Inclusion of Disability Content in Simulation: An Evaluation of the Learners' Perspective on the Effectiveness of a Pediatric Tabletop Simulation.

BACKGROUND: Despite recommendations to include disability content in nursing education, nursing students have little exposure to disability education, which would help to develop necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes in learning to care for patients with disabilities. PURPOSE: This study evaluated learners' perceptions of the effectiveness of a tabletop simulation in meeting their learning needs related to nursing care for children with disabilities and their families. METHODS: The research design was a descriptive educational intervention study. Nursing students (n = 234) enrolled in the pediatric nursing course attended the simulation as a required part of their coursework. RESULTS: The majority of the students found the tabletop simulation with disability content to be an effective educational intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained from this study indicated that the tabletop simulation was an effective educational strategy for nursing students' learning to provide care for children with disabilities and their families.

Real-time electronic patient evaluation of lymphedema symptoms, referral, and satisfaction: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Lymphedema is a progressive and chronic illness. Early detection and treatment often lead to better clinical outcomes and improvement of patients' quality of life. Lymphedema symptoms can assist in detecting lymphedema. However, the use of patient-reported symptom evaluation is still limited in clinical practice. To address this gap in clinical practice, a metropolitan cancer center implemented an electronic patient evaluation of lymphedema symptoms (EPE-LE) to enable patients' real-time symptom report during patients' routine clinical visit while waiting to see their doctors in a waiting room. The purpose of this clinical project was to evaluate the usefulness of EPE-LE during patients' routine clinical visit. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was used. Participants were outpatient post-surgical breast cancer patients and clinicians who were involved in the EPE-LE implementation at a metropolitan cancer center of US. Data were collected during the three-month EPE-LE implementation, including patients' report of lymphedema symptoms, patient and clinician satisfaction, and referral to lymphedema specialists. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. RESULTS: During the three-month implementation, a total of 334 patients utilized the EPE-LE to report their lymphedema symptoms and 24 referrals to lymphedema specialists. Nearly all of the patients found that the EPE-LE was easy to use (91%) and that they were satisfied with the EPE-LE for reporting lymphedema symptoms (89%). The majority (70%) of patients reported that the EPE-LE helped them to learn about symptoms related to lymphedema and encouraged them to monitor their symptoms. All clinicians (100%) agreed that the use of the EPE-LE improved their lymphedema symptom assessment in post-surgical breast cancer patients; 75% reported that the EPE-LE increased their communication with patients related to lymphedema symptoms, 75% agreed they would recommend the EPE-LE for use at other cancer centers, and 75% reported that the information retrieved from the EPE-LE was helpful in evaluation of lymphedema. CONCLUSIONS: The use of EPE-LE enhanced patients' real-time report of lymphedema symptoms, improved patient education on lymphedema symptoms, and helped clinicians for evaluation of lymphedema. The use of EPE-LE is an example how to implement evidence-based research into clinical practice that provides benefits for both patients and clinicians.