Evidence-Based Facebook Recruitment of Study Participants.

Traditional methods for research study recruitment such as snail mail lists and posting flyers may fail to reach the tech-savvy participants needed for today's healthcare studies. Word of mouth can be effective for recruiting a few participants but can rarely accomplish the numbers needed for a representative sample. Social media can be a viable avenue to reach increased numbers of sample participants; however, a good understanding of the risks and benefits of using social media is needed before embarking on active recruitment. A recent study developed an evidence-based participant recruitment plan for the use of Facebook. Potential participant misrepresentation was addressed with clear inclusion criteria, no incentives, and open-ended questions. The Facebook ads to recruit study participation targeted licensed nurses who worked in the prior 2-year period living in the United States based on information in Facebook user profiles. A total of 536 participants responded to all questions on the survey at a cost of $1.78 per completed survey. Daily activity and cost for ads were closely monitored and adjusted to maintain cost control. Facebook can be an effective tool for study participant recruitment across all age ranges for completion of online surveys.

Effects of a service-learning experience on health-related students' attitudes toward the homeless.

OBJECTIVES: A community engagement service-learning experience was planned to provide health services for the homeless during a local 1-day event. The objectives were to (a) determine the feasibility of a service-learning experience, and to (b) examine the effects on students' attitudes toward persons experiencing homelessness. METHODS: A quasi-experimental, institutional review board approved study, including health-related students enrolled in a local university or community college, was planned. The attitudes toward the homeless survey was administered before and after participation in the service-learning experience. Qualitative data were through student reflections of the experience. RESULTS: Participants (n = 106) completed a pre and post questionnaire and a self-reflection. A statistically significant t(26) = -2.2, p = .04 change in attitudes toward the homeless were found. Three themes were revealed from the reflections: inherent bias, individualized care, and the societal context of people experiencing homelessness. CONCLUSION: Both quantitative and qualitative findings may help students reflect on preconceived stereotypes; therefore, affecting their attitudes toward the homelessness.

Women and Infants in the Deep South Receiving Perinatal and Neonatal Palliative and Supportive Care Services.

BACKGROUND: While women in the Deep South area of the United States have higher rates of maternal and infant mortality, palliative and supportive care programs are lacking. Additionally, few studies have detailed referral triggers that are specific to the mother, infant, or pregnancy for inclusion in perinatal and neonatal palliative and supportive care programs. PURPOSE: The purpose of this retrospective, descriptive study was to examine the sociodemographic factors and referral triggers for perinatal-neonatal palliative and supportive care services for women enrolled in a newly developed perinatal-neonatal palliative and supportive care program. METHODS: Data were collected from medical records of 135 women enrolled in the program. Triggers for referral to the program were classified as fetal, maternal, or prenatal complications. RESULTS: A diverse sample of women were enrolled in the program. Most infants survived to birth and discharge from the hospital. Two-thirds of referrals were related to infant complications and 34% were for multiple complications (fetal, maternal, and/or prenatal). Triggers for referral to the program were not related to sociodemographic characteristics of women. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: A comprehensive list of triggers that include maternal and prenatal complications, in addition to infant complications, may ensure at-risk women and infants, are enrolled in perinatal-neonatal palliative and supportive care programs early in pregnancy, regardless of sociodemographic factors. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Prospective research on the effectiveness of perinatal-neonatal palliative and supportive care programs in diverse populations of women is needed. This includes the examination of family health outcomes and provider perspectives.

Walk with Me: A Bridge Program for Assisting Families Expecting Babies with Fetal Anomalies and/or a Terminal Diagnosis.

When an expectant mother hears the news that her infant has a fetal anomaly, she may feel unsure of the future. A RN recognized the needs of women (and their families) expecting infants with critical fetal diagnoses and reached out to help them through their journey-through the pregnancy, delivery, and beyond. The act of walking alongside the mothers through their experience has grown into a formal program at a specialized children's and womens' hospital in the southeastern United States. This article describes the purpose of the program, how the program came into existence, and what services the program provides to this special population. The program continues to evolve, and the team members have worked with over 169 mothers to date.

