Impact of a concept map teaching approach on nursing students’ critical thinking skills

Nurses confront complex problems and decisions that require critical thinking in order to identify patient needs and implement best practices. An active strategy for teaching students the skills to think critically is the concept map. This study explores the development of critical thinking among nursing students in a required pathophysiology and pharmacology course during the first year of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in response to concept mapping as an interventional strategy, using the Health Education Systems, Incorporated critical thinking test. A two‐group experimental study with a pretest and posttest design was used. Participants were randomly divided into a control group (n = 42) taught by traditional didactic lecturing alone, and an intervention group (n = 41), taught by traditional didactic lecturing with concept mapping. Students in the concept mapping group performed much better on the Health Education Systems, Incorporated than students in the control group. It is recommended that deans, program directors, and nursing faculties evaluate their curricula to integrate concept map teaching strategies in courses in order to develop critical thinking abilities in their students.     

An Experimental Study on Particular Physical Properties of Several Interocclusal Recording Media. Part III: Resistance to Compression After Setting

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the resistance to compression after setting of several elastomeric interocclusal recording materials. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Testing of the resistance to compression after setting was performed following a modification of the method described in specification No. 19 (4.3.6) of the A.D.A., for the elastomeric impression materials-1 cylindrical stainless steel mold with an internal diameter of 20 mm and a height of 20 mm was constructed. Mixing of the interocclusal registration media was conducted according to manufacturers' instructions, and the materials were injected into the mold. Two subsequent loads, one of 100 g/cm2 and a second of 1000 g/cm2 were exerted on each sample. The deformation of each was calculated using a vertical traveling micrometer microscope with an accuracy of +/- 0.001 mm. RESULTS: One-way ANOVA revealed significant differences among the materials (F=331.58, p <0.0005). Tukey's HSD (p <0.05) test was used to determine the significant differences between the materials. CONCLUSIONS: Polyvinylsiloxane Blu Mousse displayed the greatest resistance to compression, as compared to other elastomeric interocclusal recording materials tested.     

Mental Health Services for Children in Large, Employer-Based Health Plans, 1999

This study examines 1999 data from Medstat's MarketScan database of privately insured employees of US firms and their dependents. Of enrolled children and adolescents ages 2-18, 6.6% had claims for mental health services. Average outpatient expenditures per user were $651. Of children/adolescents with claims for mental health services (MH claimants), 3.4% had inpatient MH services, with an average length of stay of 8.9 days and average MH-related inpatient expenditure per user of $7,048. One half of MH claimants who had pharmacy benefit data had claims for psychotropic medications, with average expenditures per user of $328. Whereas children/adolescent mental health users comprised 8.3% of all service users, expenditures for their care were 20.5% of all service expenditures for children/adolescents in private health plans. Results also highlight the importance of including data on psychotropic medication in analysis of children's MH services utilization, as well as the need to consider the use of psychotropic medications among children/adolescents who do not utilize other MH services.     

A self-assessment tool to measure older adults'Perceptions regarding physical fitness and exercise activity

The purpose of this research was to qualitatively generatively generate and psychometrically assess an instrument which assesses the self-perceived physical fitness and exercise activity levels of community-dwelling older adults and examines perceived factors which enhance or impede their exercise activity level. This research was carried out in two stages: qualitative and quantitative. Items for the instrument were generated through qualitative interviews with 23 community-dwelling older adults, 9 males and 14 females, with an age range of 63 to 82 years. From this qualitative study, 50 items were generated, representing nine categories of elements which enhance or impede physical activity. The 50 items were incorporated into a 4-point, forced-choice, Likert format instrument which was pilot tested for clarity and ease of administration with a convenience sample of community-dwelling older adults. Following the pilot testing, 41 items were retained. The 41-item instrument, entitled physical Fitness and Exercise Activity Levels of Older Adults Scale, was categorized into the following subscales: Physical Fitness, Barriers, Motivators, and Exercise Activity Levels of Older Adults Scale seems to indicate adequate validity and reliability. Correlation coefficients for the total instrument, as well as the subscales, were significantly positive for both stability and internal consistency. Results with respect to predictive validity were mixed. The physical Fitness and Motivators subscales were significant predictors of Exercise Frequency. Although the correlation between the Barriers subscale and Exercise Frequency was negative, it was non-significant.