Issues related to school attendance of black baccalaureate nursing students

Studies have shown an increased spontaneous TNF alpha production, and the 24--rhythmicity of TNF blood concentration in patients with advanced cancer. The present study investigates whether diurnal rhythmicity of endogenous TNF alpha is associated with the induction of circulating sTNF Rp55 in advanced gastrointestinal neoplasm. The levels of endogenous TNF alpha and sTNF Rp55 in serum were measured at 8 a.m., 2 p.m., 6 p.m., 10 p.m., 2 a.m., and again at 8 a.m. RESULTS: There is circadian rhythm in the secretion of endogenous TNF alpha in patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer, however no diurnal rhythm of sTNF Rp55 was observed. Since it has been suggested that human tumors susceptible to TNF alpha may escape destruction by secreting or inducing the secretion of sTNF Rp55 to block the effects of TNF alpha, the possibility that the observed fluctuations could also reflect the complexation of a proportion of the receptor molecules with their ligand should be considered.     

Transcultural nursing practice described by registered nurses and baccalaureate nursing students

Using Leininger's Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality as a framework, this research examined transcultural practices of nurses and students. A survey was administered to a convenience sample of registered nurses and senior baccalaureate students with 767 usable questionnaires returned. Neither group expressed confidence in their ability to care for culturally-diverse patients. Registered nurses (RNs) reported assessing cultural factors and modifying practices more frequently than did students. Respondents reported their beliefs about transcultural nursing were influenced by being with people of other cultures, their own personal values, and education. Analysis of the open-ended questions revealed two major themes. First, both nurses and students perceive an overwhelming need for transcultural nursing. Second, nurses and students respond to cultural challenges by modifying their care. Modifications are based on language and communication, pain perception and relief, religious and spiritual dimensions, gender and family roles, and other values. Results suggest that nurses and students are aware of culture, recognize that culture influences the care they provide, and modify their health teaching and nursing care based on culture. The use of a conceptual framework to help make modifications in care was not mentioned.     

Improving critical thinking in nursing practice

In a Japanese population study of the D1S80 locus 24 alleles ranging from allele 16 to allele43 were analysed using PCR-RFLP. As two repeat units were found to contain the restriction cleavage site (CCAGG) for EcoRII, we digested the alleles with EcoRII, separated the digested fragments on polyacrylamide gels and stained with ethidium bromide. Of the 24 alleles 11 band patterns were identified and tentatively labeled E1 to E11. A total of 42 subtypes were detected in a population group of 111 unrelated individuals. All samples of allele 18 were of the E3 type, while about 60% of the allele24 samples were of the E4 type and about 40% were of the E8 type. The third most frequent allele (allele30) contained four types, E4, E8, E5 and E6. No deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were observed. Since this method could differentiate those samples which had the same length but different sequences, it is quite useful for paternity testing and individual identification.     

Predicting student satisfaction in baccalaureate nursing programs: testing a causal model

The purpose of this study was to test a causal model for predicting the overall satisfaction of senior students with their baccalaureate nursing programs. The proposed model was primarily a sociological impact model based upon Tinto's (1975) student integration theory for predicting student departure, and Pascarella's (1985) causal model for predicting student outcomes. To test the model, a sample of 195 senior female students from five baccalaureate nursing programs in the southwestern United States was selected for step-wise regression studies and path analysis. Testing the causal model, the students' integration into the academic and social systems of their nursing programs directly explained 42% of the variance for predicting overall satisfaction. The best predictors of overall satisfaction were the students' 1) academic development, 2) satisfaction with facilities and services, 3) satisfaction with the faculty, and 4) social interaction with peers.     

A meaningful health assessment course for baccalaureate nursing students

In response to the challenge of teaching health assessment to large groups of entry-level BSN students with minimal experience in the health professions and a faculty belief that theory and practice are best actualized with small groups, a new health assessment course was implemented. Based on a philosophy of student accountability and self-direction in learning, faculty willingness to try new teaching strategies, and using computer testing, a successful course was developed. Students rotated through specific small group clinical labs while preparing with textbooks, study questions, videotapes, and computer-assisted instruction. Evaluation methods based on case application and the use of computer testing technology were implemented for this course. The result was increased satisfaction for the faculty and the students with enhanced application experiences supportive of the clinical practice.     

