Background: Cardiology is but one of the many clinical foci available to certified Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs). In fact, more acute care APRNs choose cardiology as their focus than any other. With such strong interest in cardiac advanced practice nursing, it is imperative to assess the adequacy of preparation for those who wish to follow this career path. Known barriers exist in the educational and clinical preparation of this APRN population, however, there is little research detailing the specifics of those barriers. Purpose: This study describes the needs of APRNs who plan to specialize in cardiology. Method and Sampling: A qualitative design was used to describe the motivation of APRNs specializing in cardiology, tools they currently utilize to achieve their specialization, and their needs based on the current approach. I recruited participants, APRNs specializing in cardiology, through meetings at a local cardiology practice. Seven APRNs specializing in cardiology with experience ranging from 10 months to 15 years, and currently working in a cardiac setting, participated in the study. Structured interviews were conducted to describe the needs of APRNs who plan to specialize in cardiology. The interviews were audiotaped and analyzed to reveal commonalities. Findings: After analyzing the audio recordings three major commonalities emerged: APRNs specializing in cardiology must overcome limited educational opportunities, APRNs specializing in cardiology require a higher level of skill than their formal training and licensing requirements provide, and the need to validate APRNs specializing in cardiology knowledge. Additional commonalities included availability and the type of degree programs, and a lack of cardiac focus in educational preparation. Conclusion: The findings showed the needs of APRNs who plan to specialize in cardiology are rooted in their educational preparation. There is a vast amount of variability among degree programs and a severe lack of cardiac focus in their educational preparation. In order to achieve competency, 100% of study participants secured a mentorship with an expert cardiac clinician for a minimum of one year post-graduation and without assistance from their educational programs. Additionally, APRNs specializing in cardiology believe a national certification or examination requirement would be beneficial to their practice.

Graduate nurses beginning their nursing career require a collaborative relationship with an expert nurse mentor to make this transition successful. However, high turnover among these experienced nurse mentors is causing a problematic gap in knowledge transfer, experience, and expertise in the nursing workforce. This project investigated whether nurse mentors who mentored in a Nurse Residency Program (NRP) remained with the organization longer and were more satisfied with their mentoring experience than nurse mentors who mentored outside of a NRP. The diffusion of innovations theory was used to support the project and process of dispersing information on the outcome of the project. Sources of evidence for the project included case-cohort studies, systematic reviews obtained via an exhaustive literature review, and the collection of nurse mentor retention and satisfaction data through the use of a cross-sectional survey. Data were assessed from 214 registered nurses at a hospital in Rapid City, South Dakota and divided into 2 groups: nurse mentor and NRP mentor. When compared to nurse mentors, 10% more NRP mentors reported being employed in their current position with the intent to remain employed for 10 or more years as well as being very satisfied with their mentorship experience, supporting the project question. This project substantiates the need for experienced nurse mentors to prepare new graduate nurses coming into the profession. Contribution to positive social change is as a result of mentorship in nursing that functions as a means of retaining both new graduate and experienced nurses simultaneously.

Registered Nurses (RNs) have a history of policy leadership that has altered the health care system and the profession. The purpose of the qualitative inquiry was to describe the experiences of six select Saskatchewan formal Registered Nurse leaders (RNLs) in policy. Through open-ended interviews and letters, personal experiences were interpreted using content analysis. The researcher identified key ideas from the interview data and requested a reflective letter expanding or clarifying the chosen text, serving to enhance triangulation and member-checking of personal transcripts. Meaningful patterns and/or similarities describing three themes of values, vision, and career paths emerged from the textual data. The coding framework evolved into ten categories describing individual experiences, such as mentoring, change management, and work-life balance. Three RNLs described how they wished more RNs were involved in policy, as they believed that RNs could harness more power in policy processes. Five RNLs told stories about how graduate education influenced their thinking and they gained appreciation for leading action on policy issues.<p> The qualitative data were presented in categories for discussion. One RNL described how organizational structures may a limiting factor to RNs participation in policy. Implications and recommendations of the findings are outlined for education, practice, administration, research, and policy. Findings are relevant for professional, health care, and government organizations, as well as education programs. Relevance may be found by individual practitioners considering a leadership role, to assist in informing potential career paths.

