Caregivers frequently make mistakes when following instructions on discharge medications, and these instructions often contain discrepancies. Minimal literature reflects inpatient discharges. Our objective was to describe failures in caregiver management and understanding of inpatient discharge medications and to test the association of documentation discrepancies and sociodemographic factors with medication-related failures after an inpatient hospitalization. METHODS: This study took place in an urban tertiary care children's hospital that serves a low-income, minority population. English-speaking caregivers of children discharged on an oral prescription medication were surveyed about discharge medication knowledge 48 to 96 hours after discharge. The primary outcome was the proportion of caregivers who failed questions on a 10-item questionnaire (analyzed as individual question responses and as a composite outcome of any discharge medication-related failure). Bivariate tests were used to compare documentation errors, complex dosing, and sociodemographic factors to having any discharge medication-related failure. RESULTS: Of 157 caregivers surveyed, 70% had a discharge medication-related failure, most commonly because of lack of knowledge about side effects (52%), wrong duration (17%), and wrong start time (16%). Additionally, 80% of discharge instructions provided to caregivers lacked integral medication information, such as duration or when the next dose after discharge was due. Twenty five percent of prescriptions contained numerically complex doses. In bivariate testing, only race and/or ethnicity was significantly associated with having any failure (P 5 .03). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of caregivers had a medication-related failure after discharge, and most discharge instructions lacked key medication information. Future work to optimize the discharge process to support caregiver management and understanding of medications is needed.

A common understanding shared by parents and educators of students with disabilities is the students' tremendous need in the area of socialization. Having and maintaining friendships is an integral part of children's development. Often, students are ill prepared for the inclusion of schoolmates with and without disabilities. Consequently, a comprehensive school intervention model designed for the effective inclusion of all students should be planned. The purpose of this article is to share successful practices for the socialization of students with and without disabilities in the general education classroom. A model of inclusion conducive to establishing positive interactions and communication among students with and without disabilities is presented. Intervention strategies involving the relationship between two elementary school students and their schoolmates are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the intervention.

Although educational administrators have been aware of the needs of students with disabilities since the 1970s, many are still not familiar with the legal rights of school employees with disabilities. Attitudes toward individuals with disabilities as well as knowledge of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) may be factors that influence the recruitment of qualified persons with disabilities into the education profession. The purpose in conducting this study was to determine the extent of the relationship of administrators' attitudes toward disabilities and their knowledge of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Respondents in the study were currently employed as educational administrators and/or educators completing educational administration certification requirements. Results from the study indicated there was a significant relationship between attitudes toward persons with disabilities, experience with individuals with disabilities, personal characteristics and employment characteristics. Both attitudes and knowledge of the ADA were found to be lower for respondents in educational administration positions. Educators who have disabilities are valuable to our schools. Their presence can influence the perceptions and attitudes of coworkers and students as well as provide a role model for students to live their lives fully integrated into our society. A creative look at inclusion of educators with disabilities in our rural schools may be the answer to our search for competent and caring special education teachers.

Skill sets have been identified as the abilities needed by an individual to perform a job or task. In this mixed methods study, an online survey was developed to collect data identifying those skill sets and the barriers to effective inclusion in rural schools in the Black Belt region of Alabama and Mississippi. For rural administrators, this becomes a challenging task to provide the supports needed for students with disabilities to be successful and prepared to be college and/or career ready when they graduate. Rural school principals must be cognizant of teacher skill sets needed for both general and special education teachers to be competent team members in the inclusion classroom.Although 242 randomly selected rural school administrators employed in the Black Belt Region of the twin states area were sent an email requesting participation, there was only a 16% response rate for the survey. Results of the study indicated that principals felt supports that were needed for successful inclusion were related to professional development, common scheduling and planning, and collaboration. Barriers to inclusion were territorial and shared responsibilities, personality conflicts, and insufficient number of staff and coteaching training. One of the conclusions of this study indicated the need of administrators to be aware of the use of a variety of inclusion strategies that support more than just one inclusion model. The second conclusion indicated a need for the College of Education to revise and include additional training in effective inclusion skill sets both within their educator and instructional leadership preparation programs.

We are encouraged to acknowledge the fact that gender-related problems will face us as we pursue educational administrative careers.Our family, friends, and professional peers can provide the wisdom and support we need to lead with excellence.