The purpose of this study was to analyze the utilization of needs assessments by training and development professionals in a large metropolitan training association. The study sought to determine (1) how frequently needs assessments were used; (2) how the results of needs assessments were used; (3) whether the needs assessment model was developed by in-house staff or outside consultants; (4) whether needs assessments were utilized more frequently within specific industry groups; and (5) the respondents' perceived level of importance placed on the needs assessment process. To accomplish these objectives, this study surveyed members of the Dallas chapter of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD).

The movement of nursing professionals from the public sector to the private sector, and from the private sector to foreign countries severely impact on the ability of developing countries to meet their domestic health care needs. In South Africa, the public health care system is facing serious human resource constraints, due to this migration. There simply aren’t enough experienced nurses to manage the escalating health care service consumption caused by factors such as population growth, increased burden of disease, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and decreased training of nursing personnel. A staggering 37 801 doctor and nurse posts are vacant in public hospitals and clinics (Kahn, 2008). Unless improved human resource management strategies are implemented urgently, the migration of health care workers from especially public service health institutions in South Africa will seriously hamper implementation of the stated health care reform strategy. This study investigates the reasons why South African nurses are leaving the public and private health sector, or their profession, or even the country as a whole. Based on the results of a survey of 67 nurses in the private and public health sectors in the northern Kwazulu Natal area, the study found that unfavorable working conditions together with low levels of job satisfaction caused by perceived reasons such as insufficient salaries, limited career advancement, ineffective management, excessive workload and safety concerns led to this state of job satisfaction. Most of the drivers responsible for this exodus can be attributed to the real or perceived deterioration in socio-political factors. The recommendations for the health care sector in South Africa are; • Review nurses salaries annually – not only during restructuring or crisis situations. • Ensure that nurse’s remuneration packages are competitive with those of similar professions. • Pay nurses incentives for working unsocial hours. • Pay nurses bonuses for acquiring additional qualifications. • Pay nurses who work late shifts additional allowances. • Train nursing managers. • Provide training and education opportunities for nursing staff. • Respect should be shown by managers, physicians and colleagues. • Improve the workplace environment and working conditions of nursing staff. • Improve overall morale by rewarding excellence and treating nurses with respect and dignity.

Class of 2012 Abstract / Specific Aims: Health disparities are contributing to differences in access to healthcare and health outcomes among diverse groups in the United States. Causes of health disparities are multifactorial. One approach to minimize health inequalities is through educating future health care professionals. The purpose of this review is to identify and describe approaches for developing health disparities curriculum for health professions programs in the United States. Methods: A systematic review was conducted in April of 2012 to identify articles describing medical and nursing school curricula, educational courses, and activities focusing on health disparities in the United States. The search was conducted by utilizing Medline PubMed database. Articles describing a specific educational course/curriculum in health disparities in medical and nursing undergraduate or graduate programs were included in the review. The review did not take into account continuing education programs. All articles describing educational programs focus on healthcare disparities in the United States. Main Results: The search identified 153 articles focusing on specific health disparities curricula or education programs. Out of those articles 30 were included in the analysis. Results are pending. Conclusions: Anticipated results will aid in identifying successful and effective health disparities curricula for health professions programs in the United States.

This study examines how agencies might work together more effectively to improve the life chances of young people who fall `through the net' of agency provision. Whatever the situation, the failure to co-operate challenges a democratic society and basic human rights. The problem occurs when individual primary care agencies either: • try to do on their own what can only be achieved by co-operation, or • fail to do anything because, in their view, the client's needs should be met by some other agency, or • only do what they can do on their own. The purpose of this study is to establish: • to what extent improvements in inter-agency co-operation would help agencies work more effectively with young people variously described as falling through the net, or on the margins of an agency's responsibility • what factors contribute to these improvements • what characterises effective models of inter-agency practice. The study finds that over the last thirty years, the legislative framework surrounding inter-agency co-operation for young people provides few examples of structures or procedures requiring agencies to co-operate. Where these exist, they have been set up in response to needs or crises of pressing concern at the time. Research into the practice of inter-agency work shows that successful inter-agency projects set up to meet the needs of those at risk of falling through the net follow a characteristic pattern. This led to the construction of a model based on the idea that successful inter-agency practice depends on the existence of collaborative activity at three interconnected levels: policy and planning; implementation, case work, research and training; networking/liaison. Projects supported at all three levels are more likely to be successful and survive than those which are not. This pattern can be replicated in different contexts and with different client groups to ensure effective co-ordination and redistribution of resources, and that a balance is held between preventative and proactive work. The model's key elements enable it to structure communication pathways within and between agencies, to co-ordinate activity in relation to a particular issue, to develop the interpersonal skills of participants and to provide feedback to policy makers. The research concludes that: • formal structures promoting inter-agency collaboration encourage agencies to innovate and to provide co-ordinated services for young people needing more support than can be provided by any one of them • inter-agency work has become a new area of professional and para professional expertise • models designed to help agencies meet the needs of people at risk can be applied to other projects set up to solve complex problems involving more than one department.

