Newswise — Intern Program Reduces Job Turnover for Recent Nurse Graduates—The first year of professional nursing is often a highly stressful one for new nurse graduates and results in a third leaving their jobs within one year and nearly 60% in two years. Although healthcare organizations spend significant time and resources on nurse recruitment, orientation and training, new nurse graduates still account for more than 50% of turnover in some hospitals. Too many graduates find in their first year of employment that disparities between the student role and staff nurse role create professional and personal struggles that are difficult to manage. A recent study conducted by Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing (JHUSON) faculty members Robin P. Newhouse, PhD, RN, Janice J. Hoffman, PhD, RN, and others—published in the current issue of Nursing Administration Quarterly—examines a possible solution: a resource intensive internship program, SPRING (Social and Professional Reality Integration for Nursing Graduates) that could improve new nurse graduate retention, sense of belonging, organizational commitment, and anticipated turnover. The authors note that nurse graduates who completed the SPRING internship program had higher one year retention rates than a similar group of graduate nurses who had not undergone the training. According to Newhouse and colleagues, "Nurse graduates in their first year"¦do not perceive a high level of skill, comfort, or confidence thus indicating the need for extended orientation and support programs to promote transition into practice."
Palliative Care Comes Too Late for Most Patients at Terminal "Turning Point" —In a study published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine, JHUSON Professor Faculty member Fannie Gaston-Johansson, PhD, RN and researchers at Goteborg University, Sweden, determined through a review of Swedish patient death records that in 70% of cases health care providers documented a "Turning Point, reflecting identification of dying and reorientation care" . In the majority of cases recording a turning point, 53% were written in to the case records very close to the time of actual dying; 20% on the day of death; and 33% between 2 and 7 days before it occurred. The authors propose that the lack of a turning point, or its delay until very close to death, may mean that individuals die with unnecessary pain and distress due to invasive and ineffective therapies. Gaston-Johansson and colleagues also found that deterioration of an individual's condition and sporadic confinement to bed were both strongly associated with the presence of a documented turning point—making the probability of such a turning point 94% when both signs were present. The indicators were not related to specific chronic conditions or causes of death, but may be particularly relevant to cardiovascular disease where the commonly held belief is that the life expectancy of patients is difficult to estimate. The authors conclude that "With most of the individuals in the study, the turning point is not the adequate time to start palliative care since it is usually too late. Palliative care should start gradually from the time of an incurable life-threatening disease and broaden its scope toward the terminal phase of the illness."
Public Awareness Campaigns Could Change Attitudes About Intimate Partner Violence—In a recent article appearing in the Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, JHUSON researcher Jacquelyn C. Campbell, PhD, RN, reports that after conducting an extensive study of public awareness campaigns regarding high-profile health issues, she has found very few campaigns aimed at influencing public perceptions about intimate partner violence (IPV) interventions and even fewer articles reporting research related to IPV public education campaigns. However, Campbell finds experts nationwide support the concept of public awareness campaigns to inform women at risk about ways of getting help, as well as to change public attitudes about the abuse that accounts for 22% of violent crimes against women. Among the points Campbell cites for campaign effectiveness are: Directing it toward a specific population and matching messages to how ready people are to make changes; using messages directed at a behavior that is easily understood; supporting a campaign aimed at risk reduction behaviors with elements such as skills training, face-to-face communications, social support and interventions; and providing messages that are culturally relevant.
In Other Nursing News:
JHUSON faculty member Aisling McGuckin, MSN, MPH, RN, has been named an Open Society Institute Baltimore Community Fellow. The fellowship, one of eight given to residents to work for one year with underserved groups in Baltimore, MD, is valued at nearly $50,000. Ms. McGuckin will use the funding to establish a Community Health Workers Program for training leaders of the refugee community on methods to improve refugees' access to health-related services.
In a Letter to the Editor appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine, JHUSON faculty member Kathleen Lent Becker, MS, CRNP, and graduate nurse practitioner students respond to the article "Primary Care " Will it Survive?" . The article stated, ""¦many nurse practitioners and physician assistants who could join the primary care workforce are instead going to work in wealthier specialty practices." Ms. Becker and her students point out that to the contrary and ""¦ consistent with their role, 85% of nurse practitioners currently practice in primary care. Nurse practitioners are more likely than physicians to care for the underserved, work in rural areas, and provide health-promotion services." The response was developed as a course assignment which required the students to research the state of nurse practitioner practice in primary care.
The JHUSON Birth Companions Program coordinated by faculty members Elizabeth T. Jordan, DNSc, RNC, and Shirley V. VanZandt, MS, MPH, RN, CRNP, is one of six finalists for the 15th Annual Monroe E. Trout Premier Cares Award. The top finalists in the competition that recognizes outstanding health care education programs will be named and receive a $70,000 award at the Premier's annual Governance Education Conference this month. All other finalists will be awarded at least $20,000.
The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing is a global leader in nursing research, education and scholarship and is ranked among the top 10 nursing higher education institutions in the country. The School's community health program is second in the nation and the nursing research program now holds eighth position among the top nursing schools for securing federal research grants. The School continues to maintain its reputation for excellence and educates nurses who set the highest standards for patient care, exemplify scholarship, and become innovative national and international leaders in the evolution of the nursing profession and the health care system. For more information, visit http://www.son.jhmi.edu/
RSS