Battlefield acupuncture: Opening the door for acupuncture in Department of Defense/Veteran's Administration health care.

Battlefield acupuncture is a unique auricular acupuncture procedure which is being used in a number of military medical facilities throughout the Department of Defense (DoD). It has been used with anecdotal published positive impact with warriors experiencing polytrauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, and traumatic brain injury. It has also been effectively used to treat warriors with muscle and back pain from carrying heavy combat equipment in austere environments. This article highlights the history within the DoD related to the need for nonpharmacologic/opioid pain management across the continuum of care from combat situations, during evacuation, and throughout recovery and rehabilitation. The article describes the history of auricular acupuncture and details implementation procedures. Training is necessary and partially funded through DoD and Veteran's Administration (VA) internal Joint Incentive Funds grants between the DoD and the VA for multidisciplinary teams as part of a larger initiative related to the recommendations from the DoD Army Surgeon General's Pain Management Task Force. Finally, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences School of Medicine and Graduate School of Nursing faculty members present how this interdisciplinary training is currently being integrated into both schools for physicians and advanced practice nurses at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Current and future research challenges and progress related to the use of acupuncture are also presented.

Hospital-acquired infections as patient safety indicators.

Transmission of infection in the hospital has been identified as a patient safety problem adversely affecting patients, visitors, and health care workers. Prevention of infection should not be limited to the hospital epidemiology staff but also must involve the entire multidisciplinary team, including nurses. This chapter reviews the literature related to patient safety of nursing-authored studies of infection control in the hospital. The review indicated that there were key areas of research interest including drug resistance; hand hygiene products, procedures, and surveillance; preoperative skin preparations; health care worker transmission of infection; common procedures associated with an increased risk of transmission; and organizational issues.

Collaboration: leadership in a global technological environment.

Although collaboration is not a new idea, new opportunities for collaboration exist in this 21st century global-knowledge and information-driven economy. Technology has reduced time and space while enhancing communication, thereby opening the possibilities of exploring new boundaries in the area of interdisciplinary collaboration. The goal of this article is to assist leaders in changing the language of organizations so that new technologies can enhance collaboration. A systematic approach for leaders to use in assisting assist persons, groups, and organizations in integrating new technologies into their organizations locally and globally is offered, along with a summary of new, and several established, collaboration techniques.

Faculty and organizational characteristics associated with informatics/health information technology adoption in DNP programs.

Nursing informatics/health information technology are key components of graduate nursing education and an accreditation requirement, yet little is known about the extent to which doctor of nursing practice (DNP) curricula include these content domains. The purpose of this descriptive study was to elicit perceptions of DNP program directors relative to (a) whether and how the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's (AACN's) Essential IV standard has been met in their DNP programs; (b) whether the Technology Informatics Guiding Educational Reform Initiative Foundation's Phase II competencies have been integrated in their programs; and (c) the faculty and organizational characteristics associated with the adoption of the AACN's Essential IV. In 2011, an electronic survey was sent to all 138 DNP program directors identified on the AACN Web site with an 81.2% response rate. Findings include variation in whether and how programs have integrated informatics/health information technology content, a lack of informatics-certified and/or master's-prepared faculty, and a perceived lack of faculty awareness of informatics curricular guidelines. DNP program director and dean awareness and support of faculty informatics education, use of informatics competency guidelines, and national policy and stimulus funding support are recommended to promote curricular inclusion and the engagement of nurses in strong informatics practices.

Outcomes and effectiveness research: capacity building for nurse researchers at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Several of AHRQ's priority areas including disease prevention, health promotion, primary care, quality of care, service delivery, and patient safety are particularly relevant to nurse researchers. With much national attention focused on nursing-related issues such as staff shortages, training, mandatory overtime, working conditions, and autonomy, it is mandatory that nursing research be conducted to inform healthcare delivery and policy. Nurses also need to contribute to the health services literature so that an even balance of discipline perspective is represented. AHRQ's mandate is represented by the slogan "quality research for quality health care." Although our understanding has expanded of contributors to and determinants of evidence-based practice and the relationship between clinical care and improved outcomes, we have much to learn. Appreciating how and which components of nursing care influence patient outcomes represents an essential area of research in need of development. While clarifying nursing contributions to improved outcomes is not the sole purview of nurse researchers, it is plausible to assume that a clinical background in nursing combined with strong methodological skills can help policy makers and health system leaders understand how nurses can most effectively contribute to outcomes and quality improvement. AHRQ is clearly interested in capacity building of researchers from all relevant disciplines. Nurses, the largest provider of healthcare, need to build capacity and develop a much stronger presence in the health services research community of scholars.