Sensory room: Naturalistic assessment of auditory and visual perception in developing children.

INTRODUCTION: Hearing is essential for language acquisition and understanding the environment. Understanding how children react to auditory and visual information is essential for appropriate management in case of hearing loss. Objective and subjective assessments can diagnose hearing loss, but do not measure natural perception in children. We developed a "sensory room" for complementary assessment of children's perceptions so as to assess behavioral responses to meaningful natural sounds and visual stimuli in an ecologic environment suited to children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixteen normal-hearing children and 10 with congenital hearing loss before cochlear implantation, aged 13 to 32months, were included in this feasibility study. They perceived 18 environmental sounds and 9 visual stimuli, and their behavioral responses were coded accordingly as: stopping, looking, moving, pointing, language or emotional reactions. RESULT: All children completed the task, demonstrating its feasibility in children. Percentage responses to auditory versus visual stimuli did not differ in normal-hearing children; those with congenital hearing loss responded like normal-hearing children to visual stimuli, but did not react to auditory stimuli. Progression in normal-hearing children's behavioral responses corresponded to cognitive and linguistic development according to age. CONCLUSION: The "sensory room" quantified children's responses to various auditory and visual stimuli, providing clinicians with measurable insight into the children's sensory perception and processing.

Measuring the 3-30-300 rule to help cities meet nature access thresholds.

The 3-30-300 rule offers benchmarks for cities to promote equitable nature access. It dictates that individuals should see three trees from their dwelling, have 30 % tree canopy in their neighborhood, and live within 300 m of a high-quality green space. Implementing this demands thorough measurement, monitoring, and evaluation methods, yet little guidance is currently available to pursue these actions. To overcome this gap, we employed an expert-based consensus approach to review the available ways to measure 3-30-300 as well as each measure's strengths and weaknesses. We described seven relevant data and processes: vegetation indices, street level analyses, tree inventories, questionnaires, window view analyses, land cover maps, and green space maps. Based on the reviewed strengths and weaknesses of each measure, we presented a suitability matrix to link recommended measures with each component of the rule. These recommendations included surveys and window-view analyses for the '3 component', high-resolution land cover maps for the '30 component', and green space maps with network analyses for the '300 component'. These methods, responsive to local situations and resources, not only implement the 3-30-300 rule but foster broader dialogue on local desires and requirements. Consequently, these techniques can guide strategic investments in urban greening for health, equity, biodiversity, and climate adaptation.

Open education resources to support the WHO nurse educator core competencies.

AIM: This paper describes an innovative approach to tackling the shortage of qualified nurse educators, which is a major constraining factor or 'bottle-neck' to improve the global supply of nurses, especially in low- and middle-income countries. BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization commissioned experts to develop Nurse Educator Core Competencies that describe expectations for this cadre of workers. In their deliberations, the WHO experts cited the challenges affecting the adoption of these competencies, particularly the lack of resources available for implementation. To address this specific challenge, a USA-based non-government organiization, Nurses International, has developed Open Education Resources (NI-OER) to support nurse educators with freely accessible curriculum materials and remote mentoring support. METHODS: This paper applies item analysis to consider how the NI-OER could assist higher education institutes and individual faculty members in meeting each of the WHO Nurse Educator Core Competencies. FINDINGS: The NI-OER is a good fit with six of the Nurse Educator Core Competencies and a partial fit with the other two. DISCUSSION: Congruence with the WHO Nurse Educator Core Competencies is an important validity check for the NI-OER. The ultimate goal of the NI-OER is to promote sustainable development through intermediate goals related to supporting faculty as they prepare nurses for current and future service needs. Technological solutions like the NI-OER cannot solve all aspects of a complex problem like the global nursing shortage but are an important tool. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: This resource has significant implications for nursing and health policy because it tackles several constraints to the global goal of increasing production and capacity of nurses. Combined with the organization's remote mentoring and communities of practice, the NI-OER appears to have the potential to support novice nurse educators with accessible, adaptable resources.

A Canada-Bangladesh partnership for nurse education: case study.

AIM: To describe the lessons learned from a partnership in nurse education between a Bangladesh university and a group of Canadian volunteers. BACKGROUND: In the host country, nursing enjoys low status and pay, which adversely affect professional standards. METHOD: The paper describes implementation details of training a core of nurses to international standards, using limited resources. The first cohort received their Bachelor of Nursing degrees in 2009. OUTCOMES: The Bangladeshi partners benefit from access to up-to-date curriculum materials, current clinical expertise, and interaction with visiting faculty and students. The Canadian nursing instructors enjoy professional development opportunities; visiting Canadian students gain exposure to a practice setting in a low-income country. LESSONS LEARNED: These include the importance of (1) integrating nurse training with a general university able to provide core courses (e.g. English as second language, computer training), (2) countering the low status of nursing and inculcating a caring attitude among students, and (3) instilling critical thinking as opposed to rote learning. Next, the following were identified: mechanisms to support networking in the local health system, sharing of resources (e.g. electronic course material adapted to host country context), and assuring programme quality. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The paper will be of interest to those concerned with nurse education and human resource development in less developed countries.

Hospital nurses and health promotion.

This study examined the role of acute-care nurses in health promotion (HP), using a survey designed to measure the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of nurses in relation to HP. Staff nurses in eight British Columbia hospitals surveyed in 1992 responded that HP is an integral part of nursing care, yet several barriers in the hospital environment inhibit their efforts in this domain. The perceived barriers are lack of time, insufficient resources for patient teaching, and lack of continuity of care. Respondents identified positive features as the attitudes of patients and families, supportive colleagues, and hospital support for HP activities. The study concludes that acute-care nurses are an underutilized resource for HP. The challenge is to make more effective use of nurses' knowledge, attitudes, and skills in promoting health in the hospital setting.

Primary health care: what does it mean for nurses?

What health systems need, according to many nursing groups, is primary health care (PHC). But what is PHC and how can it be practised in hospitals where most nurses work? How will nurses benefit from PHC if it is successful? And what are the barriers that must be met to implement this radical concept?