Psychiatric medication: what the occupational health nurse should know

1. Occupational health nurses need a general knowledge of psychiatric medications to work effectively with clients and their off site health providers. 2. Acquiring an understanding of the major classes of medications--anti-psychotic, anti-anxiety, anti-depressant, and antimanic--is important. 3. It is helpful to understand under what conditions and with which conditions psychotropic medications are helpful.     

Viagra: what every physician should know

Viagra, an oral drug taken one hour prior to sexual activity, improves erectile function in the majority of men with erectile dysfunction who receive it. It is not an aphrodisiac and therefore will not work without sexual stimulation. The drug is absolutely contraindicated in patients on organic nitrates, as this combination can lead to severe drops in blood pressure. Patients with heart disease, suspected heart disease and risk factors for heart disease should discuss with their physicians the safety of resuming sexual activity. A cardiac work-up, including exercise treadmill testing, should be considered in appropriate patients.     

Temporomandibular disorders: what the neurologist needs to know

Temporomandibular disorders are a complex group of conditions which are common causes of orofacial pain and are frequently associated with headaches. Because a wide variety of diseases can ultimately cause symptoms that result in dysfunction of the masticatory system, it is important for the clinician to establish an accurate diagnosis and rule out any serious neurologic pathology. Serious extra-articular conditions often can simulate the nonspecific symptoms of a temporomandibular joint disorder. A careful history and clinical examination of the head, neck, and cranial nerves are important in establishing a differential diagnosis. Diagnostic imaging and consultation with specialists in several disciplines are often necessary to establish an accurate diagnosis and develop an appropriate therapeutic regimen.     

What every perioperative nurse should know about customers

Adult mosquitoes were collected from 3 areas in northern Thailand with different availabilities of rice fields for larval habitats by using blacklight, truck, and pig-baited traps. Culex tritaeniorhynchus Giles and Culex gelidus Theobald were dominant in all samples. Significant study-area differences were found in light and truck trap collections for Cx. tritaeniorhynchus and Cx. gelidus, but not for Culex vishnui Theobald + Culex pseudovishnui Colless. In pig-baited sample area differences were significant only for Cx. gelidus. Adults of Culex fuscocephala Theobald were relatively rare, comprising only 0.6-7.9% of the total mosquitoes collected. When compared with the results from previous studies in the Chiangmai area, we conclude that Cx. fuscocephala has become a minor species and that changes in the mosquito fauna have occurred in northern Thailand.     

Seven abdominal assessment signs every emergency nurse should know

BACKGROUND: Open or laparoscopic surgery for gastroesophageal reflux disease gives longterm freedom from symptoms in 83-100% of cases but has a certain percentage of complications. This study was undertaken to evaluate the early and late complication rates after primary or repeat antireflux operations. STUDY DESIGN: The records of all patients who underwent surgery for gastroesophageal reflux disease during a 32-year period at a university teaching hospital were reviewed retrospectively. Records for 793 adults (448 men and 345 women) aged 16-85 years (mean, 51) were retrieved for calculation of complication rates and statistical analysis. RESULTS: A total of 827 operations were performed: 793 primary and 41 for recurrent disease (2 patients were each reoperated on twice). There were 49 laparoscopic operations. Only two patients died (mortality, 0.3%), both after open operation. Morbidity was 24% after open surgery and 14% after laparoscopic operation. The total (early and late) complication rate was higher after reoperations than that after open or laparoscopic procedures. The overall complication rate in the open operations was similar in the first and the third decade of the study, namely, 24.6% and 26.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease carries very low mortality when performed in a specialized unit. The main causes of morbidity after open operation are infectious complications. The incidence of complications is substantially lower after laparoscopic surgery than after open operation. Reoperation is seldom required, but it carries higher morbidity than the primary operations.     

Powder injection moulding and what the designer needs to know

A niche industry or part of the industrial mainstream? PIM businesses need to match their marketing efforts with their undoubted technical sophistication and show the customers they mean business, says Randall German…     

Introduction to the special section on what every psychologist should know about assessment.

The article notes discrepancies between typical practices in the development and utilization of psychological tests and current knowledge about assessment noted by the authors in this special section. Reasons for this failure of innovation diffusion are considered. The need to make routine use of the assessment knowledge presented in this series of articles is noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Don''t know" responses in surveys: is what I know what you want to know and do I want you to know it?

The authors present finding from their study of a placement prevention program designed to facilitate addiction treatment for substance-abusing mothers and other primary caregivers reported for child maltreatment. Relationships between involvement in the program, the status of addiction treatment, and the variety of outcomes for caregivers and their children were tested. Findings indicate that nearly half of the participants were able to complete addiction treatment and achieve sobriety. Those who used the program's child day care component were three times more likely to complete treatment. Implications for confronting the problem of substance-abusing caregivers in the child welfare system are drawn.     

Children's mental health: The gap between what we know and what we do.

There is widespread agreement that over 11% of our nation's children need mental health treatment, but the majority of these children receive inadequate or inappropriate treatment. This gap between what we know should be provided and what is provided is the result of a poorly structured health care financing system and a poorly coordinated treatment system. The treatment system fails to recognize that children's mental health problems are interactions between intraindividual difficulties and environmental conditions. A wealth of models of prevention and treatment have been developed, and a substantial scientific basis for children's mental health interventions now exists, but there is a shortage of community based services and a lack of coordination across services. Public policy toward children with mental health problems must encourage application of knowledge about effective treatment systems and encourage care in the least restrictive and most cost-effective settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual harassment and health among male and female police officers.

The aims of this study were to investigate whether sexual harassment is related to mental and physical health of both men and women, and to explore the possible moderating effects of gender on the relation between sexual harassment and health. In addition, we investigated whether women were more often bothered by sexual harassment than men, and whether victims who report being bothered by the harassment experience more health problems compared to victims who did not feel bothered. A representative sample of 3,001 policemen and 1,295 policewomen in the Dutch police force filled out an Internet questionnaire. It appeared that women were more often bothered by sexual harassment than men, but gender did not moderate the relation between sexual harassment and mental and physical health. In addition, victims who felt bothered by the harassing behaviors reported more mental and physical health problems than victims who did not feel bothered. The distinction between bothered and nonbothered victims is important because appraisal is an essential aspect in the operationalization of sexual harassment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual harassment. Where to draw the line

Research reveals a widespread and frequently mismanaged problem--sexual harassment. Federal and state rulings, workplace guidelines and the Equal Opportunity Commission's definition of sexual harassment can help determine where to draw the line.     

Metamemory cues and monitoring accuracy: Judging what you know and what you will know.

Three experiments examined metamemory for categorized lists of items. Judgments of learning (JOLs) were obtained from college students either immediately after study or following a brief (at least 30-s) delay. In contrast to past findings (e.g., T. O. Nelson & J. Dunlosky, 1991), no advantage was found for delayed JOLs in Experiment 1, using a standard, prediction-based metamemory cue. In Experiment 2, knowledge-based judgments were elicited, and delayed JOL accuracy improved significantly. The relative efficacy of 4 different metamemory cues was examined in Experiment 3. An interaction between the timing and phrasing of JOL cues was detected: Delayed JOLs were more accurate than immediate JOLs only when knowledge-based cues were used. These results are interpreted in A. Koriat's (1997) cue-utilization framework for JOL accuracy, and they show that the phrasing of metamemory cues can have a substantial impact on monitoring accuracy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)