Journey to Becoming a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner: Making the Decision to Enter Graduate School.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal nurse practitioners (NNPs) play an important role in caring for premature and ill infants. Currently, there is a shortage of NNPs to fill open positions. Understanding how nurses decide to become NNPs will help practicing nurse practitioners, managers, and faculty encourage and support nurses in considering the NNP role as a career choice. PURPOSE: To describe how nurses decide to enter graduate school to become nurse practitioners. METHODS: A qualitative study using semistructured interviews to explore how 11 neonatal intensive care unit nurses decided to enter graduate school to become NNPs. RESULTS: Key elements of specialization, discovery, career decision, and readiness were identified. Conditions leading to choosing the NNP role include working in a neonatal intensive care unit and deciding to stay in the neonatal area, discovering the NNP role, deciding to become an NNP, and readiness to enter graduate school. Important aspects of readiness are developing professional self-confidence and managing home, work, and financial obligations and selecting the NNP program. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Neonatal nurse practitioners are both positive role models and mentors to nurses considering the role. Unit managers are obligated to provide nurses with opportunities to obtain leadership skills. Faculty of NNP programs must be aware of the impact NNP students and graduates have on choices of career and schools. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Exploring the decision to become an NNP in more geographically diverse populations will enhance understanding how neonatal intensive care unit nurses decide to become NNPs.

Management of constipation and encopresis in children.

Constipation is a common problem in primary care. Nurse practitioners should be able to diagnose and treat constipation appropriately and to recognize which children require referral to a gastroenterologist. Referral to a gastroenterologist is necessary for the child with simple constipation or encopresis fails to respond to treatment, an organic etiology is suspected, or complex management is required.

Prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Adolescents Entering Child Protective Services.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Persons aged 15-24 years have the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Adolescents in protective services custody may be at even greater risk of acquiring STIs, but little is known about the prevalence of STIs among this population. We therefore set out to assess the prevalence of STIs among adolescents seen in the Harris County Child Protective Services Clinic. DESIGN: A retrospective chart review from January 2009 to December 2011 was conducted. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Patients aged 12-18 years seen for their intake physical examination at the Harris County Child Protective Services Clinic in Houston, Texas. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Main outcome measures included the number of positive tests for chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and HIV. Secondary measures included sexual history, use of condoms and contraception, and reports of drug and alcohol use. RESULTS: Among 437 patients, 60% were female, their mean age was 15 years, and nearly half were African American. There were 27 cases of chlamydia, 12 of gonorrhea, 3 of syphilis, and none of HIV. Three of the teenagers who reported never having sex were positive for an STI. Being female, being older than 15 years, and having had sexual intercourse at least once were significant risk factors. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of STIs in adolescents entering foster care was comparable to national averages. Recommending routine screening of all adolescents in this population is important to ensure better detection and treatment.

The simulated hospital environment: a qualitative study applying space industry techniques.

Patterned after the integrated simulation approach utilized in the space industry, we report results of an innovative simulation in nursing, a 96-hour continuous simulated hospital environment. Training objectives for our study emphasized the integrative and critical thinking skills needed by new graduate nurses. The purpose of this study was to determine the process for development and the experience of participating in a simulated hospital environment. We sought to (a) translate space industry-integrated simulation techniques into development of a simulated hospital environment and (b) determine the experience of participating in an integrated simulation experience among undergraduate (UG) and graduate nursing students and nursing faculty. We used a qualitative mixed-methods design. Data were collected from participant focus groups, debriefing sessions, research team field notes, and electronic health record documentation. The sample, 72 student focus group participants, consisted of 12 baccalaureate-level soon-to-graduate students and 60 graduate nurse practitioner students as patient actors and providers. Important themes emerged from the project. We were able to design a simulated hospital environment that was true to life. Notably, student knowledge-practice gap was a major theme of the study, consistent with studies of employer concerns of new graduate nurses.

Development of the American Indian Enculturation Scale to assist counseling practice.

Understanding the extent of commitment to and identification with traditional cultural experiences is essential for working with American Indian (AI) people (Whitbeck, 2006). The purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of a practical measure of enculturation for AI people by examining its reliability and validity within the context of three previous studies.