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Biomedical subjects

M L Bell

Publications and source records attributed to M L Bell.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

Making the fit: orienting new employees to community health nursing agencies.

Community health nurse managers require tested orientation methods to fit new employees into the rapidly changing conditions of professional practice, increase nursing productivity, and reduce turnover. The clinical competencies for community health nursing provide a workable framework for applying orientation principles to the special demands of community health nursing.

Community Health Nursing

A model skills list for orienting nurses to community health agencies.

Nurse managers in community health can streamline the orientation of new employees by building planning and evaluation on a list of nursing skills that meet requirements for beginning practice. A model list of skills required in public health nursing and home health care can guide individual agencies in tailoring orientation programs to their respective needs, streamlining the process, reducing overall costs, and producing long-term benefits for nurse managers and nursing staff.

Clinical Competence

The use of cognitive style mapping as a predictor for academic success of first-semester diploma nursing students.

This study determined the relationship between the components of the cognitive map and the diploma nursing student's successful academic completion of the first semester. This ex post facto study applied the Modified Hill Cognitive Style Model (MHCSM) instrument; the final grade, the dependent variable, was intercorrelated with the instrument's 28 mapping elements. Data analysis indicated three positively correlated predictors: a preference for finding meaning from written words, for independent problem-solving, and for a logical deductive approach in decision-making. Four negatively correlated predictors included a preference for finding meaning from the spoken word, for finding meaning from sight, for problem-solving with peers, and for categorical reasoning. Implications applicable to nursing education are included.

Cognition

Learning a complex nursing skill: student anxiety and the effect of preclinical skill evaluation.

The purpose of this study was to identify the anxiety profile of undergraduate nursing students when learning a complex psychomotor skill, and to determine the effect of preclinical skill evaluation on student anxiety and performance when applying the skill in a patient situation. Findings support preclinical skill evaluation as an effective strategy for reducing anxiety related to initial transfer of skill learning from a laboratory to a clinical setting and enhancing self-confidence.

Adult

Sources and control of error in industrial hygiene measurements.

Many sources of error exist in industrial hygiene measurements. Errors may be systematic or random. Eliminating or controlling systematic and random error during measurement, analysis, and data interpretation is a matter of aggressive quality control/quality assurance and appropriate statistical treatment of data. The occupational health care professional should be aware of error sources in industrial hygiene measurements and be on the lookout for flawed exposure estimates.

Bias

Clinical competencies for community health nursing.

Cost-containment strategies initiated in the early 1980s caused a major shift in site of care delivery for persons needing nursing care. Where once the majority of clients were cared for in the acute-care setting until they were self-sufficient, now most are discharged to the home environment still requiring acute-care nursing interventions as well as community health nursing skills. This rapid shift in practice sites has placed severe strain on community health nursing agencies. Not only are more nurses required to fill the increased demand for services, but the demand comes at a time when we are experiencing a severe nursing shortage. This has forced many agencies to hire acute care nurses who have little or no community health nursing experience. These nurses come to community health nursing expecting to use the same set of skills and knowledge base used in their acute-care practice; however, the skill levels and concepts required for community health nursing are quite different from the acute care setting. Educational preparation has not kept pace with this shift in practice. Consequently, many nurses are not adequately prepared to enter community health nursing. Preparation must include theoretical and experiential components that focus on assessment skills (of the community and individual), decision making, case management, health systems management, teaching, and leadership. Collaborative efforts between community health organizations and educational institutions would seem to be one solution that would ensure adequately prepared nurses for community health nursing. The establishment and maintenance of strong staff-development programs within community health nursing agencies are also required.

Clinical Competence