Integrating Correctional and Community Health Care: An Innovative Approach for Clinical Learning in a Baccalaureate Nursing Program.

PROBLEM: With an evolving focus on primary, community-based, and patient-centered care rather than acute, hospital-centric, disease-focused care, and recognition of the importance of coordinating care and managing transitions across providers and settings of care, registered nurses need to be prepared from a different and broader knowledge base and skills set. A culture change among nurse educators and administrators and in nursing education is needed to prepare competent registered nurses capable of practicing from a health promotion, disease prevention, community- and population-focused construct in caring for a population of patients who are presenting health problems and conditions that persist across decades and/or lifetimes. While healthcare delivery is moving from the hospital to ambulatory and community settings, community-based educational opportunities for nursing students are shrinking due to a variety of reasons, including but not limited to increased regulatory requirements, the presence of competing numbers of nursing schools and their increased enrollment of students, and decreasing availability of community resources capable and willing to precept students in an all-day interactive learning environment. METHODS: A detailed discussion of one college of nursings' journey to find an innovative solution and approach to the dilemma of limited and decreasing available community clinical sites to prepare senior level prelicensure baccalaureate nursing students for healthcare practice in the twenty-first century. FINDINGS: This article demonstrated how medium/maximum prisons can provide an ideal learning experience for not only technical nursing skills but more importantly for reinforcing key learning goals for community-based care, raising population-based awareness, and promoting cultural awareness and sensitivity. In addition, this college of nursing overcame the challenges of initiating and maintaining clinical placement in a prison facility, collaboratively developed strategies to insure student and faculty safety satisfying legal and administrative concerns for both the college of nursing and the prison, and developed educational postclinical assignments that solidified clinical course and nursing program objectives. Lastly, this college of nursing quickly learned that not only did nursing students agree to clinical placement in an all-male medium- to maximum-security prison despite its accompanying restrictive regulations especially as it relates to their access to personal technology devices, but there was an unknown desire for a unique clinical experience. CONCLUSION: The initial pilot program of placing eight senior level prelicensure baccalaureate nursing students in a 4,000-person all male medium- to maximum-security prison for their community clinical rotation has expanded to include three state-run maximum all male prisons in two states, a 3,000-person male/female federal prison, and several juvenile detention centers. Clinical placement of students in these sites is by request only, resulting in lengthy student waiting lists. This innovative approach to clinical learning has piqued the interest of graduate nurse practitioner (NP) students as well. One MSN, NP student has been placed in the federal prison every semester for over a year. Due to increasing interest from graduate students to learn correctional health nursing, the college of nursing is now expanding NP placement to the other contracted maximum-security prisons. This entire experience has changed clinical policies within a well-established academic culture and promoted creative thinking regarding how and where to clinically educate and prepare registered baccalaureate nurses for the new culture of health and wellness.

Expanding rural access to mental health care through online postgraduate nurse practitioner education.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Workforce shortages in mental health care are especially relevant to rural communities. People often turn to their primary care providers for mental healthcare services, yet primary care providers indicate that more education is needed to fill this role. Rural primary care nurse practitioners (NPs) are ideal candidates for educational enhancement. Online programs allow NPs to continue living and working in their communities while developing the competencies to provide comprehensive and integrated mental healthcare services. This article presents a review of current online postgraduate psychiatric mental health NP (PMHNP) options. METHODS: Website descriptions of online PMHNP programs were located using keywords: PMHNP or psychiatric nurse practitioner, postgraduate or post-master's, and distance or online. CONCLUSIONS: Across the United States, 15 online postgraduate certificate programs were located that are designed for primary care NPs seeking additional PMHNP specialization. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: For rural primary care NPs who are ready, willing, and able, a postgraduate PMHNP specialty certificate can be obtained online in as few as three to four semesters. The expected outcome is a cadre of dually credentialed NPs capable of functioning in an integrated role and of increasing rural access to comprehensive mental healthcare services.

Challenges for nursing education in Angola: the perception of nurse leaders affiliated with professional education institutions.

