Universal Design for Learning: A Framework for Blended Learning in Nursing Education.

Background: Blended learning (BL), the combining of face-to-face and online learning, is gaining prominence in nursing education in response to advances in evidence-based learning using technology, the diverse and evolving needs of nursing learners, and unpredictable events impacting nursing education.

Problem: Blended learning requires nursing learners and educators to adapt to new modalities and educators to re-envision learning environments. However, BL lacks an educational framework to guide implementation and is not well explored in the nursing literature.

Development and validation of an instrument to measure scope of practice in school nurses.

Aims: The aim of the study was to develop and psychometrically test a new instrument to measure the scope of school nursing practice.

Design: Methodological study.

Methods: Data were collected in Spring 2018.

The Accuracy of Smartphone Sound Level Meter Applications (SLMAs) in Measuring Sound Levels in Clinical Rooms.

Background: The accuracy of smartphone sound level meter applications (SLMAs) has been investigated with varied results, based on differences in platform, device, app, available features, test stimuli, and methodology.

Purpose: This article determines the accuracy of smartphone SLMAs with and without calibration of external and internal microphones for measuring sound levels in clinical rooms.

Research Design: Quasi-experimental research design comparing the accuracy of two smartphone SLMAs with and without calibration of external and internal microphones.

School Nursing for the 21st Century: Assessing Scope of Practice in the Current Workforce.

A gap analysis was used to examine the scope of school nursing practice in the United States. An investigator-developed 39-item self-assessment survey of scope of school nursing practice was modified from an existing validated tool, organized around the five principles of the National Association of School Nurses' Framework: Standards of Practice, Quality Improvement, Care Coordination, Community/Public Health, and Leadership and also explored barriers to practice. The survey was sent to a national convenience sample of practicing school nurses.

The Measles Outbreak: School Nurses' Population-based Care Super Power.

Population-based care is an important part of school nursing practice in the 21st century. However, many school nurses may not fully understand what population-based care means. This article outlines what population-based care entails and provides several school nursing examples.

Implementing Universal Design Instruction in Doctor of Nursing Practice Education.

Background: Faculty in Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs identify challenges of increased enrollment and variances in previous student educational preparation and professional experiences that require innovative approaches to curriculum transformation.

Purpose: This article informs nurse educators about the vibrant and inclusive approach of universal design for instruction (UDI), a framework to conceptualize and implement learning strategies in the DNP curriculum.

Approach: UDI is guided by 9 instructional principles that anticipate diverse learners and is intentionally inclusive of multiple ways of learning.

The Accuracy of Smartphone Sound Level Meter Applications With and Without Calibration.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the accuracy of smartphone sound level meter applications (SLMAs) with calibration features across stimulus levels and for ambient room noise measures in the clinical setting.

Method: The accuracy of 3 iOS-based smartphone SLMAs (SLMA1: Analyzer [Version 2.7.

Poster Development and Presentation to Improve Scientific Inquiry and Broaden Effective Scientific Communication Skills.

We have redesigned a tried-and-true laboratory exercise into an inquiry-based team activity exploring microbial growth control, and implemented this activity as the basis for preparing a scientific poster in a large, multi-section laboratory course. Spanning most of the semester, this project culminates in a poster presentation of data generated from a student-designed experiment. Students use and apply the scientific method and improve written and verbal communication skills.

A pilot program to improve nursing and surgical intern collaboration: Lessons learned from a mixed-methods study.

Background: Inter-professional collaboration is an integral component of a successful healthcare team. We sought to evaluate the impact of nursing student participation in a one-day intensive inter-professional education (IPE) training session with surgical interns on participant attitudes toward inter-professional collaboration.

Methods: Following IRB approval, pre and post IPE session survey responses were compared to determine the impact on participant attitudes toward inter-professional collaboration.

Excessive Video Game Use, Sleep Deprivation, and Poor Work Performance Among U.S. Marines Treated in a Military Mental Health Clinic: A Case Series.

Excessive use of video games may be associated with sleep deprivation, resulting in poor job performance and atypical mood disorders. Three active duty service members in the U.S.

Internet addiction disorder and problematic use of Google Glass™ in patient treated at a residential substance abuse treatment program.

Introduction: Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is characterized by the problematic use of online video games, computer use, and mobile handheld devices. While not officially a clinical diagnosis according to the most recent version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), individuals with IAD manifest severe emotional, social, and mental dysfunction in multiple areas of daily activities due to their problematic use of technology and the internet.

