Designing multiple-choice test items at higher cognitive levels.

In the midst of a nursing faculty shortage, many academic institutions hire clinicians who are not formally prepared for an academic role. These novice faculty face an immediate need to develop teaching skills. One area in particular is test construction.

Mortality in candidates waiting for combined liver-intestine transplants exceeds that for other candidates waiting for liver transplants.

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) reports indicate that mortality on the intestine transplant waiting list is higher than on other transplant waiting lists. The goals of this study were (1) to determine whether most of the intestinal transplant candidate deaths have occurred in those who also need liver transplants, and (2) to compare the waiting list mortality in the liver-intestine candidate subset with the overall liver transplant candidate population. We found that 90% of intestine transplant waiting list deaths have occurred in candidates who also needed liver transplants.