Cindy Kerber

Perceptions of Academic Integrity Among Nursing Students

PURPOSE Academic dishonesty is growing among nursing students. Reasons for this growth can be categorized into student, faculty, and system factors. Nursing faculty designed a study to explore this problem. CONCLUSIONS We identified three themes: characteristics of students with academic integrity, patient safety, and professional outcomes. Exploring student perceptions of academic integrity can help faculty design measures to prevent dishonesty in these three areas. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS We recommend fostering culture change through strategies that target students, faculty, and systems. These strategies include peer mentoring, role modeling integrity, enhancing awareness of what constitutes cheating, and developing policies that promote honesty.

Perceptions of New Nurses Concerning Incivility in the Workplace.

BACKGROUND Although an atmosphere of civility in which nurses respect and value each other is crucial to health care, incivility continues to be widespread. METHOD New graduate nurses completed an online questionnaire in which they described incivility and discussed its impact on new nurses and patients. RESULTS Findings were categorized according to the impact of incivility on new nurses and patients. Embedded in these categories are rich descriptions of incivility in health care. CONCLUSIONS The participants witnessed uncivil interactions that negatively impacted them emotionally, professionally, and physically. They also discussed the harmful effects of incivility on patients, whose care may be impeded or their faith in caregivers eroded in hostile, uncivil care environments. Nurses in professional development play a crucial role in promoting a culture of civility through raising awareness, supporting nurses new to the profession, and helping health care workers to better cope with incivility.

Gambling Behaviors and Perceived Health Among Incarcerated Older Adults

The proliferation of lotteries and casinos has led to increased participation in gambling. Older adults who have opportunities to gamble may be vulnerable to gambling problems, and incarcerated older adults may be the most vulnerable. Furthermore, research has linked decreased health to gambling problems. This study compared perceived health and gambling problems among 43 incarcerated older adults from two county jails in the midwestern United States. Results from the South Oaks Gambling Screen indicated 48.83% of the sample scored in the problem or pathological range. Short Form-36 results were compared with U.S. norms for ages 55 to 64 and showed significantly lower perceived health scores on Role-Physical, Bodily Pain, Mental Health, Social Functioning, and Role-Emotional subscales. The problem and pathological gamblers showed significantly lower social functioning than the recreational gamblers. Assessment of health conditions and gambling behaviors is important for quantifying current and anticipated burdens of these conditions on correctional health care systems and the community.

Lessons from the Homeless: Civil and Uncivil Interactions with Nurses, Self‐Care Behaviors, and Barriers to Care

BACKGROUND Civility, rooted in social justice, is a fundamental value of nursing. Homeless people are particularly at risk for experiencing uncivil behavior from nurses. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to explore homeless peoples perceptions of their interactions with nurses. METHOD In this descriptive, qualitative study, we interviewed 15 homeless adults who described their experiences with nurses. The interview guide, developed by the researchers, consisted of open-ended questions and probes. Transcriptions and field notes were analyzed through thematic analysis. RESULTS Three major themes emerged: nurses should be civil, self-care behaviors, and barriers to good care. Subthemes included listening, compassion, attentiveness, and judgment as components of civility; where they go for care and who cares for them as self-care behaviors; and lack of money and homeless status as barriers to care. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Our findings indicate people who are homeless often perceive nurses to be uncivil and uncaring toward them; furthermore, our participants provide a unique description of healthcare interactions from the perspective of the homeless. These findings can be used as a basis for the development of education interventions for students and practicing nurses to assist them in learning to provide civil and compassionate care for the homeless.

Gambling and perceived health among adult jail inmates.

ABSTRACT Gambling problems have been associated with lower perceived health in community samples, but little research has examined this relationship in an incarcerated population. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceived health and gambling problems of adult inmates (18–49 years old) in a county jail. We surveyed 184 male and female inmates aged 18–49 years. Nearly 35% of inmates scored as problem or pathological gamblers, and inmates scored significantly lower on all Short Form-36 Version 2 perceived health scales than the U.S. population norm. There were no significant differences on perceived health scores between recreational and problem/pathological gamblers. The high prevalence of gambling problems and poor perceived health necessitates research to provide screenings and test effectiveness of gambling and health interventions in this population.

Why can't we all just get along? A Civility Journal Club intervention.

Nursing faculty aim to provide an environment in which students learn theoretical concepts and critical thinking. Incivility is a barrier to learning and has been a growing problem in nursing for several decades. Incivility can negatively affect patient safety, work environments, and nurse retention. Exposure to incivility in nursing begins during undergraduate education. Examples of student incivility vary from inattention and lack of preparation in class to verbal or physical abuse. Uncivil behaviors reported in clinical practice include sabotage by gossiping or withholding crucial information and overt acts of verbal or physical hostility. Civility is a key component of professional nursing, and faculty members are responsible for socializing students into professional roles.

A Narrative Analysis of Sibling Grief

ABSTRACT Sibling grief is linked to serious physical and mental health outcomes, yet remains the least researched of all family bereavement. This exploratory study created a shared sibling grief narrative. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 27 participants who lost a sibling. Primary themes included Shared Life: Identity Within the Sibling Arrangement; Sibling Death: Pivotal Moments in Time; Life After Sibling Loss: Emotional Suffering, Life After Sibling Loss: Missing Roles & Changing Relationships; and The Sibling Lives On. The following study findings clarify the overlooked impact that sibling death has on the surviving sibling and demonstrate the crucial need for more sibling loss research.

Perceived Health and Gambling Behavior of Inmates: A Review of the Literature

PURPOSE An integrative review was conducted to determine perceived health and gambling behavior in incarcerated adults (ages 18-49), measures of perceived health and gambling behavior, and relationships between perceived health and gambling behavior. CONCLUSIONS Adult inmates report poorer perceived health and increased levels of gambling problems than those who are not incarcerated. No research investigating the relationships between perceived health and gambling among adult inmates was found. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS Knowledge of relationships between perceived health and gambling can assist healthcare providers in understanding potential healthcare needs of the inmates and begin treatment while they are still incarcerated. Nurses in settings such as free and private clinics, homeless shelters, churches, and emergency departments need to screen for problem gambling in this population. This will facilitate appropriate referrals and continued treatment as these inmates transition back into society.

The Impact of Disordered Gambling Among Older Adults

The current study is a secondary analysis that describes the mental, social, and economic health impacts of disordered gambling in older adults recovering from pathological gambling. The study sought to answer the following research questions: (a) What are the problem behaviors in the mental, social, and economic health dimensions?; and (b) What is the association between mental, social, and economic health impact dimensions and the South Oaks Gambling Screen score? The study population comprised a convenience sample of 40 older adults recovering from pathological gambling in the Midwestern United States. Participants were originally recruited from Gamblers Anonymous(®) meetings and gambling treatment centers. Significant findings for the current study population were: gambling causing depression, being fired from a job due to gambling, and still paying off gambling debt. Nurses should evaluate effects of disordered gambling, assess for disordered gambling, and include a financial assessment in routine care of this patient population.