Identification to Intervention: A Perspective From Parents of Children With Cerebral Palsy.

BACKGROUND: Early diagnosis of cerebral palsy (CP) promotes early intervention, symptom management, and support for parents. There is little evidence showing whether parents actually receive these benefits. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to explore and describe the experiences of parents of children with CP, including their journey to diagnosis, access to services and resources, and what they would want other parents or healthcare providers to know and understand about their experiences. METHODS: Using a qualitative descriptive design, semistructured interviews were conducted from January 2021 to April 2021. A purposive sampling method with a snowball effect was used to recruit parents through therapists, a children's hospital, a pediatric rehabilitation center, and social media CP support groups. An inductive approach to content analysis was used to categorize the data. ATLAS.ti was employed to arrange and code data. RESULTS: Three themes emerged: (a) Something Was Off: I Simply Didn't Know; (b) Coping With the Unknown: Uncharted Territory; and (c) What We Needed Then and Now: Advocacy, Education, and Research. DISCUSSION: Parents emphasized a lack of knowledge of developmental milestones and their inability to recognize delays in their children. Healthcare providers dismissed persistent unexplained symptoms and developmental delays; parents were expected to "watch and wait" for their child to catch up. The CP diagnosis, although delayed, validated their concerns and gut intuitions about their child's symptoms and connected them to early intervention services and specialty care. Therapists became a lifeline for parents, providing education, answering questions, obtaining adaptive equipment, and offering care management strategies. Parent support groups provided emotional support, lessened parent isolation, and offered realistic hope. Parents reported a need for an earlier diagnosis and earlier access to services, direct and open communication about CP diagnosis, and follow-up phone calls after the diagnosis. They also asked for a tip sheet to guide them after the diagnosis.

Effectiveness of recruitment and retention strategies in a pregnant adolescent nutrition intervention study.

AIM: To report the methodological strategies used to recruit and retain pregnant adolescents into a nutrition-focused intervention study. BACKGROUND: An important step to meeting the developmental and healthcare needs of pregnant adolescents is to conduct high-quality research studies that generate reliable and accurate data. However, recruitment and retention of pregnant adolescents into research are challenging and time intensive. DESIGN: A quasi-experimental, one-group, pre, post, 6-week postintervention repeated measures study was conducted among inner-city pregnant adolescents. METHOD: Study participants' nutrition knowledge, eating habits, and personal self-efficacy were measured prior to pregnant adolescents' participation in the workshop, immediately after the intervention and 6-weeks following the intervention. A total of four workshops were conducted over 14 months from 2014-2015. RESULTS: Gatekeepers were influential in recruitment efforts due to trusting relationship they had with study participants. The use of texting reminders and pregnant adolescent-related incentives that included gift bags and baby items were also effective recruitment and retention strategies. Despite designing the recruitment strategies and using a developmentally tailored workshop, based on empirical evidence gleaned from pregnant adolescents that was modified to meet study participant's schedules, an adequate sample was unable to be recruited and retained for this study. CONCLUSION: High-quality research studies that generate reliable and accurate data are essential in meeting the developmental and healthcare needs of pregnant adolescents. A major barrier in developing evidence-based care practices to promote the health of these young mothers and their children involves recruiting and retaining them in research studies.

Development of an Interactive Pregnant Adolescent Nutrition Education Workshop.

The health of pregnant adolescents affects the well-being of future generations. Modifying unhealthy eating patterns among pregnant adolescents is critical because of their association with risk of poor pregnancy and birth outcomes. Therefore, it is important to provide age- and developmentally appropriate nutrition education during this time. To sustain healthy behavior changes, nutrition interventions must be grounded in theory and reflect both motivating factors and barriers to healthy eating. Factors such as taste preferences, personal self-efficacy, developmentally appropriate nutrition education, and hands-on meal preparation have been identified as influences on dietary patterns in this population. The purpose of this article is to describe the development of an evidence-based nutrition education program for pregnant adolescents based on Pender's health promotion model.

Pregnant Adolescents, Beliefs About Healthy Eating, Factors that Influence Food Choices, and Nutrition Education Preferences.

