Career Adaptability: An Innovative Measurement to Aid Professional Development of New Graduate Nurses.

This cross-sectional quantitative study explored career adaptability and career intentions in newly licensed nurses working in acute care hospitals throughout North Carolina. Data were analyzed from 277 registered nurses completing an online study instrument. Findings demonstrate a relationship between levels of career adaptability and career intentions, offering career adaptability as a new measurement to explore newly licensed nurses' desire to pursue career and educational change and expand transition programs to include developing career trajectories within organizations.

Nurses: Call to Action to Run for an Elected Office, Lessons From a State Senate Candidate.

Nurses are experienced leaders, understand how to improve quality and access to care, and have the essential skills to be an elected official. Knowing the key tasks to running a campaign is critical to achieving an elected office role. This article presents a call to action for nurse leaders, advice on running for office, and lessons learned from a nurse running for State Senate.

A Call for North Carolina to Surround the Seriously Ill and Caregivers with Interprofessional Collaborative Teams.

As the population ages, the number of people living with serious illness is increasing and the demand for quality, timely, person-centered palliative care is growing. We need specialized, trained health professionals working in collaborative teams to answer this call. It is upon health care leaders and policymakers to jointly design, build, and sustain a workforce to ensure all North Carolinians have access to care during a serious illness or end of life.

Preliminary evaluation of an adolescent positive health measurement scale: a salutogenic health promotion approach.

Health measurement tools typically assess indicators of poor health by identifying the absence, or presence, of disease and risk factors. This article describes development and validation of the first instrument for measurement of adolescent engagement in positive health promoting actions from a salutogenic approach. This cross-sectional study of 406 youths 14-16 years old tested the validity and reliability of the Salutogenic Wellness Promotion Scale for Adolescents (SWPS-Adol) and examined the extent to which SWPS-Adol positively correlated with and was able to predict perceived health among this population. Findings indicated that SWPS-Adol had good internal consistency (α = 0.84, subscales α = 0.70), a multi-dimensional structure (physical, emotional, social, vocational and spiritual), and was positively correlated with perceived health (r = 0.37, p < 0.001). The SWPS-Adol total score also showed significant positive correlations with the physical (p ≤ 0.001), emotional (p < 0.001), social (p < 0.001) and vocational (p < 0.039) dimensions. The more adolescents engaged in positive behaviors, the better their perceived health. The SWPS-Adol tool provides positive health data to guide adolescent health programs and health curricula, to inform health professionals and policy makers about how positive health actions enhance health and community wellness.

The Teachers of Quality Academy: Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Impact of a Health Systems Science Training Program.

This project aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a faculty development program in health systems science (HSS)-the Teachers of Quality Academy (TQA). Participants in TQA and a comparison group were evaluated before, during, and 1 year after the program using self-perception questionnaires, tests of HSS knowledge, and tracking of academic productivity and career advancement. Among program completers (n = 27), the mean self-assessed ratings of knowledge and skills of HSS topics immediately after the program, as compared to baseline, increased significantly compared to controls (n = 30). Participants demonstrated progressive improvement of self-perceived skills and attitudes, and retention of HSS knowledge, from baseline to completion of the program. Participants also demonstrated substantially higher HSS scholarly productivity, leadership, and career advancement compared to the comparison group. The TQA effectively created a faculty cadre able to role model, teach, and create a curriculum in HSS competencies for medical students, resident physicians, and other health professionals.

Developing Tomorrow's Leaders: A Medical Student Distinction Track in Health System Transformation and Leadership.

