A comparison of policies on nurse faculty workload in the United States.

AIM: This article describes nurse faculty workload policies from across the nation in order to assess current practice. BACKGROUND: There is a well-documented shortage of nursing faculty leading to an increase in workload demands. Increases in faculty workload results in difficulties with work-life balance and dissatisfaction threatening to make nursing education less attractive to young faculty. METHOD: In order to begin an examination of faculty workload in nursing, existing workloads must be known. Faculty workload data were solicited from nursing programs nationwide and analyzed to determine the current workloads. RESULTS: The most common faculty teaching workload reported overall for nursing is 12 credit hours per semester; however, some variations exist. CONCLUSION: Consideration should be given to the multiple components of the faculty workload. Research is needed to address the most effective and efficient workload allocation for nursing faculty.

The impact of a school entry law on adolescent immunization rates.

PURPOSE: Middle school entry laws increase coverage with recommended vaccines, but their effect on vaccines that are not required is unknown. We compared vaccination coverage for hepatitis B, tetanus and diphtheria (Td), and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) in areas of states with discordant middle school, hepatitis B school entry laws, and evaluated the relationship between demographic characteristics and adolescent immunization rates. METHODS: Retrospective design with purposive school sampling, using location of residence to determine study group. In each school, immunization records from a random sample of up to 75 students in ninth grade (affected by a new hepatitis B law) and 12th grade (not affected by the law) from 11 schools in two areas discordant for the law were analyzed. All areas had long standing two-dose MMR and Td requirements. RESULTS: Ninth graders in schools with the law had hepatitis B rates higher (72.8%) than those without the law (18.6%) (U = 2.0, p < .01). There were no significant differences between grades or schools for MMR and Td. However, even in the presence of the law, rates were significantly lower in schools with lower socioeconomic indicators. CONCLUSIONS: Middle school immunization laws are effective at raising adolescent hepatitis B, but in this study there wasn't enough power to discern the effect on rates for other vaccines or the influence of demographic variables on rates. Results suggested that laws did not appear to completely overcome disparities. For school mandates to be more effective, additional efforts, presumably on enforcement, especially in areas with lower socioeconomic indicators, are needed.