My Nursing Care Plan for 2016

What do I need to do this year to meet my professional requirements?

• When is my nursing license(s) due for renewal?
• Am I on track to meet my CE requirements for license renewal?
• Do I need to obtain CE to maintain my current certification(s)?

How can I be a lifelong learner in nursing?

• Is it time for me to go back to school?
• Should I get certified in a specialty?
• Which professional nursing organization(s) should I join?

 

Do I have good work-life balance?

• When’s the last time I had a physical exam?
• Am I due for any immunizations or screenings?
• Am I seeing my family and friends?
• Do I have time to do things that bring me joy?
• How is my stress level?

Read full article: My Nursing Care Plan for 2016  
 

Staff Nurses’ Use of Research to Facilitate Evidence-Based Practice

Objectives: To determine to what extent RNs in an acute care multihospital system used research findings in their practice; what types of knowledge they used in their practice; and what personal, professional, and organizational factors enhanced or hindered their research utilization.

Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive, online survey design was used. The survey, which asked about use of research findings in practice and evidence-based practice (EBP) participation, was placed on the hospital system intranet. Of the 2,900 RNs invited to participate, 1,112 nurses completed usable surveys, for a response rate of 38%. This article reports findings for 794 of the staff nurses who responded to the survey.

Results: The forms of knowledge that staff nurses reported relying on most were their personal experience with patients, conferences, hospital policies and procedures, physician colleagues, and nursing peers. Although a variety of resources were available for nurses to use in locating research and implementing EBP, respondents reported many of the same barriers that have been reported in other studies over the last two decades: lack of time, lack of resources, and lack of knowledge. Although their attitudes about research utilization and EBP were positive overall, respondents expected unit-based educators and clinical nurse specialists to collect and synthesize the research for them.

Conclusions: These findings are similar to those of other recent studies regarding nurses’ research utilization and EBP. A great deal of work remains to be done if we are to inform, educate, and assist staff nurses in using research and implementing EBP. It may be unrealistic to expect bedside nurses to add these activities to their duties unless they are compensated for the time and have the support of master's or doctorally prepared nurses to serve as EBP coaches and champions.

Read full article:  Staff Nurses’ Use of Research to Facilitate Evidence-Based Practice

 

Yoder, Linda H. PhD, MBA, RN, AOCN, FAAN; Kirkley, Debra PhD, RN; McFall, D. Curk MSN, RN; Kirksey, Kenn M. PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, FAAN; StalBaum, Angela L. MSN, RN; Sellers, Diana MSN, RN

AJN, American Journal of Nursing:

September 2014 - Volume 114 - Issue 9 - p 26–37

doi: 10.1097/01.NAJ.0000453753.00894.29

Base de Datos / Busqueda de artículos científicos

Science Direct es la plataforma de consulta de una base de datos de revistas y libros editados por Elsevier, considerado el mayor proveedor mundial de información científica, técnica y médica, publica más de 2,000 revistas, así como libros y bases de datos secundarias. Entre las principales editoriales se encuentran: Academic Press, North Holland o Pergamon.

La colección contiene más de 9.5 millones de documentos en texto completo, de alta calidad científica en 2,500 revistas y más de 11,000 libros, que abarcan diferentes áreas temáticas, entre las cuales se destacan: medicina, biología, física, matemáticas, ingeniería civil, ingeniería química, ingeniería informática, medio ambiente, ciencia de los materiales, ciencias sociales, sociología, artes y humanidades, economía y agricultura.

La base de datos anualmente incluye casi 0.5 millones de nuevos documentos. Comprende millones de artículos en una gran cantidad de archivos de información histórica antes de 1995.

Acceder en:    http://www.sciencedirect.com/ 

Academic integrity in the online learning environment for health sciences students

Ilana R. Azulay Chertok, Emily R. Barnes, Diana Gilleland

Nurse Education Today

Volume 34, Issue 10, October 2014, Pages 1324–1329

Read full article: Academic integrity in the online learning environment for health sciences students

Background

The online learning environment not only affords accessibility to education for health sciences students, but also poses challenges to academic integrity. Technological advances contribute to new modes of academic dishonesty, although there may be a lack of clarity regarding behaviors that constitute academic dishonesty in the online learning environment.

Objective

To evaluate an educational intervention aimed at increasing knowledge and improving attitudes about academic integrity in the online learning environment among health sciences students.

Design

A quasi-experimental study was conducted using a survey of online learning knowledge and attitudes with strong reliability that was developed based on a modified version of a previously developed information technology attitudes rating tool with an added knowledge section based on the academic integrity statement.

Setting

Blended-learning courses in a university health sciences center.

Participants

355 health sciences students from various disciplines, including nursing, pre-medical, and exercise physiology students, 161 in the control group and 194 in the intervention group.

Method

The survey of online learning knowledge and attitudes (SOLKA) was used in a pre-post test study to evaluate the differences in scores between the control group who received the standard course introduction and the intervention group who received an enhanced educational intervention about academic integrity during the course introduction.

