Working Partnerships, Partnerships Working

Involvement in community partnerships at Virginia Commonwealth University has its roots in the institution\u27s history. The Medical College of Virginia, founded in1838, and the Richmond Professional Institute, founded in 1917, both sought to extend knowledge into the community to change peoples\u27 lives for the better. Today, the VCU campuses are even more entwined with the City of Richmond -- physically, and increasingly so as a partner in the economic and social challenges and opportunities facing the City

Slithering Into Summer: Ideas for introducing your students to herpetology.

The article discusses how elementary school students can learn about herpetology during the summer through educational programs. Activities included studying cover boards, aquatic turtle traps and vernal pools. The author provides factors for teachers to consider when exploring summer programs, such as program structure, safety and student interest

When is the appropriate time to pursue nurse practitioner practice legislation? : a case study

In the United States, many states have revised their nurse practice acts to include provisions that promote full practice authority for nurse practitioners. Such revisions reflect the expanded qualifications and abilities of nurse practitioners and provide a mechanism by which to better utilize the full scope of nurse practitioner services that are available to address growing demands for access to health care. Although the research literature is beginning to describe strategies that states have used to successfully achieve regulatory changes to full practice authority for nurse practitioners, no published study identified in the literature has explored how stakeholders within a state decide on the appropriate time to pursue such legislation. This is the first known study to use an embedded single case study design, guided by the Kingdon (2011) policy stream model, to provide a detailed account of how stakeholders for nurse practitioner full practice authority in one stated determined the appropriate time to pursue legislative changes to nurse practitioner scope of practice regulations. Qualitative data analysis was guided by Yin (2014), and used theoretical propositions, the development of a case description, pattern matching, and explanation building. Findings from the study addressed the research question by revealing four themes which included the components considered by the study state’s stakeholders as they determined the appropriate time to pursue legislation to change nurse practitioner scope of practice regulations. Study findings can be used as a reference to increase the competency with which the nursing profession pursues the policy process for full practice authority legislation, and can be used by stakeholders in other states as a guide for the assessment components to consider when making decisions to pursue related legislation

Inspiration or defeat: the motivational and evaluative impact of social comparison on dysphoric individuals

People compare themselves to others in order to evaluate their abilities and opinions, yet the literature is mixed on how these social comparisons impact people's emotions, self-evaluation, and motivation. There were two primary aims of the present study. The first aim was to examine the impact of upward social comparisons (i.e., comparing oneself to someone who is believed to be more skilled or more fortunate) on self-evaluation and motivation. The second aim was to examine the influence of dysphoria in the relation between social comparison and both self-evaluation and motivation after partialling out the effects of self-esteem. Undergraduate students varying in levels of dysphoria were asked to read either an impressive student resume (upward comparison) or an average student resume (lateral comparison) prior to answering other- and self-evaluation questions and performing a brief anagram task to assess motivation. We predicted that after partialling out the effects of self-esteem, people who report higher dysphoria will evaluate themselves more negatively following an upward (but not a lateral) comparison than people who report lower dysphoria. We also predicted that after partialling out the effects of self-esteem, people who report higher dysphoria will display less motivation, as evidenced by correctly solving fewer anagrams, following an upward (but not a lateral) comparison than people who report lower dysphoria will. Results did not show a significant interactive effect of dysphoria on either the relation between social comparison and self-evaluation or the relation between social comparison and motivation. However, results did indicate a main effect of self-esteem (ß = .71, p < .001) and comparison (ß = -.13, p < .05) on self-evaluation

Species differences and interspecific interactions in wild Peromyscus ultrasonic vocalizations

Ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) are commonly produced by many rodents, including all muroids investigated to date (18 genera). The overall adaptive significance of USVs within muroid rodents is not well understood. Most research has focused on the muroid genera Mus and Rattus. Within even these two relatively closely related genera, USV functions vary. Additionally, research on Mus and Rattus has been conducted exclusively in the laboratory and may be subject to laboratory effects. In order to contribute toward understanding the function of Peromyscus USVs, the context in which USVs are produced in the wild is investigated. Wild syntopic Peromyscus californicus and P. boylii are used as an example to explore 1) species differences in the spectral characteristics of USVs, and 2) interactions in USV production between two syntopic species. Both species vocalized, and the most commonly recorded USV motifs were 1-5 syllable vocalizations (SV). There are species differences in spectral characteristics of 1-5 SV USVs, but there is also high variability within each species. On average, P. boylii vocalizes 8 kHz higher than P. californicus. Frequencies do overlap between species, but frequency measurements can be used reliably to assign USVs to one of the two species, based on binary logistic regression and/or discriminant function analysis. Sixty-two percent of P. californicus and 82% of P. boylii USVs recorded occurred on the 42 nights (out of 123) when both species vocalized. Thirty-seven percent of P. californicus USVs and 52% of P. boylii USVs occurred within 5 minutes of an USV from a heterospecific. There were positive correlations between species in USV production on 8 out of 11 nights when each species produced more than 3 USVs, suggesting interactions between P. californicus and P. boylii do occur. Further research is warranted to understand the context and extent of the interactions

But it's not

This thesis contains a collection of four short stories written while in residence at the Master's in Fine Arts program at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

A motivational perspective on caregiver psychological distress

For many people, providing care for a seriously ill family member is a major life event that may disrupt their life and personal goals. Research has demonstrated the experience of such events is often associated with increased symptoms of depression, stress, and anxiety. Although many researchers have examined factors that influence this relation, few have explored it from a motivational perspective. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to examine the influence of self-regulatory processes and motivational orientation on the relations between burden (caregiver and objective burden) and psychological distress (defined as the experience of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress). Caregivers of adult family members diagnosed with cancer in the past three years were asked to complete a battery of questionnaires on psychological distress, caregiver burden, objective burden, goal adjustment and regulatory focus orientation. It was predicted that caregiver burden would partially mediate the relation between objective burden and caregiver psychological distress. Furthermore, based on the notion of regulatory fit, the strength of the relation between objective burden and caregiver burden would be greater for caregivers who tend to exhibit a weaker prevention focus than a stronger prevention focus. Lastly, it was hypothesized that the strength of the relation between caregiver burden and psychological distress would be greater for caregivers who report a greater inability to disengage from goals than caregivers who report a greater ability to disengage from goals. Results suggested that objective burden is associated with psychological distress through caregiver burden. Inconsistent with our hypotheses, promotion focus, instead of prevention focus, moderated the relation between objective burden and caregiver burden. Lastly, findings suggest that an ability to disengage from goals alleviates symptoms of anxiety and stress, and an ability to disengage from goals alleviates symptoms of anxiety and stress, and an ability to reengage in goals alleviates symptoms of depressed mood

Creepy and other stories

The three stories in this manuscript "Creepy," "Elegantly," and "Bad Romance" interrogate the complexities, joys, and struggles of female friendship. In "Creepy," the first person narrator, Annie, develops a friendship with her neighbor, Ms. Jacobs, while she cleans out Ms. Jacobs's cat's litter box during Ms. Jacobs' pregnancy. The story tracks Annie's relationship to her sexuality and her relationship to her mother. "Elegantly" follows Julia's desire to adopt a Chinese daughter, and "Bad Romance" is a sister story, following Melanie's relationship to Annesley, her younger sister who finds fame on Youtube

A consideration of the morality contained in the three love tragedies of John Ford

Since Gerard Langbaine's Account of the English Dramatic Poets in 1688, there has been much criticism of the morality in John Ford's plays. His three love tragedies, however, have never been exhaustively examined to determine their basis in morality. This thesis analyzes the morality in 'Tis Pity She's A Whore, The Broken Heart and Love's Sacrifice through a study of the texts and attention to the probable Renaissance reaction to some elements in the plays