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The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of dialectical pluralism (DP) for nursing knowledge development. Nursing scholars have discussed ways of developing nursing knowledge, exploring the fit and relevance of various worldviews for knowledge development and examining the dynamic and perpetual processes of knowledge development. Scholars have argued that knowledge development occurs under a certain worldview to which the researcher adheres. Many nurses employ various worldviews, which can give rise to ontological and epistemological conflicts. DP can help nurses appreciate the diversity of worldviews and recognize the importance of implicit worldviews to generate more practical nursing knowledge. DP as a philosophical approach can enable nurses to communicate between diverse worldviews, become tolerant of conflicting differences, and develop an array of nursing knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic health record (EHR) implementation is expanding worldwide to achieve the benefits of that technology, but it is reported in the literature as a "disruptive" change to the work environment in which all health-care workers need to be ready for the change, to enhance adoption and harvest the benefits. Jordan has rolled out a national EHR system. This study explored EHR implementation readiness, levels of realizing the benefits of EHR, and adoption among Jordanian nurses, using a self-report questionnaire at nine governmental hospitals in Jordan. A total of 462 registered nurses participated in the study. Results showed that nurses have moderate levels of readiness for EHR implementation, but higher levels of EHR benefits realization and adoption. All health-care workers' readiness for EHR implementation must be assessed regularly before, during, and after EHR implementation. Readiness-based roll-out can be used as a strategy in implementing EHR systems. Introducing a large-scale change management program is recommended to assess readiness, guide roll-out plans, enhance EHR implementation readiness, improve benefits realization, and increase EHR adoption levels, to help move health-care systems into the digital era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The existing guidelines for breast cancer screening incorporate assessing individual risk but contain no universally recommended risk assessment tool in the primary care setting. Local Problem: A family planning program utilizing nurses and nurse practitioners for assessment, education, and referral lacked a risk assessment tool for assessing breast cancer risk. Methods: A breast cancer risk assessment tool was implemented in practice. Interventions: The interventions involved assessing the patient's risks, providing education on risk reduction strategies, and determining the need for clinical breast exams and referrals for mammography. Results: The study demonstrated a clear correlation between the number of breast cancer risks identified and the extent of education provided to patients based on their specific risk profiles (0 vs. 1.5 risks; 2 vs. 4.6 educational components). Among patients under age 35, 80% opted for a clinical breast exam, while 100% of patients age 40 and above agreed to both clinical breast exams and referrals for mammography after discussing individual risks. Conclusions: The use of a breast cancer risk assessment tool provided an evidence-based foundation for the shared decision-making conversation between patient and nurse/provider on risk reduction. The discussion included current evidence on the risk versus benefit of age-based screening options for breast cancer, allowing for an informed decision made jointly between the patient and provider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students in early-level nursing courses often doubt their ability to intervene effectively to impact health, much less save a life, due to lack of hands-on experience and confidence. Theoretical concepts introduced in early-level courses are abstract terms that can be difficult for the novice student to grasp. Two strategies were designed to take early-level nursing students beyond the theory and increase their awareness of the power of prevention through risk identification, advocacy, health education, and early intervention. Opportunities to apply concepts such as health education, role of the nurse, communication, growth and development, and family systems theory were provided through use of these strategies. Both assignments have been well received by early-level students and other instructors. Informal feedback indicates that these strategies can enhance students' confidence in their perceived ability to promote health and prevent adverse outcomes. The strategies presented in this article respond to the call to provide opportunities within the curriculum that facilitate application of theoretical content; they can empower novice students in their ability to impact lives and can set them up for success as they progress through the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This manuscript describes an in-state nursing student global health-care experience. The 2021 Rio Grande Valley service learning team at Louise Herrington School of Nursing at Baylor University traveled from Dallas to McAllen, Texas to volunteer in a COVID vaccination clinic and refugee respite center on the U.S.