Villous and tubulovillous adenomas of the colon and rectum. Results in 30 patients

Health care is increasingly driven by information, and consequently, patient care will demand effective management of information. The report of the Priority Expert Panel E: Nursing Informatics and Enhancing Clinical Care Through Nursing Informatics challenges faculty to produce baccalaureate graduates who use information technologies to improve the patient care process and change health care. The challenge is to construct an evolving nursing informatics curriculum to provide nursing professionals with the foundation for affecting health care delivery. This article discusses the design, implementation, and evaluation of an innovative nursing informatics curriculum incorporated into a baccalaureate nursing program. The basic components of the curriculum framework are information, technology, and clinical care process. The presented integrated curriculum is effective in familiarizing students with informatics and encouraging them to think critically about using informatics in practice. The two groups of students who completed the four-course sequence will be discussed.     

The basic principles of the synapses federated healthcare record server

The NIGHTINGALE Project (NIGHTINGALE Project: HC1109 DGXIII Contract and Technical Annex, European Commission, December 1995) which started on the 1st of January, 1996, after the approval of the European Commission, has a 36 month duration. It is essential in planning and implementing a strategy in training the nursing profession in using and applying healthcare information systems. NIGHTINGALE contributes towards the appropriate use of the developed telematics infrastructure across Europe by educating and training nurses in a harmonious way across Europe in the upcoming field of nursing informatics. NIGHTINGALE develops courseware material based on the curriculum development process using multimedia technologies. Computer based training software packages in nursing informatics will be the basis of the training material and the corresponding courses. CD-ROM based training and reference material will also be provided in the courses whereas the traditional booklets, teaching material and textbooks can also play an adequate role in training. NIGHTINGALE will disseminate all information and courseware material freely to all interested parties through the publications of the proceedings of the conferences, through the establishment of the world wide web (WWW) server in nursing informatics for Europe (http://www.dn.uoa.gr/nightingale), which will become a depository of nursing information knowledge across Europe as well as a dissemination node of nursing informatics throughout the European members states for the benefit and welfare of the European citizen.     

Do nurses have the information resources and skills for research utilization?

While access to information resources and the skills to use them do not ensure that nurses will use nursing research in their practice, they are important facilitators. Mailed questionnaires to assess existing information resources, the information management skills of nurses, and what additional resources and training are required were returned by 67 of the 71 vice-presidents or directors of nursing in hospitals in two regions of Ontario. The two regions have similar information resources, nursing staff with research expertise, and opportunities for training in research and information management but there is variation among hospitals. Most vice-presidents agreed that nurses need better information resources and skills to access and evaluate professional literature. The rapidly developing field of information technology, including the Internet, provides potential for sharing resources and expertise. Nursing administrators can minimize barriers and help staff nurses recognize that information management skills enhance professional development and improve patient care.     

Preoperative information-giving: an essential element of perioperative practice

The aim of this article is to review the literature pertaining to the perioperative nursing activity of information-giving. The relationship between anxiety, coping strategies and information giving will be discussed, with further consideration of how informational care is affected by the nurse-patient relationship. Inter-related concepts of information giving will be explored as the article develops.     

Application of caring theory in primary care: a challenge for advanced practice

That caring is central to nursing is now axiomatic. But has this concept been transferred to advanced nursing practice in primary care? The following article will present reflections on the use of caring in advanced practice in primary care. It is suggested that the nurse practitioner's and other advanced practice nurses' (APNs') use of caring sets nursing's contributions to primary care apart from other providers' practice. A vision is discussed in which professional caring frames the delivery of primary care's nursing therapeutics. How-tos are suggested for delivering professional caring in today's hectic health care environment. Ways the APN can create strategies for renewing caring energy are presented.     

Nurse occupational stress research. 4: The prevalence of stress

This article, the fourth in a six-part series on nurse occupational stress, reviews the prevalence of nurse stress. It will attempt to address questions which are both critical and crucial to an examination of the prevalence of nurse stress. Does the evidence support the claim that the levels of nurse stress within the new NHS are increasing? Does current nurse stress research methodology permit like-for-like comparisons of nurse stress methodology in relation to issues such as frequency and degree of stress? Are certain areas of nursing more stressful than others?     

