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Literacy Instruction and Student Writing in Middle School Social Studies
Full text linkThe purpose of this action research was to determine whether using daily literacy strategies focusing on writing would make an impact on the scores of a high-level question (HLQ) among middle school social studies students. The research took place over seven weeks in a public suburban midwestern middle school. The population of students in the study included 104 sixth-grade students. The intervention included using various literacy strategies focusing on writing and incorporating reading, speaking, and listening. Data was collected from writing samples, HLQ scores, observations, and a student survey. Some positive effects of the study were an increase in the HLQ scores, more engagement in discussions, and increased writing. Literacy strategies benefited the students by creating more meaningful learning and will continue to be used in the classroom. This research will help educators better understand different ways to use literacy strategies to help students in the classroom
Teaching Care That Tends the Spirit in Nursing Education: Implementing a Faculty Development Project
No full textNursing care that tends patients’ spirits is an integral part of holistic nursing. Prelicensure nursing faculty competent and confident in teaching care of the spirit are the foundation of preparing nurses to provide this care. A four-campus, Midwestern technical college employed a virtual, three-cycle, Plan-Do-Study- Act faculty development project to close gaps in preparation of associate degree nursing faculty to
provide instruction related to care of the spirit. Project aims were to increase faculty competence and confidence in delivering spiritual care content and to increase integration of content across the curriculum. Baseline and project outcome data collected through an interactive World Café event and Likert scale, qualitative, and open-ended data questionnaires measured progress toward achievement of project aims. Lowest Likert item scores and faculty input informed the creation of learning modules and evidence-based instructional resources that addressed spirituality, spiritual care, spiritual needs assessment, and interprofessional collaboration. The intervention, aligned with Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, included synchronous World Café and creative workshop events and recorded learning modules that incorporated role-modeling, large and small group collaboration, discussion- board-type activities, and use of spiritual care tools and resources. Comparison of baseline and post- intervention measures indicated significant increases in lowest Likert item scores and total spiritual care competence scores. The increase in total confidence scores was not statistically significant. While inclusion of spiritual care content in current courses was unchanged, faculty developed consistent instructional plans for each of the four semesters of the program across all campuses. Despite time constraints and low outcome questionnaire response, results suggest progress toward meeting project competence, confidence, and spiritual care instructional strategies aims through role-modeling and resources for teaching care that tends the spirit. This is a step forward in teaching ways to preserve and pass on the healing tradition of nursing for the good of nurses and our patients
Inclusive Education within the Haitian Educational System
Full text linkResearch has indicated that Haiti is troubled with low resources, extreme poverty, malnourishment, violence, and a poor health and educational system. People with disabilities face overwhelming stigma and discrimination, resulting in limited resources and services available. Haitian teachers do not have the necessary knowledge and skills to provide appropriate identification and intervention methods within the classroom setting. The purpose of this Doctoral Capstone Project was to provide an educational training program to teachers in Haiti with the intended outcome of improving their ability to identify and provide care for children with disabilities and trauma. The approach was through the collaboration with Kozefò, a non-profit organization that supports the primary school, A New Arrival Center School (ANACS) in Haiti. A teacher training module and handouts were provided to the staff at ANACS. 20 participants completed this training and provided feedback through a post-training survey. The results from the survey and categorical thematic analysis indicate 6 themes: (1) Learned the concept of inclusive education; (2) How to work with children with disabilities; (3) Strategies to use in the classroom; (4) Specific strategies to use in the classroom; (5) Sensory disorders; & (6) Trauma. It is evident that teachers gained a more comprehensive understanding of these theme areas, as well as improved knowledge surrounding identification and intervention strategies to address disability and trauma in the classroom. The outcomes from this Doctoral Capstone Project present important implications for the site, the profession of occupational therapy, and the greater Haitian community. Participants gained a greater toolbox of strategies to use within themselves and their students. Furthermore, society-based implications include a better acceptance of disability in the community at large. Finally, the profession of occupational therapy as a whole has gained important outcomes, including a more profound worldview and impact of a global health initiative
Increasing Concentration Through Multistep Practical Life Works in a Montessori 2-6 Classroom
Full text linkThis intervention was intended to combat apathy and disengagement in a preschool Montessori classroom. Four traditional Practical Life tasks were introduced to 15 students, dusting the shelves, sweeping the floor, carpet sweeping, and mopping the floor. These tasks required many different types of movement to complete. The intention was to test Dr. Montessori’s assertions that movement is essential for early brain development. The research took place in an urban Montessori and included 15 participants. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected over a four-week period. At the end of the intervention, findings indicated that their ability to concentrate increased after the children engaged in the four tasks. After given the opportunity for both small and large motor movement, children are able to work independently with a greater success rate
Improving Adherence to Sexually Transmitted Infection Retesting Guidelines: A Quality Improvement Initiative
No full textBackground: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) may result in adverse reproductive health outcomes and the prevalence of such infections is rising despite public health efforts. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend retesting for repeat infection three months after the initial infection as a means of decreasing the STI burden.
Problem: STI retesting rates at the project site are suboptimal and the follow-up process for contacting clients can be streamlined.
Methods: This quality improvement (QI) project implemented low-cost reminder and education-based interventions to achieve the project goals. Reminder-based interventions included implementing a new STI follow-up protocol with a shift to text message reminders and new electronic health record clinical decision support tools. Education-based interventions included staff training and new client education materials.
Results: The average STI retesting rate increased from 31.4% in the pre-intervention period to 47.0% in the initial intervention period, to 67.6% in the full intervention period. A test of two proportions demonstrated a statistically significant change between the baseline and intervention groups (Z = -2.46, p = .014, 95% CI [-0.289, -0.033]). The Statistical Process Control p-Chart did not demonstrate any sources of special cause variation. Qualitative data from nurse survey responses (N = 6, RR 100%) demonstrated positive attitudes towards the interventions.
