Church leaders and parishioners speak out about the role of the church in advance care planning and end-of-life care.

OBJECTIVE: Despite the increased focus on improving advance care planning (ACP) in African Americans through community partnerships, little published research focused on the role of the African American church in this effort. This study examines parishioner perceptions and beliefs about the role of the church in ACP and end-of-life care (EOLC). METHOD: Qualitative interviews were completed with 25 church members (parishioners n = 15, church leader n = 10). The coding of data entailed a direct content analysis approach incorporating team experts for final themes. RESULTS: Seven themes emerged: (1) church role on end-of-life, (2) advocacy for health and well-being, (3) health literacy in EOLC, (4) lay health training on ACP and EOLC, (5) church recognized as a trusted source, (6) use of church ministries to sustain programs related to ACP and EOLC, and (7) community resources for EOLC needs. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: The church has a central role in the African American Community. These findings suggest that involving African American churches in ACP and EOLC training can have a positive effect on facilitating planning and care during illness, dying, and death for their congregants.

The Needs Assessment: An Educator's First Step.

Every novel curriculum begins with a needs assessment. A general needs assessment identifies the problem that a curriculum seeks to address, and it clearly delineates the gap between the current and ideal state of affairs. 1 Building on the general needs assessment, a targeted needs assessment refines those needs to the specific learners and their environment. 1-3 The two are a continuum and constitute the first step in curriculum design.

Implementation of an Evidence-Based Medicine Curriculum for Postgraduate Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant and Nurse Practitioner Fellows.

INTRODUCTION: Within physician assistant (PA) education, the inclusion of evidence-based medicine (EBM) is mandatory. Despite existing literature on EBM training methodologies for PA students and emergency medicine (EM) physician residents, there exists a dearth of published data concerning EBM instruction within postgraduate PA EM programs. A pilot study is described providing an overview of implementation of an EBM curriculum in a single-institution postgraduate physician assistant and nurse practitioner emergency medicine fellowship. METHODS: Quantitative data using pre-curriculum and post-curriculum surveys were collected. The curriculum included statistical concept screencasts, required attendance at a journal club with assigned topics for discussion, and used a critical appraisal tool designed to help fellows better analyze and understand the articles being reviewed. Upon graduation, fellows participated in structured interviews to collect qualitative data about the curriculum and application of learned concepts to the clinical setting. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant improvement in fellows' reported confidence in discussing the medical literature with practicing providers ( P = .02). However, there was no difference in prescores and postscores on EBM knowledge questions or on fellows' feelings of importance of EBM to clinical practice. Qualitative data revealed several themes, including helpfulness of tools provided in the curriculum, appreciation of curricular changes made secondary to fellow suggestions, and reports of improvement in reviewing medical literature and comfort in participation in local journal clubs upon graduation from the fellowship program. DISCUSSION: Limitations, including small sample size and validity concerns, are discussed. Positive changes were made to the curriculum based on qualitative data collected. The authors advocate for subsequent investigations into this subject within a multi-institutional and multispecialty context, thereby enhancing the breadth of the findings. Nevertheless, this study furnishes the initial accessible substantiation of the viability of introducing an EBM curriculum within this specific demographic.

Successful implementation of Medical Education Faculty Development Project at Saint George University of Beirut in the immediate post triple blow to Beirut.