The Tanner Mandibular Appliance

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether the human and economic investment of resources in the further training of nursing and nursing assistants is justified. The study focused in particular on the transfer of knowledge from training course to working practice. It was carried out as a case study in Ringk?bing County, Denmark, during 1993/94. The population consisted of 49 nurses and 49 nursing assistants. The study showed that the participants took a keen interest in the courses. The learning process was found relevant by the nurses, but not by the nursing assistants. Neither group found that their expectations of getting more knowledge were satisfied. With respect to job-behaviour, the study confirmed the hypothesis that the practising of the content of the course will depend on the support and interest of the head of the department towards a goal-oriented development of competence and structure. If such support and interest is lacking, the course-participant will only change her own working practices, independent of the organizational structure.     

Two-leaflet artificial heart valve with the common turn axis for leaflets

Quality improvement, measurement, and accountability pervade all health care, including the agendas of nursing, other care providers, and consumer groups. One new face of quality is unequivocal: data will be more equitably shared among all groups for data-based quality judgments. This will emphasize quality more than cost with greater involvement of the citizens compared to health care providers, payers, and health care product suppliers. Emphasis on quality will allow patients to have a voice heard and amplified through the implementation of patient-centered outcomes in the computerized patient care record. This article describes the implications of the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC) for nursing information systems and the computer-based patient record.     

Suicidality in nursing home residents: Part I. Prevalence, risk factors, methods, assessment, and management.

Professional psychologists often work in nursing home settings. As the number of older adults in nursing homes increases, the number of psychologists providing care to this population will likely increase as well. Even though literature has suggested that nursing home residents have a high rate of mental disorders, the literature investigating suicidality in this population is scarce. Our discussion includes two articles. This article (Part 1) summarizes types of suicidal behavior, prevalence, risk factors, methods, screening/assessment, and management issues. The second article (Part 2) describes indirect self-destructive behavior, ethical concerns, involving staff and family members, Medicare information, public policy, and suggestions for training/continuing education offerings. Because few psychologists receive training in geropsychology, this information can help clinicians who serve nursing home residents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The efficacy of using millimeter-range electromagnetic radiation in chronic nonspecific pneumonia

By the year 2041, 11 million individuals 65 and over will reside in Canada. This drastic demographic change, coupled with the increasing acuity and complexity of the health care needs of seniors, creates an immense demand for nurses specialized in gerontology. But can gerontological nursing survive as a specialty and respond to this demand?     

Nursing records for discharge. Report of the nursing history

The quality of care within our health care system depends upon an active and dynamic communication which bridges the different levels of care (primary and hospital) and will permit a continuity of services between the distinct parts. To insure this success, the authors propose an outpatient nursing record that will follow the patient upon his or her discharge. This record, to be called the "Discharged Patient Report", will be directed to other medical professionals so that they can be informed of previous treatments that the patient has received. Included in the report will be items such as; the previous nursing interactions that were used on the patient, how problems were resolved, possible other solutions, and health care information given to the patient. Using the report in this way will give us a great tool to know our patients and better understand how to serve them.     

Information system support of changes in health care and nursing practice

The practice of nursing is changing in response to changes in health care. An effective information system can support nursing's need to streamline the process of documentation, move to standards-based practice, access standards and other reference material, and access data and information to make clinical and management decisions. Nurses will increasingly rely on information systems to provide them with the critical data and information they need to make decisions about patient care, management of the care team, efficient resource utilization, and best practice standards.     

Infertility education in baccalaureate schools of nursing

The increasing number of couples who enter the current health care system for assistance with fertility needs warrants an examination of the ways nurse educators are preparing nurse generalists to meet those needs. A survey was conducted of baccalaureate nursing programs to determine what, if any, information was being presented on infertility. Analysis of data with a 50% return rate indicated most schools of nursing in this sample are in fact including some information on infertility in their curricula. What is interesting to note is only slightly more than half of respondents included information on the emotional and psychosocial issues of infertility, despite the fact that the greatest cost of infertility is the emotional one. One of the major concerns of infertile couples is health care providers, including nurses, do not seem to understand what they are experiencing. How do nurses obtain such understanding if they are not prepared in their educational program to do so?     

Information technology: soul of a new organization

If the total quality organization is the structure of the 1990s, then the structure of the new millennium is the world class organization--and information technology (IT) is the foundation upon which it will be built. This article explores how clinical information systems and IT are evolving to support several unique characteristics of the world class organization, including (1) how patient-centered care and the advent of the interdisciplinary care team has led to the development of a new breed of clinical information systems; (2) how accountability has empowered nursing and led, in turn, to a need for systems and languages to measure and document nursing care and its outcomes; and (3) how care across the continuum and rapid, constant change demands open systems that are scalable and interoperable.     

