Effect of Canine Play Interventions as a Stress Reduction Strategy in College Students.

Forty-eight students engaged with a therapy dog for 15 minutes during finals week to evaluate the effect on stress. Psychological (Perceived Stress Scale, visual analog scales) and physiologic stress (vital signs, salivary cortisol) measures were collected before and after the intervention. Paired t tests showed significant reductions in all psychological and physiologic measures except diastolic blood pressure. This supports animal-assisted therapy as an effective stress management strategy for nursing and other college students.

The design process of a multimodal module that synthesized knowledge across nursing courses.

BACKGROUND: Nursing faculty are being challenged to increase the use of technology in the classroom. Use of technology addresses multiple learning styles, increases student engagement, encourages active learning and improves students' attention. OBJECTIVES: Evaluate student satisfaction to a faculty designed multimedia teaching strategy. DESIGN: Cross sectional design with data collected over six semesters from six cohorts of nursing students. SETTING: An urban university in the Midwest United States. PARTICIPANTS: 154 sophomore generic and accelerated BSN students enrolled in Fundamentals of Nursing; Ninety-nine participants were female (66.9%) and 49 (31.8%) were male. Eighty-three percent were less than 20years to 30years in age. METHODS: A multimedia teaching strategy developed by three faculty integrating narrated case study, questioning and animation of skills and pathophysiology was implemented during the class session on infection control. At the conclusion, questionnaires were distributed to collect evaluation data. RESULTS: 120 students (77.9%) stated that the animated pathophysiology helped them understand the pathophysiological processes better than lecture alone. When combined with lecture, 121 students or 78.6% reported a better understanding of the material than if presented as lecture alone. 123 (79.9%) of the students stated that watching the animated video improved their understanding of the lecture content. As stated by one student, "I liked the visualization because it helped me further understand the material." 104 (67.5%) stated that presenting course content from multiple courses into one format facilitated the importance of these courses; "I liked that different aspect[s] of nursing were brought together." CONCLUSIONS: Use of multimedia in the classroom engages students in the learning process by actively involving students in the learning process as well as facilitating the delivery of difficult course content. Overall, students voiced a preference for all instructional materials to be presented in an animated format.

A Survey of Current Valued Academic Leadership Qualities in Nursing.

AIM: An informal survey was used to identify nurse faculty leadership qualities currently valued and relevant. BACKGROUND: The accelerating retirement rate for seasoned leaders has created a need for nurse educators and academic leaders. Our school was concerned that we were not meeting students' needs for today's leadership challenges. We were also interested in the experiences of leadership preparation. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional, online survey of faculty at top nursing schools as determined by US News & World Report. FINDINGS: The top leadership qualities identified were integrity, communication clarity, and problem-solving ability. Current challenges for leaders were finding qualified faculty, obtaining resources, and team building. CONCLUSION: The results may guide curricular adjustments and the transition to a new generation of nurse academic leaders.

Nurses' spiritual care practices: becoming less religious?

Research indicates that nurses do not consistently provide spiritual care, feel ill equipped to do so, and there is a lack of information as to the type of spiritual care practices nurses use. This exploratory descriptive study surveyed nurses (N = 123) about their spiritual care practices and perceptions of effectiveness, followed by qualitative interviews with volunteers (n = 5) from the surveyed group. The nurses favored spiritual interventions that are not overtly religious, but conveyed concern and support, such as listening and providing comforting touch.

Sense of coherence, spirituality, stress and quality of life in chronic illness.

PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between sense of coherence and spirituality and their association with perceptions of stress, and quality of life. METHODS: Questionnaires mailed to nonhospitalized patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Data analyses included descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlations, multiple regressions, and ANOVA. RESULTS: High sense of coherence (SOC) and spirituality were correlated with low stress and high quality of life (QoL). Neither SOC nor spirituality related significantly to objective symptom severity. In regression analyses 73.2% of the variance in QoL was explained by SOC, the FEV1/FVC ratio, and functional ability. CONCLUSIONS: Psychosocial factors are important in patients' cognitive interpretations of illness. SOC and spirituality may buffer stress in the context of chronic illness.

Meeting clients' spiritual needs.

True holistic care requires attention to spiritual as well as physical needs, but many health care providers do not feel comfortable discussing spiritual matters with clients. Although recognized by national nursing groups as a standard of care, nurses are not well prepared or rewarded for spiritual care efforts. There are several spiritual assessment tools available and many suggestions for interventions, but little research-based evidence on the effectiveness of spiritual care assessments or interventions. Nurses are well positioned by their continued intimate contact with clients and the importance of caring to nursing to lead the health care profession in developing spiritual care theory and practices.

A discussion of the concept of spirituality.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the concept of spirituality. There is a recognized connection between spirituality and health, and nurse leaders have acknowledged the importance of the spiritual as well as the physical in providing optimal nursing care. Spirituality goes beyond religious or cultural boundaries. Spirituality is characterized by faith, a search for meaning and purpose in life, a sense of connection with others, and a transcendence of self, resulting in a sense of inner peace and well-being. A strong spiritual connection may improve one's sense of satisfaction with life or enable accommodation to disability.

Evaluation of needle exchange programs.

Needle exchange programs exist in every major population area in the United States and in many other countries. Some operate legally under emergency health decrees issued by local departments of health, with the stated intention of risk reduction through the removal of used injection equipment from use by injection drug users. It is theorized that this results in a reduced transmission of human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis, and, possibly, other blood-borne diseases. Needle exchange programs also offer access to drug treatment programs for the participants. It is a difficult but necessary task to evaluate these programs. This article examines examples of evaluations attempted in the past and discusses the challenges of such evaluations. Experimental evaluations, economic program analysis, legal aspects, and risk-benefit assessment along with ethical aspects are considered. An outline of program evaluation is proposed. Needle exchange programs offer an opportunity to encourage risk reduction and to offer counseling and access to health care for individuals at high risk. It is essential that such programs demonstrate their effectiveness. Assumptions of efficacy are insufficient for health care in the twenty-first century.