Assessment of primary care nursing in relation to adolescent health behaviour by means of trigger films

Do primary care providers screen for eating disorders?

This study was designed to evaluate the differences in nutritional assessments when performed by nurse practitioners, physicians, and physician assistants. Complete patient histories and physical records were assessed with the focus on the detection and prevention of eating disorders in female adolescents. Data included medical records of 111 female adolescents from a family practice with three separate sites. Primary care providers included two nurse practitioners, two physician assistants, and nine physicians. The null hypothesis that there is no difference in assessments of nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and physicians was rejected. A significant difference was found in the assessments of nurse practitioners and physicians (t = 2.62; p = .01). Nurse practitioners were found to be significantly more likely than physicians to perform assessment for eating disorders.

The trigger film in nurse education

The use of video in education is now common place. Most Colleges of Nursing and Midwifery have access to the equipment for making and/or showing their own films. Video cannot be used indiscriminately and assumed to be effective. Many educational videos are entertaining but encourage a passive audience. As a result the materials may be enjoyable but the learning achieved, disappointing. An application of video that involves the student in active learning is the trigger film. This is a short piece of film, generally only a few minutes long whose aim is to stimulate and provoke learning. It is a unique form of film possessing special characteristics. The use of the trigger film in other areas of education is documented but its application to nurse education not widely explored. A trigger film has been produced by the author and used with nursing students (RN/Dip HE) to explore professional issues. The trigger film has been found to be an excellent stimulus for discussion and particularly effective for analysis of complex issues. Evaluation by students has been overwhelmingly positive. The trigger film lends itself to exploitation within nurse education. It is particularly useful for learning within the Affective Domain (Baud & Pearson 1979). This paper will discuss the use of video in nurse education, the concept of the trigger film and the use and evaluation of the authors own film.