Instruments for Evaluating Student Learning Outcomes in Palliative Care: A Literature Review.

Primary palliative care is a core component of nursing practice for which all students must receive formal education. Through competency-based education, nursing students develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to deliver quality primary palliative care before they transition to practice. Nurse educators in academic and practice settings should use reliable and valid means to evaluate student learning across cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. Expert faculty conducted a literature review to identify published instruments that evaluate primary palliative care student learning outcomes. Selected articles were required to include instrument reliability, validity, or both. The literature search yielded 20 articles that report on the development and testing of 21 instruments. Findings are organized into 3 learning domains that encompass 5 outcomes. Four instruments assess knowledge within the cognitive domain. In the affective domain, 3 instruments assess attitudes about caring for seriously ill or dying patients, 7 assess attitudes about death, and 5 assess self-efficacy. Competence and competency are evaluated in the psychomotor domain with 4 tools. Instrument implementation considerations within each domain are discussed. Faculty are encouraged to use robust evaluation measures such as those identified in the literature review to measure primary palliative care learning outcomes within a competency-based education framework.

Advancing the Role of the Doctor of Nursing Practice in Palliative Care.

Doctor of nursing practice-prepared nurses are well suited to provide high-quality palliative care to patients with serious illness and their caregivers. Their rigorous education and expertise prepare them for the complexity often associated with chronic disease and end of life. There are clear and strong recommendations from multiple national organizations supporting palliative care education for nurses and tools available for nurses to implement palliative care into practice. This article is from the perspective of the doctor of nursing practice nurse. It reviews the limited evidence on palliative care integration into the doctor of nursing practice role, the barriers to palliative care education and implementing palliative care into practice, and the potential roles that a doctor of nursing practice palliative care nurse may fill in health care.

A Standard Practice Protocol for Addressing Depression in a Hospice Setting.

Depression can worsen physical suffering and psychiatric distresses in individuals with life-limiting illnesses and is associated with increased rates of pain, fatigue, dyspnea, and worse survival outcomes. Evidence supports protocol development to address depression in the hospice setting using validated screening tools and a process for referral and treatment. After protocol development and integration of validated screening tools into the electronic medical record, newly admitted patients meeting inclusion criteria were screened during the social workers' initial psychosocial assessment. Patients were referred for pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatment strategies based on the severity of depression detailed in the protocol. Of all patients who met inclusion criteria, 100% were screened using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 with 52% being identified as having some severity of depression, 26% being appropriately referred for treatment, and 50% receiving a pharmacological strategy, whereas 26% received nonpharmacological strategies. There was a statistically significant difference in severity of depression found between those identified as having a depressed mood preintervention and those with some severity of depression using a validated screening tool postintervention. Implementing a standardized practice protocol to address depression in a hospice setting allowed for consistent evaluation through the use of validated screening tool(s) and increased recognition of those with symptoms of depression.

Maternal Postpartum Depression Screening and Referral in a Latinx Immigrant Population: A Quality Improvement Study.

Postpartum depression (PPD) is the most underdiagnosed obstetric complication in the United States. Left undiagnosed and untreated, PPD can have lasting effects on the infant and the mother. A quality improvement project was conducted to improve rates of screening and referrals with postpartum Latinx immigrant mothers. Community health workers were designated to assist with PPD screening and referral for behavioral health services, at a pediatric patient-centered medical home, using a referral process algorithm (Byatt, N., Biebel, K. & Straus, J. Postpartum Depression Screening Algorithm for Pediatric Providers During Well-Child Visits, MCPAP for Moms: Promoting maternal mental health during and after pregnancy, N/A (2014)). Using chi analysis of pre and post implementation findings, results demonstrated a 21% increase in screening of eligible postpartum mothers. Referrals for behavioral health services also increased from 9 to 22% of patients that screened positive. Community Health Workers were an asset in increasing screening and referral practices for PPD in a Latinx immigrant population. Further research efforts will assist to remove further barriers to PPD screening and treatment.

Enhancing Doctor of Nursing Practice Students' Diagnostic and Clinical Reasoning Skills.

BACKGROUND: This article describes one school of nursing's successful approach to augmenting Doctor of Nursing Practice students' diagnostic and clinical reasoning skills. METHOD: Faculty convened a taskforce to evaluate the current clinical tracking system to expand the clinical log and develop a formative assessment tool. RESULTS: The clinical log enhancement allowed faculty to assess students' learning, clinical decision making, and readiness for clinical progression throughout the program. CONCLUSION: The expansion of the clinical log system resulted in students' heightened understanding of documentation and clinical practice, and also allowed faculty to comprehensively assess students in diagnostic and clinical reasoning. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(2):109-111.].

The Pediatric Palliative APRN: Leading the Future.

Pediatric palliative advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) leaders are essential in advancing the field of pediatric palliative care. With expertise in pediatrics and strong advocacy skills for children, APRNs are well suited to lead interprofessional clinical teams, educational programs, community hospice and palliative organizations, policy changes, and research initiatives. Despite the prominence of their positions, there is a paucity of literature on pediatric palliative APRNs. This paper explores the leadership roles of the pediatric palliative APRN, offers resources to support leadership development, and showcases the importance of this role in various domains of pediatric palliative care.

