Patterns of HIV risk and alcohol use among African-American crack abusers.

Although the association between heavy alcohol use and HIV risk has been studied in treatment populations, we know little about patterns of alcohol use and HIV risk among out-of-treatment African-American drug users. This study examines the extent to which alcohol use affects HIV risk in a sample of 495 African-American crack users who did not inject drugs. We present differences between levels of alcohol and crack use with regard to sexual practices (including sex while impaired), number of partners, frequency of sexual activity, and condom use. The findings suggest an intimate relationship between alcohol use, crack use, and sexual risks for HIV infection. Respondents who reported frequent use (15-30 days in the last 30 days) of alcohol, crack, or both displayed significantly greater risk than those who reported less than frequent use.

Nurse practitioners' information needs and information seeking: implications for practice and education.

This report is an exploratory study of the information needs and information seeking in a sample of nurse practitioners (NPs) approved to practice in North Carolina. A search and review of relevant literature revealed no studies on this topic. In this study, NPs report their most frequent information needs relate to drug therapy, diagnosis, and other therapy. Their most frequently used information resources are physicians, drug reference manuals, and textbooks. They most frequently confer with physicians on diagnosis and other therapy and other NPs on psychosocial issues.

Advanced practice in nursing: conceptual issues.

The issue of defining advanced practice nursing roles is increasingly a subject of national discussion and debate. Central to this discussion has been the issue of merging nurse practitioner (NP) and clinical nurse specialist (CNS) roles and the tendency for the term "nurse practitioner" to replace that of "clinical nurse specialist" in denotation of these roles. The authors note the lack of any attempt to use a broader conceptual approach in these discussions. In this article, the development of each role is reviewed, and the strengths and weaknesses of each role in current practice and education are evaluated. The authors conclude that inadequate justification exists for continuing both roles, but that the answer is not in simply replacing the CNS with the NP. Ongoing careful and thoughtful dialogue should be used to guide the merging of these two roles.