School Nursing for the Novice: How Do I Begin?

Obtaining a position as a school nurse is an exciting career opportunity, but the reality of a new position in a new specialty area can quickly lead to anxiety and feeling overwhelmed. Your first thoughts might be “Can I really do this job?” and “Where and how do I begin?” The answer to these questions will depend on your situation—are you a nurse hired for a previously established school nurse position or are you the first nurse at your school, charged with initiating a school health program? The purpose of this article is to offer guidance for the novice school nurse in establishing a school health program and school nurse office, as well as to encourage and provide direction for the development of your school nursing practice.

Treger, Harvey

Harvey Treger (1924–2016) was a pioneer in the social work profession, breaking new ground for social work practice in law enforcement agencies. Under Treger’s leadership, police social work was started as a new specialty area of social work practice. His groundbreaking vision for police social work practice continues to evolve to the present (2021), as progressively more law enforcement agencies either hire or establish collaborations with social workers, and community stakeholders recognize the need for a social work response to community social problems instead of law enforcement.

Communicating Bad News to Older Patients from the Physician’s Point of View: Focus on the Influence of Gender and Length of Work Experience

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Communicating bad news is of great interest in the geriatric field, but few works have considered the physician’s point of view in this regard. <b><i>Objectives:</i></b> The aim of this study was to explore possible differences related to physicians’ gender and work experience in how a terminal diagnosis is disclosed to older patients. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Study participants were 420 Italian physicians (277 M, 143 F) working in clinical medicine (58.2%), surgery (33.3%), or other medical departments (8.5%). They completed an anonymous multiple-choice questionnaire that investigated various issues associated with communicating bad news to terminally ill older patients. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Men had more work experience than women (55.6% vs. 44.8% had worked for ≥23 years) and were more likely to work in surgery departments, while more women worked in clinical medicine. Most physicians declared that terminally ill older patients, if mentally competent, should always (14.4%) or generally (64.3%) be directly and openly informed of their condition. With no difference in gender, length of work experience, or specialty area, 36.9% of physicians thought that this was a human right and 18% that it would improve the patient’s quality of life. Where older patients were alone, male physicians were more likely than female (30.2% vs. 8.9%) to always communicate bad news directly to them. More than 70% of physicians, especially those with longer work experience, declared that they always or often took enough time to inform the patient. Female physicians and those working in clinical medicine were more likely to need psychological help when deciding to break bad news, but only a smaller proportion declared to have received it. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Gender and work experience may influence how physicians communicate with patients and how often they seek psychological support.

Study into the use of applied library and information studies (LIS) research in New Zealand libraries

<p>The purpose of this research project was to determine the perceptions of information professionals in New Zealand regarding applied LIS (Library and Information Studies) research. To achieve this aim, a purposive sample of 130 tertiary and non-profit government libraries / information centres was selected from the New Zealand Contacts in Libraries directory. The chief librarians or library managers from these institutions were invited to offer their opinions using a brief questionnaire that included Likert and Verbal Frequency scales (Appendix A). Alternatively, the questionnaire could be distributed to another information professional from the organisation. Practitioners' reasons for and against consulting research, their tendency towards conducting it themselves and encouraging others in their employ to produce it, and ways by which the relationship between LIS research and practice might be improved were assessed using the survey instrument. The amount of research consultation undertaken by survey participants was analysed according to the following variables: * Highest library / information qualification, whether it contained a research methods / project component, and how recently it was completed; * Major subject area (other than library / information studies) of tertiary-level study; * Experience in current position; * Level of management responsibility; * Specialty area of responsibility; * Library / information centre size; * Organisational context of the library / information centre; * Participation in conferences / professional meetings. The study found that the amount of research consultation by information professionals comprising the sample was low, and levels of research production and encouragement for employees to conduct research were even lower. Participants most often consult the research to stay current with trends and developments in the field of LIS, and to support workplace activities such as decision-making, problem-solving, planning and evaluation. The research is most often not consulted due to time constraints. Despite small data sets that necessitated some caution in the interpretation of results, associational relationships were apparent between the amount of research consultation and all of the participant variables listed above, with one exception (level of management responsibility). Information professionals responding to this study also indicated that the most effective strategy for improving the current relationship between the LIS research and practice communities is the encouragement of research productions that include practical guidelines for the application of results in a workplace context.</p>

