Objective Assessment of Physical Activity and Associated Contexts During High School Sport Practices.

Background: Organized sports provide children and adolescents with opportunities to achieve recommended amounts of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and schools are a primary setting for sports programs. The main aims of this study were to examine participant physical activity (PA) levels during the most popular high school sports in the United States and to assess the influences of practice contextual factors on PA levels. Methods: Participant PA and its contexts were assessed during practices for the 10 most popular girls' and boys' high school sports in the United States. Data were obtained during 598 practice sessions in 12 schools in North Carolina using a validated direct observation instrument (System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time (SOFIT). A regression model was applied to understand the association between sport context and athletes' PA. Results: Overall, athletes were observed engaging in MVPA 60% of practice time. MVPA varied among sports and levels were highly influenced by practice contexts. Among girls' sports, cross country and soccer practices provided the highest proportion of MVPA and MVPA percent during boys' practice sessions was highest during cross country and track and field. Practice contexts were associated with MVPA accrual with time allocated for gameplay and fitness activities associated with the highest levels of PA. Conclusions: The results contribute to an understanding of which sports and how their practices are conducted facilitate increased PA. Findings indicate athletes accrue substantial amounts of PA during high school practices, but that it varies from sport to sport. As well, the context that characterizes sport practices is a significant determinant in how much PA occurs. Most sports that emphasized game simulation, fitness, and skill development drills had higher levels of MVPA. Given the length and frequency of practices and how the content is delivered, we can accurately predict how much PA athletes are likely to achieve during a given sport season. The findings from this study demonstrate that sport can make a useful, if not sufficient role in helping high school athletes reach recommended PA levels. PA engagement can be optimized by attending to the management of contexts surrounding the sports.

Assessing Physical Activity in Temporary Spaces: Application of SOPARC / iSOPARC® for Play Streets.

Purpose: The System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) is a valid, reliable method for understanding how people engage in physical activity (PA) in various permanent settings (e.g., parks) and contexts. However, its utility, reliability, and validity in temporary spaces has not been examined. Temporary spaces can provide PA opportunities often absent in low-income communities due to inadequate safe permanent PA spaces. Play Streets involve temporary closure of streets or other publicly accessibly spaces (e.g., parking lots, open-fields) to create safe play spaces for a specified time-period. We describe the utility, reliability, and validity of using SOPARC to assess PA in temporary spaces like Play Streets. Method: Trained SOPARC/iSOPARC (iPad App) research staff completed systematic observations during Play Streets occurring in four diverse low-income rural U.S. communities during summer 2017. Results: We successfully used iSOPARC to document PA and how spaces were used at Play Streets (n = 16), confirming its utility, reliability, and validity. Unlike observations of permanent spaces, target areas could not be pre-established since play spaces often changed during set-up, requiring time onsite to identify target areas and boundaries. Play areas frequently appeared and/or disappeared during Play Streets, and this was systematically addressed by using physical target area boundaries instead of activities. Conclusions: Understanding how temporary spaces are used for PA is critical for promoting their use. SOPARC/iSOPARC methods are useful in a Play Streets' context; however, systematic methods and training are needed to address inherent unpredictable and dynamic changes within and across target areas.

Shared use agreements and leisure time physical activity in North Carolina public schools.

Although increasing community access to public schools through shared use agreements (SUAs) has been a recommended strategy for promoting physical activity (PA) among national, state and local organizations, empirical evidence examining the efficacy of SUAs is limited. This study examined the degree of usage and production of PA among schools with shared use, and how variation in PA output is related to characteristics of the school, type of activity, facility type, and when activity occurs. Data were collected in 20 schools across North Carolina using System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) and Structured Physical Activity Surveys (SPAS) to assess PA in school athletic facilities during out of school time. Findings indicated that although schools had a policy of shared or open use, most facilities were empty during non-school hours. Hierarchal linear regression models also showed that formal programming was positively associated with both use and PA levels. Given the abundance of empty facilities, community groups in need of space to facilitate structured PA programs should pursue avenues of sharing facilities with public schools. Furthermore, to increase the efficacy of shared use, structured physical activity programs may be needed. Future studies are encouraged to further explore the effects of the specific types of shared use programs on PA production as well other aspects of the built environment surrounding schools.