Use of writing portfolios for interdisciplinary assessment of critical thinking outcomes of nursing students

This article discusses an interdisciplinary research project in which faculty from nursing and english collaborated in the assessment of students' critical thinking skills as reflected in writing portfolios. Faculty reviewed students' writing portfolios and then corresponded on email from two different universities about evidence of critical thinking in the portfolios. Findings suggest that writing portfolios can provide important evidence of critical thinking outcomes. To do this, however, faculty need to design writing assignments to foster critical thinking skills, helping students to think not only about learning to write, but also about using writing to learn.     

It is time to move from the nursing process to critical thinking

As we reflect on the concept of critical thinking in perioperative nursing practice, we should ask ourselves whether we think critically. If not, we must learn the principles of critical thinking and apply them in our clinical practice settings. Our perioperative nurse managers and directors must demonstrate critical thinking in leading other nurses in the delivery of quality, cost-effective, service-oriented patient care. They also must identify peers who use critical thinking skills to support and sustain them in their quest.     

Multimedia to teach urology to medical students

OBJECTIVES: To test the hypothesis that an interactive multimedia-based computer application may be used to teach urology to undergraduate medical students. METHODS: Third-year medical students rotating on their urology clerkship were studied. Student knowledge was measured with a multiple choice test administered in a pretest-post-test experimental design. The educational intervention was a multimedia-based application that presented a clinical module on hematuria, using natural language-like entries. Student attitudes toward the multimedia application were assessed by a survey. RESULTS: Twenty-three consecutive third-year medical students participated. Mean pretest and post-test scores +/- standard deviation were 35%+/-11% versus 74%+/-17%, respectively, P<0.0001. Student questionnaire responses indicated highly positive opinions that the multimedia-based module was easy to use, was fun, provided natural patient responses, had clear exercises, provided immediate feedback, was educational, and had a nonthreatening format, and that the multiple choice questions were clear and fair. CONCLUSIONS: Multimedia-based education may be used to teach urology to undergraduate medical students.     

Evaluation of a method to teach cardiothoracic surgery to medical students

This report describes a method to teach undergraduate students the knowledge base and skills needed to maximize the educational value of a subsequent cardiothoracic surgical clerkship. Sixty-three fourth year medical students underwent a structured teaching programme in which groups of five students rotated through a series of six teaching stations. Subject material, presented during 20 min at each station, covered the key issues relating to coronary artery disease, congenital heart disease, chest trauma, lung cancer, prosthetic heart valves, pacemakers, thoracic sepsis and dysphagia. Group knowledge increased significantly (P < 0.001) from a mean mark of 23% (s.d. 12) in a pre-test to a mean mark of 46% (s.d. 12) in a test conducted 1 month after the teaching. The time taken to conduct the structured teaching/assessment was 5 h compared with 32 h to run the same programme by the traditional ward tutorial system. The dollar cost to stage the structured teaching was less than that to run the traditional tutorial programme. It was concluded that the teaching method is effective, economical and practical and that it has a role in an undergraduate curriculum to prepare students for clinical clerkship.     

An innovative approach using film and creative writing to teach developmental concepts to pediatric nursing students

We have reviewed 75 amputees, 58 in the lower limb and 18 in the upper. Closed amputation was performed in 69 patients (92%) and an open procedure in six (8%). Wound infection occurred in six (8%) and one patient died from thromboembolism. Wound healing was normal in the remainder. The results of closed amputation in war conditions are very good, if performed within 6 hours of injury.     

How to teach literature to medical students?

A pair of monozygotic twins suffering from noisy respirations and recurrent wheezes since early infancy were referred for evaluation. Using direct coronal CT and 3-dimensional reconstruction of the airway, congenital tracheobronchial stenosis was found in both twin babies, later confirmed by fibre optic bronchoscopy. The cause of congenital tracheobronchial stenosis remains obscure, but even in monozygotic twins an unidentified environmental factor cannot be excluded and may be responsible for discordant bronchopulmonary abnormalities. CONCLUSION: This case report shows that tracheobronchial stenosis may present in monozygotic twins. The pattern of malformation in twins differs from cases described previously.     

