Development and Validation of a Scale to Measure Nurse/Medical Resident Physician Collaboration.

Introduction: The purpose of this pilot study is to investigate the reliability of an interprofessional collaboration measurement scale used for nursing interactions with resident physicians. To date, the collaboration between nurses and residents has not been adequately investigated and a validated tool specifically for this purpose is not yet available. Our objective is to adapt a previously validated interprofessional scale for health care settings to the specific nurse/resident physician collaboration. Methods: In 2019, nurses from two hospitals were contacted via email and were invited to complete an anonymous survey that asked about the nurses' interaction and collaboration with resident physicians. Results: Our inquiry of 850 nurses with 59 completing a survey, returned a response rate of about 7%. Internal consistency for the scale was very high (alpha = 0.92) with no single item disproportionally reducing the reliability of the scale. Conclusion: Despite the limited sample size of the present pilot study, this scale was effective for examining nurse/resident collaboration. Further research will seek to expand our sample size and include measures of concurrent validity.

The experimental tobacco marketplace: Narrative influence on electronic cigarette substitution.

Despite promising decreases in overall smoking rates, a significant proportion of the population continues to engage in this costly behavior. Substituting e-cigarettes for conventional cigarettes is an increasingly popular harm-reduction strategy. Narratives may be one method of increasing the substitutability of e-cigarettes. Participants (N = 160) were assigned to 1 of 4 narratives that described a close friend becoming ill. In the positive narrative, participants read about a friend that became ill but learned it was only the flu. In the negative narrative, the friend became ill from smoking cigarettes; in the negativeregret narrative, the friend became ill from smoking cigarettes and explicitly expressed regret for having started smoking; and in the negativechange narrative, the friend became ill from smoking, switched to e-cigarettes, and made a full recovery. Participants then completed an experimental tobacco marketplace (ETM) in which they could purchase conventional cigarettes and alternative nicotine products, including e-cigarettes. Across ETM trials, the price of conventional cigarettes increased while the price of the alternative products remained constant. Initial purchasing of conventional cigarettes decreased and initial purchasing of e-cigarettes increased in the negative-change group compared with the other three groups. This finding was moderated by conventional cigarette dependence and perception of e-cigarette risk but not previous e-cigarette exposure. Narratives can change conventional cigarette and e-cigarette purchasing in an ETM that mimics real-world marketplaces. Narratives can be a valuable harm-reduction tool because they are cost-effective, can be widely disseminated, and can be personalized to individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Measuring Delay Discounting in Humans Using an Adjusting Amount Task.

Delay discounting refers to a decline in the value of a reward when it is delayed relative to when it is immediately available. Delay discounting tasks are used to identify indifference points, which reflect equal preference for two dichotomous reward alternatives differing in both delay and magnitude. Indifference points are key to assessing the shape of a delay-discounting gradient because they allow us to isolate the effect of delay on value. For example, if at a 1 week delay and a maximum of $1,000, the indifference point is at $700 we know that, for that participant, a 1-week delay corresponds to a 30% reduction in value. This video outlines an adjusting amount delay-discounting task that identifies indifference points relatively quickly and is inexpensive and easy to administer. Once data have been collected, non-linear regression techniques are typically used to generate discounting curves. The steepness of the discounting curve reflects the degree of impulsive choice of a group or individual. These techniques have been used with a wide range of commodities and have identified populations that are relatively impulsive. For example, people with substance abuse problems discount delayed rewards more steeply than control participants. Although degree of discounting varies as a function of the commodity examined, discounting of one commodity correlates with discounting of other commodities, which suggests that discounting may be a persistent pattern of behavior(1).