Leadership Development Activities and Benefits From the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows Program.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellows (RJWF-ENF) program was the gold standard for executive career development of nurse leaders from 1997 to 2017. With more than two decades of experience, ENF program leaders encouraged the fellows to "trust the process" during the difficult times of leadership development and value the collegial relationships they could develop with other nurse fellows. This article describes the benefits of the Action Learning Model for leadership development through the experience of the Boom-X-2K action learning team from the RWJF-ENF final cohort of 2014-2017. The moniker Boom-X-2K was chosen to emphasize supporting the intergenerational development of nurse leaders from three generations: Baby Boomers (Boom), Generation X (X), and Millennials (2K). This article also describes the action learning team's end product: a self-assessment tool designed to evaluate leaders' self-assessed ability to influence. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2021;52(7):344-348.].

Development of the Leadership Influence Self-Assessment (LISA©) instrument.

PURPOSE: This study aims to describe the development and psychometric evaluation of the Leadership Influence Self-Assessment (LISA©) tool. BACKGROUND: LISA© was designed to help nurse leaders assess and enhance their influence capacity by measuring influence traits and practices and identifying areas of strength and weakness. METHODS: Concepts identified in the Adams Influence Model and input from content experts guided the development of 145 items for testing. Administered to 165 nurse leaders, the assessment was subjected to exploratory factor analysis (EFA). FINDINGS: EFA yielded a four-factor solution that comprised 80 items. Cronbach's alpha for factors ranged between 0.912 and 0.938. All factor loadings were >0.4; the smallest factor contained 14 items. Items grouped together in the theoretical model also clustered together in the EFA. CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary psychometric testing supports validity and reliability of the LISA© and its potential use as a tool to assess influence capacity for purposes of leadership development and research.

An Examination of Sociocultural Factors Associated With Mammography Screening Among Latina Immigrants.

INTRODUCTION: The study hypothesized that sociocultural factors would be associated with breast cancer screening within the past 2 years among Latina immigrant women. METHOD: This study employed a survey design and included 82 Latina immigrant female participants 40 to 64 years of age for the analysis. Two multivariable binary logistic regression models were estimated, one for the sociocultural deterrents and the other for the symptomatic deterrents from the Cultural Cancer Screening Scale. RESULTS: The results indicated two constructs of the Cultural Cancer Screening Scale, sociocultural deterrents (odds ratio = 2.00; 95% confidence interval = 1.04-3.86) and symptomatic deterrents (odds ratio = 1.65; 95% confidence interval = 1.08-2.54), were associated with screening in the past 2 years, when adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related characteristics. CONCLUSION: These findings provide evidence for the importance of sociocultural factors in Latina immigrant women's timely mammography screening.

The Community Compass Project: A Community Engagement Model Targeting African-Americans in the Low Country of South Carolina.

Despite cutting edge progress in early detection, risk reduction, and prevention, unique contextual and sociocultural factors contribute to higher mortality rates for selected cancers in African-American men and women. Collaborative community engagement and outreach programming strategies that focus on sustainability and grass-roots organizing can inform health risk disparities, build trust, and allow communities to take ownership of their own health needs. This paper describes a successful evidence-based community engagement intervention woven into the social and interpersonal fabric of the African-American community in Charleston, South Carolina. Through the creation of a coalition of community partners that included the state's only National Cancer Institute designated cancer center, collaboratively developed platforms devoted to population-specific preventive interventions for cancer and obesity education, awareness, and research initiatives were implemented within the identified community.

Acceptance of a community-based navigator program for cancer control among urban African Americans.

Patient navigation is now a standard component of cancer care in many oncology facilities, but a fundamental question for navigator programs, especially in medically underserved populations, is whether or not individuals will use this service. In this study, we evaluated acceptance of a community-based navigator program for cancer control and identified factors having significant independent associations with navigation acceptance in an urban sample of African Americans. Participants were African American men and women ages 50-75 who were residents in an urban metropolitan city who were referred for navigation. Of 240 participants, 76% completed navigation. Age and perceived risk of developing cancer had a significant independent association with navigation acceptance. Participants who believed that they were at high risk for developing cancer had a lower likelihood of completing navigation compared with those who believed that they had a low risk for developing this disease. The likelihood of completing navigation increased with increases in age. None of the socioeconomic factors or health care variables had a significant association with navigation acceptance. There are few barriers to using community-based navigation for cancer control among urban African Americans. Continued efforts are needed to develop and implement community-based programs for cancer control that are easy to use and address the needs of medically underserved populations.

A lay patient navigation training curriculum targeting disparities in cancer clinical trials.

African-Americans experience a disproportionate share of thoracic cancer burden compared to Whites. Low socioeconomic status (SES) and race are factors in low clinical trial enrollment, accounting for the disparities between African-Americans and Whites. Less than 3% of newly diagnosed cancer patients enroll in clinical trials, and of that number, only 10% represent ethnic minorities. The value of clinical trials research is not generalizable without sufficient representation by ethnic minorities. Patient navigation, an intervention designed to ensure timely and efficient access to healthcare, may improve clinical trial enrollment among African-Americans in lung and esophageal trials by influencing a patient's perception of clinical trials. The lack of navigation programs and training may negatively influence standardization of navigation techniques. The purpose of this project was to deliver and evaluate an evidence-based navigation-training curriculum for "lay" navigators. The primary outcomes measured were confidence in the role as navigator, understanding a navigator's role, and knowledge and perception of clinical trials. The results revealed overall confidence in the role as lay navigators increased from pre-to-post test. Lessons learned included the need for preparatory classes to build the navigator's confidence, and additional training components in death and dying. A larger study is warranted to confirm the findings.