Lessons Learned From Expansion of a Public Health Nursing Doctorate in Nursing Practice Program.

Despite nurses' demonstrated expertise in the public health workforce, there has been a continued erosion of public health nursing (PHN) positions in health departments and academe. The need for a strong public health infrastructure and well-educated public health workforce remains vital in meeting PHN research challenges. In response to these needs, our college of nursing undertook a six-year Health Resources and Services Administration-funded expansion of the PHN Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program. This article illustrates program evaluation, lessons learned, and PHN DNP graduate and workforce outcomes related to supplying culturally diverse PHN leaders, assuring quality improvement, creating sustainable partnerships, and improving poor health outcomes.

Intimate partner violence education for medical students: toward a comprehensive curriculum revision.

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies examined the prevalence and efficacy of intimate partner violence (IPV) education in medical school. We documented IPV content exposure shortage in medical school curriculum at a southern university health science center and measured personal IPV experience among medical students. METHODS: Responses were gathered from a 67-item survey adapted from the Physician Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence Survey. Our survey measured IPV knowledge and attitudes, along with sufficiency of IPV education that students received before and during medical school. Three summary scales were created to examine students' perceived preparedness to deal with IPV survivors and their perceived and actual knowledge about IPV. RESULTS: Across summary scales, differences were higher but not significant between medical students who received IPV education either before or during medical school and those with no IPV education. Of all of the medical students surveyed, 28.7% (n = 33) had experienced some type of domestic violence including IPV. Gaps in knowledge also were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Student IPV experience (whether directly by way of personal exposure to IPV or indirectly through family members or acquaintances who were victims of IPV) can be applicable in classrooms, clinics, and students' careers, but it may not necessarily increase perceived or actual IPV knowledge; however, our results show that any IPV education that students receive can be effective in increasing confidence and perceived preparedness to address IPV with patients. Comprehensive approaches to teaching IPV should be integrated fully into medical school curricula.

A diversity index to measure underrepresented minority enrollment in United States colleges and schools of pharmacy.

INTRODUCTION: With an underrepresented minority (URM) student population of <20%, colleges and schools of pharmacy (CoPs) in the United States (US) lag behind the national population, in which URMs account for >30%. Few tools are available to assist the >140 US CoPs in tracking progress in URM diversity among student pharmacists. Thus, the study's purpose was to address this gap by: (1) creating a "diversity index" for pharmacy programs; and (2) determining changes in diversity index scores between 2011 and 2020. METHODS: This was a secondary analysis of 2011-2020 fall URM enrollment data for CoPs and national and state population data. The annual diversity index score for 2011-2020 was calculated for each CoP. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and Mann-Whitney U tests were conducted. RESULTS: Among all CoPs, median URM percent enrollment significantly increased from 7.7% in 2011 to 14.5% in 2020. Median diversity index scores for all CoPs increased from 0.66 in 2011 to 0.76 in 2020, but this change was not statistically significant. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) had significantly greater diversity index scores than non-HBCUs/HSIs. Diversity index scores of public vs. private colleges did not differ significantly. CONCLUSION: This diversity index represents an important step in tracking progress in increasing URM student pharmacist representation in CoPs. The index may be utilized as a tool to support development of diversity best practices and more inclusive environments for student pharmacists, faculty, staff, and stakeholders.

Nursing students and intimate partner violence education: improving and integrating knowledge into health care curricula.

This study measured intimate partner violence (IPV) curriculum content exposure; knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and self-reported behaviors; and IPV prevalence within doctor of nursing practice and doctor of philosophy nursing programs at a university in the southern United States. The survey instrument was an adaptation of the Physician Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence Survey modified with language that focused on students in the health care arena. Three summary scales-Perceived Preparedness, Perceived Knowledge, and Actual Knowledge-were also created. Mann-Whitney U tests and exploratory multivariable and logistic regression analyses were employed to analyze the data. Results indicated that nursing students who received IPV training prior to graduate school had significantly higher perceived preparation and perceived knowledge ratings than those reporting no IPV training prior to graduate school. Results also showed that 40% of nursing students surveyed had personally experienced some type of domestic violence including IPV. Identifying and responding to curricular shortcomings and ascertaining student IPV prevalence are critical steps in strategizing and implementing comprehensive curriculum revision, enabling students to enter the nursing profession with the capacity to directly impact the care and treatment of IPV victims.

Psychometric properties of an intimate partner violence tool for health care students.

Health care professionals have acknowledged intimate partner violence (IPV) as a highly prevalent public health problem necessitating the creation of standardized education programs, survey tools, and well-defined outcome measures. Testing and evaluation of these measures, however, has been limited to specific populations of health care professionals. In 2007 and 2008, psychometric properties of the Physician Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence Survey (PREMIS) were adapted, tested, and evaluated on a group of medicine, nursing, social work, and dentistry students during their last semester of college. The adapted instrument demonstrated high reliability within some IPV constructs, and six of the eight scales described in the original PREMIS were identified. Three scales presented a Cronbach's α ≥ .70, demonstrating acceptable reliability, and a new scale, IPV Screening, was also identified that showed good reliability (α = .74). The adapted instrument showed good stability of psychometric properties in the student population and generally good correlation within several measures.

Dental students and intimate partner violence: measuring knowledge and experience to institute curricular change.

Our study documents the shortage of intimate partner violence (IPV) content exposure within one dental school curriculum, with an eye toward utilizing this information to revise an existing comprehensive family violence curriculum that will be fully integrated into required university coursework to improve competence and help overcome knowledge gaps. IPV is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as physical and sexual violence, threats of physical and sexual violence, or psychological/emotional abuse including coercive tactics that adults or adolescents use against current or former intimate partners. We report on the results of a four-part (background, IPV knowledge, opinions, and personal experience), sixty-seven-item validated survey instrument used to measure knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and self-reported behaviors among dental students preparing to become health care professionals working in the field. Survey responses from the nearly 80 percent of fourth-year dental students who completed the survey were examined within the context of students' actual IPV knowledge, as well as opinions and attitudes that could directly or indirectly influence patients. Our findings indicate that a sizeable number of students received no IPV training prior to or during dental school, leading to perceptions that they lack knowledge about IPV and are not well prepared to address IPV with patients. A notable percentage of students (20 percent) also reported personal experience with IPV.