Registered Nurses (RNs) have a history of policy leadership that has altered the health care system and the profession. The purpose of the qualitative inquiry was to describe the experiences of six select Saskatchewan formal Registered Nurse leaders (RNLs) in policy. Through open-ended interviews and letters, personal experiences were interpreted using content analysis. The researcher identified key ideas from the interview data and requested a reflective letter expanding or clarifying the chosen text, serving to enhance triangulation and member-checking of personal transcripts. Meaningful patterns and/or similarities describing three themes of values, vision, and career paths emerged from the textual data. The coding framework evolved into ten categories describing individual experiences, such as mentoring, change management, and work-life balance. Three RNLs described how they wished more RNs were involved in policy, as they believed that RNs could harness more power in policy processes. Five RNLs told stories about how graduate education influenced their thinking and they gained appreciation for leading action on policy issues.<p> The qualitative data were presented in categories for discussion. One RNL described how organizational structures may a limiting factor to RNs participation in policy. Implications and recommendations of the findings are outlined for education, practice, administration, research, and policy. Findings are relevant for professional, health care, and government organizations, as well as education programs. Relevance may be found by individual practitioners considering a leadership role, to assist in informing potential career paths.

Thesis (M.J.S.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2008. / "December, 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 50-58). Library also has microfilm. Ann Arbor, Mich. : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [2009]. 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm. Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Bakgrund: HIV är ett globalt problem med cirka 30-36 miljoner människor som har sjukdomen. Generellt har människor med HIV-smitta sämre hälsa och känsla av sammanhang, behovet av information har hälsorelaterad påverkan på patienter. Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva sjuksköterskans kunskap och dess betydelse i vården av patienter med HIV-smitta. Metod: Studien består av en litteraturöversikt innehållande tretton artiklar med såväl kvantitativ som kvalitativ ansats. Resultat: Sjuksköterskor har viljan och anser att de behöver lära sig mer om sjukdomen. Positiva attityder gentemot patienter hör samman med bättre kunskap. Utbildning om HIV minskar rädsla och ger sjuksköterskor större förståelse för diskriminering och stigmatisering. Slutsats: Kunskapen hos sjuksköterskor har betydelse i vården av patienter med HIV-smitta, den visar sig i attityder och ställningstaganden samt rädsla och stigma. Kunskapen minskar rädslan hos sjuksköterskor, vilket leder till en god vård för patienterna. Sjuksköterskors medvetenhet om att beteenden påverkar stigmatisering gör att hälsan sannolikt ökar hos patienterna. / Background: HIV is a global problem, about 30-36 million people have the disease. Generally, people with HIV infection have worse health and sense of coherence, the need for information has health-related effects on patients. Purpose: The purpose is to describe nurses' knowledge and its importance in the care of patients with HIV infection. Method: The study consists of a literature review with thirteen articles of both quantitative and qualitative approach. Results: Nurses have the will and believe they need to learn more about the disease. Positive attitudes towards patients are associated with better knowledge. Education about HIV reduces fear and gives nurses greater understanding of discrimination and stigmatization. Conclusion: The knowledge of nurses is important in the care of patients with HIV infection; it manifests itself in attitudes and positions, as well as fear and stigma. Knowledge reduces the fear of nurses, leading to good health care for patients. The nurse's awareness that behavior affects stigma means that health is likely to increase in the patients.

Primary health care reform is currently underway in Ontario with the goals of improving health care access, quality and continuity of care while increasing patient and provider satisfaction and cost effectiveness. Interprofessional collaboration in the provision of primary health care has been widely espoused in the health care literature as a means of achieving the goals of primary health care reform. Primary health care nurse practitioners in collaboration with physicians and other allied health professionals have a fundamental role in enhancing primary health care in Ontario. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe nurse practitioners’ experiences and perceptions of interprofessional collaboration with physicians in the provision of primary health care in Ontario. A qualitative descriptive study design was used and six nurse practitioners working in a variety of primary health care settings in Ontario were purposively sampled and interviewed regarding their experiences and perceptions of interprofessional collaboration with partnering physicians. Interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis techniques and themes were identified. Seven themes were identified as key factors influencing collaboration within the nurse practitioner – physician dyad from the nurse practitioner’s perspective. These themes included: quality of communication, complementary vision, physician remuneration methods, establishing and maintaining relationships, investing time and energy, nurse practitioner competency and expertise and mutual trust and respect. A model of nurse practitioner – physician interprofessional collaboration is used to organize the themes identified. The findings of this study support current recommendations for joint education initiatives for health care professionals and practice initiatives aimed at improving collaboration between partnering nurse practitioners and physicians. Areas for future research include incorporating the client’s experiences and perceptions within collaborative practice as well as developing and evaluating interventions that strengthen collaboration within the health care team / Thesis (Master, Nursing) -- Queen's University, 2009-09-22 12:06:31.203

Thesis (Ph. D.)--School of Nursing. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2006. / "A dissertation in nursing." Advisor: Jan Russell. Typescript. Vita. Title from "catalog record" of the print edition Description based on contents viewed Nov. 9, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-128). Online version of the print edition.

