As a pilot site selected to participate in Illinois' Shifting Gears (SG) initiative in 2007, Oakton Community College (OCC) partnered with Presbyterian Homes to develop a bridge course to prepare a cadre of their employed Certified Nurse Assistants (CNAs) to enter college-credit level prerequisite courses to a Practical Nursing program. Oakton…

At the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Senator Edward M. Kennedy said, "We will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American--north, south, east, west, young, old--will have decent, quality healthcare as a fundamental right and not a privilege. We can meet these challenges ..." These now historic words from Kennedy are…

Objective: The association of consistent assignment of nurse aides (NAs) with quality of care and quality of life of nursing home residents is examined (using 5 groups of deficiency citations). Methods: Data used came from a survey of nursing home administrators, the Online Survey Certification and Reporting data, and the Area Resource File. The…

Analyses conducted by the Education, Science and Skills Development (ESSD) research programme at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) reveal major areas of misalignment in the South African education pathway system. The majority of learners entering Further Education and Training (FET) colleges, nursing training institutions and learnerships…

To the best of our knowledge this is the first attempt to investigate student engagement in learning within the Kurdistan region in general and at University of Raparin in particular. Student engagement, self-learning, faculty-student interaction and promoting personal responsibility, besides environment of learning are the components for this…

The purpose of this pilot study was to examine predictors of improvement in critical thinking skills among online graduate nursing students in a graduate nursing research course. Thirty-five students who had taken an online Nursing research course within the prior 12 months and who were currently enrolled in the online graduate Nursing program at…

Developing leaders and leadership are key factors to improve learning and teaching in higher education. Despite the abundance of literature concerning developing formal leadership, fewer studies have been conducted with academics in non-formal leadership roles that focus on how they develop their leadership in learning and teaching. Publication…

Background: Palliative care (PC) is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification, impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems like physical, psychosocial and…

The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment Act (ADAAA) of 2008 and the Post-9/11 Veterans Assistance Act of 2008 have afforded veterans the opportunity to pursue post-secondary education. Since October 2001, over 2 million American men and women in uniform have deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation…

This study focused on the undergraduate course that covers basic topics in general, organic, and biological (GOB) chemistry at a mid-sized state university in the western United States. The central objective of the research was to identify the main topics of GOB chemistry relevant to the clinical practice of nursing. The collection of data was…

It is no secret that the United States is falling way behind in world educational rankings. In 1995, the United States ranked 1st in the world for college graduates however, its ranking dramatically fell in 2005, earning 15th place (Woodruff, 2008). According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, most states earn a grade of C, D, or F when it comes to…

Nursing education is calling for transformation in teaching practices which includes learner-centered environments. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore 15 nursing faculty life experiences as they relate to the choice of a learning environment. Participants expressed their life experiences through interview…

A growing national emphasis has been placed on health information technology (HIT) with robust computerized clinical decision support (CCDS) integration into health care delivery. Catheter-associated urinary tract infection is the most frequent health care-associated infection in the United States and is associated with high cost, high volumes and…

School-based sexual health clinics are emerging as one of the key ways to promote sexual health among young people, and school nurses play an important role in developing and delivering these services. This study used a qualitative design to explore the experiences of health professionals and policy makers involved in setting up such services in…

The purpose of this exploratory study was to develop a measure of managerial caring. A review of the caring literature from nursing, education, and management formed the theoretical framework for the study. The Measure of Managerial Carator Behaviors (MMCB) survey instrument was developed from an initial conceptual framework based upon a review of…