Study into the use of applied library and information studies (LIS) research in New Zealand libraries

<p>The purpose of this research project was to determine the perceptions of information professionals in New Zealand regarding applied LIS (Library and Information Studies) research. To achieve this aim, a purposive sample of 130 tertiary and non-profit government libraries / information centres was selected from the New Zealand Contacts in Libraries directory. The chief librarians or library managers from these institutions were invited to offer their opinions using a brief questionnaire that included Likert and Verbal Frequency scales (Appendix A). Alternatively, the questionnaire could be distributed to another information professional from the organisation. Practitioners' reasons for and against consulting research, their tendency towards conducting it themselves and encouraging others in their employ to produce it, and ways by which the relationship between LIS research and practice might be improved were assessed using the survey instrument. The amount of research consultation undertaken by survey participants was analysed according to the following variables: * Highest library / information qualification, whether it contained a research methods / project component, and how recently it was completed; * Major subject area (other than library / information studies) of tertiary-level study; * Experience in current position; * Level of management responsibility; * Specialty area of responsibility; * Library / information centre size; * Organisational context of the library / information centre; * Participation in conferences / professional meetings. The study found that the amount of research consultation by information professionals comprising the sample was low, and levels of research production and encouragement for employees to conduct research were even lower. Participants most often consult the research to stay current with trends and developments in the field of LIS, and to support workplace activities such as decision-making, problem-solving, planning and evaluation. The research is most often not consulted due to time constraints. Despite small data sets that necessitated some caution in the interpretation of results, associational relationships were apparent between the amount of research consultation and all of the participant variables listed above, with one exception (level of management responsibility). Information professionals responding to this study also indicated that the most effective strategy for improving the current relationship between the LIS research and practice communities is the encouragement of research productions that include practical guidelines for the application of results in a workplace context.</p>

Characteristics of the Levels of Mechanisation in Arc Welding

Improvement of quality, reduction of the subjective possibilities of faults may be facilitated with the help of the technically rational and economically justifiable mechanisation of productive serial production as well as the use of the wide range of hardware and software IT possibilities. Mechanisation is usually understood as the mechanisation of technological operations that may otherwise be performed by manual operations (human movements and effort). Mechanisation is therefore the substitution, in whole or in part, of manual labour with the help of specialised equipment and the mechanical operation of the various movements. The present article examines the particular features of mechanisation in the field of outstandingly high significance in industrial applications, i.e. arc welding, assisting the forms of training applied in the specialty area.

A Collective Effort to Update the Legume Checklist

Taxonomic names are critical to the communication of biodiversity—they link data together whether it be distribution data, traits or phylogeny. Large taxonomic groups, such as many plant families, are globally distributed as is the taxonomic expertise of the family. A growing knowledge base requires collaboration to develop an up-to-date checklist as a research foundation. The legume (Fabaceae) community has a strong history of collaboration including the International Legume Database and Information Service (ILDIS), which curated the names but ILDIS is no longer up to date. In 2020, under the umbrella of the Legume Phylogeny Working Group (LPWG), a group of taxonomists began updating the legume taxonomy as part of a larger collaboration around a legume data portal. Currently the World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP) is the most up-to-date reference and was used as the starting point for the project. The workflow begins with over 80 volunteer taxonomic experts updating the checklist in their specialty area. These lists are manually collated, centrally creating a consensus taxonomy with synonyms. Any taxonomic conflicts are adjudicated within the group. The checklist then undergoes a comprehensive nomenclature assessment at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and becomes part of the WCVP. This checklist was submitted to the Catalogue of Life Checklist Bank and is integrated as the preferred legume checklist in the GBIF taxonomic backbone. After one round of taxonomic curation, 38% of the legume names in GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility), which were previously unmatched to WCVP, are now connected to GBIF names, therefore also improving the occurrence records of those species. The GBIF taxonomic backbone contains names found on herbarium specimens and in the literature, which are not currently part of the legume expert community checklist or WCVP. This list of unresolved names will be forwarded to the legume community for curation, thereby developing a cycle of data improvement. It is anticipated that after a few rounds of expert curation, the WCVP and GBIF taxonomies will converge. At each cycle, a snapshot of GBIF occurrences is taken and the improvement of the occurrences is quantified to measure the value of the expert taxonomic work. The current checklist is also available via Catalogue of Life and soon via the World Flora Online to support research. In this talk, we describe the workflow and impact of the expert curated legume taxonomy.

