Skin Assessment in Patients with Dark Skin Tone.

ABSTRACT: There is a scarcity of nursing literature, studies, and educational materials on the assessment and early recognition of both common and serious integumentary and general health issues in people with dark skin tones. Nurses must be exposed to such learning resources to be adequately prepared to care for patients with diverse skin tones and to help reduce health disparities and promote health equity. This article provides faculty, nursing students, and clinicians with basic information about the assessment of dark skin tone and calls for action in academia and professional practice to ensure nurses and nursing students can effectively perform skin assessments in all patients.

Justice, Equity, and Inclusion in a School of Nursing: A Quality Improvement Program.

BACKGROUND: Despite the increased racial and ethnic diversity in the general population of the United States, the nursing workforce remains mostly White. Schools of nursing (SON) have increased recruitment and enrollment; however, students who represent racial and ethnic minoritized groups experience microaggressions, injustice, and social exclusion. This quality improvement program sought to equip faculty with skills to create a just and inclusive SON. The program was guided by the Institute for Healthcare's Model for Improvement. METHOD: Five workshops were developed and implemented during two semesters. Workshops were led and moderated by a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant. RESULTS: After the workshops, participants committed to create an inclusive environment, intervene when microaggressions occurred, implement curricular changes, and recognize themselves as members of a privileged group. Postworkshop discussions and reflections led to new initiatives in the SON. CONCLUSION: This faculty development program demonstrates programs to enhance justice, equity, and inclusion can be implemented successfully within SON. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(1):20-27.].

Leading as Servant in Times of Crisis.

ABSTRACT: Using servant leadership as a framework, leaders within a school of nursing guided faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic and called them to address social injustice in the summer of 2020. A model was developed to sustain growth and build resilience of students, faculty, and staff. Influenced by external and internal drivers that stimulated the need for change, strategies were implemented based on core principles of servant leadership. Outcomes emerged in three categories: collaborative strengths demonstrated by students, faculty, and staff; performance of the community to be intentional about change; and transformative practices leading to enhancement of internal and external partnerships.

Parents' Intentions to Vaccinate Their Children Against COVID-19.

INTRODUCTION: With the COVID-19 vaccine rollout is well underway now beginning in children ages 12 and over, it is unknown what percent of parents plan to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. METHOD: The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to examine parents' attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors in administering a COVID-19 vaccine. RESULTS: Only 21.93% of the subjects reported overall VH. Half of parents (49.45%) say they want the COVID vaccine for their child, and 44.17% plan to vaccinate against COVID once the vaccine becomes available to them. Concern for vaccine side effects (61.5%) and vaccine safety (48.96%) were significant factors that increased VH. In addition, there was a significant correlation between parents who were planning to vaccinate their child against the flu and being less VH about a COVID-19 vaccine for their child. DISCUSSION: This is the first known study to describe parental perceptions' of COVID-19 VH and identify factors that increase VH for parents.

Evaluation of an Interprofessional Student-Faculty Collaborative Clinic in a Jail.

Jail-based student-run clinics, though uncommon, have the potential to impact the future health workforce. We evaluated, via a survey of student attitudes and a collection of lessons learned, a student-faculty collaborative clinic that was implemented in a jail in 2015. Clinic participation led to significantly greater student volunteer ratings of the importance of collaborating with oral health providers and of comfort in providing care to incarcerated populations. We report lessons learned regarding logistical considerations, volunteer behavior, and common issues arising in clinic visits. The clinic proved feasible and sustainable over several years, offering a new model for the involvement of trainees in correctional health care.

Use of Simulation to Integrate Cultural Humility Into Advanced Health Assessment for Nurse Practitioner Students.

