Doctoral students' responses to writing critique: messages for teachers.

Writing is a major part of learning scholarship in a discipline. Therefore, it is important to understand what promotes and what hinders this learning. In transcribed interviews, 15 doctoral students in nursing at a large university described to us what they saw as helpful or not helpful about responses to their writing. The themes take the form of messages for teachers that, when reported in the context of the composition literature, provide helpful suggestions for teachers.

Estimating immunization coverage from school-based childhood immunization records.

To determine the accuracy of school-based childhood immunization records and to describe the effects of their use on estimates of community-wide immunization coverage, we verified the immunizations to 72 months of age for children born in 1986 to residents in Dallas County, TX, and in Minnesota. Verified immunizations were compared with those documented in the school record. Major transcription errors accounted for fewer than 1% of discrepancies between school and provider records. For 99 subjects with 987 verified immunizations in Minnesota, age-appropriate immunization coverage estimated from the school records was within two percent of actual coverage. For 86 subjects with 981 verified immunizations in Dallas County, age-appropriate immunization coverage from the school records underestimated actual coverage by as much as 21%. The primary factor explaining the underestimate in Dallas was incomplete school immunization records for 33 (38%) subjects and 126 (13%) immunizations. Selective recording of immunizations related to the minimum state requirements in Texas contributed to incomplete school records in Dallas County. Verification of the completeness of records selected to estimate immunization coverage is essential if the estimates are used to monitor trends or to make public policy decisions.

Occupational exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) among embalmers: a pilot seroprevalence study.

We performed a serosurvey of 133 embalmers in an urban area where human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is prevalent. Although we found histories of needlesticks to be common, and the seropositivity rate of hepatitis B virus (HBV) (13%) was approximately twice that of a blood donor comparison group, HIV antibody was uniformly absent in 129 embalmers who denied HIV risk factors, and present in one of four with self-described risk behaviors. The risk of HBV infection was higher among embalmers who have worked more than 10 years, relative risk (RR) 16.2 (95% confidence interval 2.1, 126.5), did not routinely wear gloves, RR 9.8 (CI 3.4, 28.5), or are employed in the city of Boston, RR 4.7 (CI 1.8, 12.0).

The Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, student health fair: an impetus for learning.

Earle Brown School, Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, was the site of a health fair. Students, teachers, parents, agencies, and health professionals worked cooperatively to provide health information activities and screening opportunities for fair participants. Brooklyn Center's Health Fair created an awareness of health promotion for the entire community. The purpose was to present the district's newly revised school health education curriculum to stimulate positive community focus on health. Student involvement was integral in every facet of the fair from planning events to presenting health information. A sense of pride and ownership developed as students assumed responsibility for carrying out activities. Enthusiasm for participation was evident as 50% of the 1,300 students within the district were active in the fair. An enhanced self-concept on the part of the students was facilitated through active participation, and increased awareness of positive health behaviors and healthy lifestyles resulted. A spirit of cooperation between school, community, and agencies was strengthened leading to continued support for the goals of the new school health curriculum.