United States veterans are a multifaceted population with a distinct culture that includes, but is not limited to, values, customs, ethos, selfless duty, codes of conduct, implicit patterns of communication, and obedience to command. Veterans experience mental health disorders, substance use disorders, post-traumatic stress, and traumatic brain injury at disproportionate rates compared to their civilian counterparts. Eighteen to 22 American veterans commit suicide daily and young veterans aged 18–44 are most at risk. Health care professionals must be aware of patients’ military history and be able to recognize suicide-risk factors, regardless of age. Advancement in medical technology has allowed servicemen to survive their injuries but, for many, at the cost of a traumatic limb amputation and associated mental scarring. Health care professionals must be able to address physical safety concerns, as well as, emotional health of veterans. Approximately 49,933 American veterans are homeless and face the same difficulties as non-veterans in addition to service-related matters. Separation from military service and issues related to complex multiple deployments are among specifically identified veteran issues. Successful veteran reintegration into civilian life rests upon providing veterans with training that builds on their military knowledge and skill, employment post-separation from service, homelessness prevention, and mental health programs that promote civilian transition. Preparing health care providers to meet the complex needs of a vast veteran population can be facilitated by implementing veteran content into curricula that includes veteran patient simulations and case studies, and utilizes veteran clinical faculty.
Interprofessional education is broadly defined as a teaching and learning process that fosters collaborative work between two or more health care professions. Interprofessional education, as a proven, beneficial approach to collaborative learning that addresses the problems of fragmentation in health care delivery and separation among health care professionals, is frequently promulgated but not always successfully implemented. Furthermore, there are several different interpretations, overlapping terminologies, interchangeable terms, and a lack of uniformity of a definition for interprofessional education. This concept analysis determines the attributes and characteristics of interprofessional education, develops an operational definition that fits all health-related disciplines, defines common goals, and improves overall clarity, consensus, consistency, and understanding of interprofessional education among educators, professionals, and researchers. Through effective incorporation of interprofessional education into curricular and practice settings, optimal patient-centered outcomes can potentially result as effective and highly integrated teams facilitate and optimize collaborative patient care and safety.
In the past, only people diagnosed with celiac disease, approximately 1% of the population, avoided gluten consumption through all their meals. However, popular media often now mistakenly present gluten-free foods as being a healthier choice, and more people have now concluded that gluten is a harmful part of the diet. A review of literature on gluten-free diets, gluten sensitivity, celiac disease, and attitudes toward gluten consumption was undertaken to examine the prevalence and consequences of adopting a gluten-free diet and to provide guidance to healthcare practitioners whose patients are now often adopting this diet without medical input. Aside from celiac disease, nonceliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) occurs in those persons in which gluten ingestion leads to symptomatic manifestations in the absence of celiac disease or wheat allergy but who report a remission of certain symptoms after removing gluten from their diet. However, it was been shown that a large percentage of people who claim NCGS do not feel those manifestations under a double-blind challenge to gluten. Moreover, some parents, believing that ingesting gluten is detrimental for their health, adopt gluten-free diets for their children. A review of existing data shows that there are detrimental effects to going gluten free, including loss of the dietary fiber, deficiencies in dietary minerals and vitamins, and potential heavy metal exposure. Healthcare practitioners should query patients about their dietary choices, and in cases of questionable adoption of gluten-free diet, patients and parents are educated about the detriments of a gluten-free diet, and in cases where patients continue to insist on gluten-free foods, referrals to nutritional counseling are warranted in order to minimize potential harm.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged in 2019 and rapidly became a global pandemic, infecting millions and killing hundreds of thousands. The disease altered the practices of hospitals, clinics, and patients. These changes have implications for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). APRNs must remain current on best practices for treatment and diagnosis of COVID-19 while being cognizant of changes to their scope of practice. As the pandemic continues, APRNs will remain on the front lines treating patients with COVID-19 while also caring for vulnerable populations within the community. To provide high-quality care, APRNs must use a multifaceted approach that heeds ongoing updates to evidence-based practice.
BackgroundThis descriptive correlational and comparative study explored health-care faculty (HCF) attitudes toward interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional health-care teams, HCF perceptions of subjective norms, the influence of subjective norms on HCF intent to engage in IPE, and HCF intent to engage in IPE. In addition, differences among seven disciplines of HCF were explored.MethodsNursing, medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistants, and social work faculty were identified. Stratified random sampling was used to ensure that the population surveyed was representative of the target population. The total sample for this study included 439 HCF from the seven identified health-care professions in the US. Data collection included measures of attitudes toward IPE and attitudes toward interprofessional health-care teams. Subjective norms were measured using two 7-point rating scales. Intent to engage in IPE was measured using a 10-point rating scale.ResultsThere were no significant differences among HCF groups regarding attitudes toward IPE or interprofessional health-care teams. Administrative faculty reported greater intent to engage in IPE than teaching faculty. HCF who were currently in or had previously engaged in IPE reported greater intent to engage in or continue to engage, and had higher attitude and subjective norm scores than faculty without IPE experience. The combination of perceived pressure from school administrators and attitudes toward IPE was the best predictor of intent to engage in IPE.ConclusionIPE has the potential to influence patient quality of care and lead to better working relationships between health-care providers. HCF are more likely to engage in IPE when they believe their school’s administrators think they should engage in IPE and when they have positive attitudes toward IPE.
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