Background: The aim of this study is to explore the efficacy of the Faculty Development Program (FDP) implemented at the Saint George University of Beirut-Faculty of Medicine (SGUB FM) under exceptional circumstances as the triple blow to Beirut. Methods: The Faculty Development, directed towards a cohort of 35 faculty members, is composed of two major components: methodology of teaching and techniques of assessment. The Kirkpatrick's assessment model, in combination with a specifically designed psychological questionnaire, were chosen to assess the effectiveness of the faculty development initiative. Results: Results of the different questionnaires were interpreted individually, then through the lens of the psychological questionnaire. A majority of faculty (55%) were significantly affected psychologically by Beirut's triple blow and 77% of all participants found the workshops to be of excellent quality (Kirkpatrick's Level I). Moreover, Kirkpatrick's level II results yielded a 76% mean percentage of correct answers to post-workshops MCQs and a significant improvement in the mean results of the self-assessment questionnaires, administered before and after each workshop. Results also show that the more a trainee is psychologically affected, the less he/she performs as evidenced by a decrease in the satisfaction rate as well as in the score of the cognitive MCQs and of the self-assessment questionnaires. Conclusions: This study was able to highlight that significant learning can occur amidst exceptional circumstances like the Beirut triple blow and administration should invest in professional growth to retain its faculty.

Teaching Everyone Everywhere All at Once: Leveraging Social Media to Implement a Multisite Fungal Diagnostics Curriculum.

Background: Environmental fungi are threats to personal and public health. Fungal in vitro diagnostics help diagnose invasive fungal infections (IFIs), but clinicians remain underinformed about their use and interpretation. Given the increasing use of social media to share infectious diseases-related content, we designed and implemented a multisite Twitter-based curriculum focused on IFIs and related diagnostics. Methods: Questions were posted through a dedicated Twitter account twice weekly over 8 weeks. We surveyed clinicians at 3 US academic centers before and after completion of the curriculum and interviewed a subset of participants. We undertook quantitative and qualitative evaluations and reviewed Twitter analytics. Results: We surveyed 450 participants. One hundred twenty-one participants (27%) completed the knowledge assessment precurriculum, 68 (15%) postcurriculum, and 53 (12%) pre- and postcurriculum. We found a significant increase (72% vs 80%, P = .005) in the percentage of correct answers in the pre- versus postcurriculum knowledge assessments. Perceived benefits included a well-executed curriculum that facilitated engagement with appropriately detailed tweetorials from a dedicated Twitter account. Perceived barriers included lack of awareness of tweetorial posts and timing, competing priorities, and the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. The Twitter account accrued 1400 followers from 65 countries during the 8-week period. Tweets with multiple-choice questions had a median of 14 904 impressions (interquartile range [IQR], 12 818-16 963), 798 engagements (IQR, 626-1041), and an engagement rate of 6.1% (IQR, 4.2%-6.6%). Conclusions: Educators can leverage social media to share content with a large audience and improve knowledge while being mindful of the barriers associated with implementing a curriculum on social media.

Education-service partnership to promote best practices in a latent tuberculosis infection program.

The education-service partnership described addresses the challenges presented to local health departments and public health nurses in completing required latent tuberculosis (LTBI) follow-up in population groups. A service learning partnership between the local health department and a Midwestern university school of nursing resulted in the development of an LTBI follow-up program that completed contacts with 193 subjects. Populations served by the program included immigrants to the community and workers from several occupational settings. Outcome data from the project included recommendations for the management of the information database for local health department LTBI follow-up. Nursing students gained an appreciation for the complexities involved in TB surveillance, and improved their cultural competence in the interface with Latino, African, and East European immigrant populations. Students gained first-hand experience with the current health care system, which resulted in communication challenges between health care providers and economic barriers in compliance with the CDC protocol for LTBI follow-up. The program demonstrated a successful partnership between service and education with positive results for the LTBI clients and the local health department nurses.

Using community-based participatory research in parish nursing: a win-win situation!

Parish nurses contribute to community health through the expertise and programming they provide to and through faith communities. Application of community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles helps develop, implement, and evaluate effective community interventions. University graduate students partnered with a Hospital Parish Nurse Program (HPNP) in an urban community to provide assessment data in a CBPR project that led the HPNP to focus resources and interventions on high obesity rates. The HPNP utilized data to write grant proposals to expand community services to impact obesity.

[The contibution of concept development to nursing knowledge? The example of transitoriness]. / Wissensvermehrung durch Konzeptentwicklung? Das Beispiel Vergänglichkeit.

