Describes a continuing education module that addresses care in the community, influences on patients' experience, current social policy, and the role of the carer. The module is designed to help trained nurses integrate patient care from hospital to community setting. (SK)

Describes the use of caring groups in which nursing students and faculty learn to give and receive care, develop self-awareness and empowerment, and strengthen coping skills. Discusses the centrality of caring in nursing. (SK)

Before instruction, 192 nursing students completed Kolb's Learning Style Inventory; 53.7% were concrete learners, 46.3% reflective. No significant associations appeared between learning style and age, sex, prior employment, or educational attainment. Methodological problems were found with using this instrument in nursing education. (SK)

Students in mental health nursing participated in researching, writing, acting in, and evaluating a play about schizophrenia. The experience demonstrated drama's effectiveness as a tool to develop sensitivity about health care concerns. (SK)

A model of distance education to upgrade nurses in Botswana is designed to bring together the face-to-face mode with the distance learning mode. (JOW)

The Alabama Rural Elderly Enhancement Project was originally intended to help maintain the health and independence of the elderly in Alabama; it developed into an intergenerational program. The project director's leadership built a strong organization that promoted linkages among community agencies and with citizens. (JOW)

Explored environmental factors related to suicide in 463 long-term care facilities. Staff turnover, size, auspices, and per diem cost related to suicidal behavior and deaths from suicide. More suicides occurred in larger facilities and facilities with higher staff turnover. Religious or "other" facilities experienced more suicidal deaths than…

Short-term longitudinal study assessed single and combined effects of two interventions designed to affect nursing assistants' (n=193) performance by increasing knowledge and motivation. Four sites included skills training only, job redesign only, both interventions, and control. Significant differences were found in knowledge in comparisons…

A survey of 498 nursing faculty showed that knowledge and beliefs about pain and the content of nursing curriculum on the topic were less than optimal. Particularly lacking areas included pain relief, pharmacological interventions, and differentiation of acute from chronic pain. (SK)

Examined effects of social support dimensions on risk institutionalization. Specific aspects of social support (having spouse or adult child caregiver) or having caregiving relationship of at least three years' duration moderated impact of one type of stress on risk of entering nursing home. Networks that included paid provider modestly offset…

Nursing (n=27) and social work (n=40) master's students completed the Facts on Aging Quiz, Old People Scale, and Barriers to Teaching Gerontology. Results confirmed knowledge deficits related to attitudes, age, and relationship with older relatives. Barriers to gerontological education included insufficient time, few role models, lower status, and…

A British Columbia survey of 45 intermediate care residents and 45 nurses found significant differences between residents' and staff perceptions of the importance of activities and residents' level of choice. Staff members' erroneous assumptions may result in procedures that restrict residents' choice of activities. (SK)

Used data from 441 new nursing home residents to examine physical restraint use in high and low restraint use homes. Predictors of restraint use during first month and first year were inability to transfer and combination of severe activities of daily living impairment and cognitive impairment. Other predictors: wandering, inability to dress,…

Notes that traditional health care focus on individual clients is being replaced by family as unit of analysis for education, service, and research. Sees family nurses at forefront of movement. Describes two perspectives on current practices in family nursing education and explores critical imperatives for the future. (Author/NB)

Is it ethical to allow biomedical industries to fund nursing continuing education? The history of for-profit entities' relationship to organized medicine shows that nursing should make its voice heard in boardrooms and preserve its patient advocacy role when cooperating with industry. (SK)