Evidence Based Nursing Research Project

Introduction: A need for baccalaureate prepared nurses to find and use evidence in practice exists. Whereas using this evidence in practice may be a masters level expectation, current practice demands that baccalaureate prepared nurses acquire a basic understanding of how to use evidence in practice. Nursing students at the senior level have had exposure to critiquing research, however, they have difficulty translating evidence to practice. [See PDF for complete abstract]

Bringing the Community into the Classroom: Teaching Immunizations Skills via a Community-based Project

Introduction or Statement of Problem Health care profession educators are challenged in their efforts to bring clinical experiences into the class room and to introduce students to community settings early in their didactic training. An immunization program directed at improving childhood immunization rates can introduce students to the community, to students of other disciplines and reinforce the knowledge and skills needed for immunization interventions. Successful interventions increase community demand for immunizations, improve access to services, and educate providers about immunization services and disease. Interventions serve to mold attitudes among health care professionals that foster commitment to universal immunization coverage and low disease rates. [See PDF for complete abstract]

Pilot Project: Use of Wikis to Supplement Student Orientation

Background: During the orientation process, new students are often inundated with manuals, maps, and other materials essential to their success as students. The experience can leave students feeling overwhelmed, unable to sift through the substantial amount of information that has been given to them. Wikis, in contrast, are well-suited for facilitating userinteraction with vast amounts of diverse information. [See PDF for complete abstract]

Design and evaluation of the parent education component of a comprehensive violence prevention project in middle schools

Low parental monitoring is related to youth risk behaviors such as delinquency and aggression. The purpose of this dissertation was to describe the development and evaluation of a parent education intervention to increase parental monitoring in Hispanic parents of middle school children.^ The first study described the process of intervention mapping as used to develop Padres Trabajando por la Paz, a newsletter intervention for parents. Using theory, empirical literature, and information from the target population, performance objectives and determinants for monitoring were defined. Learning objectives were specified and a staged social-cognitive approach was used to develop methods and strategies delivered through newsletters.^ The second study examined the outcomes of a randomized trial of the newsletter intervention. Outcome measures consisted of a general measure of monitoring, parent and child reports of monitoring behaviors targeted by the intervention, and psychosocial determinants of monitoring (self-efficacy, norms, outcome expectancies, knowledge, and beliefs). Seventy-seven parents completed the randomized trial, half of which received four newsletters over an eight-week period. Results revealed a significant interaction effect for baseline and treatment for parent's reports of norms for monitoring (p =.009). Parents in the experimental condition who scored low at baseline reported increased norms for monitoring at follow-up. A significant interaction effect for child reports of parental monitoring behaviors (p =.04) reflected an small increase across baseline levels in the experimental condition and decreases for the control condition at higher baseline scores. Both groups of parents reported increased levels of monitoring at follow-up. No other outcome measures varied significantly by condition.^ The third study examined the relationship between the psychosocial determinants of parental monitoring and parental monitoring behaviors in the study population. Weak evidence for a relationship between outcome expectancies and parental monitoring behaviors suggests further research in the area utilizing stronger empirical models such as longitudinal design and structural equation modeling.^ The low-cost, minimal newsletter intervention showed promise for changing norms among Hispanic parents for parental monitoring. In light of the importance of parental monitoring as a protective factor for youth health risk behaviors, more research needs to be done to develop and evaluate interventions to increase parental monitoring. ^

Using service-learning to encourage community health advocacy among high school students

The project outlined throughout this program management plan aims to develop a health-focused student advocacy group in the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD). At its core, this project will be an opportunity for SAISD students to engage in service-learning, through which they will learn and develop by designing, organizing and participating in meaningful public health service experiences. ^ This program management plan addresses the genuine need for public health community education by using the service-learning model as a framework to engage students to effect change. The plan delineates the process by which the student advocacy group is to be assembled, selection of service-learning project, project objectives, technical objectives, and communication requirements. Ideally, the plan should help to facilitate project coordination, communication, and planning, and to support the direction of resources. The appendices that follow also provide useful tools with which to follow through with project implementation. ^ The plan is about more than providing a tool to educate students about the health issues in their community. It is about providing a way to teach health advocacy and self-interest and encourage civic engagement via public health. Students have the potential to positively effect lasting change among their peers, in their schools and in the community.^