessment skills using full-length movies.

A thorough family assessment provides a foundation for the nursing process when working with families. Therefore, nurses, along with other health care providers must develop expertise in conducting family assessments to provide the best possible care within the community. This article describes an innovative educational strategy using movies to teach family assessment skills and puts forth recommendations for future research to provide evidence to support this teaching modality.

Overweight and obesity among White, Black, and Mexican American children: implications for when to intervene.

Purpose: The study sought to determine if race/ethnicity, age, gender, and poverty index influence the development of overweight (OW) or obesity (OB) in children 6-11 years of age and whether a desirable time to intervene could be established.

Methods: A descriptive and comparative analysis was conducted using data from the 1999-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Results: Advancing age was the single largest predictor of OW or OB followed by race/ethnicity.

A longitudinal study of cultural competence among health science faculty.

The purpose of this study was to measure the process of cultural competence over time in a group of Health Science Faculty teaching nursing and other allied health students. Faculty (n=28) were administered the Inventory for Assessing the Process of Cultural Competence Among Healthcare Professionals (IAPCC) prior to a cultural competence workshop, immediately after the workshop, and again at three months, six months and 12 months. The mean scores increased significantly with each administration of the IAPCC from the pretest administration (52.

An evaluation study of a mentoring program to increase the diversity of the nursing workforce.

Focus group methodology was used to evaluate faculty mentors (n = 10) and student mentees (n = 30) perceptions of a formal mentoring program. Prior to implementing the mentoring program, faculty preparation involved cultural competence and mentor workshops. Overall, both mentors and mentees had positive perceptions of the program.

The experiences of students with English as a second language in a baccalaureate nursing program.

Teaching nursing students with English as a second language (ESL) can be a challenge for nursing faculty in many English speaking countries. This qualitative study purported to answer the research question, "How do students with ESL describe their experiences in a nursing program"? to develop a better understanding of the reasons for their course failure. Seidman's Model of in-depth interviewing (1998) consisting of three successive interviews with the same participant was used.

The experiences of international nursing students in a baccalaureate nursing program.

International students, especially those with English as a second language (ESL), can have difficulty adjusting to university life in the United States and successfully completing the demands of a nursing program. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of international nursing students in a baccalaureate nursing program. Eight female Nigerian nursing students aged 25 to 48 who had been in the United States from 5 to 20 years were interviewed.