Building Cultural Sensitivity and Interprofessional Collaboration Through a Study Abroad Experience.

BACKGROUND: Study abroad (SA) experiences for health professions students may be used to heighten cultural sensitivity to future patients and incorporate interprofessional education (IPE). METHOD: Two groups of nursing and pharmacy students participated in an SA elective over a 2-year period, traveling to China and India. RESULTS: Both groups improved significantly in knowledge, awareness, and skills following the travel experiences. Student reflections indicate that the SA experience was transformative, changing their views of travel, other cultures, personal environment, collaboration with other health professionals, and themselves. CONCLUSION: Use of SA programs is a novel method to encourage IPE, with a focus on enhancing the acquisition of cultural competency skills.

Increasing Cervical Cancer and Human Papillomavirus Prevention Knowledge and HPV Vaccine Uptake through Mother/Daughter Education.

This evidence-based initiative assessed the impact of language-appropriate cervical cancer and human papillomavirus (HPV) prevention education on knowledge level and HPV vaccine uptake among mothers and their daughters. Forty-one mother/daughter dyads from a low-cost, faith-based clinic for the uninsured in southeastern Texas participated in the nurse practitioner-led cervical cancer prevention educational sessions. Spanish was the primary language for the majority of participating mothers. The project produced appreciable knowledge increase and HPV vaccine uptake intent. Aggregate HPV vaccine uptake numbers for the clinic increased considerably compared to HPV vaccine administration prior to educational intervention.

Effects of a community-based hospice experience on attitudes and self-perceived competencies of baccalaureate senior nursing students.

BACKGROUND: Educational programs preparing nurses have devoted little time in the curricula to the care of the dying patient and the grieving family. METHOD: An experimental design was used to determine the effects of a 2-day hospice experience on the attitudes and competencies of 61 baccalaureate nursing students enrolled in their final semester. Measures included an end-of-life attitudes survey, an end-of-life competency survey, and student reflections. RESULTS: Mean scores changed significantly after the hospice experience, suggesting a positive attitude change as a result of the intervention. Although mean scores in competency changed, these were not statistically significant. Student reflections supported attitude changes about end-of-life care and improved competencies. CONCLUSION: Although the experience seemed to make a difference, larger samples and longer exposure to the care of the dying are needed to more accurately assess the impact of a hospice experience on student attitudes and competencies related to end-of-life care. [J Nurs Educ. 2015;54(6):335-338.].

Use of high-fidelity simulation to teach end-of-life care to pharmacy students in an interdisciplinary course.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of high-fidelity simulation on pharmacy students' attitudes and perceived competencies in providing end-of-life care in an interdisciplinary palliative care course. DESIGN: Thirty pharmacy students participated in a high-fidelity simulation of the 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after the death of a patient with end-stage renal disease. ASSESSMENT: Students completed the Attitudes Toward Death Survey and the End of Life Competency Survey prior to and after experiencing the simulation. A reflections journal exercise was used to capture post-simulation subjective reactions, and a course evaluation was used to assess students' satisfaction with the simulation experience. Students' post-simulation attitudes toward death significantly improved compared to pre-simulation attitudes and they felt significantly more competent to take care of dying patients. Students were satisfied with this teaching method. CONCLUSION: High-fidelity simulation is an innovative way to challenge pharmacy students' attitudes and help them with knowledge acquisition about end-of-life care.

An exploratory study of cardiac health in college athletes.

A common assumption is that college athletes are healthy based on their age and level of physical activity. This study used a descriptive correlational design to explore relationships and predictors of physical fitness levels among an ethnically diverse sample of 135 college athletes from a National College Athletic Association Division II university. Both subjective and objective indices of cardiac health and physical fitness level (blood pressure [BP], body mass index [BMI], waist-to-hip ratio, waist circumference, hip circumference, blood lipids, glucose, and VO(2max)) were collected. Minimal research exists with this population or with such an array of subjective and objective measures. More than one fourth of the athletes had a BMI in the overweight range, one fifth was prehypertensive, and one fourth had lower-than-recommended high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. Waist circumference accounted for 21% of the variance in systolic BP level. These factors may predispose the college athletes to cardiac risk in the future when exercise regimens are reduced. Gender differences were found in all physical size variables and in physical fitness levels, with physical fitness level alone predicting gender correctly 98.5% of the time. Differences support the need to account for gender and fitness levels in cardiac risk assessment of young populations.

Workplace health promotion--strategies for low-income Hispanic immigrant women.

Addressing health disparities for vulnerable populations in the United States is a national goal. Immigrant Hispanic women, at increased risk for heart disease, face obstacles in receiving adequate health care. Health promotion, especially for Hispanic women, is hindered by language, access to care, lack of insurance, and cultural factors. Innovative health education approaches are needed to reach this population. This article describes the development and evaluation of a culturally sensitive cardiac health education program based on findings from a study of 21 older immigrant Hispanic women employed as housekeepers at a small university in south Texas. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures had decreased 17 months after the intervention.

Cardiovascular risk among older Hispanic women: a pilot study.

This study used a descriptive correlational design to describe the relationship between cardiovascular risk and anxiety, spirituality, acculturation, and the objective indices of cardiac risk among a sample of 21 adult Hispanic women. Objective indices of risk included weight, blood pressure, blood lipids, and glucose. Four survey instruments were used to assess anxiety, spirituality, acculturation, and perceived risk. Findings revealed that all study participants had 3 or more risk factors, placing them in the moderate risk category for developing heart disease or having a heart attack within 10 years. State and trait anxiety scores were lower than the normative samples for adult women. Spirituality scores were higher than average; individuals with higher anxiety scores had lower spirituality scores. More research is needed to determine the health needs of unskilled workers with limited education in employment settings.

Cardiac health: relationships among hostility, spirituality, and health risk.

This study examined hostility, spirituality, and indices of health risk among 100 young, primarily males of Hispanic background. Over half of the subjects were prehypertensive or hypertensive; one third had at least 2 objective risk factors for cardiac disease; and younger participants had lower spirituality scores and higher cynical distrust scores. Body mass index, spirituality, and glucose accounted for 29% of variance in systolic blood pressure; body mass index and age accounted for 39% of variance in diastolic blood pressure. The tools to assess cardiac risk (blood pressure, history, capillary blood screening, body mass index) are all "low tech" and low cost but used together are powerful in identifying risk populations.