Refinement and Evaluation of the Critical Thinking Self-Assessment Scale.

Critical thinking (CT) skills are necessary tools for enhancing patient care. The Critical Thinking Self-Assessment Scale (CTSAS) was based on Facione et al.'s (1990) schema of 6 CT skills and 16 subskills.

Return on Investment: Explanation and a Case Study.

Nurses are uniquely positioned to significantly impact organizational and system improvement through improving quality and reducing costs. Using an evidenced based tool to identify costs and the financial benefit involved in any quality improvement project is invaluable in developing and evaluating proposals and allocation of resources to support the organization's financial health and viability. The return on investment analysis is an essential accounting tool that will provide nurse leaders with critical information quantifying costs and benefits of both financial and nonfinancial metrics to identify the feasibility, efficacy, risk or efficiency of a proposed project.

Innovative Use of the Health Status Questionnaire-12 for Individual and Population Health.

Purpose: Demonstrate how self-reported health (SRH) percentile ranks can be used in public health and clinical practice for better interpretable data.

Methods: Secondary analysis was completed to standardize Health Status Questionnaire-12 Version 2.0 (HSQ-12) scores.

Influencing a Culture of Quality and Safety Through Huddles.

Background: Literature shows that interdisciplinary huddles help promote clear communication and proactive reporting of potential errors.

Local Problem: High reliability organization (HRO) and just culture models were implemented, yet fragmented team communication about patient safety remained. Huddles were implemented to identify and address patient safety issues.

Implementing a Peer Support Network to Promote Compassion Without Fatigue.

Objective: The aims of this study were to implement a Peer Support Network (PSN) pilot project including education/training, peer support, and resiliency training and to explore how interventions impact compassion satisfaction (CS) and compassion fatigue (CF) in a community hospital.

Background: CF has been reported to negatively affect nurse retention. The PSN provides a 3-tiered team approach to enhance CS and support nurses experiencing CF symptoms.

Maternal Health-Seeking on Behalf of Low-Income Children.

Background: Women receiving Medicaid account for almost one-third of the childbearing population in the United States, an extensive investment for federal and state governments. Gaps and conflicting research results exist that explain/predict maternal health-seeking behavior for vulnerable children. Public health nurses (PHN) need evidence to design interventions that improve maternal health-seeking and child health outcomes.

Partnering With Community-Dwelling Individuals With Diabetes for Health Behavior Change Using Action Plans: An Innovation in Health Professionals Education and Practice.

Health care practitioners support or hinder an individual's attempts to self-manage health behavior. Practitioners must understand an individual's health needs and goals to effectively partner for behavior change. Self-management support (SMS) promote efforts toward positive health behavior change.

Factors related to self-reported health status in low income midlife women.

Transition throughout midlife can affect women's perception of their health status. Multiple factors are potentially related to self-reported health status (SRHS), but it was not clear what factors are related to SRHS for midlife women, especially those with low income. This study examined factors related to SRHS in low income midlife women over time.