The Internet as a resource for healthcare information

The Internet provides an additional means for healthcare providers to reach their patients. As more and more healthcare providers and patients get on-line and learn to use the Internet, the value of being on-line will increase. The Internet and other healthcare computing technologies will challenge us to look to the future for new ways to create partnerships with our patients. On-line skills and technological literacy will not replace more traditional approaches to patient care, but they most likely will change the model of how care is provided. Technology is an adjunct that will serve us well if it is incorporated as part of a multidimensional patient care environment. Above all, we will need to continue to foster good interpersonal relationships with patients to encourage ongoing dialogues about information obtained from all resources.     

Self-control as a limited resource: Regulatory depletion patterns.

If self-regulation conforms to an energy or strength model, then self-control should be impaired by prior exertion. In Study 1, trying to regulate one's emotional response to an upsetting movie was followed by a decrease in physical stamina. In Study 2, suppressing forbidden thoughts led to a subsequent tendency to give up quickly on unsolvable anagrams. In Study 3, suppressing thoughts impaired subsequent efforts to control the expression of amusement and enjoyment. In Study 4, autobiographical accounts of successful versus failed emotional control linked prior regulatory demands and fatigue to self-regulatory failure. A strength model of self-regulation fits the data better than activation, priming, skill, or constant capacity models of self-regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Collective self-esteem as a coping resource for male-to-female transsexuals.

The fear of experiencing discrimination often provokes symptoms of psychological distress. One coping resource is positive identification with one's social group--known as collective self-esteem. This preliminary study investigated whether collective self-esteem was related to fears regarding a transsexual identity and psychological distress among 53 self-identified male-to-female transsexuals (mean age = 50.79 years). Participants were recruited from transgender events held in Arizona and California. The majority (81%) reported living full-time as women (mean length of time living as a woman = 6.33 years). Negative feelings about the transsexual community and fears regarding the impact of a transsexual identity were positively related to psychological distress. A regression model revealed that the fear of how a transsexual identity would affect one's life was the best predictor of the severity of psychological distress. These results are consistent with findings from other historically marginalized groups, whereby the stress of being stigmatized by society adversely affects mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Computer conferencing: communication for distance learners

Computer conferencing enables the user to easily and quickly communicate and access information from a remote site. The Nurse Practitioner Outreach program at the University of Texas School of Nursing at Galveston pilot-tested a program in which students at remote locations used computer conferencing to receive course assignments and interact with faculty members and one another. This program has provided valuable insights into the advantages and challenges of using computer conferencing in a nursing educational setting.     

Research award winner: neurodevelopmental assessment of at-risk learners by school nurses and their tools of choice

Coronary artery bypass grafting is a well-established procedure. Less invasive procedures have been developed to provide bypass grafting without median sternotomy, cardiopulmonary bypass, or cross clamping. Using a small anterior thoracic incision, and occasionally with the aid of the thoracoscope, the minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass graft (MIDCAB) procedure was developed. The MIDCAB procedure results in a decreased length of hospital stay, fewer postoperative complications, and a more rapid recovery for the patient. The MIDCAB, however, has other ramifications, including changes in staffing requirements, bed allocations, and staff training. Advantages and limitations are discussed.     

Storytelling as a foundation to literacy development for Aboriginal children: Culturally and developmentally appropriate practices.

There is substantial evidence that Aboriginal youth face serious challenges in schooling, in general, and in literacy development, specifically. Thus, it is essential to design early literacy programmes that engage Aboriginal children and produce positive outcomes. In this article, the authors propose that such programmes include oral storytelling by teachers and students because it is a precursor to reading and writing across cultures and a traditional Aboriginal teaching tool. Moreover, storytelling fits with Aboriginal epistemology--the nature of their knowledge, its foundations, scope, and validity. The authors begin by reviewing a representative sample of the research that has examined the outcomes of early literacy instruction with Aboriginal children. Next, the authors describe Aboriginal epistemology, highlighting the role of the oral tradition. Finally, the authors describe an ongoing study aimed at supporting early literacy development through a developmentally and culturally appropriate oral storytelling instruction programme. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unit-based acute confusion resource nurse: an educational program to train staff nurses

Despite the high prevalence of acute confusion among elders and the importance of its early detection, there are few reports of systematic efforts to increase staff competence. This article describes the development and evaluation of an 8-hour educational program designed to prepare staff nurses to perform in a new role, the unit-based acute confusion Resource Nurse (ACRN). Pre- and posttest scores were obtained for the 80 registered nurses who participated in the program. Paired t tests showed that knowledge and confidence significantly increased for participants as a result of their participation in the educational program. This program can serve as an effective model for geriatric staff education.     

Closing the comprehension gap: low literacy and the Cancer Information Service

An estimated one in five Americans is functionally illiterate; they lack the literacy skills to access information or to perform many other basic tasks vital to their health and well-being. The National Cancer Institute and its Cancer Information Service have been working since 1990 to develop cancer-education strategies