Effective distance education principles include attention to the pacing and content of instruction, management of technical processes, and logistics. Successful models of interactive distance education humanize the media, foster learner participation, use the right message style, and get feedback from learners. (SK)

Nurses must develop political acumen, understand how power relations operate in a diverse society, and consider how various forms of power can strengthen the position of nursing in health care. (Commentaries by Martin Johnson, Mary Burchenall, and Eamonn Slevin follow.) (SK)

Provides a checklist to help clinical nurses critique research in order to use findings in practice. Categories include purpose of study, statement of problem, literature review, methodology, results and conclusions, and overall concerns (objectivity, ethics, readability). (SK)

Describes Linkages, a service learning project incorporated into a school of nursing. Suggests that service contributes to the mission of a university and is a response to real-world problems, issues, interests, and concerns. Identifies benefits for students, universities, and the community. (JOW)

Presents a framework for nursing curricula based on five conceptual cornerstones: nursing knowledge, skills, values, meanings, and experience. Outlines desired outcomes for each cornerstone for associate, bachelor's and master's degree programs. (Contains 47 references.) (SK)

To strengthen the supply of postdoctoral nurse researchers, strategies for recruitment, retention, mentoring, support, and evaluation must be improved. Strategies include get them early, create a culture, provide socialization, be flexible, and define outcomes. (JOW)

Nursing students (n=18) were assigned to a 10-week clinical setting (consistent placement) and 18 were assigned to 3 or more settings per term (multiple placements). There were no differences in learning style, self-esteem, or clinical learning outcomes. Those in multiple placements felt more challenged; consistent placements resulted in greater…

Written from a minority perspective, this article explores issues of transcultural nursing education and advocates reform of approaches that cast minority ethnic persons as "other," present minority ethnic nurses as experts on minority issues, and equate transcultural education with learning about cultural norms and practices. (Contains…

Defines metaphor and its uses; explains the construction and application of metaphors in nursing education. Describes the transformation of the abstract psychiatric concept of therapeutic milieu into a visual metaphor. (SK)

Purpose: Barriers to family involvement in the nursing home with the potential for change through intervention are examined, including transportation, caregiver health, relationships with staff, and resident characteristics. Design and Methods: Data were collected for 93 family caregiver-resident pairs by means of telephone interviews and chart…

Purpose: We sought to assess the quality of care provided by an innovative Medicare+Choice HMO targeted specifically at nursing home residents and employing nurse practitioners to provide additional primary care over and above that provided by physicians. The underlying premise of the Evercare approach is that the additional primary care will…

The older adult population in America will significantly increase in the future. Older adults have important needs for recreation and leisure services (Beland, 2002). The author taught a class titled "Leisure Services for Older Adults" for over 24 years at the University of Florida. He has taught gerontology and recreation by teaching…

This study assessed the relationships of assertiveness, depression, and social support among nursing home residents. The sample included 50 older nursing home residents (mean age=75 years; 75% female; 92% Caucasian). There was a significant correlation between assertiveness and depression (r=-.33), but the correlations between social support and…

An opportunity exists for those working with older adults in nursing homes to significantly encourage independence in the older adult using a creative approach. The use of folklore is suggested as a means for assisting the older adult toward a reconnection with the individuation process.

This brief article presents a comment on "Psychological Treatments" by D. H. Barlow. In his article, Barlow pointed to the need "to solidify the identification of psychology as a health care profession" by changing the terminology of practice in the health care context from psychotherapy to psychological treatments and suggested that the only…