Meaning and Impact of Interprofessional Simulation Participation for Occupational Therapy Students: A Qualitative Descriptive Study

Occupational therapy programs are incorporating simulation experiences more regularly into their curricula. However, there continues to be a need for more evidence demonstrating simulation benefits, particularly when various client populations, standardized actors, interpersonal skill practice, and multiple disciplines are incorporated into scenarios. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to describe the meaning and impact of participating in an interprofessional simulation for occupational therapy students as part of their current academic preparation and future clinical practice in the hopes of increasing the participants’ interpersonal and clinical reasoning skills. Study participants were entry-level occupational therapy doctoral students (N=64) and their written reflections represented the collected data. The interprofessional simulation involved standardized actors and challenged students’ interpersonal skills as they responded to an unexpected and emotionally charged situation. Data were analyzed line by line and incident-to-incident, and ultimately organized into a categorical structure. There were four major categories: Simulation experience, Student meaning, Future clinical impact, and Multifactorial impact. Study results suggest: 1) occupational therapy students appreciate and benefit from simulation experiences; 2) standardized actors decrease familiarity for students and adds realism; and 3) interprofessional education opportunities contribute to students’ understanding of their own role and the roles of other disciplines. When designing simulation experiences, faculty should consider incorporating unexpected circumstances to challenge the student’s interpersonal skills, using a combination of high fidelity simulations with standardized actors, and including as many disciplines as possible to fully reflect the diversity and extensive skills of the interdisciplinary team

Educational Impact on Therapists’ Knowledge, Beliefs, and Actions: A Pilot Study

ABSTRACT Purpose: Collaborative goal setting has been shown to be an effective way to promote client engagement leading to improved outcomes; however, healthcare professionals face challenges when implementing collaborative goal setting into their clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of educational workshops to 1) increase a therapist’s knowledge of motivational interviewing and action planning, 2) promote collaboration between therapists and their patients/clients, 3) promote collaboration between therapists and their interdisciplinary team and 4) increase the ease of implementation of motivational interviewing and action planning skills into a therapist’s clinical practice. Method: A mixed-methods design was utilized. Occupational therapists and physical therapists were recruited via email to participate. Data were collected via online surveys at three different times (before the first educational workshop, after the second workshop, and three months after the second workshop) consisting of quantitative related survey questions assessing the participants’ knowledge, beliefs, actions, and perceived self-efficacy related to motivational interviewing and action planning and qualitative questions focused on typical goal development processes, level of collaboration and challenges associated with developing goals with clients and interdisciplinary team members and anticipated/resultant impact and meaning of participation in the educational workshops. Results: The sample included 19 participants. Quantitative data demonstrated a statistically significant increase in self-scoring related to knowledge, beliefs, and actions when comparing all the pre-education to the post-education scores, except for one (collaboration with interdisciplinary team members). A follow-up analysis on this criterion demonstrated no statistically significant changes over the three-month period, potentially indicative of retention of the material covered. The qualitative data provided further insight into the challenges faced by participants and the perceived benefits of participating in the educational workshops. Conclusion: The educational workshops appeared to be effective in addressing some of the barriers to collaborative goal setting (e.g. lack of time, knowledge/skills, appropriate patients, concern for duplication of services) found in the literature, most notably providing the participants with the knowledge and skills needed, which is the first step when implementing collaborative goal setting into clinical practice. Further research in this area is recommended

Perceptions of Preparedness Among New Graduate Nurses: Traditional Curriculum Versus Concept-Based Curriculum

Concept-based curriculum (CBC) is a newer trend in nursing education curriculum aimed at preparing new graduates to enter the workforce as generalist nurses better suited to care for a more medically complex population. Using CBC, students are introduced to concepts in order to build conceptual understandings as they engage in knowledge and skill learning, as opposed to a traditional nursing curriculum that is taught in sections grouped by patient population and medical complexity. At a nursing school housed within a private university in the southeast, the traditional nursing curriculum was replaced with CBC in 2016. To better understand the preparedness of new graduate nurses, students graduating from both traditional curriculum and CBC curricular designs were asked about their perception of preparedness in five specific areas during their first three months of clinical practice. The results of the explanatory mixed-methods survey, which consisted of Likert scale responses and qualitative data, showed no statistically significant difference in perception of preparedness between the two groups. The outcomes of each individual curricula were not dramatically different, but the actionable data reinforces the importance of clinical learning

Finishing Steers in a Deep-bedded Hoop Barn and a Conventional Feedlot: Effects on Performance and Carcass Characteristics during Winter in Iowa

