Journal of professional nursing : official journal of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing
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Written goal statements are often required of applicants to nursing graduate programs. There is a lack of data describing the significance of written goal statements, the topics addressed by applicants in their written goal statements, and the relationship between goal statement quality of writing (QOW) and graduate-level coursework. Using content analysis, the written goal statements of 157 graduate students from one Midwestern school of nursing were analyzed for their QOW and for the identification of content categories. ⋯ Data were analyzed to determine the relationship between goal statement content and graduate program major as well as that between QOW and the final grade in a writing-intensive nursing theory course. The results indicated that QOW did not differ by program major and that it was significantly related to the nursing theory final course grade. Implications for graduate nursing education and advanced nursing practice are addressed.
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The increasing need and limited sources for organs has stimulated a renewed interest in non-heart-beating organ donation (NHBOD). NHBOD is the donation of organs from cadavers that have been declared dead by cardiopulmonary criteria. Emerging protocols for heparin administration to the potential non-heart-beating organ donor (NHBD) deserve scrutiny. ⋯ Nurses are guided by codes that require the consideration of the ethical principles of autonomy, informed consent, beneficence, and justice while providing compassionate care. An eagerness to procure viable organs for positive transplant outcomes must not be the guiding force in protocols that allow the administration of heparin to the potential NHBD. Heparin administration is supported for these donors within specific parameters.
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Nursing faculty teach ethics and ethical behavior in undergraduate and graduate curriculum. In this article, a case study is presented that illustrates a breach of ethical behavior and conduct in the academic setting by both faculty and students. ⋯ The conversations facilitated the ethical resolution to the dilemma raised in the case study as well as the recognition of additional issues for consideration. The authors uncovered compelling questions that included, "What is meant by ethical conduct in the classroom?," "How do we teach it?," and "How do we practice it?" The purpose of this article is to begin the dialogue in search of answers to these questions.
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The purpose of this study was to investigate physical assessment skills taught in undergraduate baccalaureate nursing programs and the physical assessment skills used by practicing nurses. Twelve educators teaching physical assessment and 51 practicing nurses were surveyed on 120 physical assessment skills listed in standard nursing textbooks. ⋯ For the practicing nurses, 37% of the skill were never used, 29% were used on a daily/weekly basis, with 34% used on a monthly/occasional basis. Based on these findings, we recommend that the content of physical assessment courses be reevaluated, with courses focusing on what nurses need to know to practice nursing.
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In this article, we examine emerging themes in the research and theoretical literature on care at the end of life to develop a conceptual framework to guide further research in this area. The integrity of the human person is the organizing concept, and the spiritual domain is at the core of the psychological, physical, and functional domains. ⋯ Also, outcomes in this framework extend beyond quality of life and comfort to include patient decision-making methods and achievement of life goals. Attention is given to the cultural dimension of personhood in our multicultural society, and the definition of end of life is expanded to include both the acute phase of terminal illness and the frailty of health associated with advanced age.