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NATIONAL NURSING STAFF DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION RESEARCH GRANT PROGRAM

Staff development educators ask themselves a lot of questions about the effectiveness of their work:

 

* Are staff using the information/device after I teach and test them?

 

* What are nurses' perceptions of the preceptor role?

 

* Is there a difference in the number of nationally certified nurses attending Continuing Education and Staff Development programs holding national certification versus those nurses who do not hold such certifications?

 

* How do nurses in other regions teach what I'm teaching?

 

 

Have you ever been tempted to conduct a "little project" to get the answers to your questions about practice? If so, then think about using the National Nursing Staff Development Organization (NNSDO) Small Grants Program to fund your project and share the results with other staff development professionals.

 

The NNSDO Small Grants Program was established to promote and support research in staff development and continuing education among NNSDO members. The grants are funded out of the NNSDO Research Fund, which was set up in late 1994 and is augmented annually by the Fun Run/Walk for Research, the annual Silent Auction, Board allocations, and member donations. The Program is designed primarily to provide funding for pilot projects or small projects for novice researchers. The maximum grant award is $2,500. Funded research is presented in NNSDO venues such as the convention's poster sessions and concurrent sessions, TrendLines, the Journal for Nurses in Staff Development, and, potentially, as its own document or publication.

 

If you are considering beginning a research project but are hesitating because of inexperience or uncertainty, contact the NNSDO National Office. Staff will set you up with a mentor who can help you fine-tune your research question and methods and answer any questions you may have about conducting a research project or about funding through NNSDO's Small Grants Program.

 

The Research Grant Program "Guidelines for Submitting a Research Proposal" appear on the NNSDO Web site or are available through the NNSDO National Office. Contact Patricia Barlow at [email protected] for a copy of the guidelines. The deadline for submission is January 31, 2008; funds are awarded in April.

 

SUMMARIES OF RECENTLY FUNDED RESEARCH PROJECTS

Identifying Performance Criteria for Staff Development Competencies

 

Barbara Brunt, MA, MN, RN-BC

 

SUMMA Health System

 

Akron, OH

 

Over a 5-year period, this researcher completed a series of 10 research studies on Identifying Performance Criteria for Staff Development Competencies. NNSDO provided research grants for four of these studies. After completing and analyzing all the data from each of the studies, the principal investigator consolidated the competency statements into 72 competencies with corresponding performance criteria. These were grouped by the roles in the American Nurses Association's Scope and Standards of Nursing Professional Development and Harden's outcome model, incorporating Benner's novice to expert framework. The outcome of these studies was the Nursing Professional Development Educator Competency Tool, which provided the basis for a book, Competencies for Staff Educators: Tools to Evaluate and Enhance Nursing Professional Development, published by HC Pro in 2007. This book provides numerous examples of the application of these competencies to practice. The researcher would like to thank the staff development personnel throughout the United States who participated in these studies and provided feedback on the competencies and performance criteria.

 

RN Refresher Course: Characteristics of Nurses, Outcomes, and Incentives and Barriers to Return to Work

 

Elizabeth S. Fayram, PhD, RN

 

Continuing Education & Outreach Program

 

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee College of Nursing, Milwaukee, WI

 

This study explored the characteristics of nurses enrolled in an RN refresher course, as well as the outcomes and incentives/barriers for returning to work. Nurses enrolled in an RN refresher course at a Midwestern university participated in the program evaluation research study and were surveyed at the beginning, end, and 6 months after the course. Results indicate that 88% completed the course. The nurses significantly increased confidence in all five areas of competence: communication; integration of knowledge/nursing process; incorporation of social, cultural, and ethical-legal factors; nursing procedures; and responsibility/accountability. Sixty-six percent worked in a clinical setting 6 months after the course. Barriers include work schedules, work environment, inadequate orientation, and family responsibilities. Incentives include flexible scheduling, supportive work environments, and support for professional development. Implications are that RN refresher courses are successful in returning nurses to clinical practice, but barriers and incentives, including individualized orientation programs, need to be addressed.

 

Comparison of Web-Based Instructional Design Strategies in a Pain Management Program for Nursing Professional Development

 

Charlene M. Smith, DNS, MSEd, WHNP, BC

 

Doctoral Dissertation

 

University at Buffalo, State University of New York

 

Buffalo, NY

 

Evaluation of Web-based learning (WBL) outcomes in nursing professional development is limited, especially studies comparing WBL instructional designs. The use of WBL to deliver effective education has implications for increasing the access that nurses have to quality continuing education programs. Compared were two instructional designs in a Web-based continuing education program on pain management for RNs. It was hypothesized that nurses who complete WBL using a text-based reading (TBR) instructional design have different learning (knowledge, attitude, and intent to apply learning in practice), satisfaction, and time to complete scores than do nurses using a constructivist learning design (CLD).

 

A true experimental, two-group, posttest-only study applied Billings' (2000) framework for assessing outcomes of WBL as the conceptual model. Volunteer nurses from four hospitals in Rochester, NY, were randomly assigned to one of two WBL programs independently completed online in approximately 2 hours. Pain management content was developed from current evidence-based resources for both interventions. Instructional designs included (a) TBR (didactic linear design) and (b) CLD (strategies involving problem solving, inquiry, and reflective thinking). A researcher-developed online posttest/survey collected learner characteristics and outcome data from participants after completing the WBL program. Phase 1 (n = 12) was a feasibility test that assesses the study procedures, technology, content, and instruments for internal consistency. Changes were made to the instruments and content, and Phase 2 started in May 2006 with a sample of 106 nurses. The Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric statistical test was used to compare posttest/survey differences between the ranked scores of the groups for each outcome measure. There were no significant differences between groups for learning (knowledge, attitude, and intent to apply learning in practice) and satisfaction outcome measures. There was a significant difference in the time to complete the WBL programs, with the CLD group having a higher mean time to complete. Given the additional instructor time and resources needed to develop the CLD program, the extra time it took nurses to complete the CLD, and no significant differences in learning or satisfaction between groups, future design of Web-based nursing continuing education programs must consider pedagogy in addition to resources needed for development, as well as participant time (Billings, 2000).