Method: We report a 31year-old man who exhibited problematic use of Google Glass™.

Expanded level of sympathetic chain removal does not increase the incidence or severity of compensatory hyperhidrosis after endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy.

Objective: Compensatory hyperhidrosis is a common devastating adverse effect after endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy for patients undergoing surgical treatment of primary hyperhidrosis. We sought to determine whether a correlation existed in our patient population between the level and extent of sympathetic chain resection and the subsequent development of compensatory hyperhidrosis.

Methods: All patients undergoing endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy in the T2-T3, T2-T4, T2-T5, or T2-T6 levels for palmar or axillary hyperhidrosis at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics (n = 97) from January 2004 to January 2013 were retrospectively reviewed.

Evaluation of a computer-guided curriculum using animation, visual images, and voice cues to train patients for peritoneal dialysis.

Background: Training patients to perform peritoneal dialysis (PD) at home is key to good patient outcomes. Currently, no validated curriculum based on education concepts is available in the public domain, and training is not standardized. Few nurses are prepared to be effective trainers.

CLS entry level competencies in flow cytometry.

Objective: To define entry level competencies in flow cytometry for CLS generalists.

Design: Flow cytometry practitioners completed an electronic survey. Of 134 respondents, 131 met the desired demographics and were analyzed.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus fomite survival.

Objective: To assess survival of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on fomites encountered by health students.

Design: Three suspensions of MRSA were made to mimic lab splashes: a 0.5 McFarland trypticase soy broth, whole blood with 50 colony forming units/mL and body fluid/serum with 2000 colony forming units/mL.

Evaluation of GFP tag as a screening reporter in directed evolution of a hyperthermophilic beta-glucosidase.

By applying a directed evolution methodology specific enzymatic characteristics can be enhanced, but to select mutants of interest from a large mutant bank, this approach requires high throughput screening and facile selection. To facilitate such primary screening of enhanced clones, an expression system was tested that uses a green fluorescent protein (GFP) tag from Aequorea victoria linked to the enzyme of interest. As GFP's fluorescence is readily measured, and as there is a 1:1 molar correlation between the target protein and GFP, the concept proposed was to determine whether GFP could facilitate primary screening of error-prone PCR (EPP) clones.

HIPAA compliance in U.S. hospitals: a self-report of progress toward the security rule.

In January 2004, a random sampling of 1,000 U.S. hospitals was surveyed by researchers at a midwestern university to determine perceived level of compliance with the security requirements of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Risks, barriers, and benefits of EHR systems: a comparative study based on size of hospital.

With the government backing the concept of electronic health records (EHR), and with technology being used in every walk of life, more and more hospitals are looking into implementing EHR systems. A national survey of U.S.

CLS investigation: exploiting the forensics craze I.

There are similarities between clinical laboratory science (CLS) and forensic laboratory science that educators can exploit for recruitment and public relations activities. Many CLS techniques are also used in forensics and some relatively simple forensics techniques can be brought into the CLS laboratory for a cohesive laboratory experience that simultaneously exposes interested students to both fields.

Compliance with HIPAA security standards in U.S. Hospitals.

With the widespread use of computer networks, the amount of information stored electronically has grown exponentially, resulting in increased concern for privacy and security of information. The healthcare industry has been put to the test with the federally mandated Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. To assess the compliance status of HIPAA security standards, a random sample of 1,000 U.

Improved catalytic efficiency and active site modification of 1,4-beta-D-glucan glucohydrolase A from Thermotoga neapolitana by directed evolution.

Thermotoga neapolitana 1,4-beta-d-glucan glucohydrolase A preferentially hydrolyzes cello-oligomers, such as cellotetraose, releasing single glucose moieties from the reducing end of the cello-oligosaccharide chain. Using directed evolution techniques of error-prone PCR and mutant library screening, a variant glucan glucohydrolase has been isolated that hydrolyzes the disaccharide, cellobiose, at a 31% greater rate than its wild type (WT) predecessor. The mutant library, expressed in Escherichia coli, was screened at 85 degrees C for increased hydrolysis of cellobiose, a native substrate rather than a chromogenic analog, using a continuous, thermostable coupled enzyme assay.

Racial differences in breast cancer screening, knowledge and compliance.

Background: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States. Although the incidence of breast cancer is 13% higher in white women, mortality in black women is 28% higher, due to histological and socioeconomic factors. Existing research regarding racial differences in compliance with breast cancer screening recommendations has found conflicting results.