Effective professional networking.

The reasons for nurse practitioners to develop a professional network are boundless and are likely to change over time. Networking opens doors and creates relationships that support new opportunities, personal development, collaborative research, policy activism, evidence-based practice, and more. Successful professional networking involves shared, mutually beneficial interactions between individuals and/or individuals and groups, regardless of whether it occurs face to face or electronically. This article combines nuggets from the literature with guidance based on the authors' combined experience in networking activities at the local, national, and international levels.

Shoulder dystocia and postpartum hemorrhage simulations: student confidence in managing these complications.

INTRODUCTION: Simulation is an effective teaching strategy for educating health professionals. However, little is known about the effectiveness of simulations in midwifery education. The purpose of this project was to determine whether the use of high-fidelity simulations for the obstetric emergencies of shoulder dystocia and postpartum hemorrhage increases student confidence in managing these complications. METHODS: The participants were registered nurses enrolled in a graduate midwifery education program in the Southeastern United States. Student confidence in learning to manage shoulder dystocia and postpartum hemorrhage was studied in 2 groups of students. The control group (n = 10) received standard teaching methods consisting of discussion, watching a video, and low-fidelity teaching methods. The intervention group (n = 18) received a high-fidelity simulation learning experience. Student confidence was measured before and after each learning experience using a validated, 8-item, Likert-type scale. RESULTS: In the control group, student confidence did not significantly increase after a classroom discussion or low-fidelity simulation experience. Student confidence increased significantly (P < .01) after the high-fidelity simulation learning experiences. When the differences between the pretest and posttest scores were compared for the control and intervention groups, there was a moderate effect size (0.54) for the intervention group for the shoulder dystocia simulations and a large effect size (1.68) for the postpartum hemorrhage simulations. CONCLUSION: High-fidelity simulations for shoulder dystocia and postpartum hemorrhage significantly increased student confidence in managing these complications.