Modern information technology and the collection and exchange of biomedical and biochemical information

Information technology as a new and powerful tool in the hands of scientists should provide efficient use of large amount of data. Every day scientific population put into circulation about 30000 printed pages containing different forms of information. Handling of such amount of written materials is "Sisyphean task" and now can be performed by computer which is powerful tool for accessing and analyzing large quantity of data. Many faculties, institutes and persons have access to networks but average user despite the power of the technology can often be frustrated by the simple questions: "What is my colleague's e-mail address? How can I most effectively find relevant information? How will I use e-mail, gopher or WWW? Who will help me learn more?" In the text I will try to give short answers on this and some other questions. I will also try to explain how we can use some new ways of communications, how to reach recent programs and information from wide areas of interest but specially from biochemistry and biomedicine.     

The higher injury risk of abnormal kidneys in blunt renal trauma

In an effort to better understand some of the ethical and legal dilemmas that health professionals face in their daily activities, this study identified and analyzed the opinions and expectations of medical and nursing students at the University of S?o Paulo, Brazil, regarding the autonomy of adolescents in receiving health care services. Over the 1995-1996 period, interviews were done with students in the first and last years of their programs in the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing of the University of S?o Paulo. The results from the first-year students were compared with those of the final-year students. The interview questions dealt with such issues as providing medical care to adolescents when a parent or guardian was not present, adolescents making their own decisions on health care services, the confidentiality of information that adolescents provide, the circumstances in which that information could be given to parents or guardians, and situations where there were conflicts between the decisions of parents and adolescents. Despite variations among the opinions and expectations of the students, the overall results suggest that most of the medical and nursing students do not accept the concept of "health adulthood" or autonomy for adolescents and that the students instead choose to rely on current legal definitions of adulthood.     

Despite all odds: a three-part history of the professionalization of black nurses through two professional nursing organizations, 1908-1995

This is the first in a series of articles which highlight the professionalization of Black nurses through two Black nursing organizations during the twentieth century. The second and third articles will appear in forthcoming issues of the JNBNA. The first article provides background information which sets the stage by highlighting the reasons why a separate professional organization was needed. The reasons include the practice or tolerance of institutional racism by society and White professional nursing organizations, the promotion of inferior status for Black nurses by Whites, and the maintainance of exclusionary membership policies limiting Black nurses' admission to professional nursing organizations such as the NLNE and the ANA. The purpose of these articles is to document contributions of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (1908-1951, the first Black professional nursing organization recognized by the ANA and other White nursing organizations) and the National Black Nurses Association (1971-present). These two organizations advance the standards of nursing and develop leadership within the ranks of Black nurses. To accomplish this series, an historical method was used to identify political, social, and nursing events relevant to the development, growth, and establishment of the two Black nursing organizations. This investigation fills a void in the historiographies of professional nursing, Black studies, and women's studies.     

I think they're doing research on my patients, but I can't get anyone to listen

JONA's Management Case Studies presents provocative issues in nursing management, including personnel management, ethics, labor relations, economics, staffing, interdisciplinary relations, and career management. Experts in the field share their perspectives on the issue. Readers are encouraged to submit cases of 250 to 300 words. The case may be based on factual information but should be altered to make individuals and institutions unidentifiable. Authors of cases will not be identified although they will be offered the opportunity to be one of the expert case commentators.     

Tube feeding preferences among nursing home residents

OBJECTIVE: To determine the preferences of nursing home residents regarding the use of tube feedings and to characterize the clinical, functional, and psychosocial factors that are associated with preferences. DESIGN: In-person survey. SETTING: Forty-nine randomly selected nursing homes. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred seventy-nine randomly selected, decisionally capable, nursing home residents. MAIN RESULTS: Thirty-three percent of participants would prefer tube feedings if no longer able to eat because of permanent brain damage. Factors positively associated with preferences for tube feedings include male gender. African-American race, never having discussed treatment preferences with family members or health care providers, never having signed an advance directive, and believing that tube feeding preferences will be respected by the nursing home staff. Twenty-five percent of the participants changed from preferring tube feedings to not preferring tube feedings on learning that physical restraints are sometimes applied during the tube feeding process. CONCLUSIONS: Demographic and social factors are associated with preferences for tube feedings. The provision of information about the potential use of physical restraint altered a proportion of nursing home residents' treatment preferences.