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Development of new faculty in higher education.

Faculty development programs in nursing, as well as in other disciplines, are needed to respond to changing expectations about the quality of undergraduate education, student populations, decreasing resources, and widespread use of technology in education. Problems facing new and senior faculty center on these changing demands. Preparing faculty to use technology in teaching is especially important. The problem of diminishing resources for faculty development must be balanced with the overwhelming need for faculty education in this changing environment.

Education, Nursing↗

An outbreak of Escherichia coli O157 gastroenteritis in a care home for the elderly.

In the summer of 2001 an outbreak of Escherichia coli O157 gastroenteritis affected staff and residents of a care home for the elderly in the West Midlands, UK. E. coli O157 phage type 2 was isolated from faeces in eight patients and 12 staff members. Thirty-five staff and 40 residents met the case definition for clinical gastrointestinal infection. Serological testing identified a further 14 possible cases of infection amongst asymptomatic staff and residents. The outbreak was atypical, as the disease seemed to be milder than has been observed in past outbreaks in similar settings. The index case, a member of staff, developed bloody diarrhoea and haemolytic-uraemic syndrome (HUS), but only one resident developed bloody diarrhoea and required hospitalization. No deaths occurred, despite the high-risk nature of the affected population. The source of the outbreak could not be identified. The prolonged nature of the outbreak and observed lapses in infection control practices indicated that person-to-person spread was the likely route of transmission. This outbreak illustrates the importance of observing appropriate infection control measures in the institutions providing residential and nursing care to the elderly.

Aged↗

Modernizing mental health services: mission impossible?

Managing complex change initiatives can be a risky and controversial task. Hargrove and Glidew's (1990) model of "impossible jobs" defines typical obstacles: constituency conflict, perceptions of client legitimacy, respect for professional authority, and the strength of the agency myth. The author uses this model to describe his experiences while implementing major changes within British Columbia's community mental health system and provincial psychiatric hospital. Coping strategies include coalition building, public education, meaningful stakeholder participation, systemic feedback, mutual aid, and staff development.

Adolescent↗

Turnover intentions of community mental health workers in psychosocial rehabilitation services.

Staff turnover is an important topic for community mental health administrators. This paper reports on turnover intentions of PSR workers, a rapidly growing sector of the community mental health labor force as reported in a nationwide survey. A predictive model of intended turnover, suggested by literature in the field as well as study finding, included worker characteristics, job characteristics and worker attitudes. It was found that seven variables predicted intended turnover: younger age, higher emotional exhaustion, a feeling of lower job fulfillment, the lack of a perception of a career path, having a master's degree, having held a previous job in PSR and working with clients who have both a mental illness and AIDS. To assist agencies in reducing turnover, organizational policies and recommendations for staff development are discussed.

Adult↗

[Nursing discharge planning: from the viewpoint of patients and necessary consequences for hospital organization].

As the length of time that patients stay in hospital becomes shorter, transitional nursing care will become even more important as one of the concepts of integrated medical care. This means that in Germany, in the years to come, the viewpoint of those receiving this care--i.e. the patients and those closely involved with them--will also become increasingly important. The success of concepts relating to transitional nursing care will depend on how satisfied the patients are and how well they cope with living at home again after their stay in hospital. This article will focus on the sight of patients who received transitional nursing care and describe a evaluation study in Nuremberg/Germany. It is becoming clear that, in order to remain successful in the long term, concepts concerning transitional care will always additionally involve consistent measures in relation to organisational and staff development.

Aged↗

Early school adjustment problems: some perspectives and a project report.

A kindergarten and elementary school intervention program for dealing with early school adjustment problems is described. It is designed to accommodate greater individual differences in classrooms, improve and augment regular support, and provide specialized staff development and interventions. Initial findings are presented, and the evolution of the program so as to address problems of school newcomers is discussed.

Achievement↗

Facility and operations planning for quiet hospital nurseries.

This article discusses architectural design and construction and recommends criteria for achieving quiet nursery environments. Designs for new construction or facility renovation should incorporate vibration and noise control methods appropriate to the occupants and activities of the proposed space. Noise and vibration are environmental factors within a hospital nursery that can affect infant health and development, staff and parent communications, operational efficiencies, and the fatigue/comfort level of all occupants. Facility noise and vibration levels set a threshold that will be increased by operational noise. It is important, therefore, that hospital administrators, clinicians, and facility managers assure that architects, engineers, and builders use appropriate acoustical design criteria, methods, and materials to control noise and vibration.

Health Facility Environment↗

Person-centred care for people with dementia: a quality audit approach.

