Community College Part-Time Faculty\u27s Perceptions During Their Role Transitiion From Expert Clinician To Clinical Instructor

Community college part-time nursing faculty enter academia as expert clinicians, but most have little or no training in the pedagogy of effective student learning. The purpose of this study was to use qualitative phenomenological methods to explore community college part-time nursing faculty’s perceptions of their experiences during their role transition from nurses in clinical practice to part-time clinical instructors in academia. In addition, this study explored if and how community college part-time nursing faculty developed a professional identity as clinical instructors through their experiences. The research questions were: 1. Through their experiences, how do community college part-time nursing faculty describe their role transition process and development of their professional identity as clinical instructors? 2. What are part-time nursing faculty’s perceptions of the pedagogical skills and support needed in order to promote effective student learning in their role as clinical instructors in the community college setting? 3. What are the part-time nursing faculty’s perceptions of the initial and long-term professional development and support they need to promote their professional identity development and role transition from nurses in clinical practice to instructors in the community college setting? The theoretical framework guiding this study was Illeris’ Transformative Learning and Identity theory (Illeris, 2014). Eight themes emerged to support the proposition that six participants have experienced a role transition process over time from nurses in clinical practice to part-time clinical instructors and developed a professional identity as part-time clinical instructors, however two continue in the process. In addition, critical to this transition and identity development are the social influences and relationships with other instructors, faculty, and students; incentive to learn to be better instructors, and the importance of support and training. A complimentary model emerged specific to this population, The Process of Role Transition and Professional Identity Formation for Part-time Clinical Instructors at Two-Year Institutions Model. This model is potentially useful for leaders at two-year institution nursing programs in developing individualized orientation and professional development programs for part-time faculty that support them in learning their roles, responsibilities, and pedagogical skills necessary to facilitate effective student learning

Braiding a Naturalist’s Journey of Embracing Courage

My synthesis is a sharing of my journey, the accomplishments, struggles and practices essential to embracing courage from a different space of intention, from a space of supporting others, while I continue to journey myself. But it’s also a journey of tensions scaffold by walls built long ago that kept my tree from joining a collaborative forest. Through the repetitive process of revisiting, letting gestate, and revising my personal narrative, written papers, professional workbooks and daily writing practice, I share how the Science in a Changing World (SICW) program has manifest in my workplace and a growth of courage to practice. The inclusion of contextual personal narratives I’ve shared help demonstrate the complexity of how important process is as the structural roots of our learning, ever working to slowly reveal and shape new awareness much like how stories are working on us all the time, reshaping us in the way that flowing water gradually reshapes a rock. I believe story is the connective tissue that builds empathy and support for risk-taking rather than a weakness lacking academic or scientific rigor. More importantly, what I’ve come to understand is that just because a story defined me at one time in my life, it doesn’t necessarily define me now. Much like a child who speaks later than expected developmental models, I too am finding my voice, my way of finding clarity, through a combination of creative modalities developed asynchronously yet in concert with each other. I share how experiences I once saw as broken limbs on my tree are now gifts in my own personal development. In tree physiology, these wounds compartmentalize rather than heal; they are always part of the tree, but hidden from surface awareness as calluses grow to cover scars. Only later in the life of the tree may these wounds become apparent again when the tree is stressed by wind. I invite the reader to see extended strands of the braid connected to their own life experiences by paying attention to what resonates or brings up tension for you, noticing the beginning of possible meta-awareness; to make conscious the story just beneath the surface of our talk and invite us to speak it. My synthesis helps readers to connect with an awareness that: • Story has power to shape our thinking, beliefs and behaviors and that our beliefs can grow but are always connected with the deeper layers of our narratives • Dreams and burdens are essential to the beauty of the journey • Courage and empowerment are grown through practice and community • Co-creative spaces of supportive non-judgment allow for risktaking as a serious practice of learning and growth • Others need scaffolding to support their own growth and practice that might be similar or different than our own • Transparency of intentions may help build community despite tensions of differences. Through my research, I’ve come to appreciate that my original inquiry is deeply rooted in my quest to understand my own connection with nature in the context of my life purpose and work. And I have been and continue to be on a journey framed in working to support exploration and change at the individual level of awareness rather than the bigger scale of the environmental movement. Yet I’ve also come to understand that the power of change is held within me and that supporting myself in this environment will translate into supporting others. My capstone synthesis is focused, therefore, on my development as a leader/mentor of people I work with while also honoring my personal development as a reflective practitioner

