Interdisciplinary collaboration of health care professionals is necessary if quality health care is to be assured. This paper describes the process and difficulties of planned change undertaken at the Wayne State University School of Social Work with other health-related schools in the development of an interdisciplinary course and practicum for…

Describes a study involving the distribution of a questionnaire to 30 nurses in northern Illinois to determine the extent of their participation in voluntary continuing education and to determine their attitudes toward mandatory continuing education. (WL)

A national study in Australia compared characteristics of students entering nursing education directly after secondary school and those delaying entry, for two cohorts (n=1,551 in 1987-90, n=2,295 in 1995). Results show significant differences in direct vs. delayed entry patterns between males and females, in geographic location (rural/urban) of…

Data gathered from a sample of 188 freshmen, 141 sophomores, and 236 junior nursing students found that retained freshmen had higher American College Test Math and Composite subscores, high school grades, and class rank; perceived more institutional control; were enrolled full time; and felt more able to pay for their education. (SK)

An agreement between the College of Nursing at Texas Woman's University and the Peace Corps was negotiated to include two years of Peace Corps service with work leading to a master's or doctoral degree in nursing. A brief description of a student assigned to Banjul, Gambia, is presented. (MLW)

Nurses' inability to describe and interpret the caring practices that are the foundation of the work they do with patients has seriously inhibited agreement on a valid definition of clinical competence and has restricted the understanding of the rich and powerful knowledge and skill embedded in the practice. (MLW)

The decision-making dilemmas faced by caregivers of older persons, coordination necessary among decision makers, legal criteria for incompetency, and caregiver stress are examined. The need for clarification of incompetency criteria for improved coordination among caregivers is suggested. (Author/MLW)

The physiological and psychological stresses that have an impact on the ability of humans to achieve space habitation and nursing's role in that endeavor are discussed. The nursing knowledge base needed to establish the discipline as a major contributor to space health science is discussed. (Author/MLW)

Responses from 38 nursing schools suggest that publication and authorship are problematic and complicated by tenure/promotion policies. Professional journals and organizations have important roles in encouraging scientific integrity. Research integrity should be dealt with proactively. (SK)

Presents findings from a survey of 236 graduates of eight community college nursing programs in Oregon, concerning graduates' perceptions of the level of stress they felt and their personal health status as students in the program, their responses to stress, and positive methods of coping (e.g., physical activity). (DMM)

A Kellogg project supported partnerships between six associate degree nursing programs and nursing homes/long-term care facilities. Evaluation showed (1) increased faculty knowledge and attitudes toward aging; (2) curriculum emphasis on gerontological nursing; and (3) increased student knowledge of aging and interest in working with elderly…

School nursing is based on a conceptual foundation of community health nursing. Using community health nursing as a reference point, this article describes a viewpoint of school nurses as the population of care. With this perspective, school nurses will better understand how to foster the health of their community. Developed on the basis of…

The pressure on academic institutions to develop sustainable programs is felt both internally and externally. Owing to shrinking operating budgets, universities will only support programs that relate directly to their mission and that are financially viable. External expectations come from funding agencies that typically require institutions to be…

A superior learning environment provides students with an opportunity to benefit from the knowledge and experience of an instructor and encourages them to engage in research into the subject matter of the course. Collaboration between a course instructor and a library liaison using online courseware can lead to the creation of a "learning…

The reflections on interdisciplinarity cover several dimensions. One, among them, concerns the nature of what occurs between two disciplines. Does inter-disciplinarity relate to an intention, to a metatheory, to the object, or to a method? It is this ultimate space that we propose to study, supported by Reswebers (2000) proposition, putting the…