Operationalizing Anti-Racism Accountability with Equitable Admissions in Nursing Education Accreditation.

For decades, health professional organizations have recommended increased diversity in the workforce and education. To address persistent inequities in health care, the racial composition of the nursing workforce needs be congruent with the U.S. population. Without first addressing structural inequity in nursing education programs, the nursing profession cannot begin to address structural racism in health care. The lack of nursing student diversity is reflective of barriers in program admissions. This article is a call to nursing accreditation bodies to operationalize anti-racism to improve U.S. nursing workforce diversity by introducing accountability structures that require evidence-based holistic admission review and analysis of admission data to ensure that student cohorts are diverse across nursing programs, thereby ensuring a future workforce that reflects the diversity of the U.S. population.

Attitudes of California Registered Nurses About Abortion.

OBJECTIVE: To describe attitudes about abortion among registered nurses (RNs) licensed in California and to determine if demographic characteristics were associated with these attitudes. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, one-time survey. SETTING: Online between 2015 and 2017. PARTICIPANTS: Nurses with active RN licenses in California (N = 2,500). METHODS: An anonymous survey was sent to a random sample of 2,500 RNs with active California licenses between 2015 and 2017 to assess their personal and professional demographic characteristics and their attitudes toward abortion. Using scores on the Abortion Attitudes Scale, we dichotomized participants into proabortion and antiabortion categories. We used chi-square tests to determine differences based on demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Data from 504 RNs licensed in California are included in this analysis. Most respondents identified as female (n = 462, 92%), older than 50 years of age (n = 379, 75%), married (n = 364, 72%), White (n = 354, 70%), and Christian (n = 322, 64%). They were more likely to have negative attitudes toward abortion care if they identified as Christian (p < .001) and more positive attitudes if they identified as White (p < .001) independent of identifying as Christian. CONCLUSIONS: Respondents had a complex range of attitudes about abortion. In some cases, these attitudes aligned and/or conflicted with stated religious orientation. This study highlights the demographic characteristics that are associated with the attitudes and beliefs about abortion among RNs licensed in California.

The effect of early child care attendance on childhood asthma and wheezing: A meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Research evidence offers mixed results regarding the relationship between early child care attendance and childhood asthma and wheezing. A meta-analysis was conducted to synthesize the current research evidence of the association between early child care attendance and the risk of childhood asthma and wheezing. METHOD: Peer reviewed studies published from 1964-January 2017 were identified in MEDLINE, CINAL, and EMBASE using MeSH headings relevant to child care and asthma. Two investigators independently reviewed the selected articles from this search. All relevant articles that met our inclusion criteria were selected for further analysis. Data were extracted from studies that had sufficient data to analyze the odds of asthma or wheezing among children who attended child care. RESULTS: The meta-analysis of 32 studies found that (1) early child care attendance is protective against asthma in children 3-5 years of age but not for children with asthma 6 years of age or older. (2) Early child care attendance increases the risk of wheezing among children 2 years of age or younger, but not the risk of wheezing for children over 2 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis shows that early child care attendance is not significantly associated with the risk of asthma or wheeze in children 6 years of age or older.

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.