DiversityNursing Blog

By PATTY WIGHT

Some of us are lucky enough to stumble into a job that we love. That was the case for Gabrielle Nuki. The 16-year-old had never heard of standardized patients until her advisor at school told her she should check it out.

"I was kind of shocked, and I was kind of like, 'Oh, is there actually something like this in the world?' "

Since Nuki wants to be a doctor, the chance to earn $15 to $20 an hour training medical students as a pretend patient was kind of a dream come true. Every six weeks or so, Nuki comes to Maine Medical Center in her home town of Portland, Maine, slips on a johnny, sits in an exam room and takes on a new persona.

Third-year medical student Allie Tetreault knows Nuki by her fictional patient name, Emma. A lot of teens avoid the doctor, so it's important for Tetreault to learn how to make them feel comfortable.

"What kinds of things do you like to do outside of school?" Tetreault asks.

"Um, I play soccer, so preseason is coming up soon."

Nuki preps weeks ahead of time for her patient roles. She memorizes a case history of family details, lifestyle habits and the tone she should present. "I've had one case where I was concerned about being pregnant. That was kind of like the most harsh one, I guess."

As Emma, Nuki's playing just a shy, healthy teen.

"How did school finish up for you this year?" Tetreault asks.

"Um, it was good. Yeah, school's been good. Um, yeah."

Emma's an easy role, Nuki says, but she ups the shyness factor because it poses a classic challenge to the medical student: how to get a teen to open up?

"Each case kind of has what's on paper, but then you can come in and kind of add another level," Nuki says. "Depending on how complex it is, you can add your own twist to it."

After asking Emma about her personal history, Tetreault moves on to the physical exam and listens as Emma takes deep breaths.

Tetreault gives Emma a clean bill of health and the practice appointment is over. But the most important part of Gabrielle Nuki's job is about to begin.

The 16-year old now has to evaluate the adult professional. She's smooth and tactful after lots of training on how to deliver feedback. Nuki tells Tetreault she did a good job making her feel comfortable.

"I also liked how you mentioned confidentiality, because for my age group, that's important to touch on," Nuki says. "And I think that maybe you could have had a couple more times where you asked me if I had any questions, but other than that I think you did a really great job."

It's communication skills versus acting skills that really qualify someone to be a standardized patient, says Dr. Pat Patterson, the director of pediatric training at Maine Medical Center.

"A lot of patients want to please their physician," Patterson says. "It's not easy for a patient to say 'That didn't feel right', or 'The way you asked that made me feel bad.' "

Gabrielle Nuki says working with medical students and being forthright about their performance has given her more confidence. In the future, she hopes to take on more complex roles — maybe someone with depression.

But she knows no matter what kind of patient she portrays, this job will prepare her well for when she reverses roles and one day becomes a doctor.

Source: http://www.npr.org

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) announced Monday that it is investing $20 million in the new Future of Nursing Scholars program to support some of the country’s best and brightest nurses as they pursue their PhDs. In its landmark nursing report, the Institute of Medicine recommended that the country double the number of nurses with doctorates; doing so will support more nurse leaders, promote nurse-led science and discovery, and put more educators in place to prepare the next generation of nurses. The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, which hosted today’s event to launch the new program, will serve as the national program office for the Future of Nursing Scholars program.

“Implementing the Institute of Medicine nursing report is a major priority for RWJF, because we cannot achieve our mission to improve health and health care without a robust, well-educated nursing workforce and many more highly educated nurse leaders,” said John Lumpkin, MD, MPH, RWJF senior vice president and director of the Health Care Group. “The PhD-prepared nurses the Future of Nursing Scholars program supports will help identify solutions to the country’s most pressing health problems, and educate thousands of nurses over the course of their careers. They will be positioned to lead change and inspire the next generation of nurses.”

Fewer than 3,000 of the nation’s more than 3 million nurses have doctoral degrees in nursing, and many of them have DNPs, not PhDs, which prepare nurses to conduct research and teach. The average age at which nurses get their PhDs in the U.S. is 46—13 years older than PhD earners in other fields.

In 2014, schools of nursing will apply to join the Future of Nursing Scholars program, which will support up to 100 PhD nursing candidates over its first two years. The first scholars will begin their PhD studies in 2015. They will receive scholarships, stipends, mentoring, leadership development, and dedicated post-doctoral research support. To expand the new program’s reach, RWJF has developed a strategic philanthropic collaborative to engage other donors.

“Having supported nursing in our region for 10 years, we are very proud to be the first foundation to join this new collaborative, which is bringing together diverse funders to support the PhD-prepared nurse leaders the country needs,” said Lorina Marshall-Blake, president of the Independence Blue Cross Foundation. “We expect the nurse scholars this program supports to transform health care through innovation in their communities and nationwide.” Marshall-Blake said the Independence Blue Cross Foundation is committing $450,000 over three years to support nurses in becoming transformational leaders in education, research, and policy.

The co-directors for the Future of Nursing Scholars program are Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, RWJF’s senior adviser for nursing and Julie Fairman, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Nightingale professor of nursing and director of the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.
Other speakers at the launch were: Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, DrPS (hon), FAAN, the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing; Elizabeth Galik, PhD, CRNP, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing and an RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholar whose research is helping older adults suffering from dementia; Munira Wells, PhD, RN, an RWJF New Jersey Nursing Scholar whose research focus is New Jersey nurses who were born in India and faced culture shock in the United States; and Maryjoan Ladden, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior program officer at RWJF.
 

About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, measurable, and timely change. For more than 40 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or Facebook atwww.rwjf.org/facebook.
 

About the Independence Blue Cross Foundation

In October 2011, the Independence Blue Cross Foundation, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, launched a charitable, private foundation, whose mission is to transform health care through innovation in the communities it serves. The IBC Foundation and Independence Blue Cross, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, are both committed to improving the health and wellness of the people of southeastern Pennsylvania. The foundation targets the following areas of impact:

• Caring for our most vulnerable: Supporting nonprofit community health center clinics that deliver quality, cost-effective primary, medical, and dental care to uninsured and underinsured people.

• Enhancing health care delivery: Strengthening the nursing workforce through education, career development, and research.

• Building healthy communities: Partnering with community leaders and programs to address community health and wellness needs.

Source: Newswise