Transitioning to holistic review for admissions in a baccalaureate nursing program: One school's journey.

Healthcare workforce diversity is foundational for the reduction of health disparities, improvement of population health outcomes and the enhancement of patient satisfaction. To increase workforce diversity, health professional programs must be more inclusive during the admission process. Considering demographic trends and the changing landscape of healthcare, it is in the best interests of all institutions that develop students for healthcare roles to actively seek out qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds.

A window into youth and family policy: State policymaker views on polarization and research utilization.

Psychologists are known for using science to influence public policymaking on criminal justice, education, health, and other specific policies. Little is known, however, about what commonalities exist across youth and family policies and, in particular, how prevalent polarization and research utilization are in political decisions. In response, this article examines how youth and family policies are positioned on the decision-making agenda and who advances them from an overlooked point of view, that of state legislators.

Fear of Crime Out West: Determinants of Fear of Property and Violent Crime in Five States.

Fear of crime research has been around for decades, and many studies of its extent, nature, and consequences have been published. In this study, we build upon existing research to examine the effects of vulnerability, disorder/incivilities, social cohesion, prior victimization, and perceptions of police upon fear of property crime and fear of violent crime. Using data from a random mail survey of residents from five different states, the current study offers a view of the determinants of fear of crime within an often overlooked population-residents of the Western United States.

A Systematic Review of the Use of Standardized Patients as a Simulation Modality in Nursing Education.

Aim: The objective of the study was to search, extract, appraise, and synthesize studies using standardized patients (SPs) in nursing academia to determine how this modality of simulation is being used.

Background: SPs are a common simulation modality used in nursing education.

Method: This review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses.

Comparative usability evaluation of consultation order templates in a simulated primary care environment.

Communication breakdowns in the referral process negatively impact clinical workflow and patient safety. There is a lack of evidence demonstrating the impact of published design recommendations addressing contributing issues with consultation order templates. This study translated the recommendations into a computer-based prototype and conducted a comparative usability evaluation.

The importance of nuclear quantum effects in spectral line broadening of optical spectra and electrostatic properties in aromatic chromophores.

In this work, we examine the importance of nuclear quantum effects on capturing the line broadening and vibronic structure of optical spectra. We determine the absorption spectra of three aromatic molecules indole, pyridine, and benzene using time dependent density functional theory with several molecular dynamics sampling protocols: force-field based empirical potentials, ab initio simulations, and finally path-integrals for the inclusion of nuclear quantum effects. We show that the absorption spectrum for all these chromophores are similarly broadened in the presence of nuclear quantum effects regardless of the presence of hydrogen bond donor or acceptor groups.

The Lived Experience of Anemia Without a Cause.

This article explores anemia without an obvious cause from two perspectives: a patient and the evidence. Although evidence is required to drive favorable patient outcomes, the focus on evidence often hides the patient experience during diagnosis and treatment. Knowledge of experience with evidence can provide a deeper perspective for clinical decision making and meet nursing's ethical mandate to relieve suffering.

Use of High-Fidelity Simulation to Increase Knowledge and Skills in Caring for Patients Receiving Blood Products.

Simulation has emerged in health care education programs over the past few decades. Acute-care institutions now provide simulation and high-fidelity simulation (HFS) experiences, nurse development, competency training, and evaluation. The International Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning has established best practice guidelines and a framework for multiple skills, such as blood transfusion.

Hidden Anemias in the Critically Ill.

With increasing knowledge of the risks associated with receiving blood transfusions, a new paradigm of bloodless medicine is needed. Principles of bloodless medicine include careful monitoring for obvious and hidden anemias, rapid intervention, minimizing blood losses from laboratory testing and procedures, and careful management of bleeding diatheses. As evidence is revealed and refined, standard treatment of anemia in the intensive care unit will include erythropoietin-stimulating agents, iron, folate, and vitamin B12, which will reduce risks associated with blood transfusions.

Systematic Heuristic Evaluation of Computerized Consultation Order Templates: Clinicians' and Human Factors Engineers' Perspectives.

We assessed the usability of consultation order templates and identified problems to prioritize in design efforts for improving referral communication. With a sample of 26 consultation order templates, three evaluators performed a usability heuristic evaluation. The evaluation used 14 domain-independent heuristics and the following three supplemental references: 1 new domain-specific heuristic, 6 usability goals, and coded clinicians' statements regarding ease of use for 10 sampled templates.

Gaussian model-based partitioning using iterated local search.

The emergence of Gaussian model-based partitioning as a viable alternative to K-means clustering fosters a need for discrete optimization methods that can be efficiently implemented using model-based criteria. A variety of alternative partitioning criteria have been proposed for more general data conditions that permit elliptical clusters, different spatial orientations for the clusters, and unequal cluster sizes. Unfortunately, many of these partitioning criteria are computationally demanding, which makes the multiple-restart (multistart) approach commonly used for K-means partitioning less effective as a heuristic solution strategy.

Microbial community responses to soil tillage and crop rotation in a corn/soybean agroecosystem.

The acreage planted in corn and soybean crops is vast, and these crops contribute substantially to the world economy. The agricultural practices employed for farming these crops have major effects on ecosystem health at a worldwide scale. The microbial communities living in agricultural soils significantly contribute to nutrient uptake and cycling and can have both positive and negative impacts on the crops growing with them.

Microaggressions: Clinical errors with sexual minority clients.

Sexual minority (SM) individuals live in a heterosexist society that denigrates their sexual orientation identity. The stigma and prejudice they regularly encounter is hypothesized to lead to their significantly increased risk for developing mental health disorders. Because of these factors, therapists should be diligent to create an affirming and supportive therapeutic environment but this is often not the case.

Psychological masquerade embedded in a cluster of related clinical errors: Real practice, real solutions, and their scientific underpinnings.

In this paper, we discuss the need for medical rule outs in over 50% of diagnoses and the risk for mental health practitioners to engage in a clinical judgment error called psychological masquerade (Taylor, 2007). We use the specific example of thyroid dysfunction as a relevant rule out when a client presents with symptoms consistent with an affective disorder. A real clinical example is provided and discussed to illustrate how the first author invoked psychological masquerade resulting in clinical decision-making errors during the treatment of a mother participating in family therapy.

Role of Quantum Vibrations on the Structural, Electronic, and Optical Properties of 9-Methylguanine.

In this work, we report theoretical predictions of the UV-absorption spectra of 9-methylguanine using time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). Molecular dynamics simulations of the hydrated DNA base are peformed using an empirical force field, Born-Oppenheimer ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD), and finally path-integral AIMD to understand the role of the underlying electronic potential, solvation, and nuclear quantum vibrations on the absorption spectra. It is shown that the conformational distributions, including hydrogen bonding interactions, are perturbed by the inclusion of nuclear quantum effects, leading to significant changes in the total charge and dipole fluctuations of the DNA base.