The role of Doctor of Nursing Practice programs' mission, vision, and values statements in the development of students' professional identity: A qualitative study.

OBJECTIVES: The effectiveness of university and program mission, vision, and values statements in shaping Doctor in Nursing Practice (DNP) programs' curricula and their students' professional identity is insufficiently understood. DESIGN: This qualitative research project explored how these statements inform DNP program curricula and contribute to the development of the professional identity of students SETTING: Three DNP programs in the U.S. American Midwest participated in this research. PARTICIPANTS: Participants included students, alumni, and faculty from these three programs. METHODS: 33 semi-structured interviews were conducted. The transcriptions were analyzed, using the Grounded Theory approach, and the results were interpreted in light of the statements of participating programs. RESULTS: While a wide range of themes related to interviewees' professional identity was identified, it became apparent that students' professional identity is centered on (1) being citizens engaged in social, democratic, and political processes, (2) building caring relationships and communities, and (3) addressing health inequities. Such priorities are explicitly aligned with the statements of participating programs. CONCLUSIONS: The results (1) highlight the potential of statements to foster students' development of a professional identity as DNPs and (2) underscore that this identity is aligned with nursing programs' specific mission and values.

Perceptions of HIV, AIDS and tuberculosis among patients on antiretroviral therapy in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe: implications for the provision of HIV and TB care services.

The objectives of the research were to explore perceptions of HIV, AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) among individuals enrolled in antiretroviral therapy (ART) at two municipal clinics in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and to assess the implications of these perceptions on the provision of HIV and TB care services. Data were collected using the freelist technique to elicit the elements of a cultural domain as well as open-ended interviews with ART clients, conducted during June and July 2009. Participants were recruited through non-probability convenience sampling. The freelist data were analysed using multidimensional scaling and hierarchical clustering, and the interview data were analysed using the grounded theory method. The results suggest that: 1) the participants had substantial knowledge about HIV, AIDS and TB; 2) the participants' perceptions of HIV, AIDS and TB constituted three distinct, though overlapping, cultural domains; 3) because of the availability of ART and TB treatment, a diagnosis of HIV infection or TB alone was generally perceived with hope that one would be able to live a normal life, while AIDS illness or TB/HIV coinfection were associated with notions of death and despair; and, 4) such perceptions may negatively impact the uptake of testing for HIV and TB, and thereby contribute to delayed start of the respective treatment. Health messages should build on these meanings which have the potential to either enhance or compromise available health programmes and their use by people living with HIV or TB.

Home-based care for people living with AIDS in Zimbabwe: voluntary caregivers' motivations and concerns.

Similar to the healthcare systems of other resource-constrained countries with a high prevalence of HIV and AIDS, Zimbabwe's healthcare system encourages communities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to support the public healthcare sector by initiating home-based care activities and training volunteers to assist households in caring for individuals living with HIV. As part of the response, groups of volunteers were formed to provide basic material, social, nursing, and other kinds of support to members of AIDS-affected households. My research in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, shows that motives for volunteering included: 1) religious values; 2) desire for prestige; 3) empathy derived from witnessing the suffering caused by AIDS illness; 4) hope of securing caregiving support in the future; 5) hope of enlarging one's network of those with access to political and economic power; and 6) hope of receiving material benefits in the future. This study further documents that volunteers' commitment to caregiving diminished between the early 1990s and 2009 due to: 1) the stigma of HIV and AIDS; 2) lack of funding, preventing volunteers from providing the needed care; 3) the large numbers of sick who are discharged from hospitals and clinics into home care; and 4) volunteers' 'burnout.' Strengthening volunteers' motivations for caregiving and addressing their concerns are crucial for providing effective care for individuals living with HIV or AIDS. In Zimbabwe, improvement of voluntary caregiving programmes requires better integration with the national healthcare system at the clinic level as well as collaboration with NGOs, community leaders and church groups, which have the potential to positively influence volunteers' commitment to caregiving.