Opportunities to develop leadership skills in the undergraduate diagnostic radiography program: Insights from students at an Australian university.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: Leadership is defined as the ability to influence others to work towards common visions and goals. A key principle of the Australian Health Leadership Framework is that it applies to all leaders and potential leaders, who are at any place in the system. Hence, leadership is everyone's responsibility, including health profession students. In this short communication, we discuss the concept of leadership development in the undergraduate diagnostic radiography (DR) program through experiential learning. Examples from students' and academics' perspectives are presented, with the intention of providing a broad context to the range of opportunities that support development of leadership skills in DR students. DISCUSSION: Experience and experiential learning are fundamental and natural means of learning. Experiential learning has a positive effect on leadership because of its impact on personal, attitudinal, moral, social, and cognitive outcomes. Undergraduate DR students value opportunities to develop leadership skills during their university education. Four opportunities to develop and reflect on leadership skills are discussed. Two of the opportunities, clinical placements and honours programs, form part of the curricula, whilst others, such as mentoring and profession-specific social groups, are not. Through experience-based learning, students may benefit from transformational effects in their individual skills, which may ultimately benefit the organisation or community in which the individual participates. CONCLUSION: Commitment from clinical and academic educators to enable leadership development in DR students is essential. Through implementation of obligatory and optional experiential learning opportunities, it is anticipated that leadership skills will be cultivated in DR students, enabling students to exercise effective leadership in their current student roles and establish essential skills for their future professional roles.

Palliative care aspects of wound healing in complex patients: a case report.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Caregiver Burdens of Family Members with Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease is a common form of dementia characterized by progressive deterioration of a patient's cognitive abilities and memory. Most individuals that have Alzheimer's disease live and depend on family members for assistance or total care. This descriptive, correlational study examines the relationship between perceived caregiver burden of a family member with Alzheimer's disease who attended an adult day care center and perceived caregiver burden of a family member that did not attend an adult day care center. Research data were collected using the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI) and a researcher-developed demographic survey. This study used a purposive sample of (N = 84) caregivers. Results of the study indicated no significant differences in the perceived caregiver burden between the groups. The findings indicate the need to refine community and professional understanding of the challenges caregivers face.

Exploring role confusion in nurse case management.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: This is a report of the results of a pilot project conducted to identify the areas where role confusion/ambiguity exists in the practice of nurse case management. METHODOLOGY AND SAMPLE: A convenience sample of 25 registered nurses practicing as case managers in a small east coast medical treatment facility's outpatient clinics. Participants responded to 2 Likert-type surveys designed to evaluate role confusion from an individual and a team membership perspective. RESULTS: Analysis indicated that nurse case managers experience role confusion in the specific areas of conflicts between time resources, capabilities, and multiple individual roles. There was no identified role confusion associated with membership on multidisciplinary teams. The application of the Synergy Model as a theoretical framework for nurse case management serves as a benchmark for the implementation of evidence-based practices. IMPLICATIONS FOR CASE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE: This project could serve as the starting point for the development of a skill set for nurse case managers, for the standardization of the practice, and for the recognition of nurse case management as a legitimate nursing subspecialty.

Business case for Magnet® in a small hospital.

There is minimal evidence related to Magnet® designation and the benefits in small hospitals. A business strategy for small hospitals (<100 beds) to achieve Magnet designation is presented, including a cost-benefit analysis, outcome measures, and financial impact data.

Concept analysis: case management role confusion.

AIM: This paper is a report on the concept of role confusion as it applies to nurse case management. BACKGROUND: Nurse case managers (NCMs) play an important role in the delivery of quality health care. There has been considerable discussion and debate as to the exact role of the NCM. Research has not produced a conceptual model for the NCM. A clear and concise definition of the role of the NCM is not available from published literature. METHODS: This analysis was conducted using the Walker and Avant method. Literature searches were conducted using Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health, ProQuest, PsychInfo, PubMed, Academic Search Premier, and ERIC. Time line covered the period of 1980-2010. FINDINGS: Based on the analysis, role confusion occurs when there is no clear set of expectations for the NCM. Organizations have created positions that often are not patient centered and underutilize the nursing aspect. Nursing literature does not report significant investigation of the phenomena of role confusion in nurse case management. CONCLUSION: There needs to be a conceptual model for the role of the NCM. A skill set designated exclusively to nurses who practice case management would emphasize the patient-nurse relationship and provide clarity of the role and function of NCMs.