BACKGROUND: Angola is one of the African countries with the highest morbidity and mortality rates and a devastating lack of human resources for health, including nursing. The World Health Organization stimulates and takes technical cooperation initiatives for human resource education and training in health and education, with a view to the development of countries in the region. The aim in this study was to identify how nurses affiliated with nursing education institutions perceive the challenges nursing education is facing in Angola. METHODS: After consulting the National Directory of Human Resources in Angola, the nurse leaders affiliated with professional nursing education institutions in Angola were invited to participate in the study by email. Data were collected in February 2009 through the focus group technique. The group of participants was focused on the central question: what are the challenges faced for nursing education in your country? To register and understand the information, besides the use of a recorder, the reporters elaborated an interpretative report. Data were coded using content analysis. RESULTS: Fourteen nurses participated in the meeting, most of whom were affiliated with technical nursing education institutions. It was verified that the nurse leaders at technical and higher nursing education institutions in Angola face many challenges, mainly related to the lack of infrastructure, absence of trained human resources,bureaucratic problems to regularize the schools and lack of material resources. On the opposite, the solutions they present are predominantly centered on the valuation of nursing professionals, which implies cultural and attitude changes. CONCLUSIONS: Public health education policies need to be established in Angola, including action guidelines that permit effective nursing activities. Professional education institutions need further regularizations and nurses need to be acknowledged as key elements for the qualitative enhancement of health services in the country.

Defining and describing capacity issues in U.S. Doctor of Nursing Practice programs.

Recent calls to expand the number of U.S. Doctors of Nursing Practice (DNPs) raises questions about programs' capacities, content and requirements, and their ability to expand. This paper aims to describe (1) key aspects of DNP program capacities that may provide direction for DNP program expansion plans, the timing of such expansion and program QI efforts; and (2) the impact of the DNP on faculty resources for research doctoral programs. A survey of all U.S. DNP programs (n = 130; response rate 72%) was conducted in 2011 based on previously tested items. Reviews of Web sites of nonresponding schools provided some data from all programs. Ratios of students to faculty active in advanced practice (AP) and in QI (QI) were high (AP 11.0:1, SD 10.1; QI 20.2:1, SD 17.0 respectively). There was wide variation in scholarly requirements (0-4: 50% of program had none) and program committee composition (1-5; mode=2). Almost all responding schools that offered PhD and DNP programs reported assigning research-active or potentially research-active faculty in both programs. The ability to expand programs while maintaining quality may be compromised by capacity issues. Addressing demand issues through the alignment of program requirements with societal and employment requirements may provide directions for addressing current DNP capacity issues.

Predicting nursing human resources: an exploratory study.

The nurse-to-population ratio (NPOP) is a standard indicator used to indicate a country's health care human resources capacity for responding to its disease burden. This study sought to explore if socioeconomic development indicators could predict the NPOP in a country. Mexico served as the case example for this exploratory study, with the final five variables selected based on findings from a qualitative study analyzing the development of nursing human resources in the country. Multiple linear regression showed that two variables proved significant predictors of the NPOP and the model itself explained 70% of the variance (r( 2) = .7; p = .0000). The findings have multiple implications for nursing human resources policy in Mexico and at a global level as governments attempt to build human capital to respond to population health needs.

La Microbiología en el nuevo plan de enfermería de la Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: una experiencia positiva / Microbiology in the new curriculum of nursing study of the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: a good experience

El objetivo de este trabajo es comunicar nuestra experiencia en la asignatura de "Microbiología y Parasitología" con el cambio de plan de estudios de la diplomatura de enfermería en la Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC). Se ha realizado una comparación de medias de las calificaciones de la convocatoria ordinaria de los dos últimos cursos del antiguo plan y los dos primeros cursos del nuevo plan. Los resultados revelaron una diferencia de medias con una p igual o inferior a 0,001. Trasladar los conocimientos de Microbiología y Parasitología a segundo curso de la titulación de Diplomado en Enfermería ha supuesto una mejora de las calificaciones y una mejor aceptación de la asignatura por parte de los alumnos (AU)

Análisis prospectivo de la práctica de enfermería en Nicaragua / Prospective analysis of the nursing practice in Nicaragua

Documento elaborado para orientar la direccionalidaddel quehacer actual de la enfermería, desarrollando líderes capaces de enfrentar eficazmente los retos y circunstancias en que se forma el personal de enfermería en el país

Recursos humanos em saúde no Brasil: política e problemas / Health manpower in Brazil: policy and problems

Faz uma análise histórica e descritiva das características do sistema formador e do mercado de trabalho em saúde, e também a atualizaçäo de dados tradicionais de diagnósticos e a discussäo de determinados fatores de regulaçäo dos recursos humanos em saúde