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Development and Evaluation of an Interprofessional Community Health Course in Zambia
No full textPersistent global health inequities and workforce shortage require innovative strategies to prepare professionals for teamwork in a global context. Over two years, students (n = 33) from education, nursing, occupational therapy, public health, and physical therapy participated in a course in Zambia that emphasized interprofessional collaborative practice (IPP), cultural fluency, and understanding ecological approaches to health. Faculty measured the learning outcomes of the course using the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Competency Self-Assessment Tool (pre and posttest), and a focus group to gain a deeper understanding of the student experience and course effectiveness. The Beliefs, Events and Values Inventory (BEVI) was used post trip to determine feasibility of distribution and response of the tool via e-mail. These preliminary results suggested that students developed skills and knowledge related to IPP, cultural fluency, and ecological approaches to health. Specifically, students acknowledged growth in their ability to communicate more effectively with other health professions, and ability to evaluate personal assumptions and biases toward health, healthcare, and cultural practices. The method of developing this course could be a model for other institutions wanting to grow IPP experiences for their students
Green Synthesis of Conducting Polymers for Organic Photovoltaic Applications.
No full textGlobal energy use relies heavily on fossil fuels and the related emissions are one of the largest contributors to climate change. Consequently, the demand for solar energy, a clean and sustainable energy source, is only increasing. Solar cell devices using organic photovoltaic materials (OPVs) are being widely studied as cost-effective and sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels. The objective of our project is to synthesize new conjugated organic polymers using greener synthetic methods for use in new solar cell materials. Conjugated organic polymer properties are highly tunable and can be manipulated to achieve high power conversion efficiencies in OPV devices. We chose to synthesize monomers (small molecules used as building blocks to make polymers) with high solubility and a rigid planar backbone to engineer desirable optical properties in our goal polymer. We successfully synthesized our novel goal monomer in high yield using a two-step reaction scheme and only a single purification step. In order to verify the structure and purity of the synthesized monomer, we utilized numerous techniques including nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectroscopy. Using the green method of direct arylation polymerization, we synthesized our desired goal polymer from our new monomer. This method of direct arylation bypasses typical polymerization reactions involving toxic reagents and hazardous procedures. Preliminary optical measurements provide evidence that our new polymer has favorable properties for use in OPV devices including efficient low energy light absorption. The short synthetic pathway, high yield reactions, and green synthesis of this polymer make this attractive to commercial OPV application
Wild Tongues Can\u27t Be Tamed: An Interview with Saraciea J. Fennell, Mark Oshiro, and Ibi Zoboi
Get PDFMason, Derritt. Queer Anxieties of Young Adult Literature and Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2021. 234 pages. ISBN: 9781496830999.
Get PDFNurses Need Education on Women\u27s Unique Stroke Symptoms
No full textBackground: Stroke remains the third-leading cause of death and a major cause of disability in women. After a stroke, women have a 59% disability rate compared to 26% for men in the acute phase. Men and women share common stroke symptoms. However, women can also experience “unique” “atypical,” or “nontraditional” stroke symptoms. Early recognition of stroke is crucial to better outcomes, but despite the fact that nurses play a crucial role in identifying stroke symptoms and activating care early, information is lacking on nurse’s knowledge in recognizing stroke symptoms in women. Purpose: To examine nurse’s knowledge and confidence level in recognizing common and unique stroke symptoms in women. Methods: In this quantitative study, nurses were recruited via targeted social media platforms to complete an online survey about women and stroke. Nurses self-declared that they met eligibility criteria. A nurse was defined as an individual who holds a license, is legally permitted to practice, and holds the title of Registered Nurse, Advanced Practice Nurse (masters or doctorate), or Licensed Practical Nurse. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t -tests, and one-way ANOVA. Results: 129 nurses completed the survey over four months. Nurses were 86% women with a mean age of 42 years, and 55% held advanced degrees. Over 80% identified the common stroke symptoms of stroke, and over 70% identified the additional stroke symptoms. However, less than 25% could identify unique stroke symptoms of women, including difficulty breathing or shortness of breath (7%), hallucination (11%). A majority of the nurses (76%) lacked the confidence to recognize stroke symptoms in women. Lower scores for common stroke symptom knowledge ( p =0.01), confidence ( p =0.01), and unique stroke symptoms in women confidence scores ( p =0.05) were observed in nurses with \u3c 20 years’ experience. Conclusions: Nurses lacked knowledge and confidence in correctly identifying unique stroke symptoms in women with nurses who had fewer years of professional experience fairing worse. Education targeted at nurses should include strategies to enhance their knowledge and confidence level in recognizing stroke symptoms unique to women
Providing Occupational and Physical Therapy Services in a Free Community-Based Interprofessional Primary Care Clinic
No full textInterprofessional care provided in a free community-based clinic that focuses on chronic health conditions and health promotion provides an innovative solution to improve societal health. Many existing clinics provide a range of professions, but few include allied health services such as occupational and physical therapy. This paper provides a description of the development and implementation of an expanded faculty-guided student-led community-based primary care clinic that includes occupational and physical therapists as part of an interprofessional collaborative practice model. A detailed description and explanation of the partners involved, the institutional missions that drive this work, the logistics completed that enabled the ‘doors to open,’ faculty and student roles, and initial outcomes will be provided. A review of the service delivery model, lessons learned, and future directions for the clinic will also be offered
Fostering Resiliency in Student Nurses: Application of Stress Reduction Techniques to Nursing Practice
No full textThe use of evidence-based practice stress reduction techniques among practicing nurses has been successful in decreasing levels of stress and burnout. This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project seeks to understand if implementing these evidence-based techniques among newly enrolled nursing students will help decrease their stress levels and build resilience before entering into the nursing profession. A 15-minute online educational module was created for newly enrolled nursing students at a Minnesota based university. Students were asked to complete a pre-intervention survey, watch the educational module and practice five different stress reduction techniques over a four-week period, and then complete the post-intervention survey. Results of the project were inconclusive due to a very limited number of student participants. This lack of participation in the project may indicate that stress amongst these nursing students was high and highlights a strong need for integration of resilience training and stress reduction education in nursing curricula
Translating the Evidence: Comprehensive Approaches for Head and Neck Cancer Prehabilitation
Get PDFHead and neck cancer survivors experience significant changes to their health, well-being, and ability to participate in daily life activities as a result of cancer treatment. Oftentimes, these patients are left to their own devices without concrete instructions or strategies to mitigate, much less prevent, the sequelae they experience. Likewise, interdisciplinary teams lack an evidence-based framework in which to provide comprehensive supportive care for patients with head and neck cancer. Despite acknowledgement within the occupational therapy profession of the chronic nature of survivorship (Baxter et al., 2017) and the national public health initiatives to prevent and reduce the impact of secondary chronic disease burden (American Occupational Therapy foundation, n.d.; National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (U.S.) et al., 2004), there remains a critical gap in preventative services in head and neck cancer populations regarding known side effects of cancer treatment (Berkowitz et al., 2018; Fang & Heckman, 2016; Rogers et al., 2011). Therefore, a review and critical appraisal of the existing evidence surrounding prehabilitation as a model of care and the role of occupational therapy with head and neck cancer survivors was indicated. The evidence review and critical appraisal, which took place in the fall of 2021, provided the underpinning for three knowledge translation projects.
The aims of this doctoral project are to increase awareness of head and neck cancer survivors’ needs and to share knowledge concerning evidence-based interventions and approaches to meet these needs. To accomplish these aims, I selected three different methods to translate knowledge. In the first project I sought to educate generalist practitioners and students in the context of a collaborative synchronous webinar series with the Minnesota Occupational Therapy Association about implications for practice. The second project involved a live webinar embedded within a semi-annual meeting of the Michigan Occupational Therapy Association Oncology Special Interest Section. Attendees in this project were assumed to have had at least minimal training or experience in oncology practice and included a range of practitioners and students. Attendees also participated in discussion pertaining to implementation. The third project was a scoping review article submitted to the interdisciplinary journal Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. This article serves as a method to reach a wide audience in terms of discipline as well as geographic location.
Together, these three projects provided a variety of opportunities to increase knowledge about prehabilitation and occupational therapy approaches in the supportive care of head and neck cancer survivors. In light of the vast scope of this project, future refinements of the recommended model are expected. Additional information and input from other disciplines would serve the usability of the model well. Future planned projects include a poster presentation at the American Congress of Rehabilitative Medicine Annual Conference in the fall of 2022, in addition to a critical issues article in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy to provide a call to action for occupational therapy practitioners to take their place on the interdisciplinary team