Preparing nurses to care for minority ethnic communities

UK healthcare policy is increasingly emphasizing the need for healthcare services to be responsive to ethnic diversity. In recognizing the important role that nurses and midwives play in healthcare delivery, the English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting--the statutory professional body that oversees nursing and midwifery education in England-commissioned a two-year research project to examine the extent to which nurses and midwives were prepared to work in a multi-ethnic society. The study found that not all practitioners were equipped to provide appropriate care to multi-ethnic populations. Below an overview of the study, which identifies some issues that may be of relevance to other countries.     

Preparing nurses for the acute care case manager role: educational needs identified by existing case managers

BACKGROUND: There is little in the literature about how best to prepare nurses for case manager roles. METHOD: Twenty acute care case managers were asked to identify skills and knowledge that would be of value to nurses new to case manager roles. RESULTS: Community resources, discharge planning, and third party reimbursement were the top three educational needs identified by all case managers. Baccalaureate prepared case managers identified clinical issues to be of value, such as family coping, patient education, quality of life, and social support, while master's prepared nurses identified only system-related issues. CONCLUSION: Educational programs preparing baccalaureate prepared case managers could focus on both clinical and system issues, while programs preparing master's educated case managers could focus primarily on managing system issues. Staff development professionals may also call on experts inside and outside the institution to assist in teaching about health care finance and reimbursement issues.     

新超导材料的制法

介绍了Nb_3Al,Nb_3Sn,V_3Ga,Nb_3(Al,Ge)等化合物用急冷法、高能电子束照射法的制造工艺。对氧化物陶瓷超导材料的粉冶法也作了阐述。     

生产铝青铜／钢双金属轴承材料的新工艺

在研究改善铝青铜塑性和提高铝青铜与钢板复合强度上取得重大突破,并在此基础上研制开发出铝青铜/钢双金属轴承材料新工艺.与传统工艺相比,该工艺具有设备投入少、可批量生产,产品粘结强度高、抗疲劳强度大、综合力学性能好等优点.最后展望铝青铜/钢双金属材料将成为今后用于高载荷、高转速发动机的主流轴承材料之一.     

Preparing for internship: Tips for the prospective applicant.

This article's major objective is to effectively prepare the graduate student in psychology for the internship application process by providing critical and relevant information. Preparation begins early on in one's graduate career and usually involves the following steps: (a) establishing mentoring relationships, (b) preparing an application portfolio, (c) collecting information, (d) applying, (e) interviewing, (f ) ranking the selected agencies, and (g) responding on selection day. Information is also provided on how to use the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral Internship Centers (APPIC) Clearinghouse. Finally, a brief section is devoted to the process of choosing a non-APPIC site. Advance preparation can make this entire process easier and increase a student's chance of finding a suitable predoctoral internship in psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preparing nurse leaders for the future: views from Canada

Airway responsiveness assessed using histamine and methacholine is safe, reproducible and relatively easily undertaken in adults and children. Results are similar for methacholine and histamine although methacholine is better tolerated. Responsiveness is increased in children and the elderly, and in women compared to men, possibly due to body size effects. Baseline lung function confounds the interpretation of airway responsiveness and may explain the effect of smoking in most studies. Results are most usefully expressed as the provocative dose producing a 20% fall in FEV1 (PD20FEV1) or the dose-response slope (DRS). When technical factors are controlled the reproducibility of the test is from one to two doubling doses. Measurements of airway responsiveness have been widely used in clinical and research practice. However, assessing their value in diagnosing asthma is limited by the lack of a gold standard for the definition of asthma. Using a cut-off value of 8 mg/mL or 8 mumol for PD20, the tests will discriminate asthmatic from non-asthmatic subjects (based on questionnaire definitions of asthma) with a sensitivity of around 60% and a specificity of around 90%. These properties of the test result in positive and negative predictive values of 86% and 69% when the prevalence of asthma is high (50%-as in the clinical setting) and 40% and 95% when the prevalence of asthma is low (10%, as in general population studies). In the usual clinical setting, assessing the significance of atypical or non-specific symptoms, the tests are of intermediate value in predicting the presence of asthma and less useful in excluding asthma. The additional benefit of testing airway responsiveness to measuring peak flows or to a trial of therapy has yet to be fully assessed. Testing of airway responsiveness may be of value in assessing occupational asthma, asthma severity and the effects of potential sensitizers or treatments. In research, tests of airway responsiveness are more useful for excluding cases of asthma. In population studies, they serve as an objective marker of abnormal airway function which may be genetically determined and, like allergy, are strongly associated with asthma. The predictive value of airway hyperresponsiveness for the development of airway disease is yet to be clearly established. In epidemiology the benefits of measuring airway responses must be weighed against the added inconvenience and cost that is incurred.     

Preparing for and competing in the heat: the human perspective

This review provides an overview of the challenges that face man and horses when exercising in the heat. Some of the strategies that are used and are being developed for human athletes exercising in the heat are reviewed. There are many similarities between human and equine physiological responses to exercise in the heat; and equine exercise science may gain some useful insights from the training, fluid replacement and heat acclimatisation strategies used by human athletes. There are, however, some important differences that impact on the ability of horses to thermoregulate and to regulate fluid and electrolyte balance. The major differences are the low surface area to body mass ratio in horses compared to man; and the high metabolic capacity of equine skeletal muscle. These 2 factors may limit the ability of horses to dissipate heat when exercise is performed under hot conditions. Some of the more important equine differences are highlighted within the context of the "human perspective'.     

Preparing students psychologically for the NCLEX-RN

Years of experience in school and healthcare environments do not lessen the fear and anxiety associated with taking a written examination, especially one that will determine whether you will be allowed to practice as a professional nurse. The author discusses an approach to increase students' test performance on the NCLEX-RN examination.     

Acknowledging the inevitable: Understanding multiple relationships in rural practice.

There are many factors that contribute to increased rates of multiple relationships in rural practice. Although limited availability of mental health practitioners and access difficulties are the most commonly cited factors, characteristics of rural communities and characteristics of psychologists who practice there may also promote the likelihood of these relationships. These characteristics may consequently promote acceptance of multiple relationships. This article addresses some of the unique aspects of rural practice and provides strategies for evaluating, preventing, and managing multiple relationships in rural practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Category and stereotype activation: Is prejudice inevitable?

Three experiments tested the hypothesis that people high and low in prejudice respond similarly to direct stereotype activation but differently to category activation. Study I (N?=?40) showed that high- and low-prejudice people share the same knowledge of the stereotype of Black people. In Study 2, (N?=?51) high-prejudice participants formed a more negative and less positive impression of the target person after subliminal priming of the category Blacks than did participants in the no-prime condition. Low-prejudice people tended in the opposite direction. In Study 3 (N?=?45), both high- and low-prejudice people increased negative ratings when valenced stereotype content was also primed. These findings support a distinction between automatic stereotype activation resulting from direct priming and that consequent upon category activation, implying that the relations among categorization, stereotyping, and prejudice are more flexible than it is often assumed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Oncologic emergencies: implications for nurses

Oncologic emergencies can be grouped into the following categories: neurologic, cardiopulmonary, metabolic, hematologic, infectious, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and infusion-related. Each crisis produces characteristic symptoms, physical findings, and laboratory abnormalities. Skills required of nurses include patient assessment by organ system, management of intravenous lines, monitoring of laboratory results, and recognition of allergic reactions and extravasation. Anticipating these clinical syndromes allows for prevention or early detection with better outcomes.