Claudia Bartz

Putting It Together: Finding Success in Behavior Change Through Integration of Services

PURPOSE The purpose of this analysis and commentary was to explore the rationale for an integrated approach, within and outside the office, to help patients pursue healthy behaviors. METHODS We examined the role of integration, building on (1) patterns observed in a limited qualitative evaluation of 17 Prescription for Health projects, (2) several national policy initiatives, and (3) selected research literature on behavior change. RESULTS The interventions evaluated in Prescription for Health not only identified unhealthy behaviors and advised change, but also enabled patients to access information at home, use self-help methods, obtain intensive counseling, and receive follow-up. Few practices can replicate such a model with the limited staff and resources available in their offices. Comprehensive assistance can be offered to patients, however, by integrating what is feasible in the office with additional services available through the community and information media. CONCLUSIONS Blending diverse clinical and community services into a cohesive system requires an infrastructure that fosters integration. Such a system provides the comprehensive model on which the quality of both health promotion and chronic illness care depend. Integrating clinical and community services is only the first step toward the ideal of a citizen-centered approach, in which diverse sectors within the community—health care among them—work together to help citizens sustain healthy behaviors. The integration required to fulfill this ideal faces logistical challenges but may be the best way for a fragmented health care system to fully serve its patients.

Reshaping Clinical Nursing Education: An Academic-Service Partnership.

This article describes the conceptualization and implementation of an academic-service partnership for a baccalaureate nursing program. The partnership began its fifth year in the fall of 2002; 107 students have entered the partnership since its inception. The partnership goals were to develop and implement clinical training experiences that teach students key skills for community-based practice settings, and to develop and evaluate an innovative and collaborative model for community-based clinical education. Students in the partnership have a unique opportunity for learning the art and science of nursing in a complex, integrated health care system with a strong emphasis on quality of environment, providers, and care delivery. A longitudinal program evaluation is underway, based on an American Association of Colleges of Nursing publication, the vision and goals of the School of Nursing, and the construct of organizational socialization.

The Midwest Nursing Centers Consortium Research Network: Translating Research Into Practice

Community nursing centers (CNCs) serve the health needs of culturally diverse populations that are often marginalized and likely to experience disparities in health. CNCs utilize innovative models of primary health care that blend traditional medical management with nursing case management and community-based health promotion strategies. This article describes the mission and activities of the Midwest Nursing Centers Consortium Research Network (MNCCRN), a practice-based research network (PBRN) funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and is one of only two federally funded nonphysician primary care PBRNs and the only PBRN in the United States comprising exclusively CNCs. The MNCCRN utilizes Advanced Practice Nurses to deliver primary health care with a particular emphasis on reducing health disparities. The MNCCRN has successfully established a multisite, multistate collaboration for community-based participatory research that will ultimately inform practice, education, and health policy.

Standard terminology for nursing

ICN anticipates that ICNP® users will develop more catalogues as more nurses use ICNP® in electronic health records and digital communication devices. Nurses who use ICNP® in the documentation of their practice should know the core data elements for their specialty or setting. The following questions needed to be answered: “What nursing diagnoses are most commonly used?”, “What nursing interventions are used?” and “What care recipient outcomes are used in that specialty or setting?” Since ICNP® was first released in 2005, many pre-coordinated statements have been added to the terminology and more catalogues have been developed by nurse experts and published by ICN. The critical need for continued development of ICNP® is the use of the terminology in clinical settings so that the collection of standardized data is available for analysis and research. In this way, nursing will be described. Nurses will then be able to say: “these are our most common diagnoses and interventions” and “these are the best or most-preferred care recipient outcomes.”

Promoting Engagement in Health Maintenance and Health Care in a Telehealth-Enabled Environment

This chapter brings the reader’s attention to the promotion of health in a telehealth-enabled world. The authors speak to application of health information technology to both citizens (those who seek to maintain health) and patients (those with illnesses or health problems that require treatment). Topics include telehealth treatment, improving health literacy via electronic communication, and collection of health data via mobile devices. These subjects are couched in a discussion of the interaction between the stage model of change and acceptance of technology.

Toward a Global eHealth Observatory for Nursing.

This poster summarizes a review of existing health observatories and proposes a new entity for nursing. A nursing eHealth observatory would be an authoritative and respected source of eHealth information that would support nursing decision-making and policy development and add to the body of knowledge about professional nursing and client care outcomes.