The Evolution[s] of WLU Press: Towards Library–University Press Integration

In March 2015, Wilfrid Laurier University administration announced that WLU Press would be integrating with the Laurier Library. Media coverage of this announcement has been mixed, and is an indication of the ambivalent response to library-press collaborations or integrations, in both the university press and library communities. This article considers the WLU case at its current early stage of development, discussing this transformation not necessarily as “progress” but as one response to a rapidly shifting scholarly environment. By examining the pressure points of the negotiations to merge the press and the library at WLU, this article considers the question of how to maximize opportunities and minimize the potential negative impacts of such integration. In order for such a partnership to be successful, both must be willing to evaluate their business models, their core missions within the scholarly ecosystem and the marketplace, as well as how they measure professionalization and success

Northeastern News- Winter 1997

https://neiudc.neiu.edu/neiunews/1048/thumbnail.jp

Northeastern News- Fall 1995

https://neiudc.neiu.edu/neiunews/1045/thumbnail.jp

Northeastern News- Summer 1997

https://neiudc.neiu.edu/neiunews/1047/thumbnail.jp

Northeastern News- Spring-Summer 1996

https://neiudc.neiu.edu/neiunews/1046/thumbnail.jp

Throughput and Nurses\u27 Workloads: Influences on Nurse and Patient Outcomes

Patient turnover, or throughput, through nursing units can significantly impact the workloads of nurses. However, very few staffing measures account for patient throughput, thus underestimating nurses\u27 workloads. Research has shown that when nurse staffing is more favorable, patient and nurse outcomes are more favorable. What is not known, and what this study examined, was how adjusting nurse staffing measures for patient throughput influenced the relationship between staffing and patient and nurse outcomes while also accounting for the nurse work environment, which also has significant relationships with patient and nurse outcomes. This study was a secondary analysis of hospital administrative data, patient discharge data, and nurse survey data in four states. Nurse survey data from more than 25,000 nurses were merged with administrative data from nearly 600 hospitals to study nurse outcomes, which included burnout, job dissatisfaction, and intent to leave. These data were then merged with patient discharge data from over 1.6 million surgical patients to study patient outcomes, which included 30-day mortality and failure to rescue. The novel nurse survey data provided information on hospital system-related factors, such as staffing, throughput, and the nurse work environment. Three measures of throughput-adjusted staffing were described, developed, and compared to unadjusted staffing measures as well as acuity-adjusted staffing and patient length of stay-adjusted staffing. Contrary to the hypotheses, the adjusted staffing measures did not have stronger relationships with patient or nurse outcomes compared to unadjusted staffing measures. The nurse work environment was a significant predictor of both patient and nurse outcomes. Patients treated in hospitals with the most favorable nurse work environments had about 14% lower odds of death and 16% lower odds of failure to rescue compared to patients treated in hospitals with the least favorable work environments. Compared to nurses working in hospitals with the least favorable work environments, nurses in hospitals with mixed work environments were about 30% less likely to be burned out, 40% less likely to report job dissatisfaction, and 38% less likely to intend to leave their jobs. These differences were even more pronounced for nurses working in hospitals with the best work environments. Compared to nurses working in hospitals with the least favorable work environments, nurses in hospitals with the best work environments were about 46% less likely to be burned out, 60% less likely to report job dissatisfaction, and 55% less likely to intend to leave their jobs. The work environment also moderated the influence of staffing on both patient and nurse outcomes. This study was the largest study of throughput and nurse workloads to date and the first to explore throughput in relation to nurse outcomes. Although throughput-adjusted staffing did not provide significantly more information than unadjusted staffing in relation to patient and nurse outcomes, further research is needed to explore how throughput influences nurse workloads across different nursing units or work environments. Improvements in nurse work environments are promising approaches to improve both patient and nurse outcomes in hospitals

Northeastern News- Summer 1995

https://neiudc.neiu.edu/neiunews/1044/thumbnail.jp

Does industry-sponsored education foster overdiagnosis and overtreatment of depression, osteoporosis and over-active bladder syndrome? An Australian cohort study

