Cynthia Stone

What rewards do clinical preceptors in nursing think are important

This article explores the use of preceptors for a capstone course in a baccalaureate curriculum. Nursing faculty, nursing managers, and staff educators from local hospitals developed a survey to determine the range of items that would serve as recognition or rewards for staff working in a preceptor role. The challenge was to identify rewards that are meaningful to the preceptors and financially feasible for the organization and the School of Nursing.

Developing a model curriculum for a university course in health impact assessment in the USA

As health impact assessments (HIAs) become increasingly common in the USA, there is growing demand for instruction beyond short courses and online training. As of October 2013, there are graduate level courses that include instruction on HIA in at least 17 universities in the USA, including four courses that focus explicitly on HIA. Instructors of these four courses collaborated to develop a model curriculum for teaching HIA that draws on a framework for experiential learning and on a theoretical model of curriculum formulation. This article includes an in-depth analysis of these courses and presents a model curriculum for HIA instruction during an academic quarter or semester course in a university. This model curriculum may help faculty develop a graduate level HIA course at their institution, as well as inform public health and community design professionals interested in building capacity to conduct HIAs, and students considering taking an HIA course. International instructors could also learn from the US experience, and apply the model curriculum to their setting and educational structure.

Clinical site selection by students through use of an internet database.

Use of the Internet in nursing education has greatly expanded during the past decade and will continue to be a force in the future. The authors describe the development and maintenance of an Internet Web site created to assist in the placement of individual students on particular clinical sites for their Capstone Practicum course in a baccalaureate school of nursing. Issues related to development, maintenance, and use of the program are included. Recommendations include possible application in other schools of nursing as well as other disciplines.