Supporting Clinical Nurses Through a Research Fellowship.

After reviewing the literature, nurses at the bedside seeking answers to clinical questions may find their inquiries remain unanswered. This article describes the yearlong Research Fellows Program in which candidates, funded for 12 hours per month of research release time, answered formal research questions in a curriculum designed to provide the skills to complete their study. Five have completed their studies; 1 has received a grant to continue.

Using Simulation to Model Improvements in Pediatric Bed Placement in an Acute Care Hospital.

Objective: The objective of this project was to use an interdisciplinary approach to analyze strategies through simulation technology for improving patient flow in a pediatric hospital.

Background: Various statistics have been offered on the number of children admitted annually to hospitals. For administrators, particularly in smaller systems, the financial burden of equipping and staffing pediatric units often outweighs the moral desire to maintain a pediatric unit as a viable option for patients and pediatricians.

Clinical simulation as an instructional strategy for animating the clinical nurse framework.

The Clincal Nurse Leader (CNL) roles include both the management of clinical outcomes and management of the clinical environment. In a program in which students learn the CNL roles as a Master's Entry Option program, both the bedside and the systems roles must be mastered. This article describes how simulation can animate the curriculum by challenging students at both the bedside and microsystem level in a pediatric setting.

Conducting root cause analysis with nursing students: best practice in nursing education.

This article describes a novel approach that allows students to actively participate in a root cause analysis, whether the error was committed in the clinical setting or in the simulation setting. This process can develop student awareness of the responsibility and professional duty to participate in creating a safer patient environment.

Pediatric environmental health and nursing leadership.

Children of poverty and children of industrialization share problems inherent in their vulnerability to environmental conditions and their dependence on leaders to protect them. Children are often the silent sentinels of changing conditions. Unable to articulate their concerns, and possessing immature physiologic systems, the very young are vulnerable to disease.