ABSTRACT
Our rapidly changing health care environment requires critical care nurses to develop creative and innovative approaches to patient care. Empowering and enabling these nurses are the only ways that health care institutions will be able to meet the challenges of the future. This article describes two examples of innovations that have contributed to cost containment within a coronary care unit.
Subject(s)
Clinical Nursing Research , Diffusion of Innovation , Research Support as Topic , Clinical Nursing Research/economics , Cost Control , Humans , Organizational CultureABSTRACT
The chronic effects of short-term administration of a high salt diet to postweaning rats on blood pressure (BP) was studied. BP was significantly elevated following 4 weeks of treatment. After stopping the high salt diet, BP dropped to control levels but then progressively rose again to hypertensive levels. A significant increase in arterial medial thickness as well as an increase in contractile sensitivity and a decrease in relaxation responsiveness were observed in aortic smooth muscle. These data show that short-term administration of a high salt diet to normal postweaning rats results in a chronic elevation in BP accompanied by significant alterations in vascular structure and function.
