Delivering health information statewide via the Internet in a collaborative environment: impact on individual member institutions.
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The Arizona Health Information Network (AZHIN) is a statewide member-driven organization committed to improving access to information for health sciences students and practitioners. Members include several hospitals and hospital systems, an academic health sciences center, and other diverse health care organizations. AZHIN offers its members unlimited Web access to ten well-known health sciences databases. This paper explores the impact that AZHIN has had on its member institutions. A survey asked members to reflect on AZHIN and its possible effects on the visibility of the librarian within the institution, relative dollars spent on AZHIN and range of resources available, Internet connectivity within their institution, access to AZHIN and other Internet resources, teaching, and benefits of collaboration. Results indicated that AZHIN members have access to a wider range of resources than they would otherwise. There are financial savings for some. Internet connectivity and AZHIN membership can provide the librarian with a broadened role and increased visibility. The availability of MEDLINE and other AZHIN resources encouraged some institutions to install Internet connectivity more quickly. Teaching library users has increased. Overall, AZHIN members recognized many benefits of their collaboration. (+info)
Undergraduate nursing students' compatibility with the nursing profession.
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BACKGROUND: The high rate of attrition among nursing students has caused some nursing leaders to think about the necessity of considering students' personality during the process of admission into nursing schools. Due to the lack of studies on Iranian nursing students' personality traits, this study was designed to assess freshmen nursing students' personality characteristics and their compatibility with the demands of the nursing profession. METHODS: A descriptive study was conducted at Tehran and kashan medical universities and one of the branches of Azad University. Convenience sampling was used and 52 freshmen nursing students were assessed using Holland's Vocational Interests Inventory. RESULTS: From the total participants 63.5% were females and 36.5% were males. Based on the Holland's Vocational Interests Inventory 44% did not have appropriate personality characteristics for the nursing profession. 77% of the nursing students participating in the study reported that they lacked information about nursing. CONCLUSION: It seems that personality tests can help to select the best students for nursing schools from those who show good academic capabilities. This would decrease the rate of attrition and could improve the quality of care. (+info)
Evaluating teaching effectiveness in nursing education: an Iranian perspective.
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BACKGROUND: The main objective of this study was to determine the perceptions of Iranian nurse educators and students regarding the evaluation of teaching effectiveness in university-based programs. METHODS: An exploratory descriptive design was employed. 143 nurse educators in nursing faculties from the three universities in Tehran, 40 undergraduate, and 30 graduate students from Tehran University composed the study sample. In addition, deans from the three nursing faculties were interviewed. A researcher-developed questionnaire was used to determine the perceptions of both faculty and students about evaluating the teaching effectiveness of nurse educators, and an interview guide was employed to elicit the views of deans of faculties of nursing regarding evaluation policies and procedures. Data were analyzed using parametric and nonparametric statistics to identify similarities and differences in perceptions within the Iranian nurse educator group and the student group, and between these two groups of respondents. RESULTS: While faculty evaluation has always been a major part of university based nursing programs, faculty evaluation must be approached more analytically, objectively, and comprehensively to ensure that all nursing educators receive the fairest treatment possible and that the teaching-learning process is enhanced. CONCLUSION: Educators and students stressed that systematic and continuous evaluation as well as staff development should be the primary goals for the faculty evaluation process. The ultimate goals is the improvement of teaching by nurse educators. (+info)
International Research Capacity-Building Programs for Nurses to Study the Drug Phenomenon in Latin America: challenges and perspectives.
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The First International Research Capacity-Building Program for Nurses to Study the Drug Phenomenon in the Americas is a result of a partnership between the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Faculty of Nursing in the University of Alberta, with financial support from the Government of Canada. The program was divided into two parts. The first part of the program was held at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It involved capacity-building in research methodologies at the Faculty of Nursing, which lead to the preparation of four multi-centric research proposals for drug demand reduction in the home countries of the eleven participants in the program. The second part of the program was related to the implementation of multi-centric research proposals in seven countries in Latin America and in Canada. This program presented expertise in research methodology to members of Latin American Schools of Nursing and introduced Latin American expertise to members of a Canadian Faculty of Nursing. The International Research Capacity-Building Program for Nurses to Study the Drug Phenomenon in the Americas has fostered the kind of inter-cultural respect and mutual appreciation necessary to confront the global health problem of the abuse of both licit and illicit drugs. (+info)
International nursing leadership related to the drugs phenomenon: a case study of the partnership experience between the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) and the University of Alberta--Faculty of Nursing.
