Computerized test development software. A comparative review updated.

This article provides a comparative review of nine commercially available software programs: A+ Test Manager and Test Taker, CATSoftware, Diploma 97, Examaker for Windows, FastTEST, Microtest Pro, Pedagogue, Question Mark, and Test Construction Set. Issues for using test development software are covered including security, pedagogical uses, and test design and administration. Nurse educators are encouraged to consider the unique needs of each setting when selecting a software package to support test development and administration.

Computerized NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN preparation programs. Comparative review, 1997.

The computerized test taking market continues to expand to meet the needs of nursing students studying to prepare for the NCLEX-RN and the NCLEX-PN. In addition, currently registered nurses may choose to use these software programs to review clinical knowledge in areas in which they are not currently practicing. This article reviewed software designed for personal use, review books with complete disks, on-site institutional testing and consultation, and school of nursing LANs. The costs of software for personal use is priced reasonably and provides flexibility for students to use as their schedule permits. The cost of institutional licenses is moderate and most programs provide multiple on-site use rights. The marketplace has responded to the computerized NCLEX testing now in place nationally. As new formats are developed and new uses identified, nursing faculty and students can expect to see an expanded use of computerized testing.

Patterns of marital interaction associated with marital dissatisfaction and depression.

This research compared couples reporting high and low levels of marital interactions in which one spouse responds ineffectually to the rights-infringing behavior of the mate. The results of planned comparisons indicated that high frequencies of such interactions were associated with reports of marital dissatisfaction and depression in husbands and marital dissatisfaction in wives. When both spouses described their mates as transgressive and themselves as ineffectual responders to transgression, the dysfunction reported by both spouses was pronounced. Examination of partial correlation, coefficients indicated that each spouse's role in the interaction pattern contributed to its dysfunctional nature.

An examination of the relationships among interpersonal stress, morale and academic performance in male and female medical students.

Conflicts between medical students and persons involved in their clinical training are a common, yet little studied, source of stress for students. The study reported in this paper examined the relationships between interpersonal stress, specific to training, and measures of students' morale and academic performance during the clinical phase of medical education. The results show that although interpersonal stress was inversely related to morale in both male and female students, the relationship was stronger for females. Morale and interpersonal stress variables strongly predicted the academic performance of female students, as measured by the grades they received in clinical clerkships and their scores on the Part II examination of the National Board of Medical Examiners. The results for males were less clear-cut, as the predictor variables were significantly related to only one of the two performance measures. These findings are consistent with the view that non-cognitive factors have particular relevance for the performance of female medical students.

Prevalence and correlates of posttreatment and anticipatory nausea and vomiting in cancer chemotherapy.

Prevalence and correlates of posttreatment and anticipatory nausea and vomiting (NV) were examined in 149 cancer patients receiving chemotherapy at four treatment centres. Results of multiple regression analyses indicated that posttreatment NV was associated with treatment centre, diagnosis, drug toxicity, and frequency of antiemetic premedication. Anticipatory NV was found to be associated with age, treatment centre, drug toxicity and frequency of posttreatment NV. Eight predictor variables accounted for 49% of the variance in anticipatory NV. Variables showing significant unique effects included age, treatment centre, posttreatment NV and the age by posttreatment NV interaction. Results suggest the importance of examining environmental, psychosocial, and treatment-related variables that may differentiate treatment centres and strongly support the role of classical conditioning in the development of anticipatory NV.

Interpersonal conflicts involving students in clinical medical education.

Fourth-year medical students at the four training sites of the University of Illinois College of Medicine were surveyed as to the frequency and difficulty of 99 interpersonal conflict situations that had been identified by their peers, supervisors, and coworkers. The situations were classified by the authors into two types, those requiring assertiveness skills and those requiring aggressiveness skills. A majority of the conflict situations involved students interacting with authorities (mostly residents and attending physicians), and three-quarters were of the aggressive type. The students reported the least difficulty with assertive-type conflict situations that involved peers and with aggressive-type conflict situations that involved nurses. Students at the Chicago campus reported more problems than those at the smaller, regional sites. The only significant difference between men and women students was that the women reported more occurrences than the men of aggressive-type conflict situations involving nurses.