Emanuel syndrome and congenital diaphragmatic hernia: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Emanuel Syndrome (ES), a rare chromosomal disorder caused by a supernumerary chromosome 22 derivative (der(22)t(11;22)), was identified in a fetus with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) at our fetal center. We aimed to identify a precedent for clinical care and patient outcomes to guide family decision-making. METHODS: This non-funded and non-registered study queried the entire CDH Registry (CDHR) including >10,000 patients since 1995 and conducted a systematic literature review for patients with concomitant ES and CDH. RESULTS: Literature review captured 12 citations and identified 9 patients with CDH+ES from over 400 known ES cases. Given the rarity of the disease and to reduce bias, there were no exclusion criteria aside from non-English language. Of these 9, two underwent surgical CDH repair with neither surviving. The CDHR identified 6 patients with ES, all reported after 2013 and prenatally diagnosed. Median estimated gestational age was 39 weeks (range 37-40) and median birth weight was 2.72 kg (range 2.4-3.4 kg). 3 patients died within the first few postnatal days; surgical repair was not offered due to "anomalies" and "pulmonary hypertension" in two and one family chose comfort measures. The other 3 patients underwent surgical repair, and 2 were supported with ECMO. Two patients survived to discharge, incurring surgical comorbidities associated with severe CDH including gastrostomy dependence, tracheostomy, and CDH recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: ES patients with CDH have potential to tolerate repair and survive to discharge, however with significant additional morbidity combined with severe challenges inherent to ES. This represents the largest series of patients with CDH and ES to date. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV (Case series with no comparison group).

Preparing Advanced Practice Registered Nursing Students to Provide Primary Palliative Care.

BACKGROUND: Advanced practice registered nursing students need primary palliative care education to care for the growing number of patients with serious illness and their families and to fill the serious resource gaps in specialty palliative care. PROBLEM: There has been a lack of primary palliative care education in most graduate nursing programs and little direction as to competencies and essential content. APPROACH: In an effort to support faculty to teach palliative care content, the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) has created an online curriculum that meets the new American Association of Colleges of Nursing Graduate-Competencies and Recommendations for Educating Nursing Students in primary palliative care for master's degree and doctor of nursing practice students. OUTCOMES: During the first 9 months of its release, more than 170 nursing programs have accessed the ELNEC Graduate curriculum, and there have been more than 200 student completions. CONCLUSION: Primary palliative care education is essential for all advanced practice nursing students. The new ELNEC Graduate curriculum offers the opportunity to provide quality education remotely.

The 360-degree evaluation model: A method for assessing competency in graduate nursing students. A pilot research study.

BACKGROUND: The 360 Degree Evaluation Model is one means to provide a comprehensive view of clinical competency and readiness for progression in an online nursing program. OBJECTIVES: This pilot project aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing a 360 Degree Evaluation of clinical competency of graduate advanced practice nursing students. DESIGN: The 360 Degree Evaluation, adapted from corporate industry, encompasses assessment of student knowledge, skills, behaviors and attitudes and validates student's progression from novice to competent. SETTINGS: Cohort of advanced practice nursing students in four progressive clinical semesters. PARTICIPANTS: Graduate advanced practice nursing students (N = 54). METHODS: Descriptive statistics and Jonckheere's Trend Test were used to evaluate OSCE's scores from graded rubric, standardized patient survey scores, student reflection and preceptor evaluation. RESULTS: We identified all students passed the four OSCEs during a first attempt or second attempt. Scaffolding OSCE's over time allowed faculty to identify cohort weakness and create subsequent learning opportunities. Standardized patients' evaluation of the students' performance in the domains of knowledge, skills and attitudes, showed high scores of 96% in all OSCEs. Students' self-reflection comments were a mix of strengths and weaknesses in their self-evaluation, demonstrating themes as students progressed. Preceptor evaluation scores revealed the largest increase in knowledge and learning skills (NONPF domain 1), from an aggregate average of 90% in the first clinical course, to an average of 95%. CONCLUSIONS: The 360 Degree Evaluation Model provided a comprehensive evaluation of the student and critical information for the faculty ensuring individual student and cohort data and ability to analyze cohort themes.

Implementing school based telehealth for children with medical complexity.

PURPOSE: This quality improvement project aimed to improve parental experiences with healthcare delivery and collaborative health care offered at a school serving children with medical complexity (CMC) by implementing telehealth services. METHODS: Parents of students at an urban public charter school for CMC were surveyed before and after telehealth was implemented at the school for two months, and again one year later, using the Measure of Processes of Care (MPOC-20). RESULTS: Parental scores on the MPOC-20 were generally high both before and after the implementation of telehealth. There were no significant differences in the scores. Anecdotally, parent satisfaction with telehealth services was high. A review of the utilization of school-based telehealth during the 2015-2016 school year among 13 schools, including this unique school for CMC, revealed that the odds of having a telehealth visit at the school for CMC vs the other 12 schools was 23.8 (p value < 0.001; CL:11.2 to 50.6). CONCLUSION: Parental experiences with healthcare delivery were high both before and after the implementation of telehealth at an urban public charter school for CMC. Utilization of telehealth at the school for CMC was significantly higher than that of children enrolled in the program at 12 other schools. Further research is needed to evaluate parental experiences with school-based telehealth services.

Pediatric developmental screenings: a primary care approach.

Early recognition of developmental delay is critical to providing comprehensive pediatric primary care. Advanced practice nurses must be aware of the guidelines for surveillance and developmental screening in children. This article discusses guidelines for screening, examples of screening tools, information for follow up, and referral for positive screenings.