To provide nursing practice with evidence, it is important to understand nursing phenomena in detail. Therefore, good descriptions including the identification of characteristics and attributes of nursing phenomena on various levels of abstraction, i. e., concepts, are needed. In this article the significance of concept development for nursing science will be demonstrated by drawing on the example of 'transitoriness'. The evolutionary concept analysis proposed by Rodgers (2000) is introduced in more detail. Drawing on transitoriness, the phenomenon is presented with the help of the evolutionary concept analysis by Rodgers (2000). The phenomenon's characteristics and attributes are identified, as well as potential areas of application. Moreover, areas are outlined, in which interventions for nursing practice can be developed, implemented and evaluated. Thus, nursing practice is updated to include new findings and innovation. Through concept analysis nursing phenomena can be described in more detail, enhanced or broadened for use in nursing practice. Such structured processes as concept analysis can be employed successfully for other nursing phenomena. Concept analyses can lead to the identification of tasks for the respective scientific discipline and professionals. Thus, concept analyses can lead to the concretisation of tasks in nursing.

Practice and Quality Improvement Leaders Survey of Expectations of DNP Graduates' Quality Improvement Expertise.

BACKGROUND: Input from practice leaders will improve how doctor of nursing practice (DNP) education is meeting the needs of the employer and improving patient outcomes. PURPOSE: This article describes the expectations practice leaders have of new DNP graduates' ability to contribute to quality improvement (QI) efforts within health care organizations. METHODS: A survey of practice leaders and QI experts investigated the importance and use of QI knowledge and skills. Practice leaders were also asked about the expectations of DNP graduates at the time of hire. RESULTS: The results of this study support the need for nurses pursuing a DNP in advanced nursing practice to have education and training beyond their area of specialization, specifically in QI methods and tools. CONCLUSIONS: Faculty need to provide DNP students education that includes concepts in QI and leadership to meet the expectations of future employers and the needs of a complex and changing health care system.

Survey of Nursing Faculty Preparation for Guiding DNP Quality Improvement Projects.

BACKGROUND: Quality improvement (QI) projects comprise the majority of University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) projects. METHODS: An online survey was completed by 51% (n = 38) of faculty, who teach or mentor DNP students, and was analyzed using quantitative and descriptive methods. RESULTS: Faculty were somewhat or not familiar with developing a QI charter 68.4%, human error theory and error proofing 63.2%, driver diagrams 60.5%, characteristics of high-reliability organizations 60.5%, and Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE) guidelines 55.3%. The faculty were most interested in learning more about (n = 97 responses) were human error theory and error proofing (28.9%), SQUIRE guidelines (26.3%), statistical process control (21.1%), and implementation strategies and tactics (21.1%). The most commonly identified challenges included identifying QI projects (24%), project time constraints (16%), keeping up-to-date on QI concepts, methods, and tools (12%), and balancing professional workload (10%). CONCLUSIONS: Gaps in self-reported QI knowledge indicate there is a need for further development of DNP and PhD prepared faculty at the UMSON.

The Efficacy and Use of a Pocket Card Algorithm in Status Epilepticus Treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a pocket card treatment algorithm improves the early treatment of status epilepticus and to assess its utilization and retention in clinical practice. METHODS: Multidisciplinary care teams participated in video-recorded status epilepticus simulation sessions from 2015 to 2019. In this longitudinal cohort study, we examined the sessions recorded before and after introducing an internally developed, guideline-derived pocket card to determine differences in the adequacy or timeliness of rescue benzodiazepine. Simulation participants were queried 9 months later for submission of a differentiating identification number on each card to assess ongoing availability and utilization. RESULTS: Forty-four teams were included (22 before and 22 after the introduction of the pocket card). The time to rescue therapy was shorter for teams with the pocket card available (84 seconds [64-132]) compared with teams before introduction (144 seconds [100-162]) (U = 94; median difference = -46.9, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -75.9 to -21.9). The adequate dosing did not differ with card availability (odds ratio 1.48, 95% CI: 0.43-5.1). At the 9-month follow-up, 32 participants (65%) completed the survey, with 26 (81%) self-reporting having the pocket card available and 11 (34%) confirming ready access with the identification number. All identification numbers submitted corresponded to the hard copy laminated pocket card, and none to the electronic version. CONCLUSIONS: A pocket card is a feasible, effective, and worthwhile educational tool to improve the implementation of updated guidelines for the treatment of status epilepticus.

