Jane M. Kirkpatrick

Development of Leadership Behaviors in Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Service-Learning Approach

AIM The purpose of this study was to determine leadership behaviors developed by nursing students and peers before and after a service‐learning experience. BACKGROUND Nurses have been called to fill growing needs in the health care setting, rendering care to vulnerable and diverse populations in a wide range of organizations. Leadership behaviors are therefore essential. METHOD Baccalaureate students (N = 65) completed the Student Leadership Practices Inventory‐Self at the beginning and end of the semester. The students also rated peers using the Leadership Practices Inventory‐Observer and answered six questions about service‐learning. RESULTS Repeated measures of analysis of variance for pre‐ and posttests revealed that leadership behaviors improved (p < .0001). A significant correlation was found (p = .02) between the overall posttest scores for both instruments. CONCLUSION Integrating service‐learning into a leadership course is an effective approach to the development of leadership behaviors.

Quality of health care provided at a pediatric nurse-managed clinic.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assimilate evidence regarding quality of care received at nurse‐managed clinics (NMCs), particularly a pediatric NMC that provides health care for the underserved pediatric population. Data sources: A nonexperimental design was used in this study. Quality of care data were collected at Trinity Nursing Center for Child Health (TNCCH), a pediatric NMC. Evidence included whether a pediatric NMC met selected national benchmark pediatric Healthcare Effectiveness and Data Information Set (HEDIS) quality indicators as well as HEDIS targets set by the Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning (OMPP) in Indiana. Conclusions: Findings suggest that TNCCH met or exceeded national HEDIS benchmark standards of care and targets set by OMPP. This study offers further evidence that NMCs provide a high quality of care. Implications for practice: Benefits of addressing the research question in this study include the preservation of the nurse‐managed healthcare safety net, increased access to health care for the medically underserved population resulting in improved health outcomes, and evidence to suggest that NMCs can assist private practice physicians to support this population of patients.

The Doctor of Nursing Practice Capstone Project: Consensus or Confusion?

Considerable diversity exists among Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs regarding capstone projects, which reflect the knowledge gained and the competency achieved during the immersion experience. This article describes a conversation of the DNP capstone project among participants of the Committee on Institutional Collaboration DNP Invitational Conference. The focus of the dialogue was to discuss the intent and breadth of the DNP capstone project and how it demonstrates competencies, to consider in what way it differs from the PhD dissertation, and to identify the similarities and differences among multiple forms of the project in terms of scope and expected deliverables, as well as to examine other related issues. The participants addressed eight salient questions in an effort to clarify the value, form, and key elements of the final project. Responses to these questions are presented, and the agenda for a national dialogue regarding the capstone project is considered.

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome: Parent Support for Early Decision Making

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome is a life threatening congenital cardiac anomaly. After a child has been diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, parents must make life or death decisions within days of birth. Healthcare providers must provide appropriate education so that parents are able to make informed, timely decisions. Information regarding the diagnosis, treatment options, and parental decision making process for initial decision making for hypoplastic left heart syndrome are provided to guide nurses who work with these families. The challenging decision making process that parents must go through after diagnosis of hypoplastic left heart syndrome will be described.

Toward creating an optimal acute care clinical learning environment: insights from staff, faculty, and students.

Understanding how a clinical site impacts student learning was the focus for a participatory action research study in which three separate focus groups for students, faculty, and staff were convened. Participants were asked to identify what they enjoyed or liked about the clinical setting, what they disliked about the clinical setting, and what they would change about the clinical setting. Themes identified by a constant comparative method included experiences provided, attitudes, and expectations. Although the researchers anticipated that each group would have a unique and different perspective on the clinical experience, respondents were consistent in their beliefs both within and among groups. Of interest, each participant group attributed an ineffective clinical learning environment to external causes.

Infusing Systems and Quality Improvement Throughout an Undergraduate Nursing Curriculum

BACKGROUND Nurse educators are constantly revising curricula to ensure that graduating nurses have the requisite skills for todays fast-paced, rapidly changing, nonlinear complex care environment. Key nursing education and practice organizations identify systems thinking and quality improvement as essential skills for nurses at the point of care. METHOD Systems thinking and quality improvement were embedded across a Bachelor of Nursing (BSN) curriculum in a manner that does not dislocate other, more traditional content. RESULTS To date, approximately 500 students have been exposed to the new BSN curriculum. Sustainable approaches, preliminary results, lessons learned, and recommendations for sustainability and replication are discussed. CONCLUSION Integrating systems thinking and quality improvement with traditional content across the entire undergraduate curriculum exposes students to increasingly sophisticated real-world experiences that highlight the relevance and significance of these skills in the health care context. Feedback from practice partners suggests this approach helps bridge the education and practice gap. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(12):752-757.].

Developing a sense of community among nursing students.

For beginning students, becoming a member of the nursing profession starts with experiences in nursing school. Better understanding of the experiences that contribute to sense of community for students can guide faculty efforts and curricular decisions. Using the sense of community model as a framework, the authors assessed the influence of a freshman-level class and other leadership and student organization experiences on the students’ perceptions of the school of nursing as community. The authors discuss the study and its outcomes.