April Bigelow

Scholarly productivity for nursing clinical track faculty.

Recent years have yielded substantial advancement by clinical track faculty in cohort expansion and collective contributions to the discipline of nursing. As a result, standards for progression and promotion for clinical faculty need to be more fully developed, articulated, and disseminated. Our school formed a task force to examine benchmarks for the progression and promotion of clinical faculty across schools of nursing, with the goal of guiding faculty, reviewers, and decision makers about what constitutes excellence in scholarly productivity. Results from analyses of curriculum vitae of clinical professors or associate professors at six universities with high research activity revealed a variety of productivity among clinical track members, which included notable diversity in the types of scholarly products. Findings from this project help quantify types of scholarship for clinical faculty at the time of promotion. This work provides a springboard for greater understanding of the contributions of clinical track faculty to nursing practice.

Integrating the 3Ds: A Nursing Perspective

The 3Ds (diversity, disparities, and determinants) that serve as a framework for this supplement are concepts that are key foundations of nursing education, practice, and research. Despite this fact, however, the nursing profession has faced challenges recognizing the full potential of these concepts. While their importance is documented and acknowledged, they are not clearly evident or easily recognized within the nursing profession. In fact, there are many barriers to the integration of these concepts. We identify and address two barriers to addressing health disparities and increasing diversity: disconnects and discrimination. Furthermore, we discuss three factors—dissemination, durability, and data—that may facilitate nursings efforts to integrate the 3Ds into the profession. Five pivotal models that address these barriers and facilitators are presented as exemplars that have the potential to guide efforts to address diversity, disparities, and social determinants of health and act as catalysts for change within the nursing profession.

The relationship of alcohol use and physical activity from an ecologic perspective

PURPOSE To determine the predictors of alcohol use (AU) and their relationship to physical activity (PA) among adolescents and to examine differences among groups using an ecologic model. DESIGN AND METHODS Cross sectional secondary analysis of 11,432 adolescents (51% 8th and 49% 10th graders). RESULTS Attitude, perception of risk, and academic performance were the strongest predictors of AU. PA did not moderate, but it had a positive influence on AU in 10th graders. Differences were observed among groups. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS Nurses can address individual and school factors in an effort to decrease AU and guide nurses in creating an individualized plan.

Understanding Research Development Needs in Capacity Building for NCD Research: The Case of Thailand

Chronic non-communicable diseases (NCD) are the most significant causes of death globally. In Thailand, NCDs have increased 10.4% and 11%, respectively, since 2002. Thus, there is a compelling need in Thailand to enhance the capacity for research aimed at improving both NCD prevention and care. A survey was conducted of current multi-disciplinary doctorally prepared faculty (n=115) to determine perceived NCD research training needs. The results of this survey showed that the greatest exposure to NCD was in clinical practice, followed by teaching NCD content, and then research. Few researchers published their findings in journals. All responders reported needing significant support in research design, methods and statistical analysis procedures. These results were used to guide the development of a post-doctoral training program for NCD research in Thailand. After three years of the training program, we found that trainee applicants’ preferences and choices were aligned with the original survey-based planning.