In fall 1990, a study was conducted to assess the attitudes of nursing students who were attending Riverside Community College (RCC), in California, toward exposure to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome/Human Immunodeficiency Virus (AIDS/HIV) positive patients in a hospital setting. All students enrolled in RCC's associate degree nursing program…

A study was conducted to determine whether participation in a test-taking strategy seminar significantly decreased test anxiety in first-year nursing students. The study also sought to compare nursing test scores of first-year nursing students who participated in the seminar with those who did not. The sample consisted of 30 first-year nursing…

Learning style preferences of a group of nursing students was analyzed to determine whether the development of self-instructional modular learning packages would be an educationally sound means for presenting didactic content to students. A total of 38 junior baccalaureate nursing students completed the Canfield Learning Styles Inventory. Results…

A practice laboratory for writing nursing care plans to be utilized by first-year nursing faculty members was developed. Six first-year instructors of the Long Beach City (California) College Associate Degree Nursing Program were the participating panel of experts. A thorough literature review was conducted to obtain guidelines for writing nursing…

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of integrating advanced placement licensed vocational nursing (APLVN) students with generic students in the second year of the registered nursing program at Long Beach City College. It was hypothesized that the academic achievement of the APLVN students who were taught as a separate group for the first…

A study aimed at developing an intravenous therapy module for second-year registered nursing students is described in this practicum report. The report's five chapters define the underlying problem and purpose of the study; discuss the history of intravenous therapy and the significance of the module to the host institution; review the relevant…

A description is provided of "Behavioral Response to Illness," a required course offered in the second quarter of a two-year college nursing program, which examines physiological and psychosocial changes in patients from the framework of illness as a stressor, and the possible behavioral responses to such stress. The course focuses on behavioral…

The purpose of this study was to develop Associate Degree nursing program guidelines for Riverside Community College (RCC), in California, regarding mandatory nursing student assignment to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients, and student refusal of such assignments in a clinical setting. During the 1990 fall semester, RCC's Nursing…

It has been repeatedly demonstrated that persons who experience a high degree of test anxiety also experience decrements in performance in evaluative situations. A study was conducted to develop a test anxiety questionnaire for student nurses in order to identify test anxiety. A 40-item, self-report questionaire was developed by two panels of…

A study was conducted to identify teaching strategies that may be used by nursing faculty in teaching middle-aged and older nursing students. Four first- and second-year instructors of the Long Beach City College (California) Associate Degree Nursing Program were chosen as the panel of experts to participate in the investigation. A thorough review…

This study examined the attitudes of undergraduate and graduate nursing students (N=282) towards caring for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients. A 57-item Likert type AIDS attitude questionnaire focused on the following questions: (1) Is there a difference in the comfort level of juniors, seniors, or graduate students caring for…

A description is provided of a 15-month, in-service nursing education program at Childrens Hospital (Los Angeles, California). The first sections of the paper describe Childrens Hospital and provide a rationale for the hospital-based program. A listing of program goals and objectives is also provided, indicating that the curriculum is designed to…

To explore the relationship between prenatal parental stress and pregnancy outcome, this study investigated the hypothesis that parents of infants with defects would report greater amounts of stress in the year prior to their infant's birth than would parents of normally developing infants. Data on levels of parental stress were obtained from 37…

A study examined the feasibility of using the Comprehensive Nursing Achievement Test as a predictor of nursing students' eventual success on the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN). The predictive validity of other factors, such as age, college entrance test scores, and grades in second-year nursing courses, was also examined.…

The Department of Nursing at Oak Hill Hospital, Spring Hill (Florida) did not have a measurement instrument for patient evaluation of hospital nursing services. An instrument to measure patient satisfaction with nursing was developed and validated. Criteria identified through a literature search were reviewed, modified, and validated by a…