Transitoriness in cancer patients: a cross-sectional survey of lung and gastrointestinal cancer patients.

OBJECTIVE: Despite earlier diagnosis and advancements in treatment, cancer remains a leading cause of death in the world (13% of all deaths according to the World Health Organization) among men and women. Cancer accounts for approximately 20% of the deaths in the USA every year. Here, we report the findings from a cross-sectional survey of psychosocial factors in lung and gastrointestinal cancer patients. The aim of the study was to explore the associations among transitoriness, uncertainty, and locus of control (LOC) with quality of life. Transitoriness is defined as a person's confrontation with life's finitude due to a cancer diagnosis. METHODS: A total of 126 patients with lung or gastrointestinal cancer completed eight self-reporting questionnaires addressing demographics, spiritual perspective, symptom burden, transitoriness, uncertainty, LOC, and quality of life. RESULTS: Transitoriness, uncertainty, and LOC were significantly associated with one another (r = 0.3267, p = 0.0002/r = 0.1994, p = 0.0252, respectively). LOC/belief in chance has a significant inverse relationship with patients' quality of life (r = -0.2505, p = 0.0047). Transitoriness, uncertainty, and LOC were found to have a significant inverse relationship with patients' quality of life (transitoriness state: r = -0.5363, p = 0.0000/trait: r = -0.4629, p = 0.0000/uncertainty: r = -0.4929, p = 0.0000/internal LOC: r = 0.1759, p = 0.0489/chance LOC: r = -0.2505, p = 0.0047). CONCLUSION: Transitoriness, uncertainty, and LOC are important concepts as they adversely influence patients' quality of life. Incorporating this finding into the care of cancer patients may provide them with the support they need to cope with treatment and maintenance of a positive quality of life.

Comparing Case-Based with Team-Based Learning: Dental Students' Satisfaction, Level of Learning, and Resources Needed.

The aims of this study were to compare third-year dental students' satisfaction and level of learning in case-based learning (CBL) versus team-based learning (TBL) and the resources required in those two methodologies. Level of learning was assessed for both knowledge and application, and resources were defined as student and faculty time and rooms. In academic year 2018-19, all 68 third-year dental students in one U.S. dental school were enrolled in two sequential semester-long courses; the first used CBL, and the second used TBL. After each course, students and faculty facilitators completed surveys, and data from students' knowledge and application exams were collected. The student surveys asked students to report their satisfaction with the learning methodology (CBL or TBL); the faculty surveys asked the faculty facilitators to report the resources used for each methodology. Forty-five of 68 students (66%) consented to participate; however, a larger number of students completed surveys in the two semesters (69% for CBL and 87% for TBL). Fourteen of 16 (88%) faculty facilitators completed the CBL survey, and five of the six (83%) completed the TBL survey. Overall, the results showed that students' satisfaction was higher with CBL than TBL (Mann-Whitney U = 882.0; p<0.001), and students reported having a better understanding of concepts after CBL than TBL (U = 899.0; p<0.001). The students performed better on knowledge exam items in TBL than CBL (86% vs. 82%) but the same on application items (both 86%). Resource requirements for both methods were extensive, with TBL requiring fewer facilitators and rooms than CBL but requiring more time from both students (2.6 vs. 2.3 hours weekly) and faculty members (2.3 vs. 1.4 hours weekly). In this study, students preferred CBL to TBL but had higher knowledge scores in the TBL course. The resources needed for both CBL and TBL were said to be extensive, with infrastructure use higher for CBL but time for students and faculty higher for TBL.