 

Effective Communication Strategies: Helping to Improve Coworker Relationships

 

Catherine Witsberger, MSN, RN-BC

 

Susan Wesmiller, MSN, RN

 

Kimberly Whiteman, MSN, RN

 

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

 

Pittsburgh, PA

 

Can an educational offering affect staff members' perceptions of coworker communication patterns and satisfaction with coworker relationships? This study is examining the effect of a two-part educational offering on communication skills and coworker relationships. The class (two 4-hour sessions for each staff member) has been presented to more than 100 staff members of three nursing units in an 812-bed urban teaching hospital. Data collection is ongoing for two of the three units (the third unit will be surveyed using the post-test in mid-summer). Data collection (posttest) has been more difficult in the actual study than in the pilot study. Potentially confounding factors have arisen, which may have distracted/discouraged staff from returning posttest surveys.

 

Expansion of the program is ongoing, even while data collection continues. The focus of the content in the classes has been broadened to also include communication and relationships with patients. Two more nursing units are scheduled for the classes into the early fall months.

 

Work-Related Stress of Registered Nurses in a Hospital Setting

 

Debra S. Hall, PhD, RN, CCRN

 

University of Kentucky Hospital

 

Lexington, KY

 

This qualitative, explorative study identified common work-related stressors and coping mechanisms of RNs within a hospital setting. A sample of 10 RNs were chosen to represent different clinical areas, age ranges, and genders from a group of 658 RNs providing direct patient care. The RNs were interviewed about work-related stressors and were observed under normal working conditions. Using grounded theory, RNs identified stress related to four themes: (a) meeting patient needs, (b) self-expectations of the RN, (c) quantitative workload, and (d) colleagues' inexperience. The theme of meeting patients' needs contained two categories: systems barriers to meeting patient needs and patients' changing condition. Although coping with work-related stressors was an individual process, there were three common strategies among the participants: talking to and getting help from coworkers and problem solving. Staff development implications include education of clinical nurses and administrators in identifying systems barriers to providing patient care, interventional staffing, stress debriefing, patient assessment, and active coping. The study was published in the Journal for Nurses in Staff Development (Hall, 2004), and the principal investigator used the results to develop a scenario-based instrument to measure nursing stress (Hall, 2007).

 

NEW BOARD MEMBERS ELECTED

The new members of the NNSDO Board of Directors have been elected:

 

Nancy Konzelmann, MS, RN-BC, was elected to serve a second term as Secretary.

 

Nancy is a clinical education specialist at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center, an 880-bed acute care multisite teaching hospital with more than 4,000 employees. St. Joseph's is part of a two-hospital system with a centralized education structure reporting to system-wide human resources development. Nancy plans, implements, and evaluates orientation, continuing education, and staff development activities for all levels of nursing and nonnursing personnel. In addition, she manages specific projects within the department, such as the computerized learning management system and the Provider Unit activities. She received her bachelor of science in nursing from William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ, and her master of science in nursing from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, in Newark, NJ, in 1983.

  
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Carol Blauth, MSN, RN-BC,C, was elected Director.

 

Carol is Manager, Clinical Education at Capital Health System in Trenton, NJ. In that role, Carol manages the Provider Unit, which awards between 5,000 and 6,000 contact hours annually. Her career has spanned medical-surgical and cardiac care nursing, teaching student nurses, and the professional development of nurses and ancillary staff. She has a bachelor's degree in biological sciences, a bachelor's degree in nursing, and a master of science in nursing with emphasis on nursing education. In addition to being certified in nursing professional development, she is certified in medical-surgical nursing.

  
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Mary G. Harper, MSN, RN-BC, was elected Director.

 

Mary is currently the Director of Education for Florida Hospital Memorial System, a three-hospital system with approximately 2,000 employees. The department is responsible for all aspects of education, including annual safety education; competency assessment; leadership education; and continuing education for nursing, radiology, respiratory therapy, laboratory, and social work. Mary received her associate degree in nursing in 1976. She obtained her bachelor of science in nursing from the University of West Florida in 1981 and her master of science in nursing from the University of Florida in 1992. Mary is currently pursuing her doctorate in nursing at the University of Central Florida.

  
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Barbara Brunt, MA, MN, RN-BC, will be making the transition from President-Elect to President. Brunt is Director of Nursing Education and Staff Development for Summa Health System in Akron, OH. Board members continuing to serve on the NNSDO Board of Directors are Diana Swihart, PhD, MSN, CS, APRN-BC, Educational Clinical Nurse Specialist and Magnet Coordinator at the Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Bay Pines, FL; and Dora Bradley, PhD, RN-BC, Director of Center for Nursing Education and Research at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, TX.

 

The new Board of Directors begins its term at the close of the 2007 convention on July 26-29, 2007, in Atlanta, GA.

 

REFERENCES

 

Hall, D. S. (2004). Work-related stress of registered nurses in the clinical setting. Journal for Nurses in Staff Development, 20(1),6-16. [Context Link]

 

Hall, D. S. (2007). The relationship between supervisor support and registered nurse outcomes in nursing care units. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 31(1),68-80. [Context Link]

 

Billings, D. (2000). A framework for assessing outcomes and practices in Web-based courses in nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, 39(2),60-67. [Context Link]