INTRODUCTION: Healthy eating among pregnant adolescents is essential for the well-being of developing adolescent females and their fetuses, as well as for the prevention of adult chronic illness. Understanding factors that influence and prohibit healthy eating, along with preferences for nutrition education in the pregnant adolescent population, is critical when designing and implementing appropriate nutrition education programs. The purpose of this study was to collect individual viewpoints of pregnant adolescents to facilitate the development of a nutrition intervention. METHODS: This qualitative study using focus group methodology was conducted among pregnant adolescents. Participants (N = 14) were recruited through and teen parenting programs in the Mid-Atlantic region. Focus groups were guided by 6 open-ended questions that were developed based on implications from a previous study that surveyed eating habits of pregnant adolescents. Data were analyzed and coded using verbatim transcripts. Transcripts were read carefully for overall content and identification of major categories and then compared for similar and contrasting data. RESULTS: Four recurring themes emerged that described beliefs about healthy eating, influences on food choices, and nutrition education preferences: 1) pregnant adolescents demonstrate overall knowledge of healthy foods but are unwilling to give up unhealthy foods; 2) parents, offspring, and pregnancy influence healthy eating habits; 3) pregnant adolescents choose foods based on appearance and taste, cravings, convenience, and cost; and 4) pregnancy alters eating habits. Nutrition education in this population should be peer- and adolescent-focused and incorporate preferred methods of learning and favored incentives. DISCUSSION: Pregnant adolescents are more likely to attend educational programs that are population-specific and peer-focused, and include incentives that make cooking easier, more convenient, and affordable. Program content should be available to potential participants ahead of time. Preferred methods of learning include video format, peer discussion, and hands-on cooking with active participation in food preparation. Foods that are prepared should be visually appealing and adolescent-friendly.

Challenges to research productivity of doctoral program nursing faculty.

The Institute of Medicine, responding to a national health care crisis and related nursing labor force concerns, has called for an increase in the proportion of registered nurses with baccalaureate or higher degrees to 80% and a doubling of the number of nurses with doctorates by 2020. Simultaneously, large numbers of senior faculty are starting to retire, whereas the movement of doctorally prepared nurses into academia is insufficient to replace them. Issues associated with the efforts of nursing programs to increase their capacity to respond to the Institute of Medicine's recommendations, particularly the effect on scholarly productivity among nursing faculty in doctoral programs, are examined in this article. Creative strategies for promoting scholarly productivity among doctoral program faculty are identified.

Survey of adolescent views of healthy eating during pregnancy.

PURPOSE: To obtain baseline data about the food choices of pregnant adolescents, their knowledge about healthy eating, current eating habits, and how they feel they learn best. METHODS: A 22-item survey was distributed to pregnant adolescents (n = 49, ages 15-19) who attended a teen-parenting program or prenatal clinic. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis of data. FINDINGS: The pregnant teenagers in this study reported that healthy eating was important to them. They ate three or more meals a day, but their snacks generally consisted of unhealthy food choices. They knew about food nutrition labels but did not always use those labels to make healthy food choices. Most adolescents were interested in exercise and stated that if they had access to a gym or someone to exercise with, they would exercise more often. Study participants reported they learned best by listening to information given to them by personnel in medical offices, clinics, and at school. Adolescents responded that their mothers did most of the grocery shopping and meal preparation. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Nurses are ideally positioned to provide prenatal nutrition education to pregnant adolescents, and to their families as well. Comprehensive nutritional education should focus on helping adolescents increase the amount of dairy products they consume and also on assisting them to interpret nutrition labels.

Maintaining magnet status: establishing an evidence-based practice committee.

Magnet status for a facility indicates excellent nursing practice, positive and improved patient outcomes, and professional working environments. To maintain Magnet status, hospitals must show improved outcomes and clinical practice based on current evidence. Evidence-based practice (EBP) committees provide a streamlined approach for improving clinical/bedside practice decisions based on current research. The Magnet program is designed to guide nurses in clinical practice and making recommendations, and the EBP committee is a mechanism by which to do this. Participating in an EBP committee encourages professional growth and improved patient outcomes.