-Mexican border. Method: A competency-based evaluation utilized the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education Featured Concepts , with a focus on social determinants of health, as a framework. Results: The evaluation of the service learning trip through the lens of social determinants of health and the Core Competencies can serve as a guideline for the design of future trips. Conclusion: The Rio Grande Valley service learning trip contributed to nursing students' self-reports of competency in global health education, in identifying the social determinants of health that characterized the immigrants and refugees, and in service and advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several factors predispose nursing to being regarded as an oppressed profession. A majority of nurses are female; the role of the nurse is often seen as being under the direction of physician's orders; and the nature of nurses' clinical practice is seen as task driven. We propose that nursing can be liberated from this image of oppression by transforming nursing education to empower nurses to embrace the fullness of their practice of caring: Providing all human beings with dignity and valuing the care they provide as equally vital to the human condition as the focus on curing is to their physician counterparts. Paolo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed proposes an educational model in which the teacher embraces the authentic thinking required of students in order to fully grasp their role, respecting what each student brings with them and recognizing the value of that knowledge. Trust must be built at every level of health care, beginning with nurses and their educators engaging in relationships rooted in communication, connection, and the ability to engage in productive dialogue. Should students and educators in nursing programs embrace the words of Freire, a transformation can take place in the health-care system. Nurses and nursing students will no longer carry the weight of oppression with them into the workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussing racism is challenging for nurse educators and nursing students, because White privilege and racial inequities are deeply embedded and normalized in our societal structures. Avoiding the topic of racism in nursing education renders White supremacy invisible and serves to perpetuate racial discrimination and disparities in health care. Nursing education has the potential to train both faculty and students to recognize and dismantle oppressive attitudes, structures, and practices that have led to negative health outcomes for patients. Equipping nurse educators with the tools to understand and address White supremacy as well as to educate themselves and their students about antiracist language, self-care, and patient care is an important step toward promoting health and creating an antiracist society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is increasingly impacting health, and health care is contributing to climate change through carbon emissions. Nurses can help mitigate climate change and its effects through leadership development initiatives to expand the impact of the efforts of a single person by activating others. This article describes one such nurse-led leadership development project. The intervention adapted a workshop series curriculum for faith community audiences to a health professional audience. The program gave participants the ability to assess their assets, understand the psychology of communication of climate change, and design appropriately-scaled actions to help mitigate climate change. The program consisted of three in-person workshop sessions plus bi-weekly individual consultations with participants. The seven participants included physicians, nurses, physician and nurse educators, a public health professional, and a veterinary medicine student. The workshops included content on communicating about climate change, crafting a public narrative/storytelling, and tools and methods for organizing in the climate movement. Participants completed action plans including a broad range of leadership efforts as part of the intervention; all participants completed at least the first step of their action plan during the program period. Qualitative interviews highlighted facets of participants' experiences. Nurses and other health professionals are leading the way in mitigating climate change; leadership development programs such as this are one way of taking effective climate action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reaching a certain age places one in a particular landscape in which dementia may be part of the scenery. This costly public health problem is personally devastating not only for dementia sufferers but for their surrounding interpersonal circle, which is not limited to immediate family. Indeed, friends often become the family you choose; their issues become, at some level, shared issues. In this setting the impulse of a life scientist to offer knowledgeable assistance to a friend fits naturally into a cornerstone of culture in present-day Hawai'i for mobilizing relevant aid from all corners. This model, called "forming a hui ", comprises a network of not only formal professional relationships but potentially even more importantly, the informal ones: friendships, serendipitous contacts, someone who knows someone who knows someone, the essence of connectedness on behalf of friends coping with dementia. Storytelling as a means of communication holds a place of prominence in Hawai'ian culture; exchange of ideas, as well as reminiscence, is called "talk story." In this article, lives now built around coping with dementia are woven into a story fabric as into a Hawai'ian quilt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the outbreak of dengue and Zika viruses on the Island of Hawaii in relation to the delay in healthcare in the area. Topics include outbreak management of the viruses in terms of community outreach, diagnostic testing, and vector control, the impact of a large number of dialects on the island such as Ilokano, Tongan, and Tagalog on communication, and the relaunch of the "Fight the Bite" campaign in June 2016.

This article reviews why nursing operations automation is important, reviews the impact of computer technology on nursing from a historical perspective, and considers the future of nursing operations automation and health care technology innovations in 2025 and beyond. The increasing automation in health care organizations will benefit patient care, staffing and scheduling systems and central staffing offices, census control, and measurement of patient acuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]