Nursing Practicums in Health Promoting Schools: A Quality-Improvement Project

Educating new nurses on primary prevention and population health promotion can be challenging with the erosion of public health in Canada over the past decade. The lack of public health nursing positions can create difficulties when endeavoring to engage nursing students in understanding nursing’s role in population health promotion. To understand the challenges and improve efforts to educate new nurses with regard to community health, we conducted a quality-improvement project with nursing students in health-promoting schools from a service-learning perspective. We conducted qualitative interviews with 24 fourth-year nursing students and three health-promoting school principals and used thematic analysis within a service-learning framework. Several themes emerged from the interviews, including experiencing something new, creating meaning through reflection, achieving reciprocity, and providing direct benefits to stakeholders. Health-promoting schools both benefit and provide essential opportunities for nursing students. Undeniably, nursing students provide a much-needed resource to these schools, establishing valuable personal connections with pupils in a system that is underfunded – while witnessing its needs increase. Schools provide a venue to exercise the skills of nursing such as caring and understanding the importance of community health. Applying a service-learning approach can help nursing students to appreciate the opportunity and to maximize their learning in this context. The active role of community and public health nurses in school settings can provide a necessary connection to primordial and primary prevention, and in this context, nursing students can contribute to communities while gaining valuable insight into what it means to be a registered nurse. Résumé Considérant l’érosion de la santé publique au Canada au cours de la dernière décennie, former les nouvelles infirmières à la prévention primaire et à la promotion de la santé de la population s’avère parfois un défi. Les étudiantes en sciences infirmières peuvent difficilement comprendre le rôle des infirmières dans la promotion de la santé de la population en raison du manque de postes occupés par des infirmières en santé publique. Afin de comprendre les défis et participer aux efforts de formation de nouvelles infirmières en santé communautaire, nous avons mené un projet d’amélioration de la qualité en plaçant des étudiantes de sciences infirmières en stage dans des écoles promouvant la santé, à partir d’une perspective d’apprentissage par le service. Nous avons mené des entretiens avec 24 étudiantes de 4e année en sciences infirmières et 3 directrices d’écoles favorisant la santé puis procédé à une analyse thématique des données qualitatives dans une perspective d’apprentissage par le service. Plusieurs thèmes ont émergé de ces entretiens, notamment l’expérience de quelque chose de nouveau, la création d’un sens par la réflexion, la réciprocité et l’apport direct aux personnes impliquées. Les écoles favorisant la santé bénéficient et procurent des occasions essentiels d’apprentissage aux étudiantes en sciences infirmières. Indéniablement, ces dernières représentent une ressource indispensable pour ces écoles, établissant des liens personnels précieux au sein d’un système sous-financé où les besoins augmentent. Ces écoles constituent un milieu qui favorise le développement de compétences de soins infirmiers et la compréhension des enjeux de santé communautaire. L’application d’une approche d’apprentissage par le service peut aider les étudiantes en sciences infirmières à profiter de l’occasion et à maximiser leur apprentissage dans ce contexte. Le rôle actif des infirmières de santé communautaire et santé publique en milieu scolaire peut fournir un lien nécessaire avec la promotion de la santé et la prévention primaire. Dans ce contexte, les étudiantes en sciences infirmières peuvent apporter leur contribution aux communautés tout en acquérant un aperçu précieux de ce que signifie être infirmière autorisée

The Philadelphia School of Occupational Therapy: A Centennial Lesson

The Philadelphia School of Occupational Therapy (P.S.O.T.) was one of five founding occupational therapy academic programs in the United States. The program was led by two powerful occupational therapists, Helen S. Willard and Clare S. Spackman, for nearly a half century. After 60 years, P.S.O.T. was closed. This article provides a historical overview of the progression of occupational therapy education in the United States over the last century, using the story of P.S.O.T as a case study. The historical legacy and lesson from P.S.O.T. is that excellence in today’s academy may not mean security. Historically relevant today, the interaction between education and societal demands is explored, starting from the founders of the National Society for the Promotion of Occupational Therapy in 1917, through the World Wars, and casting forward. Curricular expansion, the addition of accreditation requirements, financial concerns, and faculty research requirements are presented as influential to the history of occupational therapy education. Lessons for current occupational therapy educational programs are discussed

Studying the Transistor Using Wireless Epistemologies

The refinement of 802.11b is an essential prob- lem. Given the current status of autonomous theory, experts dubiously desire the simulation of the producer-consumer problem. We propose an approach for the visualization of sensor networks, which we call BREWIS

