Partners for NP education: the 1999 AANP preceptor and faculty survey.

PURPOSE: To increase understanding of national trends in nurse practitioner (NP) clinical education, the Education Committee of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) conducted a survey at the 1999 National AANP Conference in Atlanta. DATA SOURCES: A convenience sample of preceptors (n = 87) and faculty (n = 42) out of the total attendance of 1,744 responded to a written questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: Preceptor respondents provided data concerning the number of NP students supervised, influence of student supervision on productivity, and availability of incentives for precepting. Faculty reported placement and supervision issues, the extent of precepting in their clinical practice site, and recognition and support for this role. Faculty and preceptors disagreed about the types and number of incentives offered for accepting students as well as the congruence of clinical teaching activities and national teaching guidelines. Precepting did not appear to strongly influence preceptor productivity. External funding did not influence opportunities for clinical education. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: In 1998, the graduates of NP programs rose by 15.8% and over half of all nursing students enrolled in graduate nursing programs were seeking a NP education. This increase in students may compromise the ability of schools of nursing to insure quality clinical education of NP students by increasing faculty workload and placing greater demands on expert preceptors in the community. Clinical education is also changing in light of changes in the health care system.

Heart healthy eating behaviors of children following a school-based intervention: a meta-analysis.

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to estimate the effects of school-based interventions on heart healthy eating behaviors of fourth and fifth grade students. The overall effect size (d value) across 12 studies was .24. The 95% confidence interval ranged from .174 to .301. It can be concluded that the school-based cardiovascular health promotion programs had a significant effect on the heart healthy eating behaviors of student participants. Recommendations include identification of reliable measures and inclusion of culturally diverse populations in future studies.