Results

Post-intervention attitude scores were significantly improved compared to baseline scores for the control and intervention groups, indicating a positive relationship with exposure to the information, with a greater improvement among intervention group participants (p < 0.001). There was a significant improvement in the mean post-intervention knowledge score of the intervention group compared to the control group (p = 0.001).

Conclusion

Recommendations are provided for instructors in promoting academic integrity in the online environment. Emphasis should be made about the importance of academic integrity in the online learning environment in preparation for professional behavior in the technologically advancing health sciences arena.

2012 Update of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Dyslipidemia for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in the Adult

Many developments have occurred since the publication of the widely-used 2009 Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) Dyslipidemia guidelines. Here, we present an updated version of the guidelines, incorporating new recommendations based on recent findings and harmonizing CCS guidelines with those from other Societies. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system was used, per present standards of the CCS. The total cardiovascular disease Framingham Risk Score (FRS), modified for a family history of premature coronary disease, is recommended for risk assessment. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol remains the primary target of therapy. However, non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol has been added to apolipoprotein B as an alternate target. There is an increased emphasis on treatment of higher risk patients, including those with chronic kidney disease and high risk hypertension. The primary panel has recommended a judicious use of secondary testing for subjects in whom the need for statin therapy is unclear. Expanded information on health behaviours is presented and is the backbone of risk reduction in all subjects. Finally, a systematic approach to statin intolerance is advocated to maximize appropriate use of lipid-lowering therapy. This document presents the recommendations and principal conclusions of this process. Along with associated Supplementary Material that can be accessed online, this document will be part of a program of knowledge translation. The goal is to increase the appropriate use of evidence-based cardiovascular disease event risk assessment in the management of dyslipidemia as a fundamental means of reducing global risk in the Canadian population.

 Read full article: Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines

Canadian Journal of Cardiology

Volume 29, Issue 2, February 2013, Pages 151–167

  

DOI: 10.1016/j.cjca.2012.11.032

The ‘five rights’ of clinical reasoning: An educational model to enhance nursing students’ ability to identify and manage clinically ‘at risk’ patients

Acute care settings are characterised by patients with complex health problems who are more likely to be or become seriously ill during their hospital stay. Although warning signs often precede serious adverse events there is consistent evidence that ‘at risk’ patients are not always identified or managed appropriately. ‘Failure to rescue’, with rescue being the ability to recognise deteriorating patients and to intervene appropriately, is related to poor clinical reasoning skills. These factors provided the impetus for the development of an educational model that has the potential to enhance nursing students’ clinical reasoning skills and consequently their ability to manage ‘at risk’ patients. Clinical reasoning is the process by which nurses collect cues, process the information, come to an understanding of a patient problem or situation, plan and implement interventions, evaluate outcomes, and reflect on and learn from the process. Effective clinical reasoning depends upon the nurse’s ability to collect the right cues and to take the right action for the right patient at the right time and for the right reason. This paper provides an overview of a clinical reasoning model and the literature underpinning the ‘five rights’ of clinical reasoning.

Read full article: The five rights of clinical reasoning

Nurse Education Today

Volume 30, Issue 6, August 2010, Pages 515–520

Tracy Levett-Jones, Kerry Hoffman, Jennifer Dempsey, Sarah Yeun-Sim Jeong, Danielle Noble, Carol Anne Norton, Janiece Roche, Noelene Hickey 

DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2009.10.020

AACN STANDARDS FOR ESTABLISHING AND SUSTAINING HEALTHY WORK ENVIRONMENTS

In 2001, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses made a commitment to actively promote the creation of healthy work environments that support and foster excellence in patient care wherever acute and critical care nurses practice. This commitment is based on the Association’s dedication to optimal patient care and the recognition that the deepening nurse shortage cannot be reversed without healthy work environments that support excellence in nursing practice.

 

There is mounting evidence that unhealthy work environments contribute to medical errors, ineffective delivery of care, and conflict and stress among health professionals. Negative, demoralizing and unsafe conditions in workplaces cannot be allowed to continue. The creation of healthy work environments is imperative to ensure patient safety, enhance staff recruitment and retention, and

maintain an organization’s financial viability.

 

This document puts forth six essential standards for establishing and sustaining healthy work environments.

 

The standards uniquely identify systemic behaviors that are often discounted,

despite growing evidence that they contribute to creating unsafe conditions and obstruct the ability of individuals and organizations to achieve excellence. 

 

The public repeatedly identifies nurses as the profession most trusted to act honestly and ethically. 

 

Five times since 1999 nurses have topped Gallup’s annual survey of honesty and ethics among professions.

 

The public relies on nurses to bring about bold change that assures safe patient care and sets a path toward excellence. These standards honor the public’s trust.

“If you dare to be powerful,” President Connie Barden urged association members in 2003, “if you are ready to make a promise that will make a difference, I challenge you to join me in making your promise public.” 

 

President Barden signed a public statement of her personal commitment to create a new future with healthy work environments that benefit everyone. She called for nurses to do the same by promising to:

 

• Identify the most pressing challenge in their immediate work environment.

• Initiate discussions with their colleagues to find solutions to this challenge.

• Remain actively involved in the solutions until they are working. 

 

Read full document: 

Standards for establishing and sustaining healthy work environments