Legacy leadership: the Beverly Flynn Public Health Nursing Mentorship: tribute to a nursing mentor.

The manuscript presents the background and history of the Beverly C. Flynn Legacy Leadership Award sponsored by the American Public Health Association's (APHA) Public Health Nursing Section. The Flynn Legacy Leadership program recognizes graduate students majoring in public health/community health nursing, and novice public health nurses for their potential to be future leaders in public health nursing. The importance of the mentoring relationship in promoting the standards of practice for public health nursing is explored. The Flynn Legacy Leadership Program fosters meaningful connections in the public health nursing community beyond the scope of the annual meeting. Award winners from the three years of the program are showcased with examples of scholarship fostered through the Beverly C. Flynn Legacy Leadership Award.

Facilitating problem-based learning among undergraduate nursing students: A qualitative systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to identify and synthesize the best available evidence on the perspective of undergraduate nursing students on facilitating elements that contribute to their success with PBL. DESIGN: a qualitative systematic review of the literature according to meta-aggregative methodology using the JBI SUMARI system was conducted. DATA SOURCES: Data was collected across CINAHL, Medline, Embase, Eric, Teacher Reference Center and reference lists. RESEARCH METHODS: Out of 378 articles, 101 were retrieved for examination and eight were retained after methodological analysis. RESULTS: 51 findings, matched with a verbatim, were extracted and aggregated in five categories: 1) in PBL, the nursing tutor models clinical reasoning and leadership skills; 2) the quality of group interactions is critical to the success of nursing students with PBL; 3) nursing students go through the process of learning with PBL; 4) through PBL, nursing students acquire skills that foster clinical reasoning; and 5) when the PBL method is used as intended, nursing students understand its purpose and process. These categories were aggregated in two syntheses worded as recommendation for practice. CONCLUSIONS: The synthesized recommendations are: 1) tutors should be trained to effectively guide the team work of undergraduate nursing students along the PBL process in order for them to achieve its goal; and 2) nursing students should be securely introduced to PBL and experience the development of their clinical reasoning through PBL. Future research should focus on the strategies undergraduate nursing students use to succeed with PBL and the effectiveness of PBL in enhancing critical thinking and collaboration skills.

Nurse Faculty Knowledge of and Confidence in Teaching Genetics/Genomics: Implications for Faculty Development.

The aims of this project were to (1) assess nurse faculty members' knowledge of and confidence in teaching genetics/genomics to nursing students and (2) identify the needs of faculty members to inform a faculty development initiative. Significant knowledge gaps were noted, and more than 50% of respondents indicated that they lacked confidence in teaching genetics/genomics. Strategies to address this problem included identifying champions of genetics/genomics education, use of an educational template, and threading genetics/genomics throughout the curriculum.

Applications of VoiceThread© Technology in Graduate Nursing Education.

BACKGROUND: Online graduate courses provide opportunities for faculty to use technology and digital applications to enhance student learning and learning environments. In nursing education, as we become increasingly dependent on technology, it is important to ensure that both faculty and students add digital literacy to their repertoire of knowledge and skills. VoiceThread©, one type of Web-based digital application tool, allows students and faculty to verbally communicate and collaborate asynchronously. METHOD: This article discusses the use of VoiceThread technology in graduate nursing education and offers four examples of VoiceThread teaching methods: personal introductions, issues discussions, case presentations, and the elevator speech. RESULTS: Student participation in VoiceThread assignments is evaluated using leveled rubrics. A poll of the students in one of the graduate courses showed high overall satisfaction with VoiceThread in the online classroom. CONCLUSION: Strategies for effective use of VoiceThread technology to enhance student engagement and learning are recommended. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(11):655-658.].

Express yourself.

Communication has always been a vital part of nursing. As students, we learned about therapeutic communication and the differences between sympathy, empathy, and rapport. I remember struggling with those differences and when to use each most appropriately with patients, families, classmates and lecturers. Now, I apply these principles at work with staff.