PROBLEM: Calls for medical education reform focus on preparing physicians to meet the challenges of today's complex health care system. Despite implementing curricula focused on health systems science (HSS), including quality improvement (QI), patient safety, team-based care, and population health, a significant gap remains in training students to meet the system's evolving needs. APPROACH: Brody School of Medicine redesigned its curriculum to prepare leaders to effect health system change. This included development of a distinction track in health system transformation and leadership, known as the Leaders in INnovative Care (LINC) Scholars Program. Selected LINC scholars spend eight weeks in a summer immersion experience designed to provide foundational knowledge and practical application. OUTCOMES: Two cohorts (15 LINC scholars) completed the summer immersion in 2015 and 2016. Participants demonstrated significant improvement in knowledge and confidence and continue to be engaged in ongoing QI projects throughout the health system. All scholars have presented their work at local, regional, or national meetings. Students rated patient navigation experiences, health system leader interviews, QI project application, and interprofessional experiences as most valuable and recommended adoption in the curriculum for all students. NEXT STEPS: A distinction track with an immersion component can be an effective method to pilot innovative HSS components for the entire curriculum while preparing a cadre of learners with advanced expertise. To longitudinally measure HSS knowledge change, behavioral impact, and organization-level outcomes, next steps must focus on development of workplace-based assessments, establishment of learner portfolios, and longitudinal tracking of student outcomes, including career trajectory.

Developing an Innovative Statewide Infrastructure and Model for Delivering Continuing Interprofessional Education: The North Carolina AHEC Initiative.

INTRODUCTION: North Carolina AHEC (NC AHEC) leadership recognized that continuing interprofessional education (CIPE) is vital for improving patient care and outcomes. Rather than train and educate in professional silos, interprofessional education presented an opportunity to reframe continuing education (CE) to improve the integration of care delivery and outcomes. METHODS: In April 2014, two regional AHECs collaborated to design a statewide initiative for AHEC CE leaders, CE professionals, and CE faculty to learn about integrating interprofessional education into CE planning and implementation. The design of this innovative initiative develops a common knowledge base in CIPE, promotes collaboration, avoids duplication, and creates shared definitions and standards to advance CIPE across the NC AHEC program. RESULTS: The NC AHEC CIPE Initiative drew participation from CE leaders, CE professionals, and CE faculty. Immediately after the completion of the Initiative, seven AHECs completed CIPE events. By June 2017, AHECs across the state had offered a total of 36 CIPE events. DISCUSSION: The NC AHEC CIPE Initiative demonstrates that it is possible to implement CIPE programming in a regional CE context. The education model promoted changes in knowledge, competence, and performance of CE professionals and faculty. Critical success factors include leadership support, functioning as a community of practice, engaging experts to train CE professionals and faculty, and using technology to span geographic distance of learners.

Nicaraguan and US nursing collaborative evaluation study: Identifying similarities and differences between US and Nicaraguan curricula and teaching modalities using the community engagement model.

BACKGROUND: Curricula evaluation is an essential phase of curriculum development. Study describes the implementation of a formative evaluation used by faculty members between Universidad Nacional Autonóma de Nicaragua (UNAN-Leon) Escuela de Enfermeriá, Nicaragua and East Carolina University College of Nursing (ECU CON) in North Carolina, US. OBJECTIVES: Program evaluation study to conduct an assessment, comparison of a medical-surgical adult curriculum and teaching modalities. Also, explore the Community Engagement (CE) Model to build a Central American-US faculty partnership. DESIGN: Methodological evaluation study utilizing a newly developed International Nursing Education Curriculum Evaluation Tool related to adult medical and surgical nursing standards. Also, the CE Model was tested as a facilitation tool in building partnerships between nurse educators. DATA: Nicaragua and US nursing faculty teams constructed the curriculum evaluation by utilizing the International Nursing Education Curriculum Evaluation Tool (INECET) by reviewing 57 elements covering 6 Domains related to adult medical and surgical nursing standards. METHODS: Developed, explored the utilization of the INECET based on a standard of practice framework. The Community Engagement Model, a fivephase cycle, Inform, Consult, Involve, Collaborate, and Empower was utilized to facilitate the collaborative process. RESULTS: Similarities between the US and Nicaraguan curricula and teaching modalities were reflective based on the 57 elements covering 6 Domain assessment tool. Case studies, lecture, and clinical hospital rotations were utilized as teaching modalities. Both schools lacked sufficient time for clinical practicum time. The differences, included UNAN-Leon had a lack of simulation skill lab, equipment, and space, whereas ECU CON had sufficient resources. The ECU school lacked applied case studies from a rural health medical-surgical adult nursing perspective and less time in rural health clinics. The UNAN-Leon nursing standards generalized based on the Ministry of Health (MINSA) and the US program was specific based on the American Nurses Association and various sub-specialties of nursing practice requirements. The CE Model was a useful framework to facilitate a collaborative partnership. CONCLUSION: Collaborative evaluation study using the International Nursing Education Curriculum Evaluation Tool can be an effective method to evaluate medical and surgical curricula similarities and differences within international nursing schools. The Community Engagement Model fostered a faculty partnership.