This paper addresses the concept of person-centred care for people with dementia by consideration of an audit process using dementia care mapping as the audit tool. It is argued that this tool is best for identifying the lived experiences of the people in receipt of care. As a result it is able to identify the overall culture of care and its level of 'person-centred' approach. The audit was conducted on 12 units, half of which were day units and the others catering for inpatients. Five patients were mapped on each day for a 4-day period. The results give some idea of the quality of care and identify where improvement is necessary. Scores such as well-being values and the Dementia Care Index give clear signposts to the level of person-centred care and highlight where staff development is necessary. Recommendations are given to aid on-going planning.

Dementia↗

Mental health training and development needs of community agency staff.

Emphasis has long been placed in UK national policy on providing 'seamless' mental health services to meet both the health and social care needs of service users. While attention has been paid to the training required by specialist mental health and primary care staff in order to achieve this, the needs of other community agency staff have received less attention. The present article describes a study designed to identify the training needs of staff working within a broad range of agencies. Focus group discussions were used to explore participants' experiences of mental health problems amongst clients, their confidence in dealing with these, current sources of support and perceived training needs. The results indicate that participants in all agencies routinely encountered a range of problems. Colleagues were the main source of support, followed by line managers, but supervision structures and wider organisational support were lacking in some cases. Joint working with specialist mental health services was almost universally problematic and all groups identified a range of training needs. On the basis of the results, the present authors put forward suggestions as to how these needs might be met.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Usability evaluation of an NHS library website.

OBJECTIVES: To carry out a usability evaluation of the recently launched South London and Maudsley NHS Trust library website. METHODS: A variety of standard methodologies were employed: content and design evaluation of selected comparable sites, focus groups, a questionnaire survey of library and Web development staff, heuristic evaluation, observation testing, card sorting/cluster analysis, and label intuitiveness/category membership testing. All test participants were staff of or providers of services to the trust. Demographic information was recorded for each participant. RESULTS: Test participants' overall responses to the site were enthusiastic and favourable, indicating the scope and content of the site to be broadly appropriate to the user group. Testers made numerous suggestions for new content. Usability problems were discovered in two main areas: in the organization of the site, and in the terminology used to refer to information services and sources. Based on test results, proposals for a revised menu structure, improved accessibility, and changes to the terminology used within the site are presented. CONCLUSION: Usability evaluation methods, appropriately scaled, can be advantageously applied to NHS library websites by an individual Web editor working alone.

Consumer Behavior↗

Partnership in education: working toward the baccalaureate degree as entry to nursing practice in Canada.

In the early 1980s Canadian professional nursing associations officially adopted the goal of baccalaureate entry to practice by the year 2000. In the ensuing years, nursing educators have explored a variety of means to work toward achieving this goal. This paper describes a collaborative model of baccalaureate programme delivery developed between a university school and a hospital-based diploma school in Vancouver, British Columbia. The paper documents the history of the collaboration and the organization of human and physical resources for implementation. The issues and challenges encountered in the transition, the strategies used to facilitate the process, and the benefits gained by each partner are discussed.

Communication↗

Self-directed learning in nurse education: a review of the literature.

RATIONALE: Self-directed learning is essential in assisting nurses to meet the challenges presented in today's health care environment. Nurse educators have an important role to play in assisting nurses to acquire the skills for self-directed learning, and to do this they need to understand the concept of self-directed learning. AIM: The aim of this review is to explore the concept of self-directed learning and its use in nurse education. METHODS: A review of the literature was conducted using CINAHL, Medline and other databases and the keywords 'self-directed learning', 'student nurses', 'classroom', 'nursing education' and 'adult education'. FINDINGS: The concept of self-directed learning is based on the principles of adult education and can take many different formats. Self-directed learning has many benefits. However, acquiring the necessary skills is dependent on a students' preference and readiness for self-directed learning and nurse educators' implementation of the concept. In implementing self-directed learning, nurse educators become facilitators of learning and require ongoing staff development. Not all students are self-directed and a variety of teaching methods should be used in curricula. CONCLUSIONS: A consensus definition of the concept of lifelong learning does not exist, and students and teachers may have different perspectives on it. Mature students may be more self-directing than school-leavers, and learning styles and readiness to learn need to be assessed when judging the appropriateness of using self-directed learning approaches. However, there are many potential benefits, including increased confidence, autonomy, motivation and preparation for lifelong learning.

Curriculum↗

Chronic pain and distress among elderly in the community: comparison of patients' experiences with enrolled nurses' assessments.

AIM: This study compared elderly patients' reported experiences of pain and distress with enrolled nurses' assessments and related potential differences to patient and enrolled nurse characteristics. BACKGROUND: Many elderly suffer from chronic pain but few studies have focused on this group of patients. METHODS: Data were collected through personal interviews with 38 patients and questionnaires completed by 38 enrolled nurses. FINDINGS: Enrolled nurses underestimated patients' experiences of physical pain, physical discomfort, breathing problems, resignation, and dependency. Pain and distress were overestimated by enrolled nurses who had lower scores on three of the five personality scales used. In contrast, enrolled nurses who had higher scores on these personality scales tended to underestimate the patients' pain and distress. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to develop staff training programmes in order to optimize the care for elderly patients with chronic pain in the community.

