Acclimating Nursing Students After the Pandemic: "It's ASNAP!"

BACKGROUND: This article describes the development of a comprehensive pilot program, "It's ASNAP!" (Acclimating Nursing Students After the Pandemic). The program incorporated the academic, social, and emotional well-being of undergraduate nursing students returning to campus after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHOD: A purposeful sample of 488 students was recruited to participate via an anonymous survey on the academic, social, and emotional aspects of acclimating back to campus life. RESULTS: A total of 121 undergraduate nursing students responded to the survey. The majority of students reported study groups (79%) and de-stressing events (86%) were the most helpful as they acclimated back to campus. Compared with the emotional and social areas of support, the academic area of support was of highest interest to the students. CONCLUSION: The "It's ASNAP!" program has been acculturated into the school of nursing to support students via study halls, tutoring, and social activities, as well as resilient threads and listening sessions during finals week. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(9):516-518.].

Improved Prescriber Adherence to Guidelines on Antipsychotic Medication Management Through Increased Access to Metabolic Monitoring Forms.

INTRODUCTION: Patients diagnosed with a chronic mental illness have a 2 to 3 times higher likelihood of developing metabolic abnormalities than their non-mentally ill counterparts due to prescription medication use. Metabolic syndrome has been reported in 52% of patients prescribed atypical antipsychotic medications, compared to the general population rate of 23%, and has been found to place individuals at high risk of death from diabetes and cardiovascular disease. AIM: This quality improvement project aimed to increase the rate of metabolic monitoring and related lab orders for patients prescribed atypical antipsychotic medications in a rural community mental health center to improve patient outcomes. METHOD: The use of a metabolic monitoring tool was implemented onsite. Chart audits were used to assess the effectiveness of introducing a metabolic monitoring form at a rural community mental health center and explore the feasibility of implementing a metabolic monitoring tool organization-wide. RESULTS: Metabolic lab orders increased from 1 to 59 at 8 weeks postimplementation for Clinic A after the implementation of a metabolic monitoring tool. CONCLUSION: Prescriber lab order rates improved using a metabolic monitoring form. Adherence to guideline-based care will improve patient outcomes by detecting the onset of metabolic syndrome earlier in the disease course. Early monitoring for metabolic changes will improve the health of patients diagnosed with a mental illness.

Preparing the clinicians of tomorrow: Weaving integrated care across doctor of nursing practice education.

In today's changing landscape of health care, integrated health care is essential for best patient outcomes. The number of people with psychiatric conditions in the United States today is staggering, but only half of these people will receive treatment for their condition. By effectively integrating psychiatric and primary health care patients can be connected to appropriate and necessary services that meet the Triple Aim of enhancing patient experience of care while achieving population health goals in a cost-effective manner. Incorporating integrated health care experiences in a DNP program can position future practice leaders to take on these challenges. Guided by DNP essentials and the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculty competencies, integrated health care concepts were weaved across the DNP curriculum. Including robust academic experiences treating mental health conditions in primary care and integrated settings can increase the confidence and effectiveness of clinicians who identify, manage, and refer patients with mental health concerns. Increasing the number of doctorally prepared nurses who are educated in integrated health care helps improve clinical outcomes while transforming the health care landscape.

Innovative Global Health Care Experiences for Nursing Students: Microsemesters and Internships.

Global experiential learning using clinical internships and microsemesters is expanding in nursing as an alternative to full-semester study abroad. When incorporated into the curriculum, students have a broader perspective on global health care issues. For example, students learn historic and cultural concepts that are uniquely Australian while studying diversity in a condensed two-week microsemester. We describe the development and incorporation of global internships and alternative global experiences for undergraduate nursing students.

Assessment of interprofessional collaboration before and after a simulated disaster drill experience.

INTRODUCTION: With increasing acuity, patient care requires a collaborative approach by a team of providers. Recent literature indicates healthcare professionals lack the ability to work in collaboration with other healthcare professionals resulting from communication and collaborative practice gaps. BACKGROUND/LITERATURE: Disasters require a rich collaboration of teams in order to be effective. As a result, interprofessional collaboration is a foundational underpinning of disaster preparedness. The overall purpose of this study was to assess perceptions of interprofessional collaboration before and after participating in an interprofessional simulated disaster drill as part of a Community Health Nursing course. METHODS: This pre-test, post-test descriptive research design assessed communication, collaboration, roles/responsibilities, patient focus, team functioning and conflict management of nursing students who participated in a simulated disaster drill. DATA/RESULTS: Participants were nursing majors and primarily Caucasian females (n = 50, 89% and n = 56, 97% respectively), representative of the school of nursing population at the University. Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks test indicated that scores for the total ICAR post-test were significantly lower than the Total ICAR pre-test (Z = -2.006, p = .045, r = -0.19). While each of the individual sections of the ICAR had a lower mean score on the ICAR post-test as compared to the pre-test, collaborative patient/client-family centered approach was statistically significant (p = 0,0.002). DISCUSSION: Following the simulated disaster drill experience, nursing students identified gaps in communication, collaboration, roles and responsibilities, collaborative patient/client-family centered approach, team functioning, conflict management/resolution. CONCLUSIONS: The study assessed the perceptions of interprofessional collaboration among undergraduate nursing students before and after a simulated disaster drill. The assessment identified the need to integrate interprofessional competencies in disaster preparedness education.

Development of a Clinical Competency Checklist for Care of Patients Experiencing Substance Withdrawal Delirium or Delirium: Use of a Delphi Technique and Expert Panel.

Health care providers are challenged by the presentation and management of inpatients experiencing substance withdrawal delirium (SWD) and delirium. The current Delphi study used an expert panel to develop a clinical competency checklist for nurse and physician educator use in teaching health care providers about the initial care of patients with SWD or delirium. The checklist includes categories of patient safety, history and information gathering, physical examination and assessment, treatment plan, and patient/family-centered care.