Patricia Biller Krauskopf

Using Focus Groups for Program Planning and Evaluation

School nurses often find themselves developing health-related programs for children and adolescents. One way to create compelling and interesting programs that meet the needs of students is to include them in the planning, development, and evaluation of such programs through focus groups. Children provide a perspective about their particular needs, interests, and understandings that cannot be obtained from adults or health care professionals. When children take part in program planning, the programs become more appealing to children because of the feedback from their perspective. This article describes ways focus groups can be used to examine the effectiveness and usability of health-related programs. Included is a discussion of the pros and cons of using focus groups with school-age children for planning and evaluating programs and guidelines for conducting focus groups.

Accuracy and efficiency of novice nurse practitioners using personal digital assistants.

PURPOSE To determine if using personal digital assistants (PDAs) increased accuracy and efficiency of clinical decisions made by novice nurse practitioners (NPs). DESIGN Experimental with a repeated measures design. METHODS The study sample included 40 novice NPs. Data were collected from December 2003 to March 2004 following a stratified random assignment of the subjects to a textbook or PDA group. Participants identified appropriate laboratory value assessments, diagnosis, and medication decisions using the assigned resources when given two randomly administered clinical scenarios. Accuracy was determined by the correct response score to each clinical question. The completion of the scenario was timed by the investigator. Length of time necessary to answer each part of the scenario determined efficiency. Data analysis included mixed design repeated measures analysis of variance. FINDINGS There was a significant interaction and difference in accuracy in the laboratory analysis section of the case scenarios (F(1,38) = 21.256, p ≤ .001) in the PDA group when compared with the textbook group. There were no differences in accuracy by section. In three of six efficiency variables measured, the PDA users were significantly more efficient. CONCLUSIONS In both laboratory values and one of the treatment sections, the PDA users were more efficient in determining an answer to the clinical questions. Accuracy of PDA users was equal to textbook users. CLINICAL RELEVANCE The findings lend support to benefits for novice practitioners using PDAs when evaluating clinical situations, both in accessing certain correct information and doing this in a timely manner.

Evaluation of CDC Opioid Prescribing and Medisafe Apps

• This department evaluates the CDC Opioid Prescribing Guideline and Medisafe Mobile apps using NPMEDAPP.