The Value of Sabbaticals to Revitalize and Retain Nurse Leaders in a Hospital Setting

Burnout and turnover are problems affecting staff nurses and nurse leaders across the country. Nurses and nurse leaders, who leave their jobs, contribute to an emerging nursing shortage caused by many baby boomer nurses retiring and an aging population (Snavely, 2016). Nursing leaders play key roles in creating positive work environments which help reduce burnout and turnover in staff nurses (Brown, Fraser, Wong, Muise, Cummings, 2013). Nurse leaders, who are ineffective due to burnout, or decide to leave their roles, affect staff nurses negatively and are a detriment to patient care (Brown et al., 2013). Sabbaticals are a proven strategy in many professions to renew, refresh and revitalize, but are rarely used in nursing (Schaar, Swenty, Phillips, Embree, McCool, & Shirey, 2012). This study explores the perceptions of nurse leaders on the value of sabbaticals as a strategy to revitalize and retain nurse leaders. Qualitative data was collected from three focus groups of nurse leaders at a large metropolitan hospital. Analysis of the responses informed questions for a survey on sabbaticals that was distributed to members of a professional nurse leader organization. The Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory (Hofboll, 2001) and the Quality Caring Model (QCM) (Duffy, 2018) were the theoretical frameworks used to interpret the data. This study found, through focus groups and survey that while nurse leaders see the benefits and would like to participate in a sabbatical program, they also shared anxieties about leaving their crucial role, and questioned if the organization valued or cared enough about them to offer such a program

Explicit Instruction on Rhetorical Patterns and Student-Constructed Graphic Organizers: The Impact on Sixth-Grade Students' Comprehension of Social Studies Text

Using a pretest, posttest two group design, this study investigated the effect of explicit instruction on rhetorical patterns and using those patterns to represent the content graphically on sixth-grade students’ ability to comprehend social studies text. Students in 13 classes from four middle schools in Pennsylvania received either explicit instruction in identifying rhetorical patterns found in social studies textbooks and representing that text graphically or routine social studies instruction. Routine social studies instruction was identified as the instructional activities documented during observations conducted six weeks prior to the intervention. When the intervention began, intervention group students learned to identify rhetorical patterns, construct graphic organizers using the rhetorical patterns, and write summaries of textbook content. Comparison group students continued with routine social studies instruction. All students were assessed with (a) pre- and posttests in which they constructed graphic organizers and wrote summaries using social studies passages and (b) comprehension quizzes during on-going instruction. Randomly selected students from each group engaged in think-aloud tasks at the end of the study. The pre- and posttests results indicated a statistically significant interaction between time and group for both graphic organizer construction (with a very large effect size) and summary writing (with a moderate effect size). Intervention group students outperformed students in the routine social studies group in both constructing graphic organizers based on rhetorical patterns and writing complete summaries. For the comprehension quizzes, students receiving routine social studies instruction outperformed students in the intervention group when answering multiple-choice and essay questions requiring recall of content. Think-aloud responses demonstrated that students in the intervention group were able to graphically represent social studies textbook content using rhetorical patterns as well as transfer that knowledge to a textbook from a different domain while students in the comparison group recognized there was a structure to the content of the text but did not accurately represent that content graphically according to the appropriate rhetorical pattern. Observational data showed intervention students were more engaged with graphic organizers and work samples demonstrated they were able to identify key information in the text and represent it in graphic form

Constructivist model for career internships: Integrating contextual learning and critical thinking

This project grew from a desire to help students draw meaningful connections between education and future career aspirations

Creatively expanding research from work-based learning

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of creativity in work-based research and practice to yield deeper understanding of practice situations. Unexpected insights can lead one (or a team) to identify new approaches, tackling workplace issues differently, leading to unexpected outcomes of long-term impact. Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on work conducted for a doctoral thesis, investigating the impact of work-based learning for recent masters graduates of a work-based learning programme. Fiction was incorporated into analysis of the data, creating play scripts to represent key aspects of the researcher’s perceptions and interpretations for each participant. Findings – Research participants experienced personal, professional and organisational impact, although there was considerable variability between individuals. Additionally, societal impact was wished for and/or effected. The approach to representation of analysis, which involved fictionalising participants’ experiences, created a strong Thirdspace liminality. This appeared to deepen awareness and understanding. Research limitations/implications – Such approaches can transform the researcher’s perspective, prompting insights which lead to further adventure and development in work-based research and practice. Practical implications – Managers and employees taking creative approaches in the workplace can prompt wide-ranging development and, with professional judgement, be constructive. Social implications – Managers and employees taking creative approaches in the workplace can prompt wide-ranging development and, with professional judgement, be constructive. Originality/value – The creation of play scripts, representing an interpretation of participants’ stories about their work-based learning experience, is an innovative feature of this work

Nobody's responsibility:the precarious position of disabled employees in the UK workplace

Secondary analysis of a qualitative data set of perceived workplace ill-treatment suggests that human resource and occupational health professionals play too subordinate, belated and haphazard a role, compared to ill-equipped line managers, in the de-escalation and resolution of ill-treatment experienced by disabled and ill employees

Sustaining Improved Outcomes: A Toolkit

Offers a framework for designing and implementing a plan to sustain organizational improvements by strengthening factors that affect sustainability, including perceived value, monitoring and feedback, leadership, shared models, community fit, and funding