Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Marie M. Seedor. Dissertation Committee: Ann Lieberman. Includes tables. Includes bibliographical references.

As the health care delivery system evolves, nurse educators must prepare graduates who can meet the comprehensive health needs of communities in a variety of settings. This article describes one college’s process of curricular change from a traditional to community-based format. The concepts that guided curriculum development and implementation are presented, along with the outcomes that have resulted from this change. Lessons learned as the curriculum was restructured are described.

Background: Over one half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended. Nurses are on the frontlines of the health care work force and often encounter women with unintended pregnancies in the clinical setting. They may find themselves responsible for options counseling and helping these women to explore their options of pregnancy, adoption and abortion. Discussing these three options in a non-judgmental, well-informed manner allows the woman to consider all possibilities. Leading this type of conversation requires specific skills and knowledge as well as the ability to deliver this information in a therapeutic, nonbiased manner. Purpose: The intent of this study was to analyze data regarding the inclusion of options counseling and abortion education in undergraduate nursing programs in New England. Identification of gaps can provide opportunities for curriculum reform. Due to the enormous impact that nurses have with patients, institutions have a responsibility to provide their students with accurate, honest, factual, current knowledge about options counseling including abortion. Doing so is a public health issue with the incentive of not only providing women with optimal health care and better maternal-fetal outcomes, but also to reduce spending nationwide. This study can support efforts to accomplish these goals. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was sent out via email to the faculty members of accredited undergraduate nursing programs throughout New England. It was active for approximately three months between June 2015 and September 2015 with intermittent reminders sent during that time frame. The survey inquired about personal attitudes, inclusion/exclusion of options counseling and abortion education as well as methods used to include this material in the curricula. Results: All states in New England were included in this study. Fifty percent of responding institutions reported that they include options counseling and abortion education in the curricula, while the remaining 50% reportedly do not. When asked to identify reasons that this content is not included in the current curricula, 80% of respondents indicated that it is not a curriculum priority due to time constraints. The main identified methods that support inclusion of options counseling and abortion in the curricula include classroom sessions focused on technical/evidence-based instruction, classroom sessions focused on ethical issues and assigned readings. Conclusions: Options counseling and abortion education is not adequately covered in undergraduate nursing curricula across New England. This data set is remarkably similar to a study done in 1997, showing that in the course of nearly 20 years, there has been little advance in the inclusion of options counseling and abortion education. In many instances, this material is given equal or more attention in ethical discussions rather than focusing on technical evidence-based instruction. Personal attitudes about abortion have been correlated with the inclusions of options counseling and abortion education and likely affect the content that is incorporated in the curricula.

The purpose of this study was to determine student nurses’ perceptions of (1) the role of the nurse in health promotion, and (2) how the concept of health promotion is presented in nursing curricula. Research questions for this study included the following: 1) Can nursing students explain the difference between health education and health promotion? 2) What have nursing students been exposed to within their curriculum regarding health promotion? 3) What health promoting behaviors are nursing faculty role modeling as perceived by nursing students? 4) What is the role of the nurse in implementing health promotion as perceived by nursing students? 5) How do nursing students define health? Attendees of the 57 Annual National Student Nurse Association (NSNA) Convention were asked to complete an anonymous survey. A total of n= 227 surveys were returned resulting in a participation rate of 47%. The findings from this study indicated that student nurses’ perceptions regarding the role of the nurse in health promotion revolve primarily around the concept of changing individual health behavior. While there are some indications that nursing students were exposed to the idea of health promotion as a socio-ecological approach that incorporates economic, policy, organizational and environmental changes, the majority of student nurses did not see faculty or nurses role-modeling a socio-ecological approach, nor did the students see themselves as participating in a more socio-ecological approach. For nurses to be recognized as health promoters, collaborate with health promotion leaders, and effectively teach nursing education, changes need to be made in the nursing curriculum to reflect appropriate and accurate health promotion concepts.

This descriptive case study addressed the problem that nursing students at a small community college lacked clinical experiences that promoted identification of their strengths and weaknesses in knowledge and skills expected of nurses. The interest in this individual case and purpose of this study was to understand the clinical learning activities nursing students at this site believed were effective strategies for evaluating their strengths and assessing areas needing improvement in their nursing practice. The theoretical foundation of adult learning formed the basis of this descriptive case study using a survey design to assess the students' perceptions of clinical learning activities that were effective for evaluating their strengths and weaknesses in their nursing practice. Descriptive statistics including frequencies and percentages of responses to a survey were used to summarize data related to the students' preferences for learning based on clinical activities. Key findings indicated that a large percentage of nursing students at the site strongly agreed that high-fidelity simulation was an effective strategy for evaluating strengths and assessing areas needing improvement in their nursing practice. Based on the findings, a curriculum plan with tools to prepare nursing educators to facilitate debriefing to enhance clinical learning activities was developed for the local school of nursing. The results of this study can be used by nursing educators as they integrate active learning and assessment activities, particularly high-fidelity simulation, into nursing education at this site. The findings could contribute to positive social change when nursing educators at the site are empowered to implement and assess components of the curriculum plan to positively impact nursing students' ability to reflect and evaluate their nursing practice resulting in improving their learning and nursing care.

