Barriers to Clinical Research Participation Among African Americans.

UNLABELLED: Clinical research requires representation of racially and ethnically diverse participants to accurately represent the general population. Overall life expectancy of African Americans is shorter than that of the general U.S. POPULATION: Compared with the other ethnic groups in the United States, African Americans have higher rates of hypertension, stroke, obesity, and diabetes, and higher rates of mortality related to stroke and cancer. Although many health disparities exist among African Americans, they are well underrepresented in clinical research. This article provides an overview of barriers that may influence participation in clinical research among African Americans. Issues of trust, experimentation, communication, and logistics are the most commonly identified barriers. The barriers and facilitators identified in this review may be useful in the development and implementation of recruitment and research strategies that are culturally sensitive and that may enhance trust and willingness to participate among African Americans.

The influence of teaching method on performance of suicide assessment in baccalaureate nursing students.

BACKGROUND: Student nurses identify many barriers to assessing patients' risk for suicide. OBJECTIVE: This pilot study developed and tested an innovative active learning strategy using simulated standardized patients to determine its effectiveness in teaching suicide assessment skills to a sample of 34 junior and senior baccalaureate nursing students. DESIGN: This study employed an experimental, two-group posttest design and three National League for Nursing/Laerdal Simulation Evaluation instruments. After reading about suicide assessment, the experimental group was exposed to a simulated standardized patient portraying a suicidal patient. The control group received a recorded lecture on suicide assessment. RESULTS: The experimental group demonstrated a significant difference in student scores of self-confidence, satisfaction, and student perceptions of the educational practices (active learning, collaboration, and appeal to diverse learning styles) when compared to the lecture format. CONCLUSION: Suicide assessment is a critical assessment skill set that can be effectively taught to nursing students using standardized patients.