Understanding Nurse Perception of Leader Empathy.

Patient perception of caregiver empathy has been studied internationally for decades. Although leadership empathy has been described as having a critical influence on staff retention, this subject is less evident in the literature. This article described a study undertaken to gain a baseline understanding of nurses' perceptions of leader empathy from those they identify as their managers. A baseline for nurses' perception of leader empathy has been established that may be used to benchmark future interventions to assess and improve nurses' perception of their leaders' empathy in the work setting.

Influencing Commitment to BSN Completion: A Pilot Project Using Motivational Interviewing.

The 2010 Institute of Medicine's Future of Nursing report posed recommendations to increase numbers of nurses with baccalaureate degrees or greater to 80%. This project engaged associate degree nurses in motivational interviewing focusing on finding and removing barriers to baccalaureate matriculation and completion. Results indicated a statistically significant influence on attitudes and return-to-school decision making and identified a qualitative theme: "I know more now… I could be a better nurse."

Extrapleural Solitary Fibrous Tumor of the Foot A Case Report.

Solitary fibrous tumors are uncommon mesenchymal neoplasms that were initially described as pleural tumors, but in recent years, numerous extrapleural sites have been reported. A solitary fibrous tumor is characterized as a circumscribed, painless mass with a patternless growth pattern, positive CD34 spindle-shaped cells, bcl-2, and dense keloidal collagen with areas of hypercellularity and hypocellularity. This case report describes a 55-year-old male veteran who presented with a rare manifestation of an extrapleural solitary fibrous tumor of the medial right hallux. Microscopic and immunohistochemical findings were consistent with the previously documented characteristics of solitary fibrous tumors. Complete surgical excision of the tumor is the treatment of choice.

Synthesis of high-quality libraries of long (150mer) oligonucleotides by a novel depurination controlled process.

We have achieved the ability to synthesize thousands of unique, long oligonucleotides (150mers) in fmol amounts using parallel synthesis of DNA on microarrays. The sequence accuracy of the oligonucleotides in such large-scale syntheses has been limited by the yields and side reactions of the DNA synthesis process used. While there has been significant demand for libraries of long oligos (150mer and more), the yields in conventional DNA synthesis and the associated side reactions have previously limited the availability of oligonucleotide pools to lengths <100 nt. Using novel array based depurination assays, we show that the depurination side reaction is the limiting factor for the synthesis of libraries of long oligonucleotides on Agilent Technologies' SurePrint DNA microarray platform. We also demonstrate how depurination can be controlled and reduced by a novel detritylation process to enable the synthesis of high quality, long (150mer) oligonucleotide libraries and we report the characterization of synthesis efficiency for such libraries. Oligonucleotide libraries prepared with this method have changed the economics and availability of several existing applications (e.g. targeted resequencing, preparation of shRNA libraries, site-directed mutagenesis), and have the potential to enable even more novel applications (e.g. high-complexity synthetic biology).

Highly multiplexed molecular inversion probe genotyping: over 10,000 targeted SNPs genotyped in a single tube assay.

Large-scale genetic studies are highly dependent on efficient and scalable multiplex SNP assays. In this study, we report the development of Molecular Inversion Probe technology with four-color, single array detection, applied to large-scale genotyping of up to 12,000 SNPs per reaction. While generating 38,429 SNP assays using this technology in a population of 30 trios from the Centre d'Etude Polymorphisme Humain family panel as part of the International HapMap project, we established SNP conversion rates of approximately 90% with concordance rates >99.6% and completeness levels >98% for assays multiplexed up to 12,000plex levels. Furthermore, these individual metrics can be "traded off" and, by sacrificing a small fraction of the conversion rate, the accuracy can be increased to very high levels. No loss of performance is seen when scaling from 6,000plex to 12,000plex assays, strongly validating the ability of the technology to suppress cross-reactivity at high multiplex levels. The results of this study demonstrate the suitability of this technology for comprehensive association studies that use targeted SNPs in indirect linkage disequilibrium studies or that directly screen for causative mutations.