ABSTRACT
PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To evaluate a mind-body medicine (MBM) program for its impact on persistent fatigue following breast cancer treatment. DESIGN: Quasiexperimental. SETTING: An urban community hospital and a health department in a semirural county, both in Maryland. SAMPLE: 68 breast cancer survivors who were at least six months postadjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy and had a baseline fatigue score of 50 or lower per the vitality subscale of the SF-36® Health Survey. METHODS: A 10-week group-based MBM program for breast cancer survivors with persistent fatigue was evaluated using a pretest/post-test study design. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Sustained change in fatigue severity as measured by the Piper Fatigue Scale (PFS), SF-36 vitality subscale, and 10 cm visual analog scale (VAS). FINDINGS: Participants were 2.6 years post-treatment, with a mean age of 56.8 years. Overall, fatigue scores improved by 40%. The mean PFS improved from a score of 6 (SD = 1.6) at baseline to 4.2 (SD = 2) at the end of the program (p < 0.001), with additional improvement at two months and sustained at six months (X = 3.6, SD = 2, p < 0.001). Results from the SF-36 and VAS also showed significant improvement in fatigue (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the use of a holistic MBM intervention to reduce persistent fatigue in breast cancer survivors. Results should be confirmed with a randomized clinical trial. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: Nurses and other healthcare team members can effectively impact persistent fatigue in breast cancer survivors through the use of a multipronged MBM program.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms/psychology , Fatigue/therapy , Holistic Nursing/organization & administration , Oncology Nursing/organization & administration , Psychophysiology/methods , Aged , Breast Neoplasms/complications , Breast Neoplasms/therapy , Fatigue/etiology , Fatigue/psychology , Female , Health Surveys , Holistic Nursing/methods , Hospitals, Community , Humans , Middle Aged , Oncology Nursing/methods , Program Evaluation , Survivors/psychology , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Developing and implementing a program to introduce clinical nurses to research and evidence-based practice (EBP) should spark interest and participation. In this article, the authors describe and evaluate a staff development initiative not only to introduce the principles of EBP and research but also to give nurses the opportunity to participate in the research process and development of EBP questions.
Subject(s)
Clinical Nursing Research/education , Evidence-Based Nursing/education , Nursing Staff, Hospital/education , Staff Development/methods , Attitude of Health Personnel , Clinical Nursing Research/organization & administration , Evidence-Based Nursing/organization & administration , Humans , Nursing Education Research , Nursing Evaluation Research , Nursing Staff, Hospital/psychology , Program DevelopmentABSTRACT
Peer observation of classroom and clinical teaching has received increased attention over the past decade in schools of nursing to augment student ratings of teaching effectiveness. One essential ingredient is the scale used to evaluate performance. A five-step systematic procedure for adapting, writing, and building any peer observation scale is described. The differences between the development of a classroom observation scale and an appraisal scale to observe clinical instructors are examined. Psychometric issues peculiar to observation scales are discussed in terms of content validity, eight types of response bias, and interobserver reliability. The applications of the scales in one school of nursing as part of the triangulation of methods with student ratings and the teaching portfolio are illustrated. Copies of the scales are also provided.
