School nursing role and competence.

How will school nurses attain, maintain and advance their professional competence in an evolving school nursing and school health environment? This article is designed to assist school nurses to understand competence and nursing competencies and related issues affecting their role. The Southern Regional Education Board/Council on Collegiate Education for Nursing (SREB/CCEN) is exploring a linkage of undergraduate nursing curriculum to school nursing competencies. In addition, a method now used to evaluate school nurse competence in one school district is included.

Advanced practice psychiatric nursing: a national profile.

The results of a national survey of Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses (APPN) are presented. Results are based on the Society for Education and Research in Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing's (SERPN) Primary Mental Health and Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nursing monograph. Characteristics of the nurses, the clients they serve, and their practice patterns are described. Documenting the cost-effectiveness of these practitioners and increasing the number of younger APPNs is recommended.

Patient outcomes used by advanced practice psychiatric nurses to evaluate effectiveness of practice.

Health care in the 1990s requires Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses (APPNs), like other health care providers, to identify and evaluate the outcomes of their practices. Many APPNs report that they are not currently engaging in outcome evaluation, and many report that they would like more resources on outcome measurement. This study identifies outcome evaluations currently in use, through an analysis of the responses of 364 Certified Clinical Nurse Specialists in a survey conducted by the Society for Education and Research in Psychiatric Nursing in 1994-1995. Specific tools that APPNs report using to assess outcomes are also identified and referenced.

A multinational study of psychiatric nursing staffs' beliefs and concerns about work safety and patient assault.

In an effort to understand beliefs and concerns about work safety and patient assault, the author describes the results of a multinational survey of 999 nursing staff members working in psychiatric facilities across the United States, Canada, United Kindgom, and South Africa. Although the majority of the sample (75%) reported being physically assaulted at least once during their careers, 62% responded that they felt safe in their work environment most of the time. Significant differences were found among the nurses with regard to beliefs about adequacy of staffing, safety of the physical environment, admission of assaultive patients, expectations about being victims of assault, overall level of safety, and taking legal action against a patient. A significant difference in attitudes was also found among nursing staff members, who reported previous assaults. They believed that assaults are expected events in their work with psychiatric patients.

Databases for clinical psychiatry.

Clinical information systems support patient care and research while providing data for administrative use. We assessed the informational needs of the psychiatrists at UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital and used the resulting criteria in evaluating commercial computer products. The systems that appear to be least expensive, most powerful, and most suitable for widespread use are assembled from various off-the-shelf packages. These newer systems use a structured query language (SQL) database with a graphic user interface. An SQL database can support both large and small clinical operations, and a graphic interface is easy to use. Commercial software systems are too expensive for a small psychiatric hospital or department, but a customized SQL database can be purchased and installed at lower cost.