IMPROVING COMMUNICATION SKILLS AMONG NURSING STUDENTS: ASSESSING THE COMFORT CURRICULUM AS AN INTERVENTION

Effective communication is just one of the many skill sets nursing students must master to be effective in their field. A nurse’s role goes far beyond that of medical care. In addition, Today’s nurses should be equipped with a working knowledge of medical management, communication skills, ethical/legal issues, end-of-life care, and team collaboration, among others (e.g., Ferrell, Dahlin, Campbell, Paice, Malloy, & Virani, 2007).Wittenberg-Lyles, Goldsmith, Sanchez-Reilly, and Ragan (2010) contend nurses need to have specialized training protocols focused on developing effective communication skills . The current study employed one such protocol, the COMFORT curriculum, as a tool to teach nursing students how to break bad news (BBN) using a social cognitive theory approach. To clarify, when individuals feel confident about their abilities (self-efficacy), they are more likely to reach their goals (Bandura, 1986). Hence, this study posited that nursing students would become more confident about their communication knowledge and skills through the modeling and interactive adaptive learning exercises taught in the COMFORT curriculum. Although no significant increase was reported by students with regard to perceived self-efficacy or attitude about communication skills training, students did demonstrate sufficient to excellent cognitive understanding of the communication skills taught in the lesson

Policy Brief: Shared Mobility, Autonomous Vehicles, and GHG Emissions

16 pagesThis policy brief summarizes some of the key findings from a comprehensive literature review (submitted for publication) on the impact of shared mobility services and GHG emissions

Cascading hazards of a major Bengal basin earthquake and abrupt avulsion of the Ganges River

Abstract Earthquakes present severe hazards for people and economies and can be primary drivers of landscape change yet their impact to river-channel networks remains poorly known. Here we show evidence for an abrupt earthquake-triggered avulsion of the Ganges River at ~2.5 ka leading to relocation of the mainstem channel belt in the Bengal delta. This is recorded in freshly discovered sedimentary archives of an immense relict channel and a paleo-earthquake of sufficient magnitude to cause major liquefaction and generate large, decimeter-scale sand dikes >180 km from the nearest seismogenic source region. Precise luminescence ages of channel sand, channel fill, and breached and partially liquefied floodplain deposits support coeval timing of the avulsion and earthquake. Evidence for reorganization of the river-channel network in the world’s largest delta broadens the risk posed by seismic events in the region and their recognition as geomorphic agents in this and other tectonically active lowlands. The recurrence of comparable earthquake-triggered ground liquefaction and a channel avulsion would be catastrophic for any of the heavily populated, large river basins and deltas along the Himalayan arc (e.g., Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Ayeyarwady). The compounding effects of climate change and human impacts heighten and extend the vulnerability of many lowlands worldwide to such cascading hazards