The Journey to Accreditation of a Nurse Residency Program.

The purpose of this article is to describe the process from inception to accreditation of a post-baccalaureate nurse residency program between a VA Healthcare center and a university school of nursing so that other nurse educators can benefit from its development. Establishing a nurse residency program bridges the gap between education and practice and provides support to graduate nurses entering the workforce.

Key Elements to Developing a Preceptor Program.

BACKGROUND: With competition from so many nursing programs seeking clinical sites and numerous nurses entering the health care industry, it is imperative to have a nurse preceptor program in health care institutions. METHOD: This article attempts to identify the essential components of a preceptor program by reviewing the literature, surveying RNs to identify curriculum, and suggesting an evidence-based preceptor program of value. RESULTS: Although there is much in the published literature and books about preceptors' roles and responsibilities, few references are available about how to start a preceptor program and program components. A total of 402 RNs with a baccalaureate nursing degree (or higher) were surveyed at a health care system. One hundred ninety-seven surveys were completed (49% response rate) to identify education topics, format, and time of delivery. CONCLUSION: The development and implementation of a preceptor program is vital for the success of nurse training and retention to provide quality care. J Contin Nurs Educ. 2017;48(11):508-511.

Isolation of west nile and sindbis viruses from mosquitoes collected in the Nile Valley of Egypt during an outbreak of Rift Valley fever.

As part of an evaluation of potential vectors of arboviruses during a Rift Valley fever (RVF) outbreak in the Nile Valley of Egypt in August 1993, we collected mosquitoes in villages with known RVF viral activity. Mosquitoes were sorted to species, pooled, and processed for virus isolation both by intracerebral inoculation into suckling mice and by inoculation into cell culture. A total of 33 virus isolates was made from 36,024 mosquitoes. Viruses were initially identified by indirect fluorescent antibody testing and consisted of 30 flaviviruses (all members of the Japanese encephalitis complex, most probably West Nile [WN] virus) and three alphaviruses (all members of western equine encephalitis complex, most probably Sindbis). The identity of selected viruses was confirmed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and sequencing. Culex antennatus (Becker) and Culex perexiguus Theobald accounted for five (17%) and 23 (77%) of the WN virus isolations, respectively. Despite isolation of viruses from 32 pools of mosquitoes (both WN and Sindbis viruses were isolated from a single pool), RVF virus was not isolated from these mosquitoes, even though most of them are known competent vectors collected during an ongoing RVF outbreak. Thus, it should be remembered, that even during a known arbovirus outbreak, other arboviruses may still be circulating and causing disease.