Partnering to prepare: An academic/workforce collaboration to develop disaster shelter training for nurses.

In California, more frequent, intense, and destructive wildfires have prompted public health departments to enhance disaster response plans as evacuations and shelter needs increase. In addition, individuals utilizing shelters have increasingly complex medical and behavioral health needs and are accessing shelters for longer periods of time. Public health nurses (PHNs) are often called to staff disaster shelters but may have less recent experience in, or comfort with, direct patient care. Many health departments are experiencing challenges developing sustainable training infrastructure that prepares PHNs to deliver direct patient care in disaster shelters. Partnering with academic institutions can address this challenge. This article describes a partnership between a regional collaborative of health jurisdictions and a public university to train public health nurses to work in disaster shelters. The training demonstrates a sustainable way to instruct public health nurses while also highlighting the potential of partnerships between academic institutions and local health departments to address disaster preparedness and response needs in a community. Public health nurses are essential to public health preparedness and providing additional training can augment their ability to respond to disasters.

State of the Profession: The Landscape of Disability Justice, Health Inequities, and Access for Patients With Disabilities.

The nursing profession can both perpetuate inequities and elevate the discourse around disability. Our article uses an intersectional lens to discuss the scope, magnitude, and determinants of health inequities that people with disabilities experience and the ways in which theoretical models of disability used in nursing education can further contribute to inequities. Our article makes the case for an intersectional social justice approach to nursing education by contextualizing the current state of affairs within historical and contemporary models of disability. This has the potential to be a revolutionary leap toward promoting health equity and upholding the Code of Ethics.

Integrated Pest Management Intervention in Child Care Centers Improves Knowledge, Pest Control, and Practices.

INTRODUCTION: To reduce young children's exposure to pests and pesticides, an integrated pest management (IPM) intervention was provided for child care center staff. METHODS: The 7-month IPM education and consultation intervention was conducted by trained nurse child care health consultants in 44 child care centers in California. IPM knowledge surveys were completed by child care staff, objective IPM assessments were completed by research assistants pre- and postintervention, and activity logs were completed by the nurses. RESULTS: There were significant increases in IPM knowledge for the child care staff who attended workshops. There were reductions in the prevalence of pests and increases in IPM practices at the postintervention compared with the preintervention time point. The nurses consulted an average of 5.4 hours per center. DISCUSSION: A nurse-led IPM intervention in child care centers can reduce exposure to harmful substances for young children attending child care centers.