Integrating health care for women diagnosed with HIV infection, substance abuse, and mental illness in Detroit, Michigan.

This article describes the evolution of Personalized Nursing, a comprehensive nursing practice model of care. Findings from several nursing research studies contributed to the development of Personalized Nursing. The model includes a practice model of the art of nursing care based on nursing theory and a specific nursing process that directs nursing care delivery. The process of care delivery includes location of hard-to-reach clients; linkage to health care providers; integration of care among providers for clients diagnosed with HIV, mental illness, and substance abuse; and strategies to promote retention in health care. Use of Personalized Nursing is designed to assist clients to improve their well-being and increase positive health-related behaviors. Personalized Nursing has been used in urban landscapes to serve multiply diagnosed clients at risk for HIV infection. The model is currently being used in a study targeting multiply diagnosed women who are lost to follow-up from medical care.

Positive attitude. An essential element for effective care of people with mental illnesses.

It is well known that attitudes influence behavior, and attitudes toward people with mental illnesses have been described as negative, stigmatizing, uninformed, and fearful. The general public view people with mental illnesses as dangerous, prone to violence, unpredictable, and in some measure responsible for their illnesses. Health care professionals share these attitudes to a surprising extent, which compromises their ability to deliver competent, compassionate care. Nursing students' perceptions of people with mental illnesses are reflective of those held by the general public. The purpose of this descriptive study was to determine whether a curriculum that embeds psychiatric nursing principles in a course focused on care of people with chronic illnesses and uses specific fear-reduction teaching strategies, would have a positive effect on students' attitudes toward people with mental illnesses. Using an adaptation of Yucker's attitude scale, a test of nursing students' (n = 38) attitudes before and after completion of the course was conducted. Students' attitudes were significantly more positive at the completion of the course. The findings suggest that exposure to factual information about mental illnesses, the opportunity to interact with people with mental illnesses, emphasis on treatment options, and use of fear-reduction strategies positively affected students' attitudes toward people with mental illnesses.

The effect of curriculum on the attitudes of nursing students toward disability.

Societal attitudes toward people with differing abilities are often based on a lack of understanding, fear of the unkNown, and stereotypes learned from others. Nursing students enter their educational programs with similar attitudes and experiences. Attitudes of nurses are key to how they respond toward individuals with disabilities and chronic illnesses. The nurses' attitudes affect the individual client's understanding of the disability and his or her self-concept as he or she adjusts to major life changes. The purpose of this descriptive study was to identify whether a change in curriculum and experience had an effect on nursing student attitudes. Using the Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons (ATDP) Scale, a pre-post study of 42 nursing students' attitudes toward individuals with disabilities was conducted. Tests were administered as the students entered their senior year and took the chronic illness course, and again at the completion of the senior year. The students' attitudes were significantly more positive at the completion of their senior year. The findings suggest that education about, and experience with, individuals with disabilities positively affect the attitudes of nursing students toward individuals with disabilities.