The scholarship of teaching: implications for nursing faculty.

Nursing educators are faced with the dilemma of addressing the scholarship of teaching for promotion and tenure decisions. This article defines the scholarship of teaching and explores the history of the concept. Implications of the relevance of the topic for nursing faculty with suggestions for documenting the scholarship of teaching are discussed.

Resilience: a historical review of the construct.

Evolution of the construct of resilience from physiological and psychological research extends from the 1800s to the present. This review supports 3 observations: (1) the importance of a dynamic, interactive perspective for understanding resilience; (2) the complexity of the construct requires a holistic perspective; and (3) the importance of exposure to diverse experiences and educational perspectives for professional health care students.

Current factors contributing to professionalism in nursing.

A serious nursing shortage is creating a crisis in the nation's health care system. Many experienced nurses are leaving the field and young people are not selecting nursing as a potential career. Reassessment of professionalism in nursing therefore is indicated.

Two quantitative approaches for estimating content validity.

Instrument content validity is often established through qualitative expert reviews, yet quantitative analysis of reviewer agreements is also advocated in the literature. Two quantitative approaches to content validity estimations were compared and contrasted using a newly developed instrument called the Osteoporosis Risk Assessment Tool (ORAT). Data obtained from a panel of eight expert judges were analyzed.

Longitudinal analysis of illness uncertainty, coping, hopefulness, and mood during participation in a clinical drug trial.

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the relationships among illness uncertainty, coping effectiveness, hopefulness, and mood in persons with chronic, progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) during participation in a double-blind clinical drug trial. The similarities and differences in the pattern of relationships among variables were investigated within each of four data collection time frames and across time. The convenience sample comprised 52 participants with clinically definite MS who participated in a 2-year trial using methotrexate to treat progressive MS.

The Transtheoretical Model and stress management practices in women at risk for, or infected with, HIV.

Although scientific inquiry using the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior (TTM) supports various behavior changes in multiple samples, no research was found that examined this model with women already infected with HIV. This article provides a brief overview of the related literature and describes a pilot study that evaluated TTM concepts in women at risk for, or infected with, HIV. The pilot study examined preliminary psychometrics of the research measures in women at risk for (n = 9), or infected with, HIV (n = 10), and examined predicted differences in situational confidence and stress management practices by HIV serostatus (positive vs.

Physical abuse, social support, self-care, and pregnancy outcomes of older adolescents.

Objective: To evaluate the relationships between physical abuse, social support, self-care agency and practices, and pregnancy outcome for older adolescent mothers and infants.

Design: Predictive-correlational design based on Orem's Self-Care Deficit Theory of Nursing and featuring a prospective cohort analysis. Prenatal interviews and medical record review after delivery were both used as data sources.

Comfort care: a framework for hospice nursing.

Provision of comfort is paramount to the practice of hospice nurses. However, the approach to meeting needs holistically is often intuitive or based on multidisciplinary rather than nursing models. A review of the nursing literature identified only one article describing the application of a nursing framework to hospice nursing practice.

Enhancing the clinical practicum experience through journal writing.

Although journaling is commonplace, its usefulness or effectiveness has been rarely supported by empirical data or examples. The purpose of this article is to highlight integration of classroom and clinical learning, decision-making skills and level of skill acquisition in the Senior Practicum experiences through student journal entry exemplars. Critical thinking, observation and description, and empathy and release of feelings will be discussed.

Mental illness and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Understanding the fundamentals.

1. With an increasing emphasis on psychiatric rehabilitation, psychiatric nurses must understand the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the application of the legislation to the mentally disabled. 2.

Psychiatric nurses' knowledge of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides civil rights protection for qualified individuals with disabilities. In spite of the protection afforded, people with serious and persistent mental illness may require advocates to help them benefit from the ADA. This descriptive investigation used primary data from 900 psychiatric nurses to determine their knowledge of the ADA.

Social support: gender differences in multiple sclerosis spousal caregivers.

The purpose of this study was to investigate gender differences in social support of spousal caregivers of persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). The sample consisted of 37 male and 28 female caregivers of individuals with MS. It was found that female caregivers scored significantly higher than males on the total number of resources available, perceived social support and the perceived availability of friends and self-help groups.

Factors related to graduate nursing faculty scholarly productivity.

Department-level measures of productivity were constructed using information reported by 180 nursing deans of schools with graduate (master's and doctoral) programs. Productivity was calculated three ways: total (net), publications, and grants. The scores for each school were derived from nine categories of faculty scholarly activities.