As the Iowa beef industry invests in environmental management, there has been increasing interest in systems that minimize runoff. A possible housing option used previously for pigs and sheep to help mitigate some of these environmental concerns are hoops. The objective of this study was to compare steer performance and carcass characteristics between two housing treatments; hoop confinement barn (HP n=3; 4.65m 2 /steer) vs. conventional feedlot (FD n=3; 14.7m 2 /steer). A total of 240 crossbred Bos taurus steers were used. Steers were ear tagged, implanted, and weighed (400 ± 23.38 kg) on arrival and allotted to balance weight and breed. Performance measures; average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and feed to gain ratio (F:G) were collected over the trial. Carcass characteristics; dressing percentage, hot carcass weight (HCW), fat depth over the 12 rd rib, kidney pelvic and heart fat (KPH), ribeye area (REA), marbling score, quality grade, and USDA yield grade were collected at processing by the packing plant. ADG, ADFI and F:G did not differ (P \u3e 0.05) between housing treatments. Dressing percentage (P = 0.02) and HCW (P = 0.01) were higher for HP steers vs. FD steers between housing treatments. All other carcass characteristics did not differ (P \u3e 0.05) between housing treatments. Therefore, housing steers in a hoop does not result in detrimental alterations in either performance or carcass characteristics when compared to steers in a conventional feedlot

Finishing Steers in a Deep-bedded Hoop Barn and a Conventional Feedlot: Effects on Performance and Carcass Characteristics during Summer in Iowa

As the Iowa beef industry invests in environmental management, there has been increasing interest in systems where runoff is minimized. A possible housing option used previously for pigs and sheep are hoop barns. The objective of this study was to compare steer performance and carcass characteristics between two housing treatments; hoop confinement barn (HP; n=3; 4.7m 2 /steer) vs. conventional feedlot (FD; n=3; 14.7m 2 /steer). A total of 240 crossbred Bos taurus steers were used. Steers were ear tagged, implanted, and weighed (445 ± 31.7 kg) on arrival and allotted to balance weight and breed. Performance measures; average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and feed to gain ratio (F:G) were collected for the trial. Carcass characteristics; dressing percentage, hot carcass weight (HCW), fat depth over the 12 th rib, kidney pelvic and heart fat (KPH), ribeye area (REA), marbling score, quality grade, and USDA yield grade were collected at processing by the packing plant. No performance or carcass characteristics differed (P \u3e 0.05) between housing treatments. Therefore, housing steers in a hoop barn does not result in detrimental alterations in either performance or carcass characteristics when compared to steers in a conventional feedlot

Comparison of steer behavior when housed in a deep-bedded hoop barn versus an open feedlot with shelter

The use of hoop barns as an alternative housing system for beef cattle has not been widely researched. The objectives of this study were to determine the main effects of behavior of steers 1) over winter and summer, 2) when housed in either a hoop barn or a conventional feedlot, and 3) interactions between season and housing system. A total of 960 crossbredBos taurus steers were used [August 2006 to April 2008 (2 winter and 2 summer trials)]. Steers were housed in either 1 deep-bedded hoop barn (n = 12 pens; 4.65 m2/steer) or 1 open feedlot with shelter (n = 12 pens; 14.7 m2/steer). Steers were ear tagged, implanted, and weighed (414 ± 36 kg) on arrival and allotted to treatments that were balanced for source, BW, and hide color. Behavioral data (3 postures and 2 behaviors) were collected using a 10-min live scan. The experimental unit for behavior was a pen of steers. Behavioral data were arcsine transformed to achieve a normal distribution. There were no (P \u3e 0.05) differences for time spent at bunk or waterer for steers between housing treatments. Steers housed in an open feedlot with shelter spent less time lying and more time standing and walking (P \u3c 0.05) compared with steers housed in a hoop barn. There were no (P = 0.32) differences between seasons for standing. Steers spent more time at the bunk (P \u3c 0.0001) and waterer (P \u3c 0.0001) in the summer compared with the winter. In the winter, steers engaged in more lying (P = 0.0002) and walking (P \u3c 0.0001). Overall, steers stood less (P = 0.006) and spent more time lying (P = 0.024) when housed in a hoop barn than in the open feedlot with shelter regardless of season. Steers housed in the open feedlot with shelter walked more (P \u3c 0.0001) than steers housed in the hoop barn and walked more (P \u3c 0.0001) in winter than in summer months (6 vs. 3%). There were no (P \u3e 0.05) differences in time spent at bunk and waterer between housing systems within season, but time spent at the waterer and bunk decreased (P \u3c 0.05) for both housing systems during the winter. In conclusion, housing 40 steers per pen in a cornstalk-bedded hoop barn at 4.65m2/steer does not result in adverse behavioral alterations and can be considered as a housing alternative for finishing steers in the Midwestern United States when compared with steers fed in an open feedlot with shelter provided

Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Finishing Beef Cattle Managed in a Bedded Hoop-Barn System

The use of bedded hoop barns in finishing systems for beef cattle has not been widely researched. In this management system, beef cattle are confined to hoop barns throughout finishing, and bedding is used to absorb animal waste, which results in minimal effluent. The objective of this study was to compare the performance and carcass characteristics of finishing beef steers (n = 1,428) managed in a bedded hoop-barn management system vs. an open-feedlot system with shelter. Six feeding trials were conducted over a 3-yr period. Three trials were conducted during summer-fall and 3 trials were conducted during winter-spring. Crossbred steers were allotted to 3 pens in the hoop-barn system and to 3 pens in the open-lot system (approximately 40 steers per pen in both facility systems). Stocking densities for the steers were 4.65 m2 per steer in the hoop-barn system and 14.7 m2 per steer in the open-lot system. The steers were begun on trial weighing 410 and 411 kg (SD = 21), were fed for 102.3 and 103.0 d (SD = 3.8), and were weighed off test at 595 and 602 kg (SD = 21) for the hoop-barn and open-lot systems, respectively. Steer performance measures consisted of ADG, DMI, and G:F. Carcass characteristics were HCW, fat thickness, LM area, KPH percentage, marbling score, USDA yield grade, and USDA quality grade. No year, season, or pen (management system) main effects, or season × management system and year × management system interactions were observed for any of the items measured related to cattle performance or carcass characteristics (P \u3e 0.05). Final mud scores (a subjective evaluation of the amount of soil and manure adhering to the hair coat of the animals) were greater for the steers from the open-lot system compared with those from the hoop-barn system (P \u3c 0.02), suggesting steers in the hoop-barn system carried less mud than steers from the open-lot system. Average daily cornstalk bedding use in the hoop-barn system was 2.3 kg/steer during summer-fall and 2.6 kg/steer during winter-spring. The performance of finishing cattle managed in a hoop-barn system was not different from the performance of cattle managed in an open-feedlot system with shelter during summer and winter. Managing beef cattle in hoop barns required more bedding but resulted in decreased mud scores compared with cattle managed in an open-lot system with shelter. Hoop barns are a viable alternative housing management system for finishing beef cattle

Soil Bacteria and Fungi Respond on Different Spatial Scales to Invasion by the Legume Lespedeza cuneata

The spatial scale on which microbial communities respond to plant invasions may provide important clues as to the nature of potential invader–microbe interactions. Lespedeza cuneata (Dum. Cours.) G. Don is an invasive legume that may benefit from associations with mycorrhizal fungi; however, it has also been suggested that the plant is allelopathic and may alter the soil chemistry of invaded sites through secondary metabolites in its root exudates or litter. Thus, L. cuneata invasion may interact with soil microorganisms on a variety of scales. We investigated L. cuneata-related changes to soil bacterial and fungal communities at two spatial scales using multiple sites from across its invaded N. American range. Using whole-community DNA fingerprinting, we characterized microbial community variation at the scale of entire invaded sites and at the scale of individual plants. Based on permutational multivariate analysis of variance, soil bacterial communities in heavily invaded sites were significantly different from those of uninvaded sites, but bacteria did not show any evidence of responding at very local scales around individual plants. In contrast, soil fungi did not change significantly at the scale of entire sites, but there were significant differences between fungal communities of native versus exotic plants within particular sites. The differential scaling of bacterial and fungal responses indicates that L. cuneata interacts differently with soil bacteria and soil fungi, and these microorganisms may play very different roles in the invasion process of this plant

Editorial: The role of dispersal and transmission in structuring microbial communities

Microbial communities influence the systems they inhabit by driving ecosystem processes and promoting the health and fitness of plant and animals hosts. While an extensive body of work has documented variation in microbial community membership across hosts and systems, understanding the drivers of this variation remains a challenge. Much of the focus of these efforts has been on the characterization of host variation or the abiotic environment, and has overlooked the role of dispersal, i.e., the movement of organisms across space, and transmission, i.e., the movement of microbes among environments, hosts and between hosts and their environment

Frequency and surface dependence of the mechanical loss in fused silica

We have compiled measurements of the mechanical loss in fused silica from samples spanning a wide range of geometries and resonant frequency in order to model the known variation of the loss with frequency and surface-to-volume ratio. This improved understanding of the mechanical loss has contributed significantly to the design of advanced interferometric gravitational wave detectors, which require ultra-low loss materials for their test mass mirrors.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure but 5 figure file