Impact of an Educational Text Message Intervention on Adolescents' Knowledge and High-Risk Behaviors.

Health care providers need to develop improved methods of educating adolescents. This study was developed to evaluate adolescents' responses to and satisfaction with an educational text message intervention to promote healthy behaviors, reduce the incidence of unhealthy behaviors, and prevent high-risk behaviors. Adolescent participants received weekly text messages regarding high-risk sexual behaviors, healthy dietary habits, exercise, drug, or alcohol use, and social issues. Results indicate adolescents learned something new, made a behavioral change, and overall liked the delivery of educational information via text message. This indicates long-term continuation of a text message intervention is a viable means to deliver adolescent health information, thereby improving an adolescent's current and future health status.

HPV awareness and vaccination rates in college-aged male athletes.

College-aged males are at high risk for human papillomavirus (HPV); however, vaccination rates remain low, suggesting minimal HPV knowledge. Therefore, an educational intervention was developed and implemented to determine if an increase in HPV knowledge, perceived HPV risk, intention and perceived self-efficacy to obtain the vaccine, and vaccination rates were observed.

HPV knowledge and vaccination rates in college-aged males: Implications for practice.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States and is linked to anogenital cancers. College-aged males are at high risk for contracting HPV due to a lack of HPV knowledge and low vaccination rates. NPs are responsible for providing this education and in return can help reduce infection transmission.

An academic-VA partnership: Student interprofessional teams integrated with VA PACT teams.

Veterans are challenged with multiple unique healthcare issues related to their military service environment. Likewise, health care providers must understand the special concerns associated with military conflict and recognize how the veteran's care can be optimized by interprofessional care delivery. Little is taught didactically or clinically that supports nursing students in addressing the unique issues of the veteran or the student's need to work collaboratively with allied health team members to enhance the veteran's care. Because of limited exposure to the veteran's special conditions, nursing students who may seek a career with the veteran population often face challenges in rendering appropriate care. The VA offers an invaluable opportunity for health profession students to collaborate with VA interprofessional Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACT) ultimately optimizing veteran health outcomes. This academic partnership, that implements an interprofessional model, will prepare students to better embrace the veteran population. This article describes the immersion of health profession students in interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) using PACT team principles which ultimately promotes the students' ability to link theory content to patient care delivery.

A Balanced Scorecard With Strategy Map: Measuring the Value of a Nursing Sabbatical.

Seasoned nurses frequently resign from their positions due to burnout. An innovative idea that could support nurse retention is nurse sabbaticals. Balanced scorecards with strategy maps can display financial benefit, positive customer experience, and operational and human capital development required to initiate and sustain a professional nurse sabbatical. A balanced scorecard with strategy map is an effective tool that demonstrates connection between the organizational mission and the outcomes of a nurse sabbatical program.

Onboarding new adjunct clinical nursing faculty using a quality and safety education for nurses-based orientation model.

In light of the nursing faculty shortage, many clinical nurses are transitioning to adjunct clinical faculty roles. This transition requires formal orientation programs that are based on an established framework that links academic and practice competencies. The authors propose that linking academic and practice competencies will enhance students' education and promote patient safety. The model described in this article uses the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) competencies to design and deliver an onboarding orientation model for new adjunct clinical faculty. For each QSEN competency, orientation topics, learning objectives for new faculty, and orientation activities are offered. This model serves as a template on which new adjunct clinical faculty can be onboarded, thus lessening role-transition stressors. Adequately prepared adjunct clinical faculty offer students a clinical expert who has received an orientation built on the QSEN competencies.

Concept Analysis: Health-Promoting Behaviors Related to Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Infection.

PROBLEM: The concept of health-promoting behaviors incorporates ideas presented in the Ottawa Charter of Public Health and the nursing-based Health Promotion Model. Despite the fact that the concept of health-promoting behaviors has a nursing influence, literature suggests nursing has inadequately developed and used this concept within nursing practice. A further review of literature regarding health promotion behaviors and the human papilloma virus suggest a distinct gap in nursing literature. METHOD: This article presents a concept analysis of health-promoting behaviors related to the human papilloma virus in order to encourage the application of the concept into nursing practice, promote continued nursing research regarding this concept, and further expand the application of health-promoting behaviors to other situations and populations within the nursing discipline. CONCLUSION: Attributes of health-promoting behaviors are presented and include empowerment, participation, community, and a positive concept of health. Antecedents, consequences, and empirical referents are also presented, as are model, borderline, and contrary cases to help clarify the concept. Recommendations for human papilloma virus health-promoting behaviors within the nursing practice are also provided.

A nurse-led initiative to improve obstetricians' screening for postpartum depression.

Although up to 20 percent of women experience postpartum depression, screening is not standard practice. In a metropolitan area where only 1 of 30 obstetricians and two primary care clinics reported routine screening for postpartum depression, a nurse-led initiative to implement routine screening using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale was carried out. Twenty-two obstetricians (76 percent) agreed to consistently implement screening for 3 months. Of the 21 participating obstetricians, 71.4 percent indicated that postpartum depression screening would become their standard care. This article describes implementation strategies and lessons learned.

Nursing sabbatical in the acute care hospital setting: a cost-benefit analysis.

Practice-based acute care nurses experience a high incidence of burnout and dissatisfaction impacting retention and innovation and ultimately burdening the financial infrastructure of a hospital. Business, industry, and academia have successfully implemented professional sabbaticals to retain and revitalize valuable employees; however, the use is infrequent among acute care hospitals. This article expands upon the synthesis of evidence supporting nursing sabbaticals and suggests this option as a fiscally sound approach for nurses practicing in the acute care hospital setting. A cost-benefit analysis and human capital management strategies supporting nursing sabbaticals are identified.

Nursing sabbatical in the acute care setting: what is the evidence?

PURPOSE: To review and examine the literature supporting a professional sabbatical, a potentially viable and innovative change strategy that could renew, revitalize, and retain nursing staff practicing in the acute care setting. METHOD: A literature search was completed using multiple search engines to procure articles that could answer the question: What is the evidence related to professional sabbaticals in nursing? FINDINGS: The search yielded 19 articles: one historical document, eight scholarly business articles, and 10 nursing publications. The literature review revealed most sources described sabbaticals using anecdotal data and 14 of the 19 articles were labeled as expert opinion or consensus. CONCLUSION: Borrowing from the successes in academia and other non-nursing professions, a human capital investment opportunity exists to design and test nursing sabbaticals. The authors identified a nursing sabbatical as a viable option, which can enhance nursing retention and revitalization.

Showcasing differences between quality improvement, evidence-based practice, and research.

The literature confirms that much confusion exists regarding the terms quality improvement (QI), evidence-based practice (EBP), and research. A multifaceted approach was used to provide clarity regarding these three equally important concepts. First, the authors present a synthesis of the literature that discusses differences between QI, EBP, and research. Second, the authors introduce a newly created comparative table that synthesizes current literature and showcases differences between QI, EBP, and research. Finally, the authors highlight uses of the comparative table within multiple settings.