Afterschool shared use of public school facilities for physical activity in North Carolina.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the status and common characteristics of shared use in public schools in North Carolina. METHOD: All public school principals (N=2,359) in North Carolina were invited to participate in an online survey (February - May, 2013) designed to provide baseline information about the extent and nature of shared use of school facilities. RESULTS: Responses (n=1182, 50.1%) indicated that most schools share their facilities (88.9%). Formal agreements were more common when schools shared gyms and outdoor athletic fields. Informal agreements were most common with playgrounds and track facilities. Schools with more low income or Black students were less likely to share facilities. For schools that did not share use of their facilities the most frequent reason was no outside groups had ever asked. CONCLUSION: Schools may be more accommodating to shared use partnerships. Community organizations seeking to use indoor school facilities or athletic fields should be prepared to complete a formal written agreement. Preconceived notions that schools are unwilling to share their facilities may be preventing community organizations from initiating shared use inquiries. Schools located in the middle tier of economic distress and schools with a greater concentration of Black students were less likely to share their facilities.

Integrating advanced writing content into a scholarly inquiry in nursing course.

Since there are few data examining methods to help students learn to write in a scholarly manner, the purposes of this project were to (1) evaluate students' learning of writing content integrated into a Scholarly Inquiry in Nursing course by examining differences in scores on a writing assessment taken at the beginning and end of the course; and (2) examine student confidence ratings relative to writing to see if it improved during the course. After obtaining IRB approval and informed consent, the CLIPS pre and post assessment mean scores of 82 students in a Scholarly Inquiry in Nursing course were compared using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Confidence ratings in formal and informal writing were also obtained from a subsample of 47 students. Mean scores improved in 12 out of 26 assessment categories related to punctuation, correct usage of words, and sentence construction. Student mean confidence ratings increased each month.

Labor and delivery nurses' perceptions of caring for childbearing women in nurse-managed birthing units.

PURPOSE: To identify the perceptions of nurses caring for women giving birth in nurse-managed, highly technological birthing environments. METHODS: A purposive sample of 18 perinatal nurses employed at four different in-hospital birthing centers utilizing nurse-managed labor models participated in audio-taped interviews. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed for themes. RESULTS: Themes included (1) nurses' aversion to birth plans, (2) barriers to the provision of supportive care for birthing women, (3) differences in caring for women who are medicated versus those who are unmedicated, and (4) the rewards of caring for birthing women. Although practicing in very busy, highly technological birthing units, many study participants seemed to focus on the value of predictability and efficiency guiding the provision of nursing care to birthing women. NURSING IMPLICATIONS: Women's birth experiences are heavily influenced by perinatal nurses and their care, yet the voices of these nurses have not been represented fully in nursing research. Nurses in this study reported multiple challenges in the provision of supportive care for their patients, and a wider dialogue on this topic within perinatal nursing is warranted. More research is needed on this topic, and intervention studies documenting innovative methods of teaching, orienting, and continually educating these nurses should be undertaken.

Decision making in laboring women: ethical issues for perinatal nurses.

The decision-making process in childbearing women regarding birth preferences raises ethical dilemmas related to caring for women during labor and birth. Giving birth is a powerful, life-changing event that leaves a lasting impact on the childbearing woman. The birth experience may be perceived positively or negatively or with feelings of ambivalence. This descriptive qualitative study asked what factors influence a woman's change in her stated birth preference from an unmedicated birth to a medicated birth. A purposive convenience sample of 33 primiparous and multiparous childbearing women who had changed their stated birth preference for pain management during labor participated in interviews conducted within a month of giving birth. Themes included wanting an unmedicated birth; changing to a medicated birth; feeling disappointed, ambivalent, or satisfied; and reflecting on the change. Changing birth preferences is a result of many complex factors, including the influence of professional support by nurses. Ethical principles such as autonomy, veracity, beneficence, informed consent, standard of best interest, and obligations should be applied when caring for laboring women, framed by the ethics of caring.