Religion, Human Rights and the Challenges of Freedom

All over the world, Religion holds a primal place. Every man is said to believe in a ‘god\u27. Ordinarily there should be no feud in matter of religion, because religion is a personal decision. However, in recent times religion has become an issue and many crimes are committed on the basis of faith. In the 21st century with the promotion of human rights, this ought not to be so. We must note that religion has always been a thorny issue, not with the Christian crusades and the Islamic Jihads. We believe times have changed and each individual should be able to practice his faith without necessarily the follow his fellow. With this at the back of our mind we seek to examine religion, human rights and the challenge of freedom by offering some proposals towards religious harmony in the 21st century

Peripheral neuropathy and quality of life of adults living with HIV/AIDS in the Rulindo district of Rwanda

Although the life expectancy of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) has increased in the past years, they could experience secondary illness such as peripheral neuropathy (PN). Therefore, they need to adapt to chronic disablement which could affect their quality of life (QoL). The research that informed this article aimed at determining the prevalence of PN among adults living with HIV/AIDS and attending the outpatients’ clinic at Rutongo Hospital in the Rulindo district of Rwanda. Another aim was to determine these patients’ QoL. A cross-sectional descriptive quantitative research design was used. A time-constrained method was used to sample 185 adults living with HIV/AIDS and attending the outpatients’ clinic at Rutongo Hospital. The subjective PN screen and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Brief Version were used to collect the data. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Student’s t-test and one-way analysis of variance were performed to determine ifsignificant differences existed between QoL scores in participants with and without PN symptoms. The results indicated that 40.5% of respondents experienced PN. QoL in participants with PN showed significantly lower scores in the physical (p ¼ 0.013) and psychological (p ¼ 0.020) domains when compared with those who did not have PN. These results indicate a high prevalence of neuropathy among PLWH attending the outpatients’ clinic at Rutongo Hospital. In addition, patients with neuropathy had lowerQoL scores in the physical and psychological domains than those without neuropathy symptoms. The management of PLWH should therefore include interventions to optimise QoL as well as screening for neuropathy symptoms so that sufferers can liaise with their medical providers to find medical and supportive therapies that could assist them

Exploring experiences of using a case study as a teaching strategy to learn about spirituality in occupational therapy education

Background. A case study is a teaching strategy that is used in other professions, such as nursing and medicine; however, there are no studies that focus on the experiences of occupational therapy (OT) students regarding the use of a case study to learn about spirituality. Objectives. To explore undergraduate OT students’ experiences of using a case study as a teaching strategy to learn about spirituality. Methods. Exploratory-descriptive qualitative research was conducted, using purposive sampling to select and recruit second-year OT students (N=25) who consented to participate in the study. Transcribed data from three focus group discussions were thematically analysed through a credible process. Results. Two major themes were identified. Theme 1, the importance of a case study as a teaching method, deals with students’ learning experiences of using a case study. Theme 2, skills learnt through a case study, highlights profession-specific and academic skills that students managed to acquire and apply by using a case study as a learning strategy. Conclusion. This study provided insight into the OT students’ experiences of using a case study. The findings are consistent with previous research that focuses on the use of a case study as a teaching strategy, which enabled students to apply their knowledge in a real-life situation by recognising and solving problems through engaging in critical reflection and using various skills. This work contributes to existing knowledge of health sciences education by providing teaching and learning strategies that educators may use to facilitate students’ engagement in collaborative learning

Experiences of persons with physical disabilities regarding rehabilitation services: a systematic review

Rehabilitation has been found to improve the integration of persons with disabilities into the society. For rehabilitation to be effective, there is a need to seek patients' perceptions of the services rendered to them. Incorporating these perceptions in the rehabilitation process of patients is one of the ways that recognises patients' involvement in rehabilitation. The most common identified persons with physical disabilities' experiences that have been explored are: accessibility of rehabilitation services, interaction of service providers with patients, provision of information related to disability and rehabilitation. This review aims at highlighting the experiences of persons with physical disabilities regarding rehabilitation services as it relates to different studies