News and Research Briefs Highlight Nursing Accomplishments

Two Risk Factors Identified as Unique to Femicide-Suicide

According to an 11-city case-controlled study published in the February 2006 issue of Violence and Victims (Volume 21, Number 1), two risk factors emerged that are unique to femicide-suicide cases. A team of researchers, including Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing (JHUSON) professor Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, RN, found that prior suicide threats by the perpetrator and a victim having previously been or currently married to the perpetrator are key indicators in this most common form of murder-suicide. Campbell notes, "The terrible tragedy of intimate partner homicide followed by suicide might be prevented if health care providers were more aware of these risk factors."

Research Honors Program Names First Undergraduate Cohort

Ten undergraduate students have been selected to engage in research with faculty as part of a new JHUSON Undergraduate Research Honors Program. The baccalaureate nursing students in their first year of study will work with full-time faculty on an ongoing research project and in an atmosphere that fosters an appreciation of research and its value to the nursing profession. "Students will be able to pair with a faculty mentor on a research topic that interests both of them," says Jerilyn Allen, RN, ScD, FAAN, Associate Dean for Research. She added, "The goal of the program is to promote intellectual growth among a diverse group of highly motivated undergraduate students who aspire to learn more about nursing research. It will benefit both students and faculty alike." In their work with faculty mentors, students will learn about the entire research process: proposal writing, obtaining funding, conducting the project, and reporting the results.

Making the Business Case of Nursing

In the February 2006 issue of The Journal of Nursing Administration, JHUSON Professor Maryann Fralic, DrPH, RN, tracks the rationale, the process, and sample tools that are part of a program to prepare nurses for senior executive roles and leadership in shaping the U.S. health care system of the future. In "Making the Business Case," the last in a three-part series on the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows Program, Fralic and second author Robin L. Morjikian, MA, Deputy Director of the RWJ program, describe the Fellowship requirement to design and implement an individual leadership project calculated to address a significant need. Fralic, who also leads the Hopkins Business of Nursing program—a post-baccalaureate and post-master's option conducted through a partnership between JHUSON and JHU School of Professional Studies in Business and Education—presents the business plan as an essential and integral companion to the leadership initiative. She highlights the acquisition of these quantitative business skills as "an essential component of effective contemporary executive leadership."

Forensic Nursing Partnership to Create Nurses Well-Versed in Victim Assistance

Through a new partnership with the Maryland Department of Human Resources, graduate students in the JHUSON Forensic Nursing program will accompany Adult Protective Services staff from local social services departments as they investigate reports of alleged abuse or neglect of vulnerable adults. In cases where injuries are reported or sustained, students will conduct a forensic evaluation of wounds to substantiate the claims of abuse. According to Daniel Sheridan, PhD, RN, a forensic nurse who directs the JHUSON graduate level forensic nursing degree program, "Field opportunities such these, in combination with extensive course work in family violence and systems and systems change, will give students unparalleled experience in elder abuse and neglect cases." The program's graduates are prepared to work as clinical specialists in a variety of settings including emergency and acute care departments; sexual assault examination programs, child and/or adult protective service investigation units; psychiatric forensic treatment and evaluation units and death investigation teams.

For more on forensic nursing at JHUSON: http://www.son.jhmi.edu/academics/academic_programs/masters/hlthsys/forensics.asp

New Textbook is Nursing Informatics Primer

JHUSON Professor Marion Ball, EdD, is a co-author of the newly revised edition of Introduction to Nursing Informatics. Published by Springer, the textbook is intended to serve as a primer for those just beginning to study nursing informatics. It simultaneously provides a thorough introduction to basic terms and concepts, and an in-depth explores the most popular applications in nursing practice, education, administration and research. Ball notes that this edition "updates the vast technological advances in health care today," and cites the new chapters on both HIS and Internet usage.

Contact Springer at http://www.springer.com/sgw/cda/frontpage/0,11855,4-40109-22-52097147-0,00.html

The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing is a global leader in nursing research, education and scholarship and is ranked among the top 10 nursing higher education institutions in the country. The School's community health program is second in the nation and the nursing research program now holds eighth position among nursing schools securing federal research grants. The School continues to maintain its reputation for excellence and educates nurses who set the highest standards for patient care, exemplify scholarship, and become innovative national and international leaders in the evolution of the nursing profession and the health care system. For more information, visit http://www.son.jhmi.edu/