Engagement of the PFC in consolidation and recall of recent spatial memory

The standard model of system consolidation proposes that memories are initially hippocampus dependent and become hippocampus independent over time. Previous studies have demonstrated the involvement of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in the retrieval of remote memories. The transformations required to make a memory undergo system's consolidation are thought to require synaptic plasticity. In this study, we investigated the participation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/ERK pathway in acquisition, memory consolidation, and recent memory recall of the Morris water maze (MWM) task using a 1-d training protocol. To this end, bilateral injections of the MEK inhibitor U0126 into the rat mPFC were performed. The injection of the MEK inhibitor in the mPFC did not affect the acquisition of the MWM. However, MEK inhibitor resulted in impairments on recent memory retrieval either when applied at the end of the learning phase (memory consolidation) or prior to the retention test. The results strongly support the concept that recently acquired and consolidated spatial memories require the mPFC, and that local activation of the MAPK/ERK pathway in the mPFC is necessary for the consolidation and recall of recent memories.Fil: Leon, Wanda C.. McGill University; CanadáFil: Bruno, Martin. McGill University; Canadá. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan; ArgentinaFil: Allard, Simon. McGill University; CanadáFil: Nader, Karim. McGill University; CanadáFil: Cuello, A. Claudio. McGill University; Canad

Definition of Terms, Style, and Conventions Used in A.S.P.E.N. Guidelines and Standards

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141145/1/ncp0281.pd

HPA-axis activity and the moderating effect of self-esteem in the context of intimate partner violence in Cameroon

Background The experience of intimate partner violence (IPV) is stressful. One objective way to monitor it is to assess victims’ stress response by measuring the concentration of their salivary cortisol, the major stress hormone released by the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. Objective We investigated how the IPV experienced by women in Cameroon affects their stress levels and those of their children. Method We recruited 50 mother–child dyads exposed to IPV and a control group of 25 mother–child dyads. All mothers completed questionnaires, including the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale to assess IPV, the Sense of Coherence Scale, and the Self-Esteem Scale, to assess their psychological resources. Mothers were asked to collect 3 saliva samples from themselves and 3 from their children on a single weekday: immediately after waking up, 30 minutes after waking up, and 45 minutes after waking up. The total cortisol secretion over the first hour after awakening was determined by calculating the area under the curve with respect to the ground (AUCg). Results Mothers exposed to IPV exhibited higher total post-awakening cortisol concentrations compared with those in the control group. However, no significant difference was found between exposed and non-exposed children. In addition, higher IPV, specifically injuries, was significantly and positively associated with greater AUCg among mothers exhibiting lower self-esteem. When self-esteem was high, however, no significant effect of IPV on AUCg was observed. Conclusions Of particular clinical significance is that self-esteem can modulate the stress levels of women exposed to IPV, a valuable insight into the development of effective psychosocial interventions to support IPV victims in sub-Saharan Africa

Child maltreatment and NR3C1 exon 1F methylation, link with deregulated hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis and psychopathology: A systematic review

Background Epigenetics offers one promising method for assessing the psychobiological response to stressful experiences during childhood. In particular, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation has been associated with an altered hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and the onset of mental disorders. Equally, there are promising leads regarding the association between the methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1-1F) and child maltreatment and its link with HPA axis and psychopathology. Objective The current study aimed to assess the evidence of a link among child maltreatment, NR3C1-1F methylation, HPA axis deregulation, and symptoms of psychopathology. Methods We followed the Prisma guidelines and identified 11 articles that met our inclusion criteria. Results We found that eight studies (72.72%) reported increased NR3C1-1F methylation associated with child maltreatment, specifically physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and exposure to intimate partner violence, while three studies (27.27%) found no significant association. Furthermore, a minority of studies (36.36%) provided additional measures of symptoms of psychopathology or cortisol in order to examine the link among NR3C1-1F methylation, HPA axis deregulation, and psychopathology in a situation of child maltreatment. These results suggest that NR3C1-1F hypermethylation is positively associated with higher HPA axis activity, i.e. increased production of cortisol, as well as symptoms of psychopathology, including emotional lability-negativity, externalizing behavior symptoms, and depressive symptoms. Conclusion NR3C1-1F methylation could be one mechanism that links altered HPA axis activity with the development of psychopathology