ABSTRACT
1. While falls on medical-surgical units are the focus of extensive research, falls on inpatient psychiatric units are an understudied critical event. 2. The purposes of this study were to identify the variables associated with psychiatric patient falls and to use that information to assess risk and, therefore, prevent falls in this population. 3. The psychiatric patient at risk for falling is described as a woman with a prior history of falls; less than 65 years of age; experiencing anxiety and agitation; and receiving a sedative, a tranquilizer, and a laxative. Additionally, this patient is more likely to fall in a community area.
Subject(s)
Accidental Falls/prevention & control , Hospitals, Psychiatric , Mental Disorders/epidemiology , Risk Management , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Causality , Colorado/epidemiology , Female , Humans , Male , Mental Disorders/complications , Middle Aged , Pilot Projects , Retrospective Studies , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
A community-analysis strategy, GENESIS (general ethnographic and nursing evaluation studies in the state), is a comprehensive, holistic portrait of communities obtained through secondary analysis of existing data and qualitative methods. The GENESIS method is delineated and examples of studies are presented. To explicate the method and illustrate the findings, an aggregate-focused GENESIS study and two studies in which entire communities were the targets are compared and contrasted. Other defining concepts of nursing, such as caring and health, are redefined or explicated to make them congruent with the recognition that for community health nurses, the community is the client.
Subject(s)
Community Health Nursing , Models, Nursing , Aged , Colorado , Health Promotion , Health Services Needs and Demand , Health Services for the Aged , Holistic Health , Humans , Nursing Assessment , Nursing Evaluation ResearchSubject(s)
Community Health Nursing/methods , Empathy , Models, Nursing , Environmental Health , HumansABSTRACT
Quasi-experimental and descriptive methods were used to investigate thrombosis incidence in 294 tunneled central venous catheters inserted in adult clients with cancer. Thrombosis incidence was measured in relation to heparin flush regimen, internal catheter tip location, and chemotherapy infusate volume. Data were collected for two cohorts: 1) 145 tunneled catheters using 5 ml daily of 10 U/ml heparin flush, and 2) 51 catheters using 10 cc daily of 100 U/ml heparin flush. Data were also collected for an additional 98 catheters (transitional) utilizing a combination of flush #1 and #2 from adjacent time periods. Chi square analysis of the cohorts revealed no difference in thrombosis incidence by flush regimen or chemotherapy infusate volume. Suboptimal internal catheter tip location and catheters placed on the left side were related to higher thrombosis incidence. Practice implications include: the need for staff and patient education regarding signs and symptoms of catheter-related thrombosis, additional systematic data collection and evaluation, and support for empirical research to establish optimal vascular access device care.
Subject(s)
Catheterization, Central Venous/adverse effects , Oncology Nursing/methods , Thrombosis/nursing , Antineoplastic Agents/administration & dosage , Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use , Catheterization, Central Venous/methods , Catheterization, Central Venous/nursing , Clinical Protocols/standards , Heparin/therapeutic use , Humans , Incidence , Neoplasms/drug therapy , Oncology Nursing/standards , Thrombosis/epidemiology , Thrombosis/etiologyABSTRACT
Team-building efforts of the nurse executive will raise nursing's status and strengthen nursing's image as a reliable, self-managed department able to make valuable contributions to health care delivery. Nurse administrators who assume the responsibility of building and maintaining productive interdisciplinary teams at the executive level will be rewarded with increased visibility, recognition, and power. Such opportunities for leadership should not be ignored or left to the purview of hospital administrators, physicians, or any other discipline.
Subject(s)
Administrative Personnel , Leadership , Nurse Administrators , Patient Care Team , Humans , Institutional Management Teams , Societies, Nursing , United StatesABSTRACT
In this study two research questions were addressed: What is the relationship between recalled life expectancy information and hope in cancer patients? What effect does phase of illness have on the level of hope in cancer patients? A scale to measure hope was developed, used, and evaluated. In 55 cancer patients, an analysis of variance showed a significant main effect on hope for recalled life expectancy; difference in level of hope was found in cancer patients at different phases of illness. The findings indicated that individuals having no recollection of receiving information regarding their prognosis were more hopeful. The results have implications for determining what, how much, when, and how to communicate life expectancy information to patients who have cancer or other life-threatening illnesses.
