The clinical practice project: planning to publish.

PURPOSE: An increasing number of journals focused on clinical practice publish high-quality projects. However, research reports typically follow a distinct design, which is not always appropriate for reporting clinical practice projects. The purpose of this article is to provide a succinct guide for planning and reporting clinical projects, specifically, the Doctor of Nursing Practice applied clinical project. DATA SOURCES: Literature concerning clinical practice project planning and preparation for publication was reviewed for this article. CONCLUSIONS: This article provides a section-by-section summary of elements frequently included when preparing a manuscript for publication. The elements addressed in this article are suggestions and their inclusion and sequencing may vary depending on specific journal requirements. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: If information from clinical research projects is to contribute to nursing knowledge in the form of lessons learned and information about translation of research into clinical practice, the design and conduct of the project must be rigorous and information about implementation and findings must be accurate and clearly communicated.

The development and testing of a questionnaire to measure complexity of nursing work performed in nursing homes: NCCQ-NH.

The quality of care in nursing homes has improved over the last 2 decades; however serious problems persist. Although staffing levels are a primary concern, studies show that ineffective management structures may be a contributing factor to poor quality care. Evidence suggests that the complexity of work performed within the organization is an important consideration in developing effective management structures. The purpose of this article is to describe the development and initial testing of an instrument to measure the complexity of nursing work in nursing homes. A sample of 168 nursing personnel (RNs, LPNs, CNAs) from 7 nursing homes participated in the study. The results of measures to determine the reliability and validity were generally acceptable for a new scale. A modified version of the original scale can be used to provide scientific evidence on which to base the design of management structures in nursing homes.

Testing the feasibility and initial effects of iron and vitamin C to enhance nursing home residents' immune status following an influenza vaccine.

Influenza infections pose a serious threat to residents living in nursing homes and are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in older adults. It is estimated that influenza vaccination is only 30%-40% effective in the frail elderly. This 2-group experimental design study examined the efficacy of giving iron supplements to nursing home residents aged 65 and older to improve immune response following influenza vaccination. Specific aims of the study were to test study procedures and explore initial immune response. A number of barriers were encountered during the recruitment and consent phase limiting subject recruitment. Only serum transferrin was significantly different following the 30-day administration of iron supplementation. It was concluded that to achieve sufficient power to examine the effect of the intervention on immune response and infection rates, aggressive recruiting strategies at multiple sites are necessary.

Measuring nursing home resident satisfaction with food and food service: initial testing of the FoodEx-LTC.

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition impacts the quality of life and general health of many older persons living in our nation's 20,000 nursing homes (1). Despite the urgency of this issue, no instrument that measures resident satisfaction with food and food service was found in an extensive literature search. The purpose of this article is to describe the development and initial testing of a resident satisfaction with food and food service questionnaire (FoodEx-LTC) in the context of the Quality Nutrition Outcomes-Long-Term Care Model. METHODS: This pilot study was conducted in two phases. During phase one the instrument was developed, peer-reviewed, and pretested. Phase two further tested the instrument using a correlational design, measuring both intermediate and long-term outcomes found on the Quality Nutrition Outcomes-Long-Term Care Model. RESULTS: Hypothesis testing was used to measure construct validity. 4 of 5 FoodEx-LTC domains were significantly correlated with depression, 2 of 5 with serum albumin. The FoodEx-LTC demonstrates acceptable reliability for a new instrument. The coefficient alpha scores ranged from.69-.87 and test-retest correlations ranged from.55-.89, dependent upon domain. CONCLUSIONS: FoodEx-LTC appears to be a valid and reliable measure of resident food and food service satisfaction in nursing homes. This line of inquiry is of great importance because perceived quality of food and food service are strongly related to quality of life for residents in nursing homes, and adequate food intake is integral to maintaining weight and preventing protein-calorie malnutrition among elderly residents.