The impact of maternal BMI, gestational weight gain, and breastfeeding on early childhood weight: Analysis of a statewide WIC dataset.

Early childhood obesity is a persistent health concern with more frequent and significant impact on low-income families. Maternal weight factors impact offspring weight status, but evidence on whether breastfeeding protects against this impact is mixed. This analysis examined a model to predict early childhood obesity risk, simultaneously accounting for maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), gestational weight gain, and breastfeeding.

Doctoral Education and Preparation for Nursing Faculty Roles.

Background: Despite increased enrollment in doctoral programs and the encouraging numbers of graduates intending to pursue faculty positions, lack of adequate preparedness to assume the faculty role may adversely impact retention and consequently undermine efforts to reduce the shortage.

Purpose: Understanding doctoral nursing students' and recent graduates' expectations of their educational experience related to preparation for an academic career is needed to inform curricular revisions and advise guidance to ensure role readiness.

Methods: A secondary analysis of 24 interviews with current PhD and doctor of nursing practice (DNP) students and recent graduates from both degree programs was performed to gain a deeper understanding of expectations and perceptions of doctoral education.

Health policy engagement among graduate nursing students in the United States.

Aim: The aim was to understand how health policy education is currently being delivered in the United States' graduate nursing programs.

Methods: This exploratory cross-sectional design used an anonymous online survey to target graduate nursing students attending American Association of College of Nursing (AACN) member institutions.

Results: Over 75% of the sample (n = 140) reported taking a dedicated health policy course and 71.

Innovation in Clinical Course Delivery and Impact on Students' Clinical Decision-Making and Competence.

The purpose of this study was to explore the differences in clinical decision-making and clinical competence between two different cohorts of graduating baccalaureate nursing students from a traditional prelicensure program in the United States. A quasi-experimental design was used to compare students who had substituted their traditional medical-surgical clinical experiences with simulation (Cohort 1, n = 35) with students who had supplementary simulation in addition to their traditional clinical experiences (Cohort 2, n = 36). The findings demonstrated that when simulation was used as a supplement to traditional clinical experiences, participants performed better patient assessments.

Aligning Evidence-Based Practice With Translational Research: Opportunities for Clinical Practice Research.

Magnet® and other organizations investing resources in evidence-based practice (EBP) are ideal laboratories for translational nursing research. Translational research, the study of implementation of evidence into practice, provides a unique opportunity to leverage local EBP work for maximum impact. Aligning EBP projects with rigorous translational research can efficiently meet both EBP and research requirements for Magnet designation or redesignation, inform clinical practice, and place organizations at the leading edge of practice-based knowledge development for the nursing discipline.

"I am a Runner": A qualitative analysis of women-runners' pregnancy experiences.

Background: Women runners are a group with potential for health maintenance and health promotion in pregnancy. When providers counsel women to discontinue or cut back on running without cause, an opportunity for health benefits to both woman and baby may be lost.

Aim: This study aims to explicate the experience women runners have in pregnancy to further providers' understanding of this population's unique needs.

The Positive Thinking Skills Scale: A screening measure for early identification of depressive thoughts.

Background: Depression is currently considered the second leading cause of disability worldwide. Positive thinking is a cognitive process that helps individuals to deal with problems more effectively, and has been suggested as a useful strategy for coping with adversity, including depression. The Positive Thinking Skills Scale (PTSS) is a reliable and valid measure that captures the frequency of use of positive thinking skills that can help in the early identification of the possibility of developing depressive thoughts.

Does an intervention designed to improve self-management, social support and awareness of palliative-care address needs of persons with heart failure, family caregivers and clinicians?

Aims And Objectives: To conduct a formative evaluation of the iPad-Enhanced Shared Care Intervention for Partners (iSCIP) among persons with heart failure (HF), family caregivers and clinicians. Together, persons with HF and family caregivers are referred to as partners.

Background: There is growing awareness of the caregiver's contributions to HF self-management, social support and reciprocal benefits of interventions that involve both partners.

Cesarean deliveries and maternal weight retention.

Background: Cesarean delivery accounts for nearly one-third of all births in the U.S. and contributes to an additional $38 billion in healthcare costs each year.

