Nurses' lived experience of peacebuilding.

Nursing has a unique opportunity to address issues of structural violence that contribute to poor health outcomes. Models for designing nursing care relative to the social determinants of health can be adapted from the discipline of peace studies and the phenomenon of peacebuilding. The aim of this qualitative study was to describe the lived experience of peacebuilding from the perspective of community or public health nurses. Interviews were conducted with eight participants. Attributes of the peacebuilder included fostering human relationships that value the inherent worth and dignity of others, nurturing a character of humility and moral courage, and contemplating the personal cost of engaging in prolonged processes of peacebuilding. Practices of peacebuilding included mediating conflict through multilayered processes, accompanying others to places of empowerment, and utilizing interdisciplinary teaching and learning to build capacity for change. Increasing an understanding of the lived experience of peacebuilding by nurses is relevant to nursing research, theory, and practice, and adds to a broader understanding of peacebuilding.

The nurse as peacebuilder: Intersections of health and peace.

The purpose of this review is to examine peacebuilding as a concept relevant to nursing practice. A historical view of Lilian Wald's contribution to public health nursing sets the stage for nursing's commitment to the ethics of social justice and responsibility to address the social determinants of health as root causes to health inequities. The interweaving of health and peace are highlighted through exploration of works from leading organizations in health and nursing, nationally and globally. Finally examples of current peacebuilding in public health nursing are highlighted.

Adolescent asthma education programs for teens: review and summary.

The purpose of this review is to describe and evaluate education programs for teens with asthma. Although asthma educational programs for children are plentiful, this is not the case for adolescents. The developmental tasks of adolescence require asthma education programs that are uniquely tailored to this age group. Although several well-designed studies appear in the literature, further research is needed to evaluate the efficacy of asthma education programs among teens. Although the quality of research varies, demonstrated program benefits include improved asthma self-management, self-efficacy, family support mechanisms, and quality of life. Practice implications point to the need for education programs in schools and camp settings that are consistent with national asthma guidelines.

The effects of coping skills training among teens with asthma.

This pilot study used a pretest and posttest design to examine the effect of a school-based intervention, Coping Skills Training, among teens with asthma (N = 39) aged 14 to 18 years randomly assigned to treatment and control groups from three midwestern high schools. Variables included asthma self-efficacy, social support, asthma-related quality of life, peak expiratory flow rate, asthma diary symptoms, and rescue medication usage. The treatment group scored significantly higher on self-efficacy (p < .001), activity-related quality of life (p = .05), and social support (p < .001) compared with the control group after using ANCOVA to adjust for baseline scores. Significant improvements were also noted from pre- to posttest in the treatment group for self-efficacy (p < .001) and quality of life (p = .02). This study indicates that Coping Skills Training is an important intervention for further study with teens with asthma.

Health promotion in adolescents: a review of Pender's health promotion model.

Adolescents have unique health considerations as they transition from parent-managed healthcare to personal responsibility for health behavior. One question to consider is the goodness-of-fit of available theoretical models for explaining and predicting adolescent health-promoting behavior. This integrative review explored Pender's health promotion model in relation to adolescent health. Specifically, this review summarizes the components of Pender's model and the supporting theoretical underpinnings based in the social cognitive theory. Research literature related to the health promotion model and various aspects of teen health is explored. Recommendations for further research and theory development are discussed.

A practitioner-based asthma intervention program with African American inner-city school children.

INTRODUCTION: Asthma is the most prevalent chronic illness, affecting more than 7 million children younger than 17 years. Asthma has become a leading public health concern because of the dramatic rise in the incidence of this disease during the past 15 years, particularly in minority populations. This study tested a two-part intervention on selected psychosocial and health outcomes of 8- to 13-year-old inner city minority students with asthma. METHOD: The intervention consisted of participation in an asthma education program (Open Airways) followed by 5 monthly visits with a nurse practitioner. The total sample of 52 children was composed of 28 children in the treatment group who received the intervention and 24 children who served as a control group. RESULTS: Students in the treatment group scored significantly higher than the control group over time on measures of asthma knowledge, asthma self-efficacy, general self-care practices, and asthma self-care practices. No significant differences were found between the two groups on health outcomes. DISCUSSION: A school-based intervention program can improve psychosocial outcomes for inner-city minority children with asthma. Recommendations for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

The asthma belief survey: development and testing.

Accurate evaluation of asthma self-efficacy is essential to the effective management of asthma. This article describes the development and testing of the Asthma Belief Survey (ABS). The instrument is a 15-item tool that uses a 5-point self-report scale to measure asthma self-efficacy in relation to daily asthma maintenance and an asthma crisis. This instrument was tested with a sample of 79 African American school children, who attended eight inner-city elementary schools. The mean age of the sample was 11.05 years with a range of 8 to 14 years. The majority of students had been diagnosed with asthma prior to the age of 5 years. The Asthma Belief Survey demonstrated good psychometric properties: good Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient (.83), coherence as a single scale measuring children's self-efficacy in treating their own asthma, and significant relationships with scales of asthma knowledge (r = .51, p < .000) and asthma self-care practices (r = .52, p < .001). The Asthma Belief Survey has sound reliability and validity evidence to support its use to measure a child's asthma self-management self-efficacy. The practitioner can use this instrument to assess a child's self-efficacy in the areas of asthma health maintenance and avoidance of asthma episodes.