Allison Shorten

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)-prepared faculty often enter academia with rich clinical experiences but face unique challenges meeting academic scholarly expectations. Early efforts can be overwhelming, riddled with challenges, pitfalls, and rejection. These experiences impact new faculty transitions, reducing self-esteem, and lowering job satisfaction. New faculty commonly contribute to one or more academic missions of teaching, and service yet need support identifying appropriate scholarship pathways. This paper identifies barriers associated with scholarly activity for DNP-prepared faculty. It also provides academic leaders with targeted strategies to mentor DNP-prepared faculty in identifying, developing, and sustaining a focused scholarly trajectory. Examples of behaviors that promote the success and impact of scholarship are provided. By cultivating focused mentorship and opportunities for scholarship, leaders can promote professional growth, increase retention, and advance the visibility and impact of DNP-faculty scholarship.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to outline a quality-improvement initiative designed to improve screening for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among parents with preterm infants born less than 30 weeks of gestation into the neonatal ICU (NICU). Background: Parents of infants admitted to the NICU face significant trauma, leading to elevated risks of postpartum PTSD. Left undetected, PTSD can results in impaired maternal-infant bonding, parental functioning, and long-term child cognitive and emotional development. Despite available guidelines, routine assessment specifically for PTSD in the NICU environment remains uncommon. Discussion: A screening bundle was initiated consisting of staff education on the use of the City Birth Trauma Scale, planned parent PTSD assessments, and a designated staff nurse champion. Among 16 analyzed responses (13 mothers, 3 significant others), 25% met all diagnostic criteria for high likelihood of PTSD, with 75% of those exhibiting dissociative symptoms. Additionally, negative cognitions/mood (68.8%) and hyperarousal (56.3%) were highly prevalent, and 50% reported significant life impairment. Implications for Research and Practice: Implementing a screening process is a practical and parent focused method to uncover substantial, previously unrecognized PTSD symptoms among NICU parents. Clinical practice locations have an opportunity to create an inclusive environment for the assessment and discussion of PTSD and the impacts on the family and infant. Future research should explore larger multi-site studies, tracking non-response rates, and evaluating screening at multiple intervals to capture delayed-onset PTSD.

Background: Interprofessional team training (IPTT) prepares students from health care professions for team-based care. Evaluating different learning environments to inform decisions about delivery format is timely and important. Purpose: To compare in-person and online IPTT learner outcomes. Method: Undergraduate and graduate students (n = 866) from 11 professions participated. Using retrospective pre-/post-methodology, 20 item Interprofessional Collaboration Competency Attainment Survey (ICCAS) scores were compared, and qualitative responses analyzed. Results: Mean ICCAS scores improved for in-person and online delivery (P < .0001) with large effect sizes (Cohen’s D = 0.94-1.86). In-person delivery resulted in greatest improvement (P = .038), offset by online logistical benefits. Qualitative themes highlighted impact on learning, importance of facilitator competence, and setting expectations. Conclusion: IPTT achieved learning consistent with competency development. Advantages from in-person delivery should be weighed against online logistical advantages.