Maintaining Safe Breastfeeding Practices During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Overview of the Evidence to Inform Clinical Guidelines.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic upon the health care landscape has prompted many organizations to revise policies in response to ever-changing guidelines and recommendations regarding safe breastfeeding practices. The application of these professional guidelines into clinical practice is fraught with barriers, inconsistencies, and often-minimal evidential support. Key concerns for health care providers and patients include antenatal versus postnatal transmission, milk transmission, and separation care versus rooming-in, including the subsequent impacts upon breastfeeding and bonding. While SARS-CoV-2 is a novel virus, the volume of literature to support best practice for couplet care continues to be developed at a rapid pace. The benefits of breastfeeding are steeped in evidence and outweigh the potential risk of transmission of COVID-19 from mother to newborn. Health care organizations must continue to seek guidance for policy revision within the ever-growing body of evidence for best practice and evaluate current practices for feasibility during and after hospitalization.

An Innovative Model Integrating an Academic-Practice Partnership in an RN-BSN Program.

ABSTRACT: Research demonstrates a higher concentration of bachelor of science in nursing (BSN)-prepared registered nurses improves patient care outcomes. To increase the BSN workforce, one academic institution, in collaboration with a practice partner, formed an academic-practice partnership. Strategic actions included the development of the integration model for the RN-BSN program as a framework for program expansion, curricular revision, nurse leader faculty integration, and student clinical placement. Partnership outcomes included the acceptance of all qualified applicants for admission, clinical placement secured for all students, excellent course evaluation ratings for faculty, and development of a sustainable and transferrable model.

Development of a Transformative Standardized Approach for Written Communication Skills in an Online RN-BS Program.

ABSTRACT: The perceived quality of health care received is highly dependent upon the quality of communication between patients and their health care providers and between members of the health care team (Institute of Medicine, 2003). A comprehensive, standardized module for developing effective writing skills was established and integrated in a research-intensive university in the southeastern United States. One year after integration, more than 60 percent of students and 50 percent of targeted courses accessed and adopted the module. The impact of the module upon student outcomes is being measured.