Capitalizing on Military Nurse Skills for Second-Career Leadership and Staff Development Roles.

Nursing continues to face professional workforce and diversity shortage problems. This article advocates for examining an untapped resource-the consideration of applicants for nursing leadership and educational positions in civilian health care organizations. This untapped resource is highly qualified, already retired (or going to be separated) military nurse officers (MNOs) who possess extensive health care knowledge, as well as distinctive ethnicity and gender composition. Clinical educators, as part of the organizational leadership, can play an important role in assisting the MNO civilian position assimilation because they come from a structured and unique cultural environment. Several innovative preparatory strategies are proposed to highlight the organization's support and commitment regarding preselection, recruiting, hiring, and mentoring, including the use of a specific navigational mentor to achieve the necessary acquired cultural assimilation for the MNO's success, satisfaction, and retention. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2016;47(11):503-510.

The Teachers of Quality Academy: A Learning Community Approach to Preparing Faculty to Teach Health Systems Science.

PROBLEM: Although efforts to integrate health systems science (HSS) topics, such as patient safety, quality improvement (QI), interprofessionalism, and population health, into health professions curricula are increasing, the rate of change has been slow. APPROACH: The Teachers of Quality Academy (TQA), Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, was established in January 2014 with the dual goal of preparing faculty to lead frontline clinical transformation while becoming proficient in the pedagogy and curriculum design necessary to prepare students in HSS competencies. The TQA included the completion of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Open School Basic Certificate in Quality and Safety; participation in six 2-day learning sessions on key HSS topics; completion of a QI project; and participation in three online graduate courses. OUTCOMES: Twenty-seven faculty from four health science programs completed the program. All completed their QI projects. Nineteen (70%) have been formally engaged in the design and delivery of the medical student curriculum in HSS. Early into their training, TQA participants began to apply new knowledge and skills in HSS to the development of educational initiatives beyond the medical student curriculum. NEXT STEPS: Important next steps for TQA participants and program planners include further incorporation as faculty advisors and contributors to the full implementation of the longitudinal HSS curriculum; expanded involvement with the Leaders in Innovative Care Scholars student leadership distinction track; continued in-depth evaluation of the impact of TQA participation on patient care, teaching, and role modeling; and the recruitment of the next cohort of TQA participants.

Enabling nurses to lead change: the orientation experiences of nurses to boards.

OBJECTIVES: Nurses need to be full partners in shaping health care and health care policy. One way to do this is to be present and active on boards at all levels. The purpose of this study is to examine the orientation experiences of nurses to boards and their preparation to influence health care and health care policy. METHODS: A Web-based survey about the efficacy of board orientation was sent to members of three local boards made up exclusively of nurses. RESULTS: Liabilities and fiduciary duties were least likely to be addressed in board orientation for nurses. Board members requested more training in finance and a more formal/structured orientation process. CONCLUSIONS: Standardizing orientation elements for nurses serving on boards would best prepare them to serve on interprofessional hospital boards and work in the health policy arena. The orientation experience on local- and state-level nursing boards is fundamental to nurses beginning board service.