The experiences of adult nursing students completing a placement during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The emergency measures implemented by the Nursing and Midwifery Council in response to the COVID-19 pandemic provided nursing students in their final 6 months of study with the opportunity to complete a paid consolidation clinical placement and thus increase their personal responsibility for the care they delivered under supervision. AIM: To explore the experiences of third-year nursing students who completed their final clinical placement during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted via a virtual platform. FINDINGS: Three themes were identified: the importance of support mechanisms, the development of confidence, and innovative learning opportunities. Students reported improved confidence in the transition period to registered practitioner and felt well supported, which enabled them to take greater responsibility. CONCLUSION: This study provided insight into the experience of nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic, and found that support mechanisms, and a sense of belonging, helped to increase their confidence in clinical practice.

Exploring associations between older adults' demographic characteristics and their perceptions of self-care actions for communicating with healthcare professionals in southern United States.

AIMS: This study examined associations between older adults' demographic factors and their perceived importance of, desire to and ability to perform seven self-care behaviours for communicating with healthcare professionals. DESIGN: This cross-sectional survey study analysed subset data of 123 older adults 65 years and older, living in southern United States. METHODS: The Patient Action Inventory for Self-Care (57 items, grouped into 11 categories) was used to collect self-reported self-care data. Demographic characteristics were also collected. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were used to tests for relationships between the variables relevant to the research objective. RESULTS: Regression findings showed that separated older adults felt less able to share ideas about their healthcare experiences compared to married older adults. Male older adults reported less desire to list issues to discuss and less desire to share ideas about their care experience with their healthcare professionals compared to their female counterparts.

Are older adults' demographic characteristics social determinants of their perceived importance, desire, and ability to perform end-of-life self-care actions?

BACKGROUND: Demographic characteristics play a role in influencing the decision to make end-of-life (EOL) directives among older adults living in the United States. AIMS: To examine the associations between older adults' demographic characteristics (age, sex, marital status, residential site, and educational level) and their perceived importance of four self-care actions for EOL planning, as well as their desire and ability to perform these actions. SETTINGS: A cross-sectional survey study of community-dwelling adults living in the southern United States from 2015 to 2016. PARTICIPANTS: Community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older (N = 123). METHODS: A self-administered tool, the Patient Action Inventory for Self-Care and a demographic questionnaire were used. Multiple logistic regression was performed. RESULTS: Forty-seven of (38.2%) participants lived in an urban community and 76 (61.8%) in a rural community. Demographic variables that were significant across the predictive models were older adults' residence, education levels, age, and marital status. Four demographic characteristics of living in rural areas, without a high school education, being 75 years or older, and married could be social determinants of EOL planning. CONCLUSIONS: Older adults may need community-based support to address their end-of-life needs, especially those elders who want to remain independent in their home environment.

Exploring the Associations Between Patient Affect, Self-Care Actions, and Emergency Department Use for Community-Dwelling Adults.

BACKGROUND: Nurses and other health care providers need to ensure that patients receive care that addresses their specific needs and wants. PURPOSE: This exploratory study examined the associations between patients' self-reported positive and negative affect, the perceived importance of 57 self-care actions, the desire and ability to perform them, and emergency department use in the past 3 months. METHODS: A secondary analysis from a cross-sectional survey project that surveyed 250 community-dwelling adults living in the southern United States, 2015-2016. Independent t tests and the χ test were used. RESULTS: Positive affect was associated with positive perceptions of self-care actions and having no emergency department visit. Patients with a more negative affect perceived finding and using services that support their health behaviors as being important and expressed a desire to participate in local health screening or wellness events. CONCLUSIONS: Patients' perceptions of their self-care actions could lead to better outcomes.

Do patients' demographic characteristics affect their perceptions of self-care actions to find safe and decent care?

