An eLearning Module to Prepare Clinical Nurse Faculty to Foster Clinical Judgment: A Quality Improvement Project

Background and Problem: Many nursing students graduate with poorly developed clinical judgment skills placing patients at risk for poor outcomes. Nurse faculty can address this problem but are often unprepared. Research shows that faculty development focused on high-level teaching strategies supported by Tanner’s Clinical Judgment Model can prepare faculty to foster students’ clinical judgment skills in the clinical setting. Clinical faculty must be better prepared to develop students’ cognitive processes to prepare practice-ready nurses. Purpose: This quality improvement project seeks to design and implement an eLearning module for clinical nurse faculty to (1) increase faculty’s self-efficacy in fostering clinical judgment in the clinical setting; (2) change faculty behavior to implement clinical judgment teaching strategies into their practice; and (3) understand the module’s effectiveness in meeting faculty learning needs. Methods: Participants included part-time and full-time faculty teaching clinical at an urban associate degree nursing program. A pretest-posttest design was used to evaluate faculty self-efficacy. A post- survey and 13-week follow-up survey were used to evaluate course effectiveness in meeting faculty needs and self-reported implementation of clinical judgment strategies. Intervention: A 1.5-hour highly interactive, engaging eLearning faculty development module provided content on high-level teaching strategies supported by Tanner’s Clinical Judgment Model. Results: Overall, mean self-efficacy increased, but not statistically significant. All participants found this course to be beneficial. Five out of seven participants implemented clinical judgment teaching strategies in their courses. Qualitative data indicated that the module provided guidance and tools to foster clinical judgment and helped to develop a robust post-conference. Conclusion: This project shows that an eLearning module that integrates high-level teaching strategies supported by Tanner’s Clinical Judgment Model can change faculty behavior. When faculty are more prepared to promote high-level learning, this has the potential to strengthen students’ clinical judgment skills and, therefore, improve patient safety

CORONAcredits: Program Innovations to Aid Student Completion of Disrupted Fieldword Abroad Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Spring 2020 semester provided unique challenges for global experiences of all types to meet the intended learning objectives for students due to the COVID-19 pandemic disruption. This was especially true for experiential language and cultural immersion programs where engineering students were in the midst of their fieldwork experience abroad. The COVID-19 disruption presented unique challenges to recreate language and cultural understanding within international engineering fieldwork experiences in the US. This article outlines the response to the COVID-19 pandemic by the Interdisciplinary Global Programs (IGP) at Northern Arizona University (NAU). The IGP response was an innovative interdisciplinary and cross-institutional collaboration between NAU’s international office and faculty across three academic colleges to assist students in completing the interdisciplinary engineering, language, and cultural understanding objectives, absent direct immersion abroad. IGP developed “CORONAcredits” focused on exploration of the worldwide impact of COVID-19 to help students complete their fieldwork experience. The CORONAcredits engaged students in exploration of their personal experiences within the greater context of how different cultures handled the worldwide pandemic, enabling students to continue to build their global understanding from the US. Students analyzed the worldwide response of the unfolding pandemic across cultures and engaged in a mix of assignments that included discussion contributions where students shared their personal experiences abroad. CORONAcredits exposed students to a diversity of approaches to highlight cultural differences and deepen understanding of global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts present in the way that each student navigated the pandemic both domestically and abroad. Findings highlight the importance of flexibility and an interdisciplinary design, guiding students in their intercultural reflections, and incorporating new materials into module design. CORONAcredits can provide a “break in case of emergency” navigation plan that can be employed when unforeseen circumstances arise in engineering study abroad contexts

Reducing the Gap: Preparing Teachers to Use Evidence-Based Practices in Autism

Research shows that there is a gap between the educational research and classroom practice regarding students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (Callahan, Henson, & Cowan, 2008; Cook & Odom, 2013; Dingfelder & Mandell, 2011; Lord et al., 2005; Smith et al., 2007; Stahmer, 2007). While evidence-based practices (EBPs) have been established specific to students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, these practices are not consistently used in public school classrooms (Callahan et al., 2008; Cook & Odom, 2013; Cook, Tankersley, & Landrum, 2009; National Autism Center, 2015; Wong et al., 2015). This gap may be the result of limited access to effective professional development that was designed to meet the complex needs of those with ASD (Boyd & Shaw, 2010; Lord et al., 2005; Scheuermann, Webber, Boutot, & Goodwin, 2003; Wong et al., 2015). The purpose of this mixed methods concurrent study was to increase a) the knowledge of ASD and EBPs in teachers working with students with ASD, b) the frequency of use of discrete trial training and visual supports in the classroom, two EBPs designed for students with ASD, and c) self-efficacy of teachers working with students diagnosed with ASD. The participants were self-contained special education teachers from a district located in the southeastern United States. Each participant took part in four face-to-face professional development sessions, completed two online modules, and participated in four coaching individualized sessions. Qualitative and quantitative data included professional development sign-in sheets, coaching logs including an implementation checklist and anecdotal notes, a social validity survey, pre- and post-program surveys focusing on knowledge of ASD, evidence-based practices, and self-efficacy. Results indicated the participants showed growth in knowledge of the characteristics of ASD. Participants also demonstrated an 81% increase in their level of knowledge of twenty-seven of EBPs, and an 85% increase in their comfort in implementing twenty-six of the EBPs. In contrast, there was a decrease in comfort of implementation of one of the EBPs. Finally, the self-efficacy levels of the participants improved in 23 out of 30 questions