A comparison of two methods to teach smoking-cessation techniques to medical students

PURPOSE: To evaluate two smoking-cessation practice exercises, one using standardized patients (SPs), the other using role playing by medical students. METHOD: In the spring of 1994 all 120 first-year University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine Students were given lectures on the health effects of smoking and how physicians can help patients quit. Afterward some of the students were randomly assigned to two groups in which to practice counseling patients: Group 1 (n = 35) used SPs, Group 2 (n = 37) used role playing. Each of the Group 1 students practiced smoking-cessation techniques with an SP; the SP evaluated the student on cognitive and communication skills, assigned an overall rating, and provide feedback using a standardized form. The Group 2 students (as well as the 48 students not assigned to a group) role-played in pairs and used the same form to provide feedback. All the students evaluated their respective practice practices. Two weeks later 24 Group 1 and 31 Group 2 students participated in a clinic-skills-assessment exercise using SPs. As in the Group 1 practice exercise, each student was evaluated by an SP on cognitive and communication skills and assigned an overall rating. Data were analyzed through a number of statistical methods. The cost of the SP program was determined. RESULTS: The Group 1 students rated their practice exercise much more favorably than did the Group 2 students. However, there was no significant difference between the groups in their ratings by the SPs on the clinical-skills-assessment exercise. The use of SPs cost a great deal more than did the use of role playing. CONCLUSION: Although the students rated the SPs higher than they did the role playing, the two tools produced similar levels of skills attainment. The data suggest that having students practice smoking-cessation techniques through role playing may be as effective as using the more extensive SPs.     

Autonomy-supportive teachers: How they teach and motivate students.

The authors examined motivating style in terms of a teacher's disposition to control students or support their autonomy. In Study 1, 4 independent samples of preservice teachers completed the Problems in Schools (PS) questionnaire so the authors could critically evaluate the instrument to assess motivating style as an individual difference characteristic. In Study 2, preservice teachers taught a 10-min instructional episode as raters judged their language and style. In Study 3, elementary and high school teachers self-reported a recent attempt to teach and motivate one of their students. Compared with their controlling counterparts, autonomy-supportive teachers showed a distinctive motivating style as measured by their conversational behaviors, interpersonal style, and attempts to support students' intrinsic motivational and internalization processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An education-service partnership: analysis of the development of a satellite baccalaureate nursing programme

The development of a satellite education partnership between the School of Nursing at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire and St Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield, Wisconsin, is reported. The factors which were identified as key to this successful partnership are compared to the antecedent conditions and defining attributes of the concept of collaboration as described by Henneman, Lee and Cohen. These factors include: (a) enlisting organizational support; (b) identifying anticipated benefits to all parties; (c) scrutiny regarding the necessity of the project; (d) communication skills and trust among partners; (e) a contract including not only how to proceed but how to disband; and (f) assessment of the risks of failure and whether they can be endured. The defining attributes of collaboration were met in this satellite baccalaureate programme partnership. The consequences of this collaboration are discussed and support the conceptual literature. The success of this collaboration is evidence that partnerships between nursing service, education and research are not only worth the risks but necessary for our full participation in the health care system.     

Ethical issues and critical thinking: students' stories

Through the stories told by these students it is evident that beginning students do think critically and act ethically during their first clinical nursing course. Ethical dilemmas involving students and staff, patients, faculty, and peers depict beginning students' development of values as they evolve into professionals. The conscientiousness and caring displayed by beginning students is apparent from students' shared perspectives. It is particularly encouraging that they seemed to focus more on values and cognitive aspects of patient care than on primarily technical psychomotor skills such as taking blood pressures and giving injections. Teaching beginning students is a challenge because the educator's role is twofold: Help students build a foundation for developing ongoing critical thinking abilities and help students develop an ethical view of patient care. Further exploration of critical thinking and ethical decision making should emphasize the mutual student-educator roles in facilitating self-awareness, through conscious awareness of their beliefs, values, feelings, and multiple perspectives. Because nursing emphasizes the human element and student nurses deal with human lives, educators play a vital role in facilitating the development of beginning students as critical thinkers and as ethical nurses. The most knowledgeable and most psychologically mature faculty are needed to teach beginning nursing students. Through ongoing reflection and critical thinking, nurse educators can help beginning students to identify and develop multiple perspectives on the ethics of nursing practice.     

Advancing disciplinary practice through critical thinking: A rejoinder to Bensley.

The authors respond to Bensley’s (see record 2009-12731-009) comment on their alternative formulation of critical thinking in psychology (see record 2008-11592-004). They argue that Bensley’s defense of the traditional critical thinking approach—which they term scientific analytic reasoning (SAR)—fails to address their main objections to SAR and their reasons for presenting an alternative. In particular, the openness, fairness, and generativity that Bensley references as strengths of SAR are themselves informed by scientific analytic assumptions and values, which, they argue, illustrates their original contention—that SAR offers an insular and insufficiently critical approach to critical thinking. The authors conclude by calling for future developments in critical thinking that are not driven by an implicit SAR agenda. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)