Magister Curationis - MCur / Teacher identity is regarded as an important disposition when it comes to training would-be teachers, irrespective of the field of study. It is during the teaching practice experience that student nurse-educators transit from their preconceived identity as a student to accepting the teacher identity. It is expected that for student to acquire this identify they require profound knowledge in subject content, pedagogy and didactic knowledge, so as to perform their professions effectively. Although the focus of teaching is the student teachers, attention is sometimes focused more on the nursing facilitators rather than on the nursing student teachers who are becoming teachers. However, good nursing training should also take into consideration the perceptions of nurse student teachers on the teacher identity. This study sought to describe student nurse-educators’ perception of teacher identity with respect to the subject matter, pedagogy, and didactic expertise at a School of Nursing, University of the Western Cape. The quantitative research approach, using the descriptive design was employed to guide the study. Data was collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire using a five point Likert scale. A list of students in master’s education programme was utilised as the sampling frame. The sample included the Masters students in nursing education programme who have completed their theoretical courses and teaching practice. The Statistical Package for Social Science software (SPSS) version 22 was used in the analysis of the survey. The study showed that teacher identity of student nurse-educators is strongly related to their perceived level of knowledge of expertise in subject matter (34%) followed by a grasp in didactics (33.28%). Teacher identity was less perceived in mastering knowledge related to pedagogy (33.12%). While the average median were 3.50 for subject matter, 3.54 in didactics and 3.50 for pedagogy. The relation between knowledge of expertise in subject matter, pedagogy and didactics were established after performing Kendall tau-c test. The link between gender and subject matter, pedagogy and didactics revealed no significant association. No significant difference was found between males and females respondents perceptions with regards to subject matter and didactics; while significant difference was found with didactics. The findings make a contribution to the body of knowledge in the nursing education field, and could contribute to improve the competency and quality in the practice of nursing education. With regards to the speculation on identity formation and development issues, it is hoped these findings will provide greater understanding of the difficulties student nurse-educators experience as they construct individual identities as teacher.

Using symbolic interaction as a theoretical framework, the researcher explored the nurses' interpretation of their interactions with elderly, confused patients for the purposes of understanding nurses' behavior and of implementing more effective nurse-patient interactions. Qualitative data were collected during interviews with 18 registered nurses currently working either full-time or part-time in one of three extended care units. Findings indicated that the nurses perceived specific patient behaviors, nurse behaviors, and external factors as influencing all phases of this interaction. Six categories of patient behaviors emerged from the data. These categories are: (a) disruptive behaviors, (b) contextually inappropriate behaviors, (c) unintelligible behaviors, (d) memory-impaired behaviors, (e) unproductive repetitions, and (f) unpredictable fluctuations. These behaviors influenced the nurse-patient interaction by reducing the frequency with which nurses attached understandable meaning to patients' behavior, thereby reducing the effectiveness of and their satisfaction with the interaction. The nurses' perceived that their behavior influenced the type, frequency, and duration of nurse-patient communication, the degree to which the interaction was individualized and patient focused, and the extent of patient control during the interaction. When patients influenced nursing behaviors in ways that reduced the frequency and person-oriented nature of the interaction, the nurses experienced the interaction as stressful and dissatisfying and subsequently withdrew to some degree. External factors described as personal, interpersonal, and impersonal either facilitated or impeded the nurses' ability to assign understandable meaning to patients' behavior. The amount of understanding that occurred influenced the quality of care and communication and the amount of stress experienced by the nurse. The findings suggest that geriatric nurses should focus their behavior on patients' psychosocial and emotional needs in addition to their physical needs. Nurses must be aware of the impact of behavior identified as confusion on the interaction. In response they must direct their caregiving and communication behaviors toward minimizing the impact of the reduced understanding that occurs during the interaction. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Nursing, School of / Graduate