Oncology Nurse Generalist Competencies: Oncology Nursing Society's Initiative to Establish Best Practice.

BACKGROUND: A project team was formulated to create evidence-based oncology nurse generalist competencies (ONGCs) to establish best practices in competency development, including high-risk tasks, critical thinking criteria, and measurement of key areas for oncology nurses.
. OBJECTIVES: This article aims to describe the process and the development of ONGCs. 
. METHODS: This article explains how the ONGCs were accomplished, and includes outcomes and suggestions for use in clinical practice. 
. FINDINGS: Institutions can use the ONGCs to assess and develop competency programs, offer educational strategies to measure proficiency, and establish processes to foster a workplace committed to mentoring and teaching future oncology nurses.

Oncology Nurse Generalist Competencies: Oncology Nursing Society's Initiative to Establish Best Practice

Background: A project team was formulated by the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) to create evidence-based oncology nurse generalist (ONG) competencies to establish best practices in competency development, including high-risk tasks, critical thinking criteria, and measurement of key areas for oncology nurses. Objectives: This article aims to describe the process and the development of ONG competencies. Methods: This article describes how the ONG competencies were accomplished, and includes outcomes and suggestions for use in clinical practice. Findings: Institutions can use the ONG competencies to assess and develop competency programs, offer unique educational strategies to measure and appraise proficiency, and establish processes to foster a workplace environment committed to mentoring and teaching future oncology nurses.

Effectivenes of a track-based model for treating eating disorders in a general psychiatric hospital.

Due to comorbid disorders or the degree of severity of their eating disorder, individuals may not warrant treatment at a specialty eating disorder facility. This article examines the effectiveness of a track-based model for treating eating disorders at a general inpatient psychiatric hospital. One hundred seventy-six patients who participated on the Eating Disorder Track and completed the Eating Disorder Inventory-3 (EDI; Garner, 2004) were examined to determine whether their eating disorder symptoms improved over the course of their treatment. Results indicated that patients significantly improved across all eating disorder risk scales and psychological scales measured by the Eating Disorder Inventory. This suggests that patients who may not meet the criteria for attending a specialty eating disorder program may receive an alternative form of treatment for their eating disorder that is effective in reducing their eating disorder symptomatology. The hope is that providing more treatment options will expand the reach of eating disorder treatments to more individuals who need specialized care for these disorders.

Mitral leaflet separation index in assessing the severity of mitral stenosis.

Determining the severity of mitral stenosis (MS) is important for both prognostic and therapeutic reasons. The mitral valve area (MVA) can be measured by planimetry, pressure half-time, continuity equation, and proximal isovelocity surface area methods. In this study, we propose a novel yet simple, independent measure of MS severity-the mitral leaflet separation (MLS) index. This new index could be a useful surrogate measure of the MVA. This index would also help when there is a discrepancy between severities of MS estimated by existing methods, in the presence of atrial fibrillation and in the presence of mitral regurgitation.

Rehabilitation challenges in multiple sclerosis.

While current immunomodulating drugs aim to reduce multiple sclerosis (MS) exacerbations and slow disease progression, rehabilitation aims to improve and maintain the functional abilities of patients in the face of disease progression. An increasing number of journal articles are describing the value of the many rehabilitation interventions that can be used throughout the course of the disease, from the initial symptoms to the advanced stages. An integrated team of healthcare professionals is necessary to address a myriad of problems to reduce impairments, disabilities, and handicaps. The problems may be related to fatigue, weakness, spasticity, mobility, balance, pain, cognition, mood, relationships, bowel, bladder, sexual function, swallowing, speech, transportation, employment, recreation, and activities of daily living (ADL) such as dressing, eating, bathing, and household chores. The team can help prevent complications and secondary disabilities, while increasing patient safety. Improving neurologically related function, maintaining good relationships, and feeling productive and creative adds enormously to the quality of life of people with MS and their families. Rehabilitation is more than an 'extra' service that is given after medical therapies; it is an integral part of the management of the diverse set of problems encountered throughout the course of the disease. An interdisciplinary team may have many members, including physicians, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, psychotherapists, social workers, recreational therapists, vocational rehabilitation therapists, patients, families, and other caregivers.