BACKGROUND: Increasing cultural humility among nursing students requires the application of knowledge and skills. The integration of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) offered nurse practitioner students practice in simulation. METHOD: This learning activity included pre- and postassessments of knowledge regarding cultural issues and level of student satisfaction. Course content included an exemplar video and a simulation interview with an African American standardized patient. RESULTS: Of the 65 students enrolled, 97% completed OSCE interviews and 81% completed pre- and postsurveys. A 2-domain 3 × 2-time within-subjects ANOVA indicated a statistically significant interaction effect, reinforced by descriptive statistics. Follow-up paired t tests detected a significantly large knowledge increase. Standardized patient scenarios scored highest for satisfaction, followed by critical thinking, and with self-confidence scoring lowest. CONCLUSION: The favorable knowledge outcomes from this teaching intervention support future applications of OSCE methodology for teaching sensitive cross-cultural content. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(9):567-571.].

Assessing Interprofessional education in a student-faculty collaborative practice network.

Although interprofessional relationships are ubiquitous in clinical practice, undergraduate medical students have limited opportunities to develop these relationships in the clinical setting. A few student-faculty collaborative practice networks (SFCPNs) have been working to address this issue, but limited data exist examining the nature and extent of these practices. A systematic survey at a Harvard-affiliated SFCPN is utilised to evaluate the quantity and quality of interprofessional interactions, isolate improvements, and identify challenges in undergraduate interprofessional education (IPE). Our data corroborate previous findings in which interprofessional clinical learning was shown to have positive effects on student development and align with all four domains of Interprofessional Education Collaborative core competencies, including interprofessional ethics and values, roles and responsibilities, interprofessional communication, and teams and teamwork. These results highlight the unique opportunity and growing necessity of integrating IPE in SFCPNs to endorse the development of collaborative and professional competencies in clinical modalities of patient care.

Safety concerns of hospital-based new-to-practice registered nurses and their preceptors.

BACKGROUND: On graduation, nursing students enter a critical transition process to become professional registered nurses (RNs). METHODS: Six new-to-practice RN groups and seven preceptor groups convened to explore their views of the safety concerns of new-to-practice RNs. RESULTS: The main learning needs of new-to-practice RNs identified by both preceptors and new-to-practice RNs centered on perceptions of uncertainty about technical aspects of nursing care. Lack of critical thinking and inability to think holistically contributed to increased stress. Preceptors who provided frequent feedback in a positive manner were rated as important to the developmental process of becoming a skilled RN. CONCLUSION: Safety and learning needs identified in this study are amenable to teaching solutions, both in academia and in the hospital work setting.

Developing and measuring progress toward collaborative, integrated, interdisciplinary health care teams.

In this article we report the results of a longitudinal study of an intervention to enhance interdisciplinary team functioning in a primary care setting. Components of the team development intervention are outlined. Team members' assessments of progress towards expressing values consistent with an effective team--as measured through the System for the Multiple Level Observation of Groups (SYMLOG)--are presented and discussed. Institutional, organizational, and team related supports and barriers that affect the development of collaborative, integrated teams are identified and discussed; implications for ensuring teams' success are presented.

Effect of a low-cost intervention on recording body mass index in patients' records.

PURPOSE: Evaluate the effectiveness of body mass index (BMI) tables placed in exam rooms as an intervention to encourage providers to calculate and record BMI scores in patients' medical records. DESIGN: In a prospective cohort design, medical record data for 276 adult patients at a federally funded community health center in New England were examined from August 2000 to August 2002 following the intervention. METHODS: Prominent, multicolored, laminated BMI tables were posted in the exam rooms of one of the study site's three primary health care teams. Medical record data collected included documentation of BMI calculation in medical records, documentation of an obesity diagnosis, and inclusion of heights and current weights. Frequency distributions were calculated; chi-square tests were used to identify associations. FINDINGS: In contrast to the comparison teams, patients on the intervention team were more likely to have BMI recorded in the medical record. A statistically significant increase in the diagnosis of obesity was observed throughout the health center after the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Posting BMI tables in exam rooms contributed to increased BMI documentation in patients' medical records.