ObjectivesTo investigate patterns of industry-sponsored educational events that focus on specific health conditions for which there are concerns about overdiagnosis and overtreatment.Design and settingThis retrospective cohort study examines publicly reported industry-sponsored events in Australia from October 2011 to September 2015 for three conditions potentially subject to overdiagnosis and overtreatment: depression, osteoporosis and overactive bladder. We used a database of transparency reports to identify events with a focus on depression, osteoporosis and overactive bladder and compared these with other sponsored events. We hypothesised that companies marketing treatments for each condition would sponsor related events and that target audiences would mainly work in primary care, reflecting a broad patient population.Main outcome measuresEvent and attendee characteristics, sponsoring companies, related marketed treatments, cost-effectiveness ratings and dispensing rates.ResultsOver the study period, we identified 1567 events focusing on depression, 1375 on osteoporosis and 190 on overactive bladder (total n=3132, with 96 660 attendees). These events were attended by primary care doctors more often than sponsored events without a focus on these three conditions: relative risk (RR)=3.06 (95% CI 2.81 to 3.32) for depression, RR=1.48 (95% CI 1.41 to 1.55) for osteoporosis and RR=2.59 (95% CI 2.09 to 3.21) for overactive bladder. Servier, which markets agomelatine and AstraZeneca (quetiapine) sponsored 51.2% and 23.0% of depression events, respectively. Amgen and GlaxoSmithKline, which co-market denosumab, sponsored 49.5% of osteoporosis events and Astellas and Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (CSL) (mirabegron and solifenacin) sponsored 80.5% of overactive bladder events.ConclusionsThis 4-year overview of industry-sponsored events on three overdiagnosed and overtreated conditions found that primary care clinicians were often targeted, dinner was often provided and that a few companies sponsored most events. In most cases, sponsors’ products are not cost-effective choices for the specified condition. This pattern highlights the need for professional education to be free of commercial sponsorship.</jats:sec

You've got this! The fundamental values of academic integrity

After so many changes in education over the past year, the need to stay grounded in fundamental values is more important than ever. The surge in cognitive offloading tools (i.e.&nbsp;apps and websites that will offer completed academic work), have educators feel they are running a losing race to keep a diverse student body focused on learning content and demonstrating knowledge with integrity. Integrating discussions on the fundamental values of honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage in classroom supports has allowed the Academic Success Centre and Library Services at Red River College to build academic integrity into their suite of supports. Session presenters will share examples of collaborative sessions that have empowered students to analyze options and make decisions that lead to academic success. Session participants will be asked to reflect on opportunities to integrate the fundamental values into their work. This session will encourage you to use the resources you have to promote academic integrity with confidence.&nbsp

A cross-sectional analysis of pharmaceutical industry-funded events for health professionals in Australia

Objectives: To analyse patterns and characteristics of pharmaceutical industry sponsorship of events for Australian health professionals and to understand the implications of recent changes in transparency provisions that no longer require reporting of payments for food and beverages. Design: Cross-sectional analysis. Participants and setting: 301 publicly available company transparency reports downloaded from the website of Medicines Australia, the pharmaceutical industry trade association, covering the period from October 2011 to September 2015. Results: Forty-two companies sponsored 116 845 events for health professionals, on average 608 per week with 30 attendees per event. Events typically included a broad range of health professionals: 82.0% included medical doctors, including specialists and primary care doctors, and 38.3% trainees. Oncology, surgery and endocrinology were the most frequent clinical areas of focus. Most events (64.2%) were held in a clinical setting. The median cost per event was $A263 (IQR$A153–1195) and over 90% included food and beverages. Conclusions: Over this 4-year period, industry-sponsored events were widespread and pharmaceutical companies maintained a high frequency of contact with health professionals. Most events were held in clinical settings, suggesting a pervasive commercial presence in everyday clinical practice. Food and beverages, known to be associated with changes to prescribing practice, were almost always provided. New Australian transparency provisions explicitly exclude meals from the reporting requirements; thus, a large proportion of potentially influential payments from pharmaceutical companies to health professionals will disappear from public view