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Biomedical subjects

S L Sims

Publications and source records attributed to S L Sims.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Toward a narrative-centered curriculum for nurse practitioners.

This paper discusses various alternative and nontraditional teaching strategies currently used in nurse practitioner curricula. These instructional strategies include case-study analysis (Ryan-Wenger & Lee, 1997) and problem-based learning/practice-based learning (Barrows, 1994). We suggest a further evolution, using principles and practices of a narrative pedagogy (Diekelmann, 1995) to allow convergence of these several narratively-focused inductive and interpretive approaches. This combination of ways of learning has led us toward a narrative-centered curriculum for family nurse practitioners (FNPs). Specific ways to use narrative in the FNP curriculum are presented to demonstrate how to take the curriculum beyond traditional ways of teaching and learning.

Curriculum↗
PubMed1996

Grounded theory as feminist research methodology.

Feminist research is evolving, and with it new methods of doing science. In this feminist post-positivist era, grounded theory, while less inclusive and descriptive than ethnography, allows for complex analysis of complex questions. While Glaser & Strauss (the originators of this methodology) have written about grounded theory in an esoteric way, others have written extensively about this method in a much clearer and less rigid fashion. In this paper we discuss how grounded theory could be used in a creative and constantly evolving manner for feminist research.

Female↗
PubMed1996

Family care giving at home as a solitary journey.

Home caregivers play an increasingly important role in providing health services for family members. Although many studies have been done to measure burden and related concepts, few studies have examined holistically the caregiving experiences. A grounded-theory design was used to better understand the caregiving experience from the perspective of caregivers. Seventeen families from a metropolitan intermountain western area comprised the sample. Recipients of care ranged in age from 14 months to 87 years. People with documented mental illness, dementia, or Alzheimer's disease were excluded from the sample. Interviews were conducted in participants' homes. Data were analyzed through constant comparative analysis. The central idea emerging from the data was caregiving as a solitary journey. Burden, responsibility, isolation, and commitment shaped the context of the journey.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Decision making in home health care.

As caregivers take control of their newly chaotic lives, they become more active and assertive in decision making and, not coincidentally, better caregivers. Future research and nursing interventions should focus on this process of taking charge to make our support of home care providers more meaningful and useful. Another issue needing further exploration is the preponderance of female caregivers, regardless of the age or relationship of the care recipient. As Anderson and Elfert (1989) pointed out, health professionals often emphasize the concept of family when discussing home health care, but in fact, it is almost always the women who assume the burden. They argue that this results in a devaluation of the work done in home care, as it is not reimbursed. Perhaps our belief that home care is less costly should be reexamined, both in terms of monetary and nonmonetary costs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Transmission of tuberculosis to hospital workers by a patient with AIDS.

A patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was admitted to a hospital with cough and fever and after 29 days was transferred to a hospice. He was eventually shown to have active pulmonary tuberculosis. This diagnosis was obscured clinically by simultaneous infection with Pneumocystis carinii and Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC). Laboratory recognition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was delayed because of overgrowth of cultures by MAC but was later established using DNA probe techniques. Thirty (19 percent) of 158 health care workers who had been exposed to this patient had conversion of their tuberculin skin tests. Diagnostic difficulties and nosocomial transmission of tuberculosis may occur when patients with AIDS have mixed mycobacterial infections.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1988

A comprehensive approach to faculty evaluation.

The purpose of this undertaking was to design a comprehensive faculty evaluation instrument that would reflect the complexities of the faculty role. An 80-item instrument was designed from a review of the literature, content analyses on job descriptions, existing evaluation tools. Items were modified on the basis of critical review by educators with expertise and experience in evaluation measurement and faculty role expectations. Instrument design incorporates the need for explicit criteria; flexibility in establishing performance standards and expectations; involvement of students, peers, administrators and self in the evaluation process; and greater consistency of judgments. When used in conjunction with a computerized data management package, this instrument provides a variety of information needed to make well-informed decisions regarding faculty development, promotion, retention and tenure of faculty members, and optimum utilization of faculty talents. Each school's faculty establishes standards of performance expectations according to its values, capitalizing on the unique nature of the proposed evaluation instrument.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