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Development of critical thinking abilities is essential for students in clinical disciplines of the health sciences. Past research has shown that critical thinking is a learned skill that can be fostered through teaching strategies. Ten educational strategies that were developed and tested by the authors in online courses are presented to assist instructors to encourage students in the health sciences to improve critical thinking processes. (Contains 3 tables.)

Introduction: Electronic cigarette use is the most prevalent form of tobacco among young college adults between 18 and 25 years old. In addition, during the young adult years, mental health issues surface, such as anxiety. As a result of these factors, it is imperative to describe the experience of electronic cigarettes among college students to better understand the cycle of addiction among electronic cigarette users. Objective: This study aims to explore and describe the experience of electronic cigarette use among college students who report feelings of anxiety. Methods: A qualitative descriptive study design with the Roy Adaptation Model as the theoretical framework was used to describe the experience. The setting was at one mediumsized private university on the east coast of the United States. Twenty participants met the study inclusion criteria of traditional undergraduate students aged 18-25 years. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, a smoking status questionnaire, a self-report feelings of anxiety questionnaire, and a semistructured interview guide. Results: Data analysis synthesized three themes: the perfect storm, the power of ripping the nic, and trapped in that cycle. It was found through interviews that feelings of anxiety and the vape culture, along with the college experience, led to the powerful draw to electronic cigarette use among this population. Conclusion: This study reflects findings that the college life experience, the vape culture, and the feelings of anxiety contribute to electronic cigarette use and, finally, lead to intense addiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes how the concepts of cultural awareness, cultural sensitivity, and cultural competence are integrated into the nursing curriculum at Lehman College, City University of New York. A culturally [...]

Background: Healthcare professionals' number in Haiti is reported to be 5,400: 2.8 per 1000, or 1.8 nurses and one physician per 10,000 people. There is a need for well-trained professional nurses to care for the population and educate incoming nursing professionals. The City University of New York's (CUNY) involvement in a project to strengthen the nursing school at the Université Publique d'Artibonite aux Gonaives (UPAG), is an essential initiative that can help improve Haiti's health care system. Methods : Members of the CUNY faculty team traveled to Haiti to conduct the initial needs assessment. They met with students and faculty at UPAG. A program was designed to respond to the need's assessment findings. CUNY faculty for the UPAG project were selected from a core member of CUNY Chancellor's Haiti Initiative team. It included educational sessions for senior students and an opportunity for UPAG nursing faculty to participate in a professional development program. Conclusion: The project fulfilled the needs for faculty and students' supports. However, there is still more work to be done. To this end, two UPAG nursing faculty participated in a Master's in Nursing program at Regis University and CUNY faculty continued to support students through a mentorship program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between sources of social support and subjects' preferred treatment of illness. After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, health care workers and facilities were scarce; 10 percent of Haiti's health care staff was killed and 60 percent of the health care facilities destroyed. The study was based on social support as a psychosocial factor serving as an intermediary between environmental stress and an individual's preference for treatment of their illness. The literature suggests that social support improves treatment of illness and health outcomes through stress buffering and main effects. This study of 110 Haitians was conducted two years after the earthquake in a small town outside Port au Prince. Participants mean age was 39.85 years; 57% were female. The instrument used was designed to determine the sources of social support (family, friends, church, community) and how illnesses were managed ("medsin" prepared by an herbalist and often related to voodoo, tonics or teas, vitamins and prescription drugs). A backwards stepwise logistic regression was conducted for each of the variables. If the church was used for social support, prescription drugs were primarily used (r = 0.20; p = 0.0261); if friends provided illness care, vitamins were used (r = 0.20; p = 0.0263); if community organizations used, vitamins were used (r = 0.20; p = 0.027) and when family provided care, medsin and teas were used (r = 0.20; p = 0.0268). Participants relied on a variety of sources for illness and included prescription medicines, herbal remedies and a Haitian tea. Participants indicated a high importance placed on the church as a source of social support. Reliance on the church is understandable based on the culture and often provides comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few findings from qualitative studies about family presence in intensive care units (ICU) and emergency departments (ED) have been synthesized, despite a renewed appreciation and interest in incorporating qualitative studies in systematic reviews of evidence-based practice. We synthesized findings from 17 qualitative studies on family presence and the experiences of patients, families, and nurses. The essential themes of emotional support, feelings of safety and comfort, knowing, understanding, being informed, and being engaged emerged from the review synthesis. An overarching theme of family coping during stressful times, such as hospitalization, is described as system support and noted in the literature as a component of family resilience. We recommend that further studies be conducted to relate supportive behaviors of critical care nurses to family functioning and provide empirical evidence for further development of the theory of family resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel ideas are needed to increase adherence to antihypertensive medication. The current study used data from the Counseling African Americans to Control Hypertension (CAATCH) study, a sample of 442 hypertensive African Americans, to investigate the mediating effects of expectation of hypertension care, social support, hypertension knowledge, and medication adherence, adjusting for age, sex, number of medications, diabetes, education, income, employment, insurance status, and intervention. Sixty-six percent of patients had an income of $20,000 or less and 56% had a high school education or less, with a mean age of 57 years. Greater expectation of care was associated with greater medication adherence (P=.007), and greater social support was also associated with greater medication adherence (P=.046). Analysis also showed that expectation of care mediated the relationship between hypertension knowledge and medication adherence (P<.05). Expectation of care and social support are important factors for developing interventions to increase medication adherence among blacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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