Dual RN-RDN program: Training for the future of health and nutrition.

Purpose: Explore the benefits and feasibility of a dual training program for dietetics and nursing to increase nutrition in clinical practice.

Methods: A professional interest survey on the perceived value of a dual program with 222 registered nurses (RN) and registered dietitian nutritionists (RDN) and an in-depth literature review were completed.

Results: A majority of RNs indicated the addition of the RDN would be beneficial for supporting patients with diet-related chronic diseases and performing nutritional assessments and interventions.

Pearls and Pitfalls of Team Science.

Formidable health problems are often best addressed by teams of scientists with varied expertise. This diversity among team members and complexities in managing teams can lead to challenges in designing, funding, conducting, and reporting research. Team science difficulties can be addressed by sophisticated planning, frequent reassessment and realignment of team strategies with goals, and consistent transparent communication.

Academic nursing leadership in a rural setting: Different game, same standards.

The call for transformation of nursing education and practice continues to be a national priority. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing recommends enhanced partnerships between academic nursing and academic health centers to advance nursing and healthcare. For academic leaders in rural settings, the context of health and healthcare means that these partnerships are vastly different from academic health centers.

Launching Successful Beginnings for Early Career Faculty Researchers.

Junior faculty follow a research path replete with challenges as they strive to create knowledge in their area of interest while balancing new responsibilities. Unlike graduate school, where students focus inward on personal development, junior faculty must add responsibilities in ways that hold them accountable as members of a university. This special article deals with three themes of interest to new junior faulty launching research programs: personal development, collaboration and team development within university settings, and funding advice.

Strategies to Build Authorship Competence Among PhD Students.

Publication in refereed journals is an important responsibility of PhD-prepared nurses. Specialized writing skills are crucial for effective professional publication. The capacity to develop and publish articles is best learned during doctoral education.

Normalizing Rejection.

Getting turned down for grant funding or having a manuscript rejected is an uncomfortable but not unusual occurrence during the course of a nurse researcher's professional life. Rejection can evoke an emotional response akin to the grieving process that can slow or even undermine productivity. Only by "normalizing" rejection, that is, by accepting it as an integral part of the scientific process, can researchers more quickly overcome negative emotions and instead use rejection to refine and advance their scientific programs.

Tobacco quitline outcomes for priority populations.

Background: Despite declining rates of tobacco use, certain subgroups still experience a disproportionate risk for tobacco-related health issues. The South Dakota QuitLine identifies five priority population subgroups as the following: American Indians, tobacco users receiving Medicaid, youth, pregnant women, and spit tobacco users. The purpose of this study was to describe South Dakota QuitLine use among priority population subgroups and to measure associated cessation rates and service satisfaction.

Cessation among state quitline participants with a mental health condition.

Introduction: Telephone quitlines are an effective treatment option for tobacco cessation in the general population. Many participants who use quitline services have mental health conditions (MHC), yet few published studies have examined the use of quitline services in this population. This study examined the prevalence of MHC among state quitline participants and compared cessation outcomes among those with and without MHC.

A statewide assessment of smoke-free policy in multiunit housing settings.

Introduction: The prevalence of smoke-free policies in multiunit housing (MUH) in South Dakota was examined. Owner beliefs about smoke-free policies were identified.

Methods: Stratified random sampling included 27 South Dakota counties classified as frontier, large rural, or urban.

Palliative and end-of-life care in South Dakota.

Background: Geographical disparities play a significant role in palliative and end-of-life care access. This study assessed availability of palliative and end of life (hospice) care in South Dakota.

Methods: Grounded in a conceptual model of advance care planning, this assessment explored whether South Dakota health care facilities had contact persons for palliative care, hospice services, and advance directives; health care providers with specialized training in palliative and hospice care; and a process for advance directives and advance care planning.

Managing opportunities and challenges of co-authorship.

Research with the largest impact on practice and science is often conducted by teams with diverse substantive, clinical, and methodological expertise. Team and interdisciplinary research has created authorship groups with varied expertise and expectations. Co-authorship among team members presents many opportunities and challenges.

Tobacco quitline outcomes by service type.

Background: Tobacco use is a burden in terms of mortality, chronic disease, and economic impact. Effective treatments exist to aid tobacco users who are motivated to quit. The South Dakota QuitLine provides coaching to all participants and the option of a cessation product (nicotine replacement therapy [NRT], or the prescription medications, varenicline or bupropion) at no cost.

Evaluation of an intervention to increase self-efficacy for independent exercise in cardiac rehabilitation.

