Street Smart: Developing Relationships to Support Walkable Communities for All.

Background. Physical activity promotion is an essential intervention for the prevention of chronic disease by reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancers, as well as improving brain health. Previous approaches that emphasized physical fitness did not meet the needs of the larger population due to not incorporating integration of movement into daily life. Changes that result in the addition of even small amounts of physical activity, such as through active transportation, can make a big difference in quality of life and longevity. Innovative Approach. To increase opportunities for active transportation, Utah agencies are working across sectors to incorporate physical activity into routine, day-to-day activities that may help to address this challenging public health problem. Human-powered travel is a key component of community design supporting health and healthy behaviors. The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) built relationships with partners in order to promote active transportation. Lessons Learned & Recommendations. This article will demonstrate ways in which public health, transportation, and planning agencies can better engage to provide opportunities for all people to be physically active. DHHS addresses the importance of sharing public health data among state agencies, inclusion of under-represented populations in community feedback, and engaging in shared projects that will support the involvement of public health in transportation planning.

New Simulation Orientation for Sophomore Nursing Students: Continuous Quality Improvement.

ABSTRACT: This quality improvement project focused on reducing simulation-related anxiety and stress and building confidence in nursing students. The authors evaluated two methods to provide orientation to simulation on the first simulation day: the traditional faculty-led orientation and interactive orientation led by a high-fidelity simulator. Given the small sample size, there was no statistical difference in student-reported anxiety or stress; there was one significant difference in confidence. Qualitative data provided valuable qualitative feedback about the simulation experience that will be used to enhance future simulations.

Designing a disaster.

A mass casualty simulation was developed and implemented for senior-level nursing students in a large baccalaureate program. This simulation was developed to introduce students to rapid triage in an interactive and immersive experience. The purpose of the simulation was to provide students with a realistic, hands-on experience in a safe environment. Unlike other similar exercises, all students participated in the health care provider role rather than as observers or victims. Didactic content regarding triage and a short video preceded the surprise simulated "bus crash." The element of surprise was used to create the chaos and confusion that often accompanies these incidents. Fifteen victims were comprised of static manikins, high-fidelity human patient simulators, and live actors with various injuries. The students worked in small groups and assigned each victim an appropriate Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment triage category on the basis of what they learned in lecture. Participating students performed well on their final examinations on questions covering the triage content they learned in this unit and feedback regarding the simulated experience was overwhelmingly positive. This simulation could be adapted for the education of other health care providers who may be involved in a future mass casualty incident.

Chronic and acute fatigue and intershift recovery in undergraduate nursing students working 12 or 6-hour faculty-supervised clinical shifts.

BACKGROUND: Nursing student fatigue and recovery time are important considerations. PURPOSE: This descriptive research compared chronic/acute fatigue and recovery time between one 12-hour shift or two 6-hour faculty-supervised clinical shifts per week. METHODS: The Occupational Fatigue and Exhaustion Recovery (OFER) scale was completed by undergraduate students in pediatric and obstetrical courses. RESULTS: The student (N = 106) mean score on OFER was 37.57 for chronic fatigue, 56.57 for acute fatigue, and intershift recovery was 56.57. No differences in chronic fatigue (P = .40), acute fatigue (P = .14), or intershift recovery (P = .35) were found between groups. Nursing students (79%) preferred 12-hour clinical shifts as compared to 21% who chose two 6-hour clinical. CONCLUSIONS: No differences in chronic/acute fatigue or intershift recovery between a 12-hour clinical shift or two 6-hour clinical shifts were found. Nursing students preferred the one 12-hour clinical shift.

Doctoral Degree Preferences for Nurse Educators: Findings From a National Study.

BACKGROUND: Current doctoral degree options may not meet needs of nurses desiring educator roles in academic or health care settings. PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to assess preferences for existing terminal degree options for nurse educators and determine the need for a new doctoral degree in nursing education. METHOD: Nurses in practice, academia, and leadership nationwide (n = 826) answered a 19-item needs assessment survey regarding adequacy of and interest in terminal degree options. RESULTS: More than 60% reported current doctoral degrees available to nurse educators lack content in curriculum development and teaching-learning best practices in nursing. Most data supported a new terminal degree. CONCLUSION: A primary factor in nurses choosing not to enroll in a terminal degree program may be limited availability of education aligned with career goals. The doctor of nursing education, a practice degree parallel to the DNP, could prepare nurses for academic and practice educator roles.

Broadening Participation in Biology Education Research: Engaging Community College Students and Faculty.

Nearly half of all undergraduates are enrolled at community colleges (CCs), including the majority of U.S. students who represent groups underserved in the sciences. Yet only a small minority of studies published in discipline-based education research journals address CC biology students, faculty, courses, or authors. This marked underrepresentation of CC biology education research (BER) limits the availability of evidence that could be used to increase CC student success in biology programs. To address this issue, a diverse group of stakeholders convened at the Building Capacity for Biology Education Research at Community Colleges meeting to discuss how to increase the prevalence of CC BER and foster participation of CC faculty as BER collaborators and authors. The group identified characteristics of CCs that make them excellent environments for studying biology teaching and learning, including student diversity and institutional cultures that prioritize teaching, learning, and assessment. The group also identified constraints likely to impede BER at CCs: limited time, resources, support, and incentives, as well as misalignment between doing research and CC faculty identities as teachers. The meeting culminated with proposing strategies for faculty, administrators, journal editors, scientific societies, and funding agencies to better support CC BER.

Vision and change in biology undergraduate education, a call for action--initial responses.

The executive summary provides an overview of some of V&C's key recommendations regarding next steps in the effort to mobilize the biology community. It is, in essence, a call for national service. A publication discussing these recommendations and action items in more depth will be available later this year. Meanwhile, we highly recommend reading the Executive Summary of V&C, the NAS report (NAS, 2010), and a seminal article by Labov et al. (2010) summarizing the synergy created by these several reports on the changing nature of studies in biology and concomitant need to change biology education. Then, take action! Our hope is to see the formation of a community of biologists, similar to that forming in geology (Manduca et al., 2010): one that will advance biology undergraduate education so it truly reflects the discipline it serves.

Exploring DNA structure with Cn3D.

Researchers in the field of bioinformatics have developed a number of analytical programs and databases that are increasingly important for advancing biological research. Because bioinformatics programs are used to analyze, visualize, and/or compare biological data, it is likely that the use of these programs will have a positive impact on biology education. Over the past years, we have been working to help biology instructors introduce bioinformatics activities into their curricula by providing them with instructional materials that use bioinformatics programs and databases as educational tools. In this study, we measured the impact of a set of these materials on student learning. The activities in these materials asked students to use the molecular structure visualization program Cn3D to locate, identify, or analyze diverse features in DNA structures. Both the experimental groups of college and high school students showed significant increases in learning relative to control groups. Further, learning gains by the college students were correlated with the number of activities assigned. We conclude that working with Cn3D was important for improving student understanding of DNA structure. This study is one example of how a bioinformatics program for visualization can be used to support student learning.