Composing a Life that Works with a Life that Counts for Nurses.

The life of a nurse since the Covid-19 pandemic is characterized by high rates of anxiety, depression, and burnout, leading national organizations to declare the nursing shortage a national emergency. Solutions cite work-life balance, but this term has no clear guiding definition. Experts in the organizational psychology and personal development literature suggest other ways to reconsider this dilemma, that of integration.

Implementing healthy work environment standards in an academic workplace: An update.

In 2005 the American Association of Critical Care Nurses defined six Healthy Work Environment (HWE) standards for the clinical setting (AACN, 2005), which were reaffirmed and expanded in 2016 (AACN, 2016). These clinical standards were adapted for use in the academic setting by Fontaine, Koh, and Carroll in 2012. The intention of this article is threefold: to present a revised version of the academic workplace standards which are appropriate for all School of Nursing (SON) employees, staff as well as faculty; to proposes the addition of a seventh standard, self-care, which provides the foundation for all standards; and to describe the continuing implementation of these seven standards at the University of Virginia School of Nursing (UVA SON).

Prioritizing Clinician Wellbeing: The University of Virginia's Compassionate Care Initiative.

Background: Working in healthcare is increasingly challenging for nurses, physicians, and other health professionals. Ongoing high stress takes a toll on clinicians and interferes with the quality of their patient care. Fostering clinician wellbeing needs to be a priority; if not, the human and financial consequences are significant.

Clinical practice guidelines for the management of pain, agitation, and delirium in adult patients in the intensive care unit.

Objective: To revise the "Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Sustained Use of Sedatives and Analgesics in the Critically Ill Adult" published in Critical Care Medicine in 2002.

Methods: The American College of Critical Care Medicine assembled a 20-person, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional task force with expertise in guideline development, pain, agitation and sedation, delirium management, and associated outcomes in adult critically ill patients. The task force, divided into four subcommittees, collaborated over 6 yr in person, via teleconferences, and via electronic communication.

Clinical practice guidelines for the management of pain, agitation, and delirium in adult patients in the Intensive Care Unit: executive summary.

Objective: To revise the "Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Sustained Use of Sedatives and Analgesics in the Critically Ill Adult" published in Critical Care Medicine in 2002.

Methods: The American College of Critical Care Medicine assembled a 20-person, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional task force with expertise in guideline development, pain, agitation and sedation, delirium management, and associated outcomes in adult critically ill patients. The task force, divided into four subcommittees, collaborated over six years in person, via teleconferences, and via electronic communication.

Promoting a healthy workplace for nursing faculty and staff.

Promoting a healthy workplace in academic nursing settings is vital to recruit new faculty and enhance the work life of all faculty and staff for retention and happiness. When a healthy work environment is fostered, incivility becomes unacceptable, and individuals embrace a culture where all can flourish. This article addresses the imperative of a healthy workplace, with practical suggestions for making the academic setting in schools of nursing one of optimism and confidence where future generations of nurse leaders are developed.

Psychological symptoms of family members of high-risk intensive care unit patients.

Background: Family members of patients in intensive care are at increased risk for psychological symptoms.

Objectives: To compare levels of posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression during and 3 months after the intensive care experience in family members of patients at high risk for dying and to determine if differences were related to the patient's final disposition.

Methods: Longitudinal descriptive study of 41 family members in 3 tertiary care intensive care units.

Achieving transformational change: using appreciative inquiry for strategic planning in a school of nursing.

To achieve transformational change, a transformational approach is needed. The Appreciative Inquiry (AI) summit is a method that has been used to achieve transformational change in business for at least 20 years, but this innovative alternative approach is unknown to nursing. At the University of Virginia School of Nursing, an AI Summit was designed to bring all staff, faculty, student representatives, and members of the community together to rewrite the school's strategic plan.

Success indicators for an accelerated masters entry nursing program: staff RN performance.

The purpose of this exploratory research study was to assess employment performance outcomes of students who completed the prelicensure segment of an accelerated graduate entry program, the Masters Entry Program in Nursing (MEPN) at the University of California, San Francisco. MEPN RNs and their managers at three study sites completed a survey constructed from staff RN performance criteria position descriptions and participated in focus groups. Data were used to evaluate staff RN employment performance and how well the educational program prepared students for the staff RN role.

Meeting the nursing faculty shortage challenge: an accelerated doctoral program in nursing.

In 2003, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation partnered with a major west coast school of nursing to create an accelerated doctoral program in nursing. The program's chief aim was to address the nursing shortage by increasing the number of nurse faculty by funding 42 doctoral students in five cohorts. Students accepted into the accelerated program receive a generous stipend and commit to earn their doctorate in 3 years and teach for 3 years after graduation at 1 of 17 area nursing programs.

Clinical faculty: tips for joining the ranks.

There has never been a more urgent time for clinically expert nurses to consider the clinical faculty role. Whether they are making a full-time "leap" into academia or combining a successful staff nurse role with a part-time clinical teaching position, nurses should consider teaching as a good career move. Practical tips and resources are described for making the transition into a clinical faculty role a smooth one.

Shared faculty governance: a decision-making framework for evaluating the DNP.

The concept of shared governance was used to frame the dialogue and decision-making process around the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) at a leading School of Nursing. This article reports the process used to support dialogue around the DNP so that an informed decision could be made. The shared governance process promoted reflective conversation within the entire faculty and, in the end, supported the decision-making related to the DNP.

Evaluating diversity in nursing education: a mixed method study.

This article presents the findings of a methodical examination of how well one school of nursing was meeting its goal of addressing diversity through its pedagogy. The underlying assumption was that a school's curriculum both shapes and reflects a climate of valuing diversity. This mixed-method evaluation study was conducted in four steps, including a content analysis of all syllabi in the School of Nursing's (SON) curriculum, comparison of the content analysis to students' evaluation of diversity in their education, a survey of the 2006 graduates, and an analysis of faculty responses to the findings.

The accelerated doctoral program in nursing: a university-foundation partnership.

A recent increase in nursing faculty vacancies presents an important impediment to solving the nursing shortage. Today, many schools of nursing are unable to accept qualified nursing students because they do not have sufficient faculty to teach them. Retirements projected during the next decade raise the issue to crisis proportions.

Prioritizing the organization and management of intensive care services in the United States: the PrOMIS Conference.

Objective: Adult critical care services are a large, expensive part of U.S. health care.

The evolving role of the acute care nurse practitioner in critical care.

Purpose Of Review: The newest nurse practitioner role is the acute care nurse practitioner. This paper presents the latest data on the role from both a US and international perspective.

Recent Findings: Now present in the USA for at least 15 years, the acute care nurse practitioner role has become well established in critical care settings and is moving into international healthcare.

Healthier hospitals?

Review AACN's healthy work environments initiative and learn how the standards can be used to build cultures of safety.

Family presence during cardiopulmonary resuscitation and invasive procedures: practices of critical care and emergency nurses.

Background: Increasingly, patients' families are remaining with them during cardiopulmonary resuscitation and invasive procedures, but this practice remains controversial and little is known about the practices of critical care and emergency nurses related to family presence.

Objective: To identify the policies, preferences, and practices of critical care and emergency nurses for having patients' families present during resuscitation and invasive procedures.

Methods: A 30-item survey was mailed to a random sample of 1500 members of the American Association Of Critical-Care Nurses and 1500 members of the Emergency Nurses Association.