Wise Choices: Nutrition and Exercise for Older Adults: A Community-Based Health Promotion Intervention.

Effective interventions for older adults are needed to address lifestyle behaviors linked to chronic illnesses. We implemented a 12-week group behavioral intervention for 118 racially diverse older adults at 6 community-based senior centers to improve eating and physical activity. Assessments were completed pre- and postintervention, with 85.6% retention. We documented increases in fruit, vegetable, and whole grain intake; pace of walking; number of city blocks walked; daily steps walked; functional mobility; and self-rated general health (P < .05). Findings indicate that a relatively low-intensity lifestyle intervention can effectively be implemented for community-dwelling older adults. Further development of this approach is warranted.

Developing curriculum recommendations for environmental health in nursing.

In 2010, the American Nurses Association (ANA) added an environmental health standard to the ANA Scope and Standards of Practice requiring that nurses implement environmental health strategies in nursing practice. To prepare nurse educators to integrate environmental health at all educational levels, nursing faculty members from the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments developed environmental health competencies and curricular recommendations that address this need. Internet URLs are included for environmental health curricula for each level of nursing education.

The Description of Health Among Iraqi Refugee Women in the United States.

The purpose of this study was to understand the description of health among Iraqi women refugees, their health status, and health experiences during resettlement in the United States. Twelve women, ages 21-67 years old, who resettled in the United States during or after 2003 where interviewed. The women described health as a gift determined by God, the ability to function, the absence of physical symptoms, and the need to feel safe and secure in the context of resettlement. Although the Iraqi women valued health, during the resettlement process, seeking safety and feeling secure were the foremost priorities. Findings revealed that this is a vulnerable population which has experienced the violence of war and, as a result, have unique physical, mental, economic, and social concerns related to health. Implications are for a multidisciplinary approach to best meet the unique individual health needs of this vulnerable population.

Developing a virtual nurses' station for community-based nurses.

Nurses who work throughout the community need a nurses' station, just as nurses who work in a hospital. The nurses' station is the area where communication, information sharing, and documentation occur. This article describes how a virtual nurses' station was created using Blackboard technology to meet the needs of nurses who are scattered throughout a geographic area. These nurses work in several urban neighborhoods to conduct the outreach services offered through an academic nurse-managed wellness center to community-dwelling older adults. Results have been positive as the virtual nurses' station provides the nurses an area to exchange data and information, print patient health care information, and access nursing policies. Satisfaction surveys from the nurses give valuable input on the design and use of the virtual nurses' station.

A retrospective data analysis of two academic nurse-managed wellness center sites.

The purpose of this study was to describe the trends, themes, and outcomes of interventions over time within and between two academic nurse-managed wellness center (NMWC) sites. Documentation of wellness interventions and outcomes of these interventions presented ongoing challenges. The Omaha System was used as a documentation system to capture both interventions and client outcomes. A retrospective chart analysis revealed that the most commonly reported problems were circulation and nutrition. Interventions focused on teaching, guidance, and counseling; subsequently, the outcomes of knowledge, behavior, and status increased modestly with time for the older adult clients who attended these NMWC sites.

Comparing student role perceptions: traditional to community-based curriculum.

This phenomenological study explored role perceptions of senior baccalaureate nursing students in a traditional curriculum (TC) and a community-based curriculum (CBC) following one U.S. school's curriculum revision. Researchers inquired into that moment when students intervened like a nurse. Results were analyzed by groups and then compared. The assumptions and style of the Dutch school of phenomenology guided the collection and analysis of data. Among identified themes were traditional nursing role functions. Students from the CBC perceived a comparatively broader scope for nursing practice, broader definition of client, and a more nuanced description of the nurse's role. Seniors from the TC described a developmental trajectory which culminated in being able to intervene like a nurse. Responses from both participant groups confirm the importance of nurse-client and nurse-nurse proximities for the development of professional nursing in both structured and unstructured settings.

Parish nurse-initiated interdisciplinary mobile health care delivery project.

Parish nurses and a school of pharmacy faculty collaborated on a mobile health project to bring screening and preventive services to low-income neighborhoods. Outcome measures indicated that older women were most likely to use these services. This project fostered a positive, trusting client-provider relationship that formed the basis of clients' motivation to make lifestyle changes. Future direction includes collaboration with an academic nursing center to expand services in chronic care management.