Adult↗

Questioning the "big assumptions". Part I: addressing personal contradictions that impede professional development.

BACKGROUND: The ultimate success of recent medical curriculum reforms is, in large part, dependent upon the faculty's ability to adopt and sustain new attitudes and behaviors. However, like many New Year's resolutions, sincere intent to change may be short lived and followed by a discouraging return to old behaviors. Failure to sustain the initial resolve to change can be misinterpreted as a lack of commitment to one's original goals and eventually lead to greater effort expended in rationalizing the status quo rather than changing it. OBJECTIVE: The present article outlines how a transformative process that has proven to be effective in managing personal change, Questioning the Big Assumptions, was successfully used in an international faculty development program for medical educators to enhance individual personal satisfaction and professional effectiveness. This process systematically encouraged participants to explore and proactively address currently operative mechanisms that could stall their attempts to change at the professional level. CONCLUSIONS: The applications of the Big Assumptions process in faculty development helped individuals to recognize and subsequently utilize unchallenged and deep rooted personal beliefs to overcome unconscious resistance to change. This approach systematically led participants away from circular griping about what was not right in their current situation to identifying the actions that they needed to take to realize their individual goals. By thoughtful testing of personal Big Assumptions, participants designed behavioral changes that could be broadly supported and, most importantly, sustained.

Attitude↗

Setting up a clinical skills learning facility.

OBJECTIVE: This paper outlines the considerations to be made when establishing a clinical skills learning facility. CONSIDERATIONS: Establishing a clinical skills learning facility is a complex project with many possible options to be considered. A number of professional groups, undergraduate or postgraduate, may be users. Their collaboration can have benefits for funding, uses and promotion of interprofessional education. Best evidence and educational theory should underpin teaching and learning. The physical environment should be flexible to allow a range of clinical settings to be simulated and to facilitate a range of teaching and learning methods, supported by computing and audio-visual resources. Facilities should be available to encourage self-directed learning. The skills programme should be designed to support the intended learning outcomes and be integrated within the overall curriculum, including within the assessment strategy. Teaching staff may be configured in a number of ways and may be drawn from a variety of backgrounds. Appropriate staff development will be required to ensure consistency and quality of teaching with monitoring and evaluation to assure appropriate standards. Patients can also play a role, not only as passive teaching material, but also as teachers and assessors. Clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic equipment will be required, as will models and manikins. The latter will vary from simple part task trainers to highly sophisticated human patient simulators. Care must be taken when choosing equipment to ensure it matches specified requirements for teaching and learning. CONCLUSION: Detailed planning is required across a number of domains when setting up a clinical skills learning facility.

Clinical Competence↗

Professional practice of pediatric nurse practitioners: implications for education and training of PNPs.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of employment, the characteristics of children served, and the role functions of recent graduates of pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) programs and to compare these characteristics across programs. METHOD: A 60-item multiple-choice survey tool was sent to graduates from 1996-1998 of 6 universities across the United States. RESULTS: A total of 137 surveys were received for a return rate of 52%. Less than half of the respondents (44%) indicated that they were employed in a primary care practice. Seventy percent indicated they "often" or "sometimes" provided care to children with acute/critical conditions, and 77% reported caring for children with chronic conditions. Role functions of case management, staff development, consultation, administration, and implementation of research were performed "often" or "sometimes" by more than 50% of respondents. Findings were fairly consistent in 5 out of 6 programs surveyed. DISCUSSION: Graduates of PNP programs are increasingly called on to provide care to children with complex health care needs in non-primary care settings. Role functions beyond the traditional areas required for pediatric primary care are now common practice. Educational programs should address these dynamic changes by assessing the adequacy of their curricula and clinical residencies in preparing graduates.

Case Management↗

Community and consumer participation in Australian health services--an overview of organisational commitment and participation processes.

This article briefly describes recent initiatives to improve consumer participation in health services that have led to the establishment of the National Resource Centre for Consumer Participation in Health. The results of a component of the needs assessment undertaken by the newly established Centre are presented. They provide a 'snapshot' of the types of feedback and participation processes mainly being utilised by Australian health services at the different levels of seeking information, information sharing and consultation, partnership, delegated power and consumer control. They also allow identification of the organisational commitment made by Australian health services to support a more coordinated approach to community and consumer feedback and participation at different levels of health services such as particular emphasis on determining the presence of community and consumer participation in key organisational statements, specific consumer policies and plans, identifiable leadership, inclusion into job descriptions, allocation of resources, and staff development and consumer training. Discussion centres around four key observations and some of the key perceived external barriers.

Australia↗