The goal of this research was to determine how the nursing faculty shortage in Florida was being addressed. The purpose of this descriptive, comparative study was to explore program length, size, and admission criteria of master's of science in nursing (MSN) degree programs. Characteristics of both traditional and non-traditional programs that offered the education specialty were examined. Non-traditional programs included registered nurse to master's of science in nursing (RN-MSN) degree programs. Characteristics of students enrolled in the education track of these programs were also compared, based on participant's entry level into nursing practice. The three comparison groups included diploma prepared nurses, associate degree prepared nurses, and baccalaureate prepared nurses. Comparative and descriptive statistics with cross tabulations and frequencies, were used to determine comparisons, based on responses to questionnaire items that focused on reasons for entering the program, financial assistance, program satisfaction, goals, future plans, years of experience, nursing specialty, employment status, and demographics. The literature review found very few current studies on non-traditional and traditional MSN degree programs. Results of this study found only nine programs in the state that offered an MSN with a nursing education specialty with participation elicited from five of those nine programs. Findings revealed that within those programs were a variety of both traditional and non-traditional options that were unique in how they were organized and administered. Descriptive, comparative analysis revealed no significant differences in student characteristics of the three identified groups for those enrolled in master's level coursework in the nursing education specialty in spring of 2006. Overall, participants in the MSN programs indicated that they chose the program because they needed it for advancement, they wanted additional knowledge and skills, and the reputation and location were important. Their education was financed with personal earnings or loans. Upon completion of the program they planned to stay in their current positions and continue for a doctoral degree or specialty certification in nursing. Within 10 years they planned to be working as a faculty member in a nursing program. They were Caucasian women, aged 41-55, who lived with a significant other and children, worked more than 33 hours per week in critical care, pediatrics or education, and had more than 20 years of work experience. Findings indicated that the diversity of the MSN programs made no difference in the types of students that were attracted to the programs. These findings may be used to target recruitment efforts toward those interested in becoming nursing faculty in an effort to help alleviate the nursing faculty shortage in Florida.

Community health workers are projected to grow in number by 17 percent by 2030. A baccalaureate degree in nursing (BSN) provides a foundation for public health nursing practice. The Competencies for Public Health Nursing Practice instrument was distributed to BSN students at a Midwestern university before and after an educational intervention. Students completed a pretest (n = 269) and posttest (n = 154). All four subscales and total score indicated a significant increase in competence (p < .001). There is a need to develop interactive public health nursing simulations with an interprofessional venue to help students improve teamwork and communication competencies [...]

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There is much debate on the best way to educate students on how to generate hypotheses to enhance clinical reasoning in nursing education. To increase opportunities for nursing programs to promote the discovery of accurate and broad-level hypotheses, scholars recommend abductive reasoning which offers an alternative approach to hypothetico-deductive reasoning. This study explored the effects of abductive reasoning training on hypothesis generation abilities (accuracy, expertise, breadth) of first and second year baccalaureate nursing students in a problem-based learning curriculum. A quasi-experiment with 64 participants (29 control, 35 experimental) was conducted. Based on their allocation, study participants either took part in abductive reasoning training or informal group discussion. Three different test questionnaires, each with a unique care scenario, were used to assess participants’ hypothesis generation abilities at baseline, immediate post-test and one-week follow-up. Content validity for care scenarios and other study materials was obtained from content academic experts. Compared to control participants, experimental participants showed significant improvements at follow-up on hypothesis accuracy (p=0.05), expertise (p=0.006), and breadth (p=0.003). While control participants’ hypotheses displayed a superficial understanding of care situations, experimental participants’ hypotheses reflected increased accuracy, expertise and breadth. This study shows that abductive reasoning, as a scaffolding teaching and learning strategy, can allow nursing students to discover underlying salient patterns in order to better understand and explain the complex realities of care situations. Educating nursing students in abductive reasoning could enable them to adapt existing competencies when trying to accurately and holistically understand newer complex care situations. This could lead to a more holistic, person-based approach to care which will allow nursing students to see various health-related issues as integrated rather than separate. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This study explored the effects of a training program on hypothesis generation abilities of nursing students. The training program aimed to teach students how to think more broadly about care situations. Student’s hypothesis generation abilities were measured through the use of three care scenarios, each of which was presented before, immediately after and one-week after the training program. Only first and second year nursing students were included in the study. About half of the students were provided with the training while the other half were provided with informal discussion about hypothesis generation. After one-week, it was discovered that students who received the training had improved significantly in their ability to generate broad hypotheses. These students also generated hypotheses that were more accurate than the other group of students who did not receive the training. Due to the training, students’ abilities in discovering the important aspects of the care situation also improved.

Simulation is a critical component of nursing education. It provides a safe environment to practice and evaluate skills, supplements clinical hours, and removes barriers to a well-rounded education. Nurses are expected to be educators as part of our scope of practice, and simulation can facilitate this. One topic of nursing importance is lactation education, as breastfeeding has been shown to have multiple benefits for both mother and baby. National rates of exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months do not currently meet CDC recommendations. The pedagogy known as the Protégé Effect suggests that learning can be improved through teaching. Breastfeeding is a topic that inherently involves patient education but is currently given minimal attention in most nursing curricula. The purpose of this thesis is primarily to determine whether breastfeeding education within simulation improves student self-efficacy and secondarily, to explore the ramifications on clinical performance. A literature review was conducted across CINAHL, MEDLINE, Applied Science & Technology Source, ERIC, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar to find studies comparing breastfeeding education to student self-efficacy within a simulated environment. Inclusion criteria included medical and nursing students at undergraduate- and graduate-level education, full text, written in English, and any student-led teaching opportunities about lactation and breastfeeding. After critical appraisal, 8 qualitative and quantitative articles were included in the study. Current literature strongly suggests breastfeeding simulations improve self-efficacy, but the findings are preliminary in nature. More research is needed. Including breastfeeding education in simulation can better prepare nursing students to assume their role as educators.

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The purpose of this descriptive, ex post facto study was to examine possible relationships between demographic, pre-programmatic, and programmatic factors with success in a final Advanced Medical-Surgical nursing course and the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses, as well as their predictive abilities. Data were obtained from the academic records of 209 full-time and part-time nursing program graduates who completed an upper-division baccalaureate nursing degree at a mid-Atlantic private urban university. Descriptive and inferential analyses were utilized to discover possible relationships between the two dependent variables and the various independent variables in groupings suggested by Carroll's (1963) model of School Learning. Two models were derived to predict success in the nursing program as evidenced by successful completion of the final Advanced Medical-Surgical nursing course and passing the NCLEX-RN on the first attempt. The first model identified age at entrance to the nursing program and repeating a science course as the two factors that explained approximately 49% of the variance in the Advanced Medical-Surgical course performance. The second model was able to predict 97.2% correctly those graduates who would be successful on the NCLEX-RN, and only identify 43.8% of those candidates likely to fail. The overall classification ability by the model was 89%. Implications for nursing educators are that more attention needs to be given to admission policies/procedures, and that students entering nursing programs require routine standardized evaluation, identification and remediation of nursing content gaps in order to be successful throughout their nursing studies and ultimately on the NCLEX-RN. / Educational Psychology