AIM(S): This exploratory study examined the relationship of five patient demographic characteristics (residence in an urban or rural site, gender, age group, marital status, and education level) with the patients' (1) perceived importance of, (2) desire to, (3) ability to perform four patient engagement self-care actions that result in finding safe and decent care. BACKGROUND: Equitable access to health care is essential in a humanized health care system. Healthcare providers must engage patients in discussions about their desires for their care to create person-centered care plans reflecting patient values and wishes. METHODS: This secondary data analysis from a cross-sectional survey project surveyed community-dwelling adults living in the southern United States, 2015-2016. This paper only includes responses of participants aged 65 years and older (N = 123). Data collected in The Patient Action Inventory for Self-Care and demographic questions were used. Chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression analyses were used. RESULTS: As revealed in the Chi-square and logistic regression findings, self-care actions of "finding a doctor or practitioner who meets your needs," "using available information to choose a doctor or practitioner," and "using data to choose a hospital or clinic" showed some associations with whether seniors resided in an urban or rural community, age group, and marital status (P < 0.05). No significant associations between these four self-care actions with gender or education were found. CONCLUSIONS: A community-based solution is warranted to leverage between patient demographic characteristics and their perceived self-care actions by harnessing local factors in collaboration with identified patient needs.

The path forward: 2015 International Children's Tumor Foundation conference on neurofibromatosis type 1, type 2, and schwannomatosis.

The Annual Children's Tumor Foundation International Neurofibromatosis Meeting is the premier venue for connecting discovery, translational and clinical scientists who are focused on neurofibromatosis types 1 and 2 (NF1 and NF2) and schwannomatosis (SWN). The meeting also features rare tumors such as glioma, meningioma, sarcoma, and neuroblastoma that occur both within these syndromes and spontaneously; associated with somatic mutations in NF1, NF2, and SWN. The meeting addresses both state of the field for current clinical care as well as emerging preclinical models fueling discovery of new therapeutic targets and discovery science initiatives investigating mechanisms of tumorigenesis. Importantly, this conference is a forum for presenting work in progress and bringing together all stakeholders in the scientific community. A highlight of the conference was the involvement of scientists from the pharmaceutical industry who presented growing efforts for rare disease therapeutic development in general and specifically, in pediatric patients with rare tumor syndromes. Another highlight was the focus on new investigators who presented new data about biomarker discovery, tumor pathogenesis, and diagnostic tools for NF1, NF2, and SWN. This report summarizes the themes of the meeting and a synthesis of the scientific discoveries presented at the conference in order to make the larger research community aware of progress in the neurofibromatoses.

Faculty development for teaching online: educational and technological issues.

The purpose of this article is to describe the process of creating a faculty development program for online instruction. Both educational and technological issues are discussed. Factors that will facilitate and barriers that will impede the implementation of online courses are included. Many faculty concerns regarding online courses relate to the issues of quality and student learning. Faculty development activities are directed to ensure that courses are developed using sound educational theory and principles. Online courses are first about student learning; using the technology is second. Thus, faculty development programs must be two-pronged, involving instructional design and technology. It is an ongoing process that must be focused on continual training and development.

The effectiveness of a community/academic health center partnership in decreasing the level of blood pressure in an urban African-American population.

This study investigated the effectiveness of a community-academic health center partnership, utilizing nurse-supervised indigenous community health workers, in decreasing the blood pressure in an urban African-American population. A four-year randomized clinical trial was conducted in the Sandtown-Winchester community, which has an excess prevalence of high blood pressure, in order to test the effectiveness of 2 different levels of intervention intensity on increasing the control of high blood pressure. Community health workers were trained and certified in blood pressure management, monitoring, education and counseling, social support mobilization, and community outreach and follow up. The primary results were a significant decrease in mean systolic and diastolic pressures after both levels of intervention, and a significant increase in the percentage of individuals with controlled high blood pressure. Surprisingly, no differences in results were observed between the 2 levels of intervention intensity. This study supports the use of community-based partnership efforts, and the utilization of indigenous health workers, to enhance the control of high blood pressure in a high-risk, African-American urban population.