Improving glove barrier effectiveness

Perioperative staff members depend on surgical gloves to prevent disease transmission between themselves and patients, but these gloves frequently fail during use. Three approaches can make surgical gloves more effective barriers: preventing glove failures, monitoring glove integrity, and improving glove quality. Failure prevention includes modifying surgical techniques, improving instruments and equipment, streamlining teamwork, selecting the most appropriate gloves, double gloving, and performing preventive glove changes. Glove integrity monitoring can be performed visually or by feel, by wearing glove pairs with color-puncture indicators, or by using electronic monitoring devices. Glove quality improvements must be accompanied by testing methods that reflect in-use conditions. A glove rating system that is based on in-use performance may enhance glove safety substantially.     

Improving the effectiveness of boundary self-lubrication of powder bearings

Translated from Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, No. 5(317), pp. 91–96, May, 1989.     

Improving library effectiveness through a sociophysical analysis

A library's environment as an inviting place to study, read, and relax is an important function often overlooked or avoided. A nursing school library was underutilized and had an unacceptable of lost materials. A study undertaken to determine the setting's impact on all the library's intended functions showed that the physical environment seriously hampered many activities. A change in the library's arrangement offered users a more functional area for all types of library activities. Statistics show that the library is now more fully utilized, with an impressive decline in losses. The majority of students and faculty report more positive feelings toward the library and the librarian.     

Improving the transition from basic efficacy research to effectiveness studies: Methodological issues and procedures.

This article proposes methodological strategies that, if used in treatment outcome research, may help in the transition of efficacy research findings into effectiveness trials in clinical and service delivery settings. Alternative methodologies are proposed to examine how treatment effectiveness may vary as a function of degree of treatment structure, treatment protocol compliance, psychotherapy integration into an overall treatment regimen, participant selection and composition, and variations in treatment parameters. The discussion focuses on encouraging the retention of experimental control while stretching psychotherapy outcome research designs to encompass effectiveness issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving the effectiveness of computer-delivered personalized drinking feedback interventions for college students.

This study evaluated methods of enhancing college students' retention of information provided to them in a computer-delivered personalized drinking feedback intervention and whether enhanced retention reduced alcohol consumption during the two-week period following the intervention. Participants were 98 college students who reported at least one heavy drinking episode in the past two weeks. After participating in an online, personalized drinking feedback intervention, students were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: 1) typical, in which they were simply sent home, 2) reading, in which they were asked to spend the next 20 minutes re-reading the feedback, and 3) recall, in which they were asked to spend the next 20 minutes writing down as much of the information from the feedback as they could remember. Two weeks following the intervention, participants completed a recall test and provided information on their alcohol use during the previous two weeks. Results indicated that participants in the reading and recall conditions retained more of the feedback information than did participants in the typical condition. In addition, participants in the reading and recall conditions reported reduced alcohol consumption in the two-week period following the intervention, compared to those in the typical condition. Information retention partially mediated the effects of the reading and recall conditions on drinking outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A model to refine the selection of children with otitis media with effusion for adenoidectomy

The selection of children with otitis media with effusion for adenoidectomy has been criticized on a number of grounds. In spite of the widespread popularity of the procedure there are few objective guidelines to help the otolaryngologist make a decision which is therefore usually subjective. We present a scientifically derived model using a Generalized Linear Interactive Modelling (GLIM) technique from a population of 122 children who underwent either adenoidectomy or no pharyngeal surgery. The outcome parameter studied was otoscopic clearance in an unoperated ear 1 year after treatment. This was related principally to the operation type (P < 0.001) and to the age at which the operation was performed (P < 0.005). Using a probability of clearance threshold of 50% the model was tested on a prospective population of 166 children and outcome was correctly predicted in over 72%. This model enables the surgeon to determine the probability of clearance of effusion following adenoidectomy in an individual child. At a probability threshold of 50% adenoidectomy would be offered to children with bilateral otitis media with effusion aged between 4.33 and 8.00 years. Over the age of 8 years the probability of clearance occurring spontaneously increases beyond 50%. By careful selection of the probability of clearance thresholds it was possible to produce otoscopic resolution in over 80% of those selected to undergo adenoidectomy. The model also enables the otolaryngologist to determine the proportion of children with established disease that require adenoidectomy at his own chosen probability thresholds which will ensure that a more effective resource allocation is achieved.     

Improving undergraduate nursing research education: the effectiveness of collecting and analyzing oral histories

Nine oral histories of retired RNs (age range from 60 to 77) were collected by trained senior nursing students in their nursing research class. Attitudes toward nursing research of the 18 undergraduate baccalaureate nursing students participating in the collection and analysis of oral histories were compared with 20 students who did not participate. Both groups of students completed a pretest and posttest Attitudes Toward Nursing Research Questionnaire. The participating students had significantly positive changes in their attitudes toward nursing research. The nonparticipating group did not. While reminiscing about their careers, the retired RNs related historical events that influenced their nursing practice. Three themes emerged: World War II, technology, and intensive care units. Through an open-ended, written questionnaire following the interview, the nurses expressed positive benefits of participation. The collection and analysis of oral histories was an effective experiential learning strategy with positive outcomes for the students and the retired nurses who were interviewed.