This dissertation presents four studies designed to investigate and provide evidence based insight into the preparation of health educators in the science and practice of nutrition. A mixed methods approach was utilized for this research. First, a review of the current literature will be presented discussing (a) what other authors have written regarding nutrition education for allied health professionals, and (b) the availability of research advocating for nutrition education for health educators. Also included is the review of twenty-three (23) articles addressing how researchers conceptualize nutrition, and their rationale for nutrition's inclusion into the respective allied health discipline's curriculum. Secondly, an analysis of the health education curriculum of a professional health program is presented. With the use of an availability scale, the university's most recent catalogue as well as the curriculum of the health degree was analyzed. The health program was also assessed for the presence of nutrition credentialed faculty and the presence of nutrition requirements and electives. Thirdly, the development and administration of an instrument to test the nutrition, nutrition education and health education knowledge of a sample of health and nutrition students will be discussed. The self-administered instrument was developed by the author. The final sample (n=123) comprised a purposeful set of students all currently enrolled at Texas A & M University, College Station, TX. The student's final scores on the instrument were assessed based on major, classification and by whether they had pursued a nutrition course during their undergraduate tenure. Lastly, a qualitative examination of health educators with the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) credential will be presented. Employing a naturalistic approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted. The final sample comprised four (4) persons. Health educators provided narratives related to their prior experiences in nutrition and their perceived competency in delivering nutrition education. Prior to this study, scientific literature has been deafeningly silent on nutrition and the health educator, the ability of health educators to deliver nutrition education, as well as the advocacy of nutrition for the profession. Thus, this study represents the first step towards addressing the limitations associated with the role of nutrition educator and filling the theoretical gaps.

No description available.

Background: Nurses entering the workforce may have limited education in gerontological nursing. Therefore, many nurses are unprepared to provide quality care to older adults. An unprepared nursing workforce could negatively influence older adults’ health outcomes and care experience. Purpose: To determine differences in senior nursing students’ knowledge, attitudes, and perceived competency about older adults based on enrollment in a bachelor of science in nursing degree (BSN), associate’s degree nursing (ADN), and practical nursing (PN) program that offers geriatric content in curricula. Theoretical Framework: Bandura’s social cognitive theory, triadic reciprocal determinism model provided the theoretical framework. Methods: A non-experimental, descriptive survey design with a convenience sample of students enrolled in a BSN, ADN and PN program. A total of 178 students participated in this dissertation study. Palmore Facts on Aging Quiz 2, Kogan’s Attitudes Toward Old People Scale, and the Hartford Geriatric Nurse Competency tool was used to collect data. Results: Students enrolled in BSN, ADN, and PN programs demonstrated limited knowledge about facts on aging. Students’ attitudes toward older adults were positive, and a correlation was found between knowledge and attitudes. Students perceived competency about older adults were high, but purely subjective. Students’ preference to work with older adults post graduation in the PN group were higher compared with students in both the BSN and ADN group. Conclusions: This study underscore the need to systematically design an evidence-based curriculum inclusive of geriatric content across (BSN, ADN, and PN) programs to prepare the future nursing workforce to care for older adults.

In this study, I examined the awareness, perceptions of required knowledge, and perceived competency of Texas secondary choral music educators concerning the new musician health objectives included in the revised Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills standards (TEKS). A secondary purpose of this study was to identify the activities and variables that promote the development of these characteristics and prepare educators to address the standards in their instruction. Using a researcher-designed web-based survey instrument, I gathered data from participants who were actively teaching choir in secondary public schools in the state of Texas (N = 183). As part of the survey, participants reported the highest degree they had attained and field of study, the completion of choral methods and vocal pedagogy courses during their training, participation in professional development, and years of teaching experience. Findings revealed that a majority of participants (53.01%) were not aware of the health-related standards prior to taking the survey. A majority also did not consider each objective as required curricular components (hydration: 69.95%, vocal health: 39.89%, body mechanics: 61.75%, hearing protection: 68.85%, hygienic practice: 69.96%). Participants did rate themselves highly for perceived competency, a measure including adherence to competent practices and views of personal ability. There were no statistically significant main effects observed for any variable on awareness and perceptions of knowledge. I did observe significant main effects of degree level and major, professional development participation, and completion of a choral methods course for measures of perceived competency.