Facilitators and challenges in the adoption of a virtual nurse visit in the home health setting.

The COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity to incorporate nurse-led virtual home care visits into heart failure patients' plan of care. As a supplemental nurse visit to traditional in-person home visits, the Virtual Nurse Visit (VNV) service was deployed using Zoom teleconferencing technology enabling telehealth nurses to remotely communicate, assess, and educate their patients. This mixed methods study explored heart failure patients' abilities, experience, and satisfaction to use and adopt a virtual nurse visit. Sociodemographic, semi-structured interview questions, and the System Usability Scale data were collected. Thirty-four participants completed the study. Over half of participants perceived the VNV usable and four qualitative themes emerged: perceived safety during COVID-19, preferences for care delivery, user experiences and challenges, and satisfaction with the VNV service. Findings from this study builds the science around telehealth that will inform future studies examining this type of nurse-led virtual visit and subsequent patient outcomes.

Novice Nurse Support Group: A Pilot Study.

Supportive measures, including mentorship, are essential for novice nurses in relation to job satisfaction and retention rates. A novice nurse support group was designed and implemented over 12 months to determine job satisfaction and retention outcomes. A pre/post survey design using the Casey-Fink Nurse Retention Survey provided descriptive data. Findings demonstrated overall job satisfaction; all participants were retained within the organization and suggested continuation of the support group.

Substance Abuse Policy Among Nursing Students: A Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: Nursing students practicing in healthcare settings may increase risks to consumers, if impaired by drugs and/or alcohol, and are incapable of practicing safely. Several agencies implemented educational/professional policies, designed to protect healthcare consumers from risks. Policies addressing impaired nursing students vary among these agencies, and no nationally implemented policy exists for the treatment of impaired nursing student practice in the United States. PURPOSE: This scoping study synthesizes substance abuse policy among nursing students, guided by the research question: What professional and state policies exist to address substance abuse among U.S. nursing students? The broader term, substance abuse, was used because alcohol-specific policies were not identified. METHODS: Evidence was drawn from several policy documents identified through electronic sources that include national nursing organizations (NNOs) and nurse practice acts (NPAs) and rules. A comparative analysis was conducted on the identified policies to determine similarities and differences at the national and state levels and between national and state levels. RESULTS: Four NNO policies, 50 U.S. states, District of Columbia, and two U.S. territories' NPAs were selected for review based on selection criteria. Six areas were identified in NNO policies, and four were identified in NPAs that addressed chemically impaired nursing students. CONCLUSIONS: This review of current policy provided evidence that identifies and describes areas of concern. Impaired nursing practice, which includes nursing students, remains a major issue, complicated by the inconsistencies noted particularly within the reviewed NPAs. Knowledge gained from this review will be used to guide future research and subsequent state policy development.