Gay children and suicidality: the importance of professional nurturance

Suicidality among young people is a global concern, with international studies demonstrating an increased prevalence among young gay men. Being gay is not inevitably linked to mental illness, but growing up gay in a heterosexist society can compromise mental well being. This qualitative study, using free association narrative interviewing, offers an in-depth understanding of gay men's experience. One shared experience that emerged was "knowing and not knowing," the story of gay children growing up in a heterosexist society. This story provides valuable insights for mental health nurses becoming more attuned to the importance of providing professional nurturing of gay children.     

Meeting the challenge of mentoring African American nursing faculty: a strategy for professional development.

Is mentoring just another bandwagon for African American and minorities to jump on? My personal perspective is that we should examine in more detail and dialogue the notions of self-actualization and affirmation that several authors identified as the essence of mentoring minorities. Then, particular distinctions among concepts such as mentor, master role model, preceptor, "buddy," or whatever might be seen as variations on the main theme of personal and professional self-actualization. Given what it may accomplish, appropriate mentoring for the African American nursing faculty neophyte is a challenge for the nursing profession and a strategy for institutional advancement in the twenty first century.     

An experience of peer mentoring with student nurses: enhancement of personal and professional growth

This article discusses the importance of peer mentoring in nursing education. The current literature is reviewed and areas for further research are identified. Most specifically, the article explores the results of a recent research study conducted at Southern Cross University in Australia. The research investigated the relationship between personal and professional growth and peer mentoring with a group of women nurses. Seven nurses participated in this qualitative research project. Six of the participants were student nurses enrolled in an undergraduate nursing degree and the seventh participant was the degree program coordinator. The research was conducted over a 12-week period and was located in critical paradigm. The research methods used were reflective journaling and interviewing. The results indicated that the process of peer mentoring in nursing education demonstrated a strong relationship to personal and professional growth for all of the participants. Characteristics of the peer mentoring process such as shared learning, shared caring, reciprocity, commitment to each other's personal and professional growth, and friendship, are discussed.     

Leadership skills beyond the bedside: professional development classes for the staff nurse

Preparation for advanced leadership roles requires hospital-based staff nurses to develop skills beyond clinical expertise. Non-clinical activities such as poster and oral presentations, article publication, and professional portfolio development are ways to demonstrate these skills. This article cle discusses how an educational initiative was developed to provide instruction and mentoring for these areas of professional development. In addition, the relationship between this initiative and a clinical advancement ladder is discussed.     

Improving patient care through measurement: goal importance and achievement scaling.

Sophisticated treatment record keeping requires something more than a focus on problems. An emphasis on positive aspects of treatment, i.e., on goals may be more appropriate for certain patients or for certain types of treatment or at specific stages of an illness. Unfortunately, currently available methods of quantifying goal importance and achievement are not entirely satisfactory for general everday use. GIA is proposed as a simple procedure for quantifying judgments of the importance of a treatment goal, of the extent to which that goal is achieved and of determining the social value of what treatment has accomplished. GIA ratings have considerable potential for improving patient care through measurement.     

Continuing midwifery education beyond graduation: Student midwives' awareness of continuous professional development

Midwifery education plays an important role in educating graduates about engaging in continuous professional development (CPD) but there is a lack of empirical research analysing student midwives' awareness of CPD beyond graduation. We aimed to explore student midwives' awareness of the need to become lifelong learners and to map their knowledge of CPD activities available after graduation. Therefore, forty-seven reflective documents, written in the last week of student midwives' training programme, were analysed in a thematic way. Content analysis confirmed student midwives' awareness of the importance of CPD before graduation. They mentioned different reasons for future involvement in CPD and described both, formal and informal CPD-activities. Respondents were especially aware of the importance of knowledge, to a lesser degree of skills-training and still less of the potential value of the Internet for individual and collective learning. Respondents perceived a need for a mandatory preceptorship. Supporting learning guides were highly valued and the importance of reflection on CPD was well-established. This could have resulted from an integrated reflective learning strategy during education.ConclusionUndergraduate midwives are aware of the importance of CPD and the interplay of formal and informal learning activities. Virtual learning requires special attention to overcome CPD challenges.