This article details the process used to develop the revision of the original Guidelines that resulted in the development of the 2014 Health Care Quality and Outcomes Guidelines for Nursing of Children, Adolescents, and Families . Members of the 2014 Guidelines Revision Task Force conducted an extensive process of revision, which included the input and approval of 16 pediatric and child health nursing and affiliated organizational endorsements. The revised Guidelines were presented to and endorsed by the American Academy of Nursing Board. These Guidelines are designed for use by pediatric and child health nurses who work in a range of health care and community-based settings. The Guidelines are proposed to be used as a framework for nurse-directed services and intervention development and testing, as a model for undergraduate and graduate pediatric and child health nursing program curriculum development, and as the theoretical basis for nursing investigations on the care of children, adolescents, and families.

The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which rural nursing content is included in the curricula of baccalaureate and associate degree nursing programs in Texas. Additional purposes include determining the association between the emphasis on rural nursing content perceived by curricular chairpersons as ideal and current content emphasis, examining the difference in rural nursing emphasis between the two program levels, determining variables predictive of rural nursing emphasis and determining efforts to recruit students from rural areas. Data were collected by means of a mailed questionnaire developed by the investigator. Statistical analyses of these data were then conducted. Major findings include the determination of current and perceived ideal emphasis of rural nursing content, the difference in rural nursing emphasis between baccalaureate and associate degree nursing schools in Texas, the association between perceived ideal and actual content emphasis, those variables which are predictive of rural nursing emphasis in undergraduate curricula in Texas and the recruitment efforts from rural areas made by each level of program.

The purpose of the study The purpose of this research project was to develop and test an educational program for preparing Taiwanese nursing students for clinical practice. Study background The SARS outbreak revealed that health care professionals were ill-prepared for coping with the disease epidemic in terms of the rapid transmission of the infection, the high mortality and morbidity rate among health care workers, and the significant impacts on the public and health care personnel. Frontline nurses were the group at highest risk of becoming infected, as they are the health care personally that provide direct health care to infected patients. However, to date the ability of Taiwanese frontline nurses to respond to such a disease epidemic has not been examined. Study design This research project incorporated a three phase design, presented in the form of two separate studies. A small qualitative exploratory study was undertaken to validate the assumptions emerging from international literature regarding the preparedness nurses in managing an infection outbreak. The information gained was used to construct an infection control education program (Study I). A quasi-experimental design, using pre- and post-tests and experimental and control groups was then used to test the effectiveness of the education intervention (Study II). Participants A purposive sampling technique was used in the qualitative exploratory study, whereby six Taiwanese nurses who had provided direct nursing care to patients with SARS were interviewed. A convenience sampling approach was utilised in the quantitative study, which aimed to test the effectiveness of educational intervention. This, second study, had 175 participants in total, 80 in the experimental group and 95 in the control group. All participants were enrolled in the first semester of their fourth year in a five-year nursing program in two selected junior nursing colleges. The education intervention The purpose-designed standard and additional precautions (SnAP) program was the intervention. The experimental group received a SnAP program which consisted of 16 hours of classes over 16 weeks. The control group received a conventional education program. Data collection and instrument Data were collected at three time points during the study (baseline, four months, six month) using validated instrument. The reliability and validity of the instrument was established in a pilot study with a Taiwanese population prior to the present study. Data analysis t-tests and chi-square analyses were performed to assess any differences across demographic variables and baseline outcome variables between the experimental and control groups. Two-way repeated measures ANOVAs were used to examine the scores of the intervention and control groups across three time points. Results The data revealed that, at six months following the education program, there was a statistically significant improvement in the knowledge (F [2,180] =13.53, p=0.001) and confidence (F [2,94] =4.88, p= 0.01) of infection precautions in the intervention group compared to the control group. Also, the means of knowledge and confidence in intervention group showed a consistently increased across three time points; whereas, the mean of confidence relating infection control management in the control group resulted a drop at time 3. Although the application skills relating to infection control procedures did not show a statistically significant change during this period (F [2, 174] = 2.54, p=0.081), there were minor improvements in these scores at the six-month follow-up assessment. Conclusion The SnAP program had a positive impact on Taiwanese nursing students' readiness for clinical placement and potential outbreak of disease epidemics. Participation increased their knowledge about infection control precautions, their ability to properly use these specific precautions, and their confidence in solving infection-related issues in clinical practice.

Technological standards appear to be needed in undergraduate nursing education, as existing research has yet to establish technological standards for undergraduate nursing students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the lived experiences of senior nursing students with respect to their perceptions regarding exposure to and abilities gained in the areas of information management, information literacy, and computer literacy. The framework of the study was based on Bandura's theory of self-efficacy and the Dreyfus model of skills acquisition. Using a phenomenological approach, in-depth face-to-face interviews were used with a purposive sample to collect data about the technological competencies taught to 12 participants during their nursing education. The key research questions pertained to senior-level nursing students' perceptions regarding their educational exposure to technological skills, the level of competencies achieved, and technology's impact on patient care. A thematic analysis was done. The findings from this research study are that students' technological exposure appears to vary and that there is a need for uniform exposure during their nursing education. The results of this research revealed that most students were confident about computer literacy but needed to strengthen their knowledge related to information management and information literacy. Implications for social change is a better understanding of technological competencies offered, or still needing to be included, in undergraduate nursing syllabi. Further positive social change implications of the study for health services include the promotion of clear technological graduation standards for nursing graduates entering the health care workforce.

The problem with which this study is concerned is the inclusion of actual critical care experience in generic nursing curricula in the United States. A survey instrument was sent to faculty representatives selected by the dean of each of 312 generic baccalaureate nursing programs.