Food and Nutrition Myths among Future Secondary School Teachers: A Problem of Trust in Inadequate Sources of Information

The Internet and social networks are full of nutrition information, offering people guidance to make healthy eating choices. These sources always present themselves as a gateway to reliable information on healthy eating; however, too often this is not the case. Far from being trustworthy, there are usually plenty of food myths. A food myth is a widespread false belief about food, nutrition, and eating facts that gives rise to certain behaviors, from fashionable trends to diets. Academic training is a valuable tool to combat food myths and the pseudoscience linked to them, but educators must participate in this battle. To test this idea, we analyzed the prevalence of nine highly popular food myths held by 201 secondary school Spanish teachers. The aim was to assess whether expertise in science areas prevents teachers from falling into these food misconceptions. Our study results showed that food myths are held regardless of specialty area. The power of the media in popularizing and spreading nutrition myths among educators may be the cause, even more potent than academic training. We conclude that since scientific knowledge is not enough to erase food myths, we need further actions if we aim to prevent the problems that food myths may cause.

Practices and Barriers towards Physical Assessment among Nurses Working in Intensive Care Units: Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study

Background. In the intensive care units, patients need special consideration and monitor frequently with appropriate physical assessment skills. Nurses working in the intensive care units play a fundamental role in detecting patients at risk of deterioration through ongoing assessment and action in response to changing health status. Most of the nursing activities were poorly assessed in low-income countries including Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the nurses’ practice and barriers to physical assessment among critically ill patients in Northwest Ethiopia. Methods. An institution-based multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted at Amhara regional state referral hospitals from March to September 2019. A total of 299 nurses working in the intensive care units were recruited through the convenience sampling method. A 30-item physical assessment practice and 36-item barriers to nurses’ use of the physical assessment scale inventory were used. The linear regression analysis model was fitted, and the adjusted unstandardized beta (β) coefficient with a 95% confidence interval was used. A p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results. The mean score of the nurses’ practice towards physical assessment among critically ill patients was 101.26 ± 24.99 . Greater perceived reliance on others and technology ( β = − 0.78 , 95% CI (-1.07, -0.48)), ward culture ( β = − 0.48 , 95% CI (-0.85, -0.11)), specialty area ( β = − 1.46 , 95% CI (-2.01, -0.90)), lack of nursing role model ( β = − 0.54 , 95% CI (-1.06, -0.02)), being unmarried ( β = − 6.10 , 95% CI (1.75, 10.46)), taken training ( β = 11.53 , 95% CI (6.34, 16.72)), and knowledge score ( β = 2.81 , 95% CI (2.00, 3.63)) were the factors significantly associated with the nurses’ practice score towards physical assessment. Reliance on others and technology towards physical assessment practice was the most important barrier followed by ward culture and specialty area. Conclusion. Nurses working in the intensive care units had a good practice towards physical assessment among critically ill patients. Hence, to increase the practice towards physical assessment in intensive care settings, especially for married nurses, experienced critical care nurses, and specialist professionals, practice support training, modifying ward environment, and educational support care are recommended.