A Comparative Analysis of Teaching and Evaluation Methods in Nurse Practitioner Education Programs in Australia, Canada, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands and USA.

A scoping review of published literature and dialogue with international nurse practitioner educators and researchers revealed the education of nurse practitioner students varied within and between countries. This lack of cohesiveness hinders nurse practitioner role development and practice nationally and internationally. A rapid review of grey literature was conducted on nurse practitioner education standards in six countries (Australia, Canada, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, and USA). Data were extracted from graduate level nurse practitioner education programs' websites from each country (n = 24). Extracted data were verified for accuracy and completeness with a nurse practitioner educator from each program. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Variations in nurse practitioner education within and between countries were explored by comparing admission criteria, curricular content, clinical requirements, teaching methods, and assignment and evaluative methods. The findings will help inform education programs and further research about nurse practitioner education internationally.

Neurophysiological assessment of acute pain in infants: a scoping review of research methods.

A systematic scoping search to describe the neurophysiological methods used in infant acute pain assessment research was conducted. Of the 2411 abstracts screened, 19 articles were retained. Nine studies utilised near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), two utilised functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and eight utilised electroencephalography (EEG). There was methodological variability in studies utilising NIRS, whereas EEG and fMRI studies reported consistent methods. Of the eight EEG studies, six identified a nociceptive-specific event-related potential. CONCLUSION: While more methodologically rigorous studies are needed, ERPs appear to hold some promise as indicators of infant nociception during clinical procedures to supplement existing measures.

From sea to shining sea: making collaborative rural research work.

Rural researchers collaborate on many levels to collect and analyze data, develop research reports and disseminate findings. While this collaboration is critical, there is a dearth of literature about research team collaboration within all stages of the research process. The purpose of this article is to discuss the research experience of 10 rural researchers scattered across Canada who participated in the study, Health Research: Accessible, Applicable and Useable for Rural Communities and Practitioners. Using focused ethnography, one aim of this study was to discover how research is utilized in rural and remote settings. The necessity of establishing networks to collect and manage data, and jointly analyze 72 qualitative transcripts from different geographical sites led to innovations and unexpected lessons learned. The research design provided significant opportunities to mentor undergraduate, masters and doctoral nursing students and to enhance the development of newly graduated doctoral nurses. These opportunities are crucial in the development of new researchers and in creating ongoing interest in rural health research. In this article, we discuss how the research process evolved, the mentoring process used, the barriers identified related to collaboration across vast distances, and the strategies employed to enhance the study's trustworthiness. We also consider the advantages and challenges of using Elluminate, a web application, as an interactive forum for this qualitative health research.

Interprofessional education for students of the health professions: the "Seamless Care" model.

"Seamless Care" was one of 21 grants awarded by Health Canada to inform policymakers of the effectiveness of interprofessional education in promoting collaborative patient-centred practice among health professionals. The "Seamless Care" model of interprofessional education was designed with input from three Faculties at Dalhousie University (Medicine, Dentistry and Health Professions). The design was grounded in relevant learning theories--Social Cognitive Theory, Self-efficacy, Situated Learning theory and Constructivism. The intervention was informed by principles of active learning, problem-based learning, reflection and role modeling. The primary goal of Seamless Care was to develop students' interprofessional patient-centred collaborative skills through experiential learning. Fourteen student teams, each including one student from medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry and dental hygiene, learned with, from and about each other while they were mentored in the collaborative care of patients transitioning from acute care to the community. Student teams providing collaborative care assisted patients experiencing a chronic illness to become more active in managing their health through development of self-management and decision-making skills. This paper describes the Seamless Care model of interprofessional education and discusses the theoretical underpinnings of this experiential model of interprofessional education designed to extend classroom-based interprofessional education to the clinical setting.

Using the evaluation of the Dalhousie Outpost Nursing Program for responsive social action.

The Dalhousie Outpost Nursing Program is designed specifically to prepare registered nurses to provide primary health care in northern Canadian Aboriginal communities where there are no resident physicians. In 1993, the program was extensively evaluated, using a responsive participatory approach that is consistent with the direction of health care in Canada. The evaluation documented the effectiveness of the program and permitted diverse views to be expressed. Most importantly, the evaluation enabled the voice of Aboriginal people living in northern communities to be heard. Dalhousie School of Nursing has used the evaluation results to provide some direction for program planning in the context of Canadian health reform.