Cultivating Clinical Judgment in Pharmacological Decision-Making Through Reflection on Practice.

Background: Competent clinical judgment about pharmacological therapies by nurses is essential for safe medication outcomes. This study examined the impact of postclinical pharmacology-focused reflective debriefing sessions on clinical judgment in prelicensure senior nursing students.

Method: A nonrandomized repeated measures design was used to compare clinical judgment of students who participated in an additional learning activity with students who did not.

Development and Evaluation of a Nurse Leadership Succession Planning Strategy in an Academic Medical Center.

Absence of nurse manager succession planning in an academic medical center necessitated a quality improvement project to identify, select, and enroll emerging leaders into a development program. The authors used organizational competencies and an evidence-based approach to effectively identify barriers, select future nurse leaders, and discover opportunities for process improvement.

Enhancing diabetes care through care coordination, telemedicine, and education: Evaluation of a rural pilot program.

Objective: To provide a comprehensive evaluation of a grant-funded pilot diabetes care program. Rural adult patients living with poorly controlled diabetes were targeted for care.

Design And Sample: Retrospective study using a purposive sample of patients at select primary care sites with a glycated hemoglobin (A1C) greater than 8%.

Using Computer-Adaptive Quizzing as a Tool for National Council Licensure Examination Success.

This study examined the relationship between using computer-adaptive quizzing (CAQ) and first-time National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) success. A retrospective, descriptive, correlational design was used to analyze the relationship between use of a CAQ program and first-time NCLEX results of 194 baccalaureate graduates. Chi-square analysis suggested that there was an association between using the software and NCLEX success (p < .

Communicating Patient Status: Comparison of Teaching Strategies in Prelicensure Nursing Education.

Research indicates that nurses lack adequate preparation for reporting patient status. This study compared 2 instructional methods focused on patient status reporting in the clinical setting using a randomized posttest-only comparison group design. Reporting performance using a standardized communication framework and student perceptions of satisfaction and confidence with learning were measured in a simulated event that followed the instruction.

Clinical Judgment Scripts as a Strategy to Foster Clinical Judgments.

Background: Clinical judgment encompasses how nurses use their knowledge of the patient to generate, assess, and prioritize patient care alternatives. Previous research has identified debriefing as critical to developing clinical judgment. Best practice for debriefing has yet to be identified.

Health Policy Initiatives for African American Women Veterans.

America's military has experienced great changes in the demographic makeup of its veterans over the past few decades. In fact, the fastest growing group in the U.S.

WHERE Are the Faculty? Fulfilling the Traditional Faculty Role at a Distance.

Innovative approaches are needed to retain seasoned nursing faculty. Technology provides opportunities for faculty to fulfill the traditional roles of teaching, research, and service from a site removed from the traditional campus. The purpose of this article is to encourage faculty and administrators in traditional, land-based colleges and universities to thoughtfully consider the advantages and challenges of the remote worksite for faculty based on the experience of one faculty.

Daily Spiritual Experiences of Nurse Educators and Relationship to Depression and Health.

This research describes the first reported assessment of spirituality in nurse educators. Faculty members at a public university in a southern U.S.

Interactive Multimedia Tailored to Improve Diabetes Self-Management.

A pilot program was initiated to improve self-management of type 2 diabetes by rural adults. Using an iOS-based, individually tailored pre-/postintervention to improve diabetes self-management, undergraduate students developed a native mobile application to help participants effectively manage their diabetes. Brief quizzes assessed diabetes knowledge.

Evaluation of a breast and colon cancer survivorship program.

This article describes a cancer survivorship program that addressed quality of life (QOL) changes related to chemotherapy. The program focused on adult breast and colon cancer survivors at a community oncology practice in the southeastern United States, and consisted of an educational visit designed to identify and address QOL changes that occurred as a result of chemotherapy. The QOL of Cancer Survivors (QOL-CS) survey administered before and after the visit analyzed QOL metrics, which were combined with program evaluation data to assess physical, psychosocial, social, and spiritual well-being changes that may have occurred as a result of program participation.

The emerging Doctor of Education (EdD) in instructional leadership for nurse educators.

The nursing faculty shortage is directly related to the ongoing shortage of nurses. As a result of many nursing faculty retiring, the discipline of nursing is losing its most experienced educators. The need is great for programs that will increase access and prepare nurse educators.

Improving care transitions from hospital to home: standardized orders for home health nursing with remote telemonitoring.

A task force at a multihospital health care system partnered with home health agencies to improve gaps during the discharge transition process. A standardized order template for home health nursing and remote telemonitoring was developed to decrease discrepancies in communication between hospital health care providers and home health nurses caring for patients with heart failure. Pilot results showed significantly improved communication with no readmissions, using the order template.

Educating supervisors of employees with diabetes.

The worksite presents special challenges not only for employees with diabetes, but also for their supervisors. Supervisors wonder whether certain behaviors are willful misconduct or indicative of health problems, as well as if and how to accommodate employees with diabetes to meet the needs of the employees and the company, within the law. The purpose of this research was to pilot test an innovative educational program for supervisors of employees with diabetes to benefit employees' health and diabetes control while meeting the legal requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Employee perceptions of diabetes education needs: a focus group study.

The purpose of this descriptive non-experimental research was to assess employee perceptions of desired diabetes education through focus groups. Thirteen employees of a southern university in three focus groups identified many standard and some emerging educational topics of interest including healthier food choices when eating out, increasing activity, deciding whether highly advertised "special" products for diabetes were necessary, and recognizing the importance of obesity among children. The employees were willing to attend group meetings related to diabetes, but not to pay for them.

Contributions of children to the care of adults with diabetes.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the occurrence of child caregivers among adults with diabetes and the type of assistance they provide.

Methods: In this exploratory descriptive study, 51 diverse adults with diabetes from 9 clinics in 3 states completed a survey in English or Spanish about themselves and their child caregivers. Topics addressed in the survey were the duration and types of assistance, the children's education about diabetes, and the impact of children's caregiving on attendance at school and work.

Leisure time activity of Mexican Americans with diabetes.

Background: Diabetes is a worldwide health problem with increasing prevalence, particularly among ethnic minorities. Activity is a major component of diabetes management that can help to prevent the deadly complications of the disease. Assessment of the activities in which individuals with diabetes from specific ethnic groups such as Mexican Americans engage may facilitate identification of strategies to encourage activity among those who do not participate in activity or have only minimal, sporadic participation.

Ethnic differences in exercise among adults with diabetes.

The purposes of this secondary analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III Household Adult Data File (1988-1994) were to describe and compare exercise practices and preferences of adult Caucasians, African Americans, and Hispanics with diabetes and to relate that information to diabetes treatment modalities. The research questions were: (a) What proportion of ethnically diverse adults with diabetes do and do not exercise? (b) What are the preferred types of exercise by ethnicity, gender, and age? and (c) What are the relationships among exercise participation, exercise preference, and treatment of diabetes by ethnic group? More than one third of the total sample reported no exercise within the last month. There were no significant differences in amount of exercise by ethnic group.