Impact of Attendance on Academic Performance in Prenursing Students.

A descriptive-correlational design was used to explore the relationship between attendance and course grade in a prenursing course. Findings revealed that attendance was positively associated with final course grades (r443 = 0.54, P < .001). Traditional students attended a significantly higher percentage of classes than their nontraditional counterparts. These findings support the long-held belief by nursing faculty that attendance positively impacts course outcomes.

Measures of cultural competence in nurses: an integrative review.

BACKGROUND: There is limited literature available identifying and describing the instruments that measure cultural competence in nursing students and nursing professionals. DESIGN: An integrative review was undertaken to identify the characteristics common to these instruments, examine their psychometric properties, and identify the concepts these instruments are designed to measure. METHOD: There were eleven instruments identified that measure cultural competence in nursing. Of these eleven instruments, four had been thoroughly tested in either initial development or in subsequent testing, with developers providing extensive details of the testing. RESULTS: The current literature identifies that the instruments to assess cultural competence in nurses and nursing students are self-administered and based on individuals' perceptions. The instruments are commonly utilized to test the effectiveness of educational programs designed to increase cultural competence. CONCLUSIONS: The reviewed instruments measure nurses' self-perceptions or self-reported level of cultural competence but offer no objective measure of culturally competent care from a patient's perspective which can be problematic. Comparison of instruments reveals that they are based on a variety of conceptual frameworks and that multiple factors should be considered when deciding which instrument to use.

Saving costs, saving health care providers' backs, and creating a safe patient environment.

Back injuries are increasing among health care providers and are related to a multitude of factors, including repetitive tasks related to patient handling, the aging of the nursing workforce, higher patient acuity levels, and an increased prevalence of obesity in patients, as well as limited workspaces in patient rooms. An estimated 12% of nurses leave the profession annually because of back injuries, and more than 52% complain of chronic back pain and injuries. Implemented in response to rising costs of health care providers' injuries, a safe patient handling program resulted in decreased injuries from staff performing work-related duties, and decreased workers' compensation claims, which resulted in significant cost savings and improved patient satisfaction.