ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Persons living with Alzheimer disease and related dementia (ADRD) in nursing homes (NH) are often excluded from conversations about their health/safety. These omissions impinge on personhood and the rights to have care preferences heard and honored. While persons with ADRD maintain the ability to communicate their preferences long after their decision-making abilities are affected, little is known about how persons with ADRD understand the risks associated with their preferences. METHODS: As part of a larger focused ethnography, in-depth interviews and an adapted risk propensity questionnaire explored the risk perceptions of NH residents with ADRD (N=7) associated with their preferences for care and activities of daily living. RESULTS: Residents generally self-identified as risk avoiders ( M =3.2±1.84) on the risk propensity scale and were able to rate risk associated with preferences described within 5 thematic categories: 1) participation in decision-making, 2) risk awareness, 3) paying attention to safety, 4) reliance on nursing home staff and family, and 5) impacts on quality of life and quality of care. DISCUSSION: Results suggest NH residents with ADRD can express risk surrounding their preferences and should be encouraged to participate in discussions about their health and safety.
Subject(s)
Decision Making , Dementia , Nursing Homes , Humans , Male , Female , Dementia/psychology , Aged, 80 and over , Aged , Surveys and Questionnaires , Activities of Daily Living/psychology , Quality of Life/psychology , Patient Preference/psychologyABSTRACT
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, faculty, staff, and administrators at a large research university in the mid-Atlantic part of the country pivoted to move many classes, laboratories, and clinical experiences to a virtual environment to mitigate the risks of COVID-19. This article will highlight 2 exemplars of how faculty at this university provided students with options to learn in-person or online and how faculty managed to provide students with valuable online learning experiences. Through innovative teaching strategies, this university was able to graduate competent nurses when they were most needed by society.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate , Nurses , Students, Nursing , Humans , Pandemics , LearningABSTRACT
Severe and persistent mental illnesses refer to a group of psychiatric disorders causing severe dysfunction in patients and include diagnoses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression. Patients with severe and persistent mental illnesses have a complex symptomatology and face complicated medical disparities creating a difficult care process and reduced quality of life. Palliative care, a holistic approach to care that aims to reduce symptoms and stress of illness in persons living with chronic diagnoses, is appropriate within this population to address the complexity of care needs but is currently underutilized. The purpose of this review was to systematically review the literature to determine what is currently known about palliative care utilization in the severe and persistently mentally ill population. The databases systematically searched include PubMed, Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, and MEDLINE, to find all articles relevant to the research question. Keywords include "palliative care," "end-of-life care," and "severe and persistent mental illness," including all subsets. Literature was reviewed per the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The results of this systematic review helped synthesize current information about this developing topic to inform clinicians on how to best integrate palliative care to this population.
Subject(s)
Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing , Mental Disorders , Terminal Care , Humans , Mental Disorders/complications , Mental Disorders/psychology , Mental Disorders/therapy , Palliative Care/methods , Quality of LifeABSTRACT
Faculty mentoring of undergraduate students is an essential and necessary component in helping students achieve exposure and success in cocurricular activities that they may not get in the classroom. It is through these cocurricular activities that faculty can expose students to the realms of various clinical activities, nursing research and education, and various service-related opportunities, such as tutoring and committee work. The intrinsic and extrinsic awards of watching your students succeed and grow into nursing leaders make mentoring worth it. This article outlines the benefits and difficulties experienced by 1 faculty member in his crusade to mentor undergraduate nursing students.