Pediatric Nurses' Perspectives on Medication Teaching in a Children's Hospital.

Purpose: To explore inpatient pediatric nurses' current experiences and perspectives on medication teaching.

Design And Methods: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted at a Midwest pediatric hospital. Using convenience sampling, 26 nurses participated in six focus groups.

Debrief in Emergency Departments to Improve Compassion Fatigue and Promote Resiliency.

The purpose of this case study was to describe compassion fatigue using one nurse's experience as an example and to present the process of Personal Reflective Debrief as an intervention to prevent compassion fatigue in emergency department (ED) nurses. Debriefing after adverse outcomes using a structured model has been used in health care as a nonthreatening and relatively low-cost way to discuss unanticipated outcomes, identify opportunities for improvement, and heal as a group. There are many methods of debrief tailored to specific timing around events, specific populations of health care workers, and amount of time for debriefing.

The impact of simulation sequencing on perceived clinical decision making.

An emerging nursing education trend is to utilize simulated learning experiences as a means to optimize competency and decision making skills. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in students' perception of clinical decision making and clinical decision making-related self-confidence and anxiety based on the sequence (order) in which they participated in a block of simulated versus hospital-based learning experiences. A quasi-experimental crossover design was used.

Positive Thinking Training Intervention for Caregivers of Persons with Autism: Establishing Fidelity.

More than 3.5 million in the US are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and caregivers experience stress that adversely affects their well-being. Positive thinking training (PTT) intervention can minimize that stress.

Online Positive Thinking Training Intervention for Caregivers of Individuals with ASD: Necessity, Acceptability and Feasibility.

Background: More than 3.5 million people in the United States are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Caring for children with ASD can be stressful and can be detrimental to the well-being of the caregivers (CGs).

Trauma Exposure Among Women in the Pacific Rim.

Purpose: Healthcare professionals who provide services in the immediate or long-term aftermath of traumatic events need to understand the nature and frequency of traumatic events in the lives of women. However, research on trauma exposure in women has only recently begun to assess events other than intimate partner and sexual violence and has not supported direct statistical comparison of cross-national and cross-cultural data. The purpose of this descriptive, correlational study was to describe and compare trauma exposure prevalence and type in community-based samples of women in the United States, Colombia, and Hong Kong.

Building Research Infrastructure in Magnet® Hospitals: Current Status and Future Directions.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the infrastructures supporting research in Magnet® hospitals.

Background: Hospitals undertaking the journey toward Magnet designation must build research and evidence-based practice (EBP) infrastructures that support the infusion of research and EBP into clinical practice.

Methods: An electronic survey was developed and distributed to the chief nursing officer or Magnet coordinator of all Magnet hospitals between June 10, 2015, and July 8, 2015.

Rankings matter: nurse graduates from higher-ranked institutions have higher productivity.

Background: Increasing demand for baccalaureate-prepared nurses has led to rapid growth in the number of baccalaureate-granting programs, and to concerns about educational quality and potential effects on productivity of the graduating nursing workforce. We examined the association of individual productivity of a baccalaureate-prepared nurse with the ranking of the degree-granting institution.

Methods: For a sample of 691 nurses from general medical-surgical units at a large magnet urban hospital between 6/1/2011-12/31/2011, we conducted multivariate regression analysis of nurse productivity on the ranking of the degree-granting institution, adjusted for age, hospital tenure, gender, and unit-specific effects.

Maternal Weight after Childbirth versus Aging-Related Weight Changes.

Background: Pregnancy weight gain is believed to contribute to female overweight and obesity. However, most studies do not account for the changes in body weight expected to occur as women age. We examined the long-term weight trajectory of childbearing women relative to weight progression that could be expected in the absence of pregnancy.

Evaluation of a Primary Care Weight Loss Program.

Nurse practitioners at a primary care clinic established a weight loss program to address high obesity rates among their African American patients. Interviews and a retrospective chart review were used to evaluate the weight loss program. Number of appointments was the only significant predictor of weight loss, and there was a strong positive correlation between total number of appointments and weight loss.