Measuring Bachelor of Science in Nursing competencies in public/population health.

Nurses have a long history of practice in public health. More recently basic population health knowledge and skills are being required across all nursing practice settings. To prepare nurses for this practice nursing education has long included public or community health nursing (PHN) content and skills as part of prelicensure education at the baccalaureate level and above.

Project REACH: A multi-level, interdisciplinary approach to enhance student retention and success.

Background: An escalating nursing shortage brought attention to nursing student retention and success including graduation and licensure.

Purpose: The purpose of this Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) project, Realizing Educational Attainment and Careers in Healthcare (REACH), was to increase nursing progression and graduation rates for undergraduate nursing students from diverse and/or under-resourced backgrounds.

Methods: REACH goals focused on four levels: 1) Individual: Neutralize the impact of economic-environmental factors that are barriers for diverse and under-resourced populations to pursue a BSN, 2) Group: Bridge gaps within a social determinants framework to achieve progression and graduation, 3) Institutional: Broaden the cultural competence of faculty on campus and 4) Community: Expand the knowledge and skills of the social determinants of health and cultural competence for nurses within the largest nursing employer in the community.

Strengthening Student Nurses' Sense of Belonging Through Attendance at a Professional Nursing Conference.

Nursing faculty members at one midwestern college provided a professional development opportunity for baccalaureate nursing students by organizing a trip to a nursing association conference (ie, the AORN Global Surgical Conference & Expo). Preconference and postconference survey results showed a statistically significant increase in sense-of-belonging scores; and the eta-squared statistic (0.14) indicated a large effect size, suggesting the students' conference attendance enhanced their sense of belonging to the profession.

Pathways to BSN Education: Teamwork in Ohio.

Aim: The Ohio Action Coalition was formed to address the key recommendations of the Institute of Medicine's Future of Nursing report.

Background: The Future of Nursing Campaign for Action is a national initiative to guide implementation of the recommendations in the Future of Nursing report.

Method: Through statewide meetings, leaders from nursing education and practice adopted a statewide competency model.

Utilizing the Intercultural Development Inventory® to develop intercultural competence.

Purpose: Health care professional education programs in the United States have been charged to devise strategies to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of the workforce (Health Resources and Services Administration, Nursing Workforce Diversity (NWD) http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/grants/nwd.

Academic/Clinical partnership and collaboration in Quality and Safety Education for Nurses education.

The Institute of Medicine and the Carnegie Foundation for Health Education have called for significant changes in nursing education to reduce medical errors and improve health outcomes. In response to this call, a small private Catholic university undertook an innovative bachelor of science in nursing curriculum revision based in large part on the competencies described by the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) initiative. Part of the curriculum revision involved an innovative model of clinical education.

The Baby Think It Over experience to prevent teen pregnancy: a postintervention evaluation.

An evaluation was conducted to describe the personal impact of the "In Your Care" pregnancy prevention intervention program using Baby Think It Over infant simulator. Data was collected regarding the attitudes, actual and intended sexual practices, feelings, and opinions of participants 2 or 3 years after the intervention. Student recommendations for program continuation and improvement were also solicited.

The smallpox threat: the school nurse's role.

Today, with the threat of bioterrorism and war, there is a new dimension to the traditional role of the school nurse. The smallpox threat to public health will invoke the school nurse's role as an educator, liaison, and consultant in the community. This article discusses smallpox, the vaccination process, adverse effects, and postvaccination care.