acase@tulane.edu / Background: For the past two decades, Louisiana’s health status has ranked among the lowest in the nation. In 2009, Louisiana was ranked 47th in the nation which indicated marginal improvements from their 49th position in 2008. 1, 2 In addition, the 2009 Commonwealth State Scorecards Report ranked the Louisiana health system performance, in terms of health outcomes, among the poorest in the nation.One reason for this disparity could be attributed to shortages of physicians and other healthcare resources in the state. These shortages were exacerbated by the damage done by the 2005 hurricanes to hospitals and physicians’ practices in New Orleans, and throughout the state.3 Today, 86 percent of Louisiana parishes are designated health professional shortage areas by the Health Resources and Services Administration Shortage Designation Branch (HRSAS). 4 Specifically, 126 areas in Louisiana are considered as primary care shortage areas. 5 Louisiana is ranked 6th in the nation in percent of the population lacking access to primary care. 5According to the Medical Education Commission, approximately 40 percent of Louisiana’s medical school graduates and physicians leave the state after completing their medical residencies. 6 Study Design: Using data from the 2006-2007 Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners (LSBME) providers’ data set and the 2007-2008 Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of Louisiana providers’ data to report active physicians by specialty and location in the state, this cross-sectional study analyzed disparities in statewide health system performance, measured by mortality amenable to healthcare (MAHC). Age-adjusted standardized mortality rates (ASMR) from all conditions amenable to healthcare were derived and extracted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) The Distribution of Physician Workforce in Louisiana: Implications for Outcomes of Care Compressed Mortality File (CMF).7 The CMF is a county-level national mortality and population database spanning the years 1968-2006. The model controlled for sociodemographic factors and health care resources available in the different parishes. Population data were obtained from the 2006-2007 county-specific Area Resource File (ARF). The unit of analysis was the parish. Results: Louisiana is facing a maldistribution of physicians by specialty (primary care vs. specialty care) and geography. Furthermore, throughout Louisiana, health system performance as measured by ASMR from all conditions amenable to healthcare varied widely. Conclusion: Variations in parish physician supply did not explain variations in MAHC. Rather, significant associations were found between socio-economic factors and MAHC / 1 / Maysoun Dimachkie Masri

This study included three projects which investigated aspects of decision-making in a nursing context. The specific decision studied concerned selection of a long term management strategy for use by a patient with a newly fashioned colostomy. Literature reviewed reveals debate about the extent to which patients should participate in decisions about their health care, but ongoing work using the Autonomy Preference Index provides an argument for partnerships in decision-making between patients and health care professionals. This research contributed to the knowledge base in stomal therapy nursing, decision theory, collaborative practice in nusing, assessment of patient satisfaction and health communication theory. The clinical implications and applications of the findings are far reaching because of the pervasiveness of patient decision-making in nursing practice / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The aim of the study was to understand professionals’ perceptions and experiences of adolescent stress. In the study I interested myself further if you can identify gender-specific patterns in the professional stories about young people's stress and stress related illness. Five interviews were conducted with professionals in psychiatry and social work. The thesis took its incipience in social constructionism. Although a gender perspective has been used to better analyze and understand the difference between gender. Theories used to understand the professionals’ experiences of adolescent stress were the SOC theory, the network perspective and the demand-control-support model. The study has been performed from a qualitative method in the shape of semi-structural interviews. The result of the study showed that the professionals’ feel that the causes of stress among young people can be external and internal demands. Higher demands are often placed on girls, which can be a cause for girls’ high stress level.  Also social media and technology can cause stress. The professionals also felt that personality determines how susceptible a youth is to stress. Insomnia, anxiety and depression are symptoms that express itself in both gender, but are most common among girls. Yet another reason why boys did not seem to be as stressful as girls, may have to do with the boys' stress symptoms manifest themselves in a different way than in girls. The professionals' treatment of adolescent stress was mainly on therapy and to help them get structure in their life and existence. It was also important to look at the social network that exist around the person. There was no method for precisely tapered stress. The study showed no differences according to gender in the attitude or treatment of stress. It also appeared that stress may be both genetically and socially determined, but that is still a question with no certain answer.

No description available.

Attitudes towards persons with disabilities have been a concern for years. This study examined the attitudes of rehabilitation professionals towards persons with disabilities and toward educational accommodation. The attitudes were examined through the collection and analysis of three components of data. The components were included demographics, intensity of disability contact, and attitudes toward education accommodation.

The movement of nursing professionals from the public sector to the private sector, and from the private sector to foreign countries severely impact on the ability of developing countries to meet their domestic health care needs. In South Africa, the public health care system is facing serious human resource constraints, due to this migration. There simply aren’t enough experienced nurses to manage the escalating health care service consumption caused by factors such as population growth, increased burden of disease, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and decreased training of nursing personnel. A staggering 37 801 doctor and nurse posts are vacant in public hospitals and clinics (Kahn, 2008). Unless improved human resource management strategies are implemented urgently, the migration of health care workers from especially public service health institutions in South Africa will seriously hamper implementation of the stated health care reform strategy. This study investigates the reasons why South African nurses are leaving the public and private health sector, or their profession, or even the country as a whole. Based on the results of a survey of 67 nurses in the private and public health sectors in the northern Kwazulu Natal area, the study found that unfavorable working conditions together with low levels of job satisfaction caused by perceived reasons such as insufficient salaries, limited career advancement, ineffective management, excessive workload and safety concerns led to this state of job satisfaction. Most of the drivers responsible for this exodus can be attributed to the real or perceived deterioration in socio-political factors. The recommendations for the health care sector in South Africa are; • Review nurses salaries annually – not only during restructuring or crisis situations. • Ensure that nurse’s remuneration packages are competitive with those of similar professions. • Pay nurses incentives for working unsocial hours. • Pay nurses bonuses for acquiring additional qualifications. • Pay nurses who work late shifts additional allowances. • Train nursing managers. • Provide training and education opportunities for nursing staff. • Respect should be shown by managers, physicians and colleagues. • Improve the workplace environment and working conditions of nursing staff. • Improve overall morale by rewarding excellence and treating nurses with respect and dignity.