Donna Cill

Abstract

“Women and girls can lead us to a fairer future...let us amplify girls’ voices, and recommit to working together to build a world where every girl can lead and thrive." - UN Secretary-General António Guterres.   There are about 1.16 billion girls under the age of 18 years in the world according to UNICEF. Halfway to the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals, the world is failing girls.   On current trends, the end of child marriage is 300 years away. If nothing changes, by 2030, 110 million young women and girls who should be in classrooms, won’t be. And 340 million women and girls will still endure the grinding hardships of extreme poverty. Responding to girls’ calls for change, the global community must move beyond reaffirming commitments and invest boldly in the action needed to make that change. When we pay attention, we see that, already, many girls are championing solutions and change in their communities, says UNICEF.   The Mothers, Grandmothers and “Aunts” in the family or community can play an integral role in mentoring girls to be the Change Agents. Research has shown that the mother daughter connection is vital as it relates to a girl’s health and overall well-being. The Center for Disease control states that a connection with at least one parent, especially the mother, can increase students staying in school and reduce every health risk behavior. Also, a girl having a connection with their mother, or mother figure promotes resilience.  Connectedness with the mother strengthens the family bond and makes a positive impact on the daughter’s trajectory and also predicts if the daughter abides by the guidance of her mother, grandmother and aunts.   There is an urgent need to mentor the daughters to create a ripple effect among all the women and girls in the world so that there is Gender Equality in the society. The young girls should be given the skills to survive & develop on par with the men and boys in the society. This responsibility should be taken by all the Governments by creating opportunities for education, employment and in Governance. The Governments should allocate required budgets and implement the laws & policies framed for the protection of women and girls. Each individual should dedicate for the upliftment and protection of girls in the society. Then only the girls can thrive and lead for a fairer society.

Abstract

BackgroundAt a large, urban College of Nursing, our educational model is designed to help Family Nurse Practitioner students attain or exceed competencies prescribed by the standards of our profession. Students are trained to manage difficult conversations with patients by employing a series of novel simulations. Simulation enhances skills by providing a safe environment to practice these challenging conversations. Patients who discuss their prognosis, medical, treatment and personal goals with their clinicians are more likely to experience better quality of life and receive safe goal concordant care.MethodsFaculty created five unique scenarios in which students interact with Standardized Patients (SPs) in 30-minute intervals practicing skills to conduct challenging conversations with patients and families. Scenarios are tiered (simple, moderate, difficult and referral).Specific tools include use of the SPIKES framework to help guide the encounter and the use of empathic statements (NURSE Statements).Outcomes Students are expected to demonstrate understanding, application and evaluation of how to conduct sensitive, thoughtful conversations with patients. AACN and NONPF competencies for patient/provider communication interactions are supported throughout the content.EvaluationEvaluations are completed by student’s subjective responses and faculty evaluations of concrete skills. Students’ complete self-evaluation reflection by using a unique SELF-SOAP note model. The course coordinator works with the faculty to use all evaluations to revise, edit, and improve future experiences.