Journal for nurses in staff development : JNSD : official journal of the National Nursing Staff Development Organization
-
Nurses work in a variety of clinical settings. Some of these areas involve care of patients with acute illnesses while others do not. ⋯ When patients face a life-threatening event such as cardiopulmonary arrest, they rely on the competence and skills of healthcare professionals. Because nurses are often the healthcare providers closest to the bedside and the first to respond to patients' needs, their knowledge and skills need to be optimal and their performance proficient.
-
As staff development educators prepare themselves and their organizations for forthcoming healthcare challenges, educators influence the practice of staff development through the use of competencies. Because competencies and peer review are expectations for staff, educator competencies and educator professional review should be essential for those who train staff. Based upon the American Nurses Association Standards of Practice, National Nursing Staff Development Organization research, and Patricia Benner's work, competencies for educators reflect practice levels from novice to expert and challenge educators to attain levels of excellence in practice. ⋯ Portfolio development provides documentation of educator accomplishments for the organization. This approach to educator competencies serves as a strategy to position educators to meet healthcare demands and demonstrates leadership in the profession. The staff development educators at a large Midwestern health system have refined this process during the past 2 years, and their unique approach to educator competencies and professional review can benefit both individual educators and healthcare organizations now and in the future.
-
"Quello che mai fue detto d'alfcuna," words from Dante, "strive to say which was never said by anyone." This is the art of true verbal expression, the essence of poetry. Poet W. H. ⋯ However, to most individuals, poetry is the ultimate expression of human emotion. Roy (1999) believed that nursing is in need of poetry, in order to evoke the deepest of images, fears, questions, and quests of the human spirit and the nursing profession. This article examines the use of poetry and how it might be incorporated into staff education.
-
Implementing a preceptor program required the collaboration of nursing administrators, staff development personnel, and nursing faculty. However, registered nurse preceptors were the major contributors to the effectiveness of the program. The author developed a preceptor program for unlicensed associate degree nursing students and describes the experiences encountered during the first three semesters of the preceptor program.
-
Comparative Study
A review of nurses' performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation at cardiac arrests.
This study investigated nurses' ability to initiate and maintain effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in actual cardiac arrests (n = 50). Results indicated that in the majority of cases nurses effectively managed all components of CPR. ⋯ In particular the results suggest that nurses' actual management of cardiac arrests in a contextual environment differs markedly from results shown by research using simulated settings. Research findings suggest the need for an evaluation of the use and effects of cognitive and metacognitive instructional strategies in CPR training courses on transfer of skills and knowledge to practice.