Integrating Spiritual Bereavement Skills Into an Advanced Practice Curriculum.

BACKGROUND: When advanced practice nurses (APNs) encounter the need to address a bereaved individual's spirituality, gaps in educational preparation may prevent effective intervention. In addition, past and current research studies have not provided clear guidance for spiritually based bereavement care curricula within the graduate APN program. METHOD: Graduate advanced practice faculty successfully introduced classroom-based spiritual bereavement care education modules for APN students. RESULTS: Course evaluations indicated student appreciation for the new content and practicum experiences provided. Students felt the new content to be essential in their development as expert practitioners. CONCLUSION: Through this innovation, the authors found that a variety of learning activities that addressed spiritual needs during the bereavement process was perceived as highly satisfactory by APNs. Within an ever increasingly diverse society, APNs have a significant role in performing responsibilities for bereaved individuals. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(7):439-442.].

Use of the Iowa Model of Research in Practice as a Curriculum Framework for Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Project Completion.

Doctoral education requires academic motivation and persistence on the part of nursing students; commitment to the process is essential and should be linked to programmatic structure. Programmatic issues in doctor of nursing practice (DNP) programs may be barriers to completion of the final project and lead to attrition. A large, private health care university developed an infrastructure for the DNP curriculum and final project utilizing the Iowa Model of Research in Practice. The purpose was to ensure competency fulfillment, retention and timely completion, and implementation of evidence-based practice and translation science utilizing a leadership approach. The program has experienced a high completion rate to date.

Protecting boundaries of consent in clinical research: implications for improvement.

Successful clinical research outcomes are essential for improving patient care. Achieving this goal, however, implies an effective informed consent process for potential research participants. This article traces the development of ethical and legal requirements of informed consent and examines the effectiveness of past and current practice. The authors propose the use of innovative monitoring methodologies to improve outcomes while safeguarding consent relationships and activities. Additional rigorous research will help direct policy efforts at standardizing quality improvement processes.