Health Management: Occupational Therapy’s Key Role in Educating Clients About Reliable Online Health Information

Background: Only 12% of Americans possess proficient health literacy skills. Among those with the lowest health literacy are individuals with chronic health conditions. Occupational therapists are well prepared to assist these clients with health literacy, given our roles in teaching new health management skills and health promotion. Methods: An educational course was designed and taught to over 100 individuals and caregivers with chronic health conditions to assist in finding and determining trustworthy health information online. An author designed pre postsurvey was used to evaluate effectiveness. Results: There was a significant pre-post change in four categories: finding quality health information online (M = 0.703), judging trustworthiness of online health information (M = 0.624), understanding health information (M = 0.489), and retrieving information using email alerts (M = 0.826). Conclusion: The ability to find and evaluate health information online empowers clients to fully participate in medical care. Evidence shows that this skill can be efficiently taught to clients or client groups for improved health management. Providing training in finding trustworthy health information online is a skill that occupational therapists can successfully teach in conjunction with overall health management skills for improved occupational participation

Prodromal dementia with Lewy bodies: a case series of the 3 prodromal types from clinical practice

Prodromal dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) refers to a state prior to the onset of dementia with clinical signs or symptoms that may indicate the future development of DLB. Prodromal symptoms can include not only cognitive deficits but also a mix of clinical features including sleep disorders, autonomic dysfunction, and neuro-psychiatric disturbances. While diagnostic criteria for the subtypes of prodromal DLB were recently published, they are largely for use in the research setting. However, these diagnostic criteria have important implications for clinical practice. Helping clinicians to recognize prodromal stages of DLB can lead to identifying deficits sooner, improved patient and family counseling, and advance care planning. This case series presents examples of the 3 subtypes of prodromal DLB – mild cognitive impairment-onset, delirium-onset, and psychiatric-onset – to help clinicians identify individuals who may be on a trajectory to develop DLB

A qualitative analysis of self-harm and suicide in Sri Lankan printed newspapers

Background: Media reporting may influence suicidal behavior. In-depth exploration of how self-harm and suicide are portrayed in newspaper articles in a middle-income country such as Sri Lanka is lacking. Aims: We aimed to explore how self-harm and suicide are portrayed in Sri Lankan printed newspapers. Method: Seven English- and Sinhala-language Sri Lankan newspapers were screened for articles reporting on self-harm and suicide (December 1, 2014 to January 31, 2015). A thematic analysis was conducted. Results: In the 78 articles identified for analysis, certain aspects were overemphasized (inappropriate behavior) and others underemphasized (alcohol and complexities of self-harm). Explanations of self-harm were one-sided and a suicide prevention narrative was lacking. Limitations: Another time-frame and inclusion of Tamil newspapers as well as social media and online publications would provide additional understanding. Conclusion: The study found an indication of simplistic reporting. Greater focus on prevention and a nuanced portrayal of self-harm could reduce stigma and imitative behavior

Reflecting on loss in Papua New Guinea

This article takes up the conundrum of conducting anthropological fieldwork with people who claim that they have 'lost their culture,' as is the case with Suau people in the Massim region of Papua New Guinea. But rather than claiming culture loss as a process of dispossession, Suau claim it as a consequence of their own attempts to engage with colonial interests. Suau appear to have responded to missionization and their close proximity to the colonial-era capital by jettisoning many of the practices characteristic of Massim societies, now identified as 'kastom.' The rejection of kastom in order to facilitate their relations with Europeans during colonialism, followed by the mourning for kastom after independence, both invite consideration of a kind of reflexivity that requires action based on the presumed perspective of another

Novel whole blood assay for phenotyping platelet reactivity in mice identifies ICAM-1 as a mediator of platelet-monocyte interaction

British Heart Foundation (PG/12/68/29779 and PG/14/48/30916) and the Wellcome Trust (101604/Z/13/Z to SN and TW, and 098291/Z/12/Z to S.N)