Describes the emergence of parish nursing as a specialty practice within community health nursing. Parish nurse roles include health educator, health counselor, liaison to community resources, and clarifier of the relationship between faith and health. (JOW)

Describes the development and testing of a clinical evaluation tool for a community health nursing course for registered nurses through review of the literature and focus groups with community health nurses and faculty. The article contains 22 references and an abbreviated form of the evaluation tool. (Author/JOW)

Describes an innovative clinical teaching experiment that blends traditional teaching models into a paradigm that reflects a synergistic partnership between nursing education and service. Includes a discussion of cost benefit issues based on the experiment described. (JOW)

Interviews with 40 nursing students in clinical practice and 20 staff nurses showed that both groups identified close student-staff relationships as key components in clinical education. Role perception, staff characteristics, and the workplace environment influenced these relationships and student learning. Collegial relationships were important…

Nursing students (n=142) used either structured or unstructured formats for weekly assessments of health patterns in clinical practice. Groups showed no significant differences in knowledge acquisition or critical thinking. However, older students using the unstructured format had the greatest gains; younger students benefitted more from the…

Associate degree nursing students (n=292) and faculty (n=59) agreed on 6 of 10 characteristics of effective clinical instructors. Effective instructors are clinically competent, use effective evaluation strategies, explain clearly, are approachable, are well prepared to teach, and communicate clear expectations. (Contains 28 references.) (SK)

Analysis of verbal and cognitive activities between and among students and faculty during 30 postconference sessions indicated that faculty used a student-centered model to structure conferences and encourage students' verbal participation. Faculty are encouraged to coach for cognition by monitoring cognitive levels in discourse to encourage…

An evaluation tool for the process of learning from experience in a clinical practicum at baccalaureate nursing level was developed and validated. This reflective type of process evaluation helps students link theory to practice and think critically. (Contains 50 references.) (JOW)