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In this article, the authors discuss the value of international health in advancing the nursing profession through the development of strong leadership in the area of drug demand reduction. Paradigms for nursing leadership are briefly reviewed and linked to the development of the "International Nursing Leadership Institutes" organized by the Inter-American Commission for the Control of Drug Abuse (CICAD). The "International Nursing Leadership Institutes" have facilitated the implementation of Phase III of the CICAD Schools of Nursing Project: a) planning and implementing the first "International Research Capacity-Building Program for Nurses to Study the Drug Phenomenon in Latin America", b) development of Regional and National Strategic Plans for Nursing Professionals in the Area of Demand Reduction in Latin America, and c) preparation of a document that provides guidelines on how to include drug content into undergraduate and graduate nursing curricula. The article also brings reflections directly from several of the participants in the first International Research Capacity-Building Program for Nurses to Study the Drug Phenomenon in the Americas, offered in collaboration with the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. These reflections demonstrate the multiplicity of ways in which this capacity-building program has made it easier for these members of Latin American Schools of Nursing to show leadership in the area of drug demand reduction. (+info)
Research careers for American Indian/Alaska Native nurses: pathway to elimination of health disparities.
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The health status of American Indians/Alaska Natives lags behind that of the US population. American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) nurses are on the front lines of health services for AIAN people. They have the potential to make scientific contributions as well, but are under-represented among researchers working to understand health disparities. The AIAN MS-to-PhD Nursing Science Bridge, at the University of Minnesota, in partnership with the Universities of North Dakota and Oklahoma, provides support for AIAN nurses during the critical training transition from masters of science to doctoral programs. Partner schools collaborate with AIAN elders, medicine people/spiritual leaders, and academic consultants to (1) foster academic success and strengthen the AIAN identity of students during their research training and (2) bring about institutional change to optimize student experiences. Future research programs developed by this cadre of AIAN nurse scientists will contribute scientifically sound, culturally acceptable knowledge to effectively improve the health of AIAN people. (+info)
The cost of health professionals' brain drain in Kenya.
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BACKGROUND: Past attempts to estimate the cost of migration were limited to education costs only and did not include the lost returns from investment. The objectives of this study were: (i) to estimate the financial cost of emigration of Kenyan doctors to the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA); (ii) to estimate the financial cost of emigration of nurses to seven OECD countries (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Portugal, UK, USA); and (iii) to describe other losses from brain drain. METHODS: The costs of primary, secondary, medical and nursing schools were estimated in 2005. The cost information used in this study was obtained from one non-profit primary and secondary school and one public university in Kenya. The cost estimates represent unsubsidized cost. The loss incurred by Kenya through emigration was obtained by compounding the cost of educating a medical doctor and a nurse over the period between the average age of emigration (30 years) and the age of retirement (62 years) in recipient countries. RESULTS: The total cost of educating a single medical doctor from primary school to university is 65,997 US dollars; and for every doctor who emigrates, a country loses about 517,931 US dollars worth of returns from investment. The total cost of educating one nurse from primary school to college of health sciences is 43,180 US dollars; and for every nurse that emigrates, a country loses about 338,868 US dollars worth of returns from investment. CONCLUSION: Developed countries continue to deprive Kenya of millions of dollars worth of investments embodied in her human resources for health. If the current trend of poaching of scarce human resources for health (and other professionals) from Kenya is not curtailed, the chances of achieving the Millennium Development Goals would remain bleak. Such continued plunder of investments embodied in human resources contributes to further underdevelopment of Kenya and to keeping a majority of her people in the vicious circle of ill-health and poverty. Therefore, both developed and developing countries need to urgently develop and implement strategies for addressing the health human resource crisis. (+info)
Sowing the seeds for sustainable change: a community-based participatory research partnership for health promotion in Indiana, USA and its aftermath.
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Community-based participatory research (CBPR) increasingly is being used in both developed and developing countries to study and address community-identified issues through a collaborative and empowering action-oriented process. In 2003-2005, a study was undertaken to document the impacts of CBPR on healthy public policy in the US. From an initial review of 80 partnership efforts, 10 were selected as best capturing the range and diversity of projects meeting the study criteria, and were the subject of in-depth case study analysis. This article presents and analyzes one of these cases, a collaboration between researchers at the Indiana University School of Nursing and the Healthy Cities Committee of New Castle, IN, USA. With its action component still underway a decade after the formal study's completion, the partnership was selected to enable an examination of sustainable change through CBPR. Beginning with a participatory door-to-door health survey of 1000 households using a non-probability quota sampling strategy, the project involved community members in many stages of the research process. A smoking rate of twice the national average was among the study findings that helped to galvanize the community into action. A variety of health promoting environmental and 'small p policy' changes were undertaken ranging from a bill restricting indoor smoking in public places to an initiative to develop a system of trails throughout the county to promote physical fitness and decreased reliance on automobiles. This article examines the evolution of the original CBPR partnership, its research methods and findings, and the environmental changes it sought to promote healthier lifestyles. Success factors, barriers and sustainability benchmarks are discussed. The case study offers an example of the potential of CBPR for helping to lay the groundwork for long-term sustainable change in support of healthier communities. (+info)