Adherence to independent exercise is an essential outcome of cardiac rehabilitation (CR), yet limited theory-based interventions to improve adherence exist. This study tested the effects of an intervention based on Bandura's conceptualization of self-efficacy. The self-efficacy coaching intervention (SCI), a supplement to standard care, was designed to increase self-efficacy for independent exercise and independent exercise behavior in CR.

Evaluation of school tobacco-free policies in a rural Northern Plains state.

Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has called for tobacco-free school (TFS) policies. In South Dakota (SD), a rural state with a large American Indian population, collaboration between state agencies focused on development and dissemination of a model TFS policy in 2008. This study explored the current status of TFS policies in statewide SD school districts.

Strategies for a successful PhD program: words of wisdom from the WJNR Editorial Board.

Nursing doctoral programs prepare students for research-focused careers within academic settings. The purpose of this Editorial Board Special Article is to provide PhD students and advisors with suggestions for making the most of their doctoral experience. Editorial Board members provide their individual insights on the skills and attributes students must acquire during the course of their doctoral education in order to succeed.

Community outreach and engagement to prepare for household recruitment of National Children's Study participants in a rural setting.

Context: The National Children's Study (NCS) is a longitudinal study of environmental influences on children's health. Recruitment of a representative birth cohort that will be followed until 21 years of age requires unique approaches across the nationwide study communities.

Purpose: To describe community outreach and engagement in preparation for household recruitment of women of childbearing age at a rural-classified NCS location that includes 4 adjacent Northern Plains counties spanning 2,500 square miles.

"Tribes sharing life": an organ donation educational intervention for American Indian tribal college and university students.

"Tribes Sharing Life" is an educational intervention about deceased organ donation for American Indian Tribal College and University (TCU) students. The classroom and web-based program was derived from cultural values and beliefs, and the Transtheoretical Model. The aim of this study was to develop and formatively evaluate the intervention for acceptability and satisfaction among advisory council members (n = 10) and TCU students (n = 22).

Treatment-related needs of statewide cancer survivors.

Introduction: Research on surviving cancer treatment is a national priority and there is a need to understand the experiences of survivors from predominantly rural areas. The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of treatment and post-treatment issues for cancer survivors living in South Dakota. Multidimensional aspects of cancer-related needs were explored, including: psychosocial, physical, spiritual, health promotion and access to care issues.

Scientific impact: opportunity and necessity.

Recent National Institutes of Health changes have focused attention on the potential scientific impact of research projects. Research with the excellent potential to change subsequent science or health care practice may have high scientific impact. Only rigorous studies that address highly significant problems can generate change.

Helping patients to quit tobacco use: integration of South Dakota QuitLine services.

New evidence-based practice guidelines for tobacco cessation recommend that physicians ask their patients about tobacco use and interest in a serious quit attempt at every visit. There are some barriers to integrating comprehensive quit assistance into clinical practice settings. However, there are many research-tested strategies that simplify the process and overcome the challenges to conversations about quitting.

Sharing the gift of life: an intervention to increase organ and tissue donation for American Indians.

Context: Growing waiting lists for organ transplantation require attention to populations with a high demand for organs but a low donation rate. American Indians experience a high demand for kidney transplantation because of an epidemic of type 2 diabetes, yet donation consent rates are low in this group.

Objective: To design and evaluate an educational intervention to increase the intention to serve as an organ or tissue donor among American Indians.

Academic freedom and academic duty to teach social justice: a perspective and pedagogy for public health nursing faculty.

Public health nursing practice is rooted in the core value of social justice. Nursing faculty whose expertise is in public health are often the content experts responsible for teaching this essential, yet potentially controversial, value. Contemporary threats to academic freedom remind us that the disciplinary autonomy and academic duty to teach social justice may be construed as politically ideological.

Physical activity behavior of American Indian mothers.

Background: Mothers of young children who live in low-income households are a population at-risk for sedentary living that could experience important health benefits from improved physical activity behavior. Previous research among Caucasian mothers attending the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program showed that the Transtheoretical Model of behavior change was an appropriate model for designing interventions for activity promotion.

Purpose: This study examined the Transtheoretical Model of behavior change in relationship to the physical activity behavior of low-income American Indian mothers.

Sociocultural perspective on organ and tissue donation among reservation-dwelling American Indian adults.

Objective: To discover the sociocultural patterns that influence decisions about organ and tissue donation among American Indian (AI) adults.

Design: This qualitative ethnographic study used a social-ecological framework. A snowball sampling technique was used to recruit 21 Oglala Lakota Sioux participants (age >or= 19 years) living on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, USA.