Conclusion: A multifaceted QI approach to increasing STI retesting rates demonstrated a statistically significant improvement. Nurses were receptive to the changes, and the interventions did not require excess time or money. This QI initiative demonstrates that clinics can easily integrate low-cost interventions in reducing the STI disease burden in their communities
Patient Safety Event Reporting System: A Reviewer Access Time Reduction Project
No full textBackground: To reduce preventable medical errors, event reporting systems (ERS) are recommended error prevention tools to improve patient safety and high reliability in healthcare. Patient Safety ERS identify safety hazards and help mitigate risk and eliminate preventable harm to zero.
Problem: There is a delay in reviewer’s obtaining system access to the safety event reporting system (ERS) preventing safety event awareness, follow-up, and closure of patient safety events within the recommended best practice of 15 days. In current state, it takes an average of 132 days for a new leader to gain access to review and address patient safety events. This is 132 days where a similar patient safety event could impact another patient in the system. The lack of access threatens the safety of our patients and staff, resulting in inefficiencies in the system patient safety event management process and potential prevention of a similar event.
Interventions: This project aims to reduce the time it takes for a reviewer to have access to the ERS, by implementing three improvements. The three improvements include the development of a new Advanced Access Request (AAR) submission form, a new AAR approval process, and a new AAR submission process.
Results: Post implementation results were statistically significant in both process and outcome measures.
Conclusion: A standardized advanced access submission process to a patient safety event reporting system is recommended to ensure timely access to patient safety events
Implementation of the Wisconsin Well Woman Program
No full textIt is estimated by the National Cancer Institute that in the United States, there will be 290,560 new cases of breast cancer in 2022, making this the most common type of cancer. According to the American Cancer Society website, Wisconsin alone is projected to have an estimated 5,380 new breast cancer cases, with 720 estimated deaths in 2022.
At a rural Wisconsin healthcare clinic, it was identified through a quality improvement review that adherence to mammography screening was below the enterprise benchmark. The Wisconsin Well Woman Program (WWWP), funded by the state and federal government, provides no-cost breast cancer screening to women with income qualifications. WWWP was previously unavailable at this rural Wisconsin healthcare facility; therefore, strategies to enlist the support of key stakeholders were undertaken, and WWWP was approved for this area of WI. Healthcare providers and staff were educated on the WWWP, and clinic-wide processes were created for identifying and referring patients to the program for free breast cancer screening. Once implemented, healthcare providers and staff were surveyed for their understanding of the program, how likely they would recommend it, and whether or not they were referring patients to the WWWP. Survey results demonstrate a 100% understanding of the program, 100% of the participants were likely to recommend the program, and 50% had already referred someone. The WWWP can improve breast cancer screening rates for uninsured or underinsured women in rural WI. One significant barrier to using this program was the lack of an easy online registration process, and continued work is needed to facilitate ease of access to WWWP
Evaluation of Patient Education Materials for the SMMART Clinic
Full text linkCommunity health and health literacy go hand in hand. To better understand the extent of this in within their own community, a group of master’s students in the occupational therapy program at St. Catherine University examined the link between usable educational materials and the local community health clinic. Within the St. Paul community, there’s a strong partnership with the St. Mary’s Health clinics, their affiliate clinic St. Mary’s Medical And Rehabilitation Therapy Clinic (SMMART), and the university. The role of both medical clinics is to provide affordable and comprehensive care to underserved communities. A new element to this is the establishment of the Bienestar clinic under the wing of the SMMART clinic.
As occupational therapy students, we developed our master project with an emphasis on identifying barriers that exist in primary healthcare settings from the perspective of Latino individuals. When developing our project, we observed the SMMART clinic and conducted a needs assessment by interviewing the interdisciplinary team members, including but not limited to dietitians, physical assistants, physical therapists, and occupational therapists, and their experience working within the clinic. As a result, responses reported expanding resources for Latino clients. We created client education materials utilizing the Patient Education Material Assessments Tools (PEMAT) to promote readability and accessibility for Latino individuals through an online website with embedded toolkits specific to anxiety, depression, and sleep deficits. Many clients could access these toolkits through the Bienestar website to participate intermittently between therapy sessions to cope with their mental health needs
Evaluation of Patient Education Materials for the SMMART Clinic
Full text linkCommunity health and health literacy go hand in hand. To better understand the extent of this in within their own community, a group of master’s students in the occupational therapy program at St. Catherine University examined the link between usable educational materials and the local community health clinic. Within the St. Paul community, there’s a strong partnership with the St. Mary’s Health clinics, their affiliate clinic St. Mary’s Medical And Rehabilitation Therapy Clinic (SMMART), and the university. The role of both medical clinics is to provide affordable and comprehensive care to underserved communities. A new element to this is the establishment of the Bienestar clinic under the wing of the SMMART clinic.
As occupational therapy students, we developed our master project with an emphasis on identifying barriers that exist in primary healthcare settings from the perspective of Latino individuals. When developing our project, we observed the SMMART clinic and conducted a needs assessment by interviewing the interdisciplinary team members, including but not limited to dietitians, physical assistants, physical therapists, and occupational therapists, and their experience working within the clinic. As a result, responses reported expanding resources for Latino clients. We created client education materials utilizing the Patient Education Material Assessments Tools (PEMAT) to promote readability and accessibility for Latino individuals through an online website with embedded toolkits specific to anxiety, depression, and sleep deficits. Many clients could access these toolkits through the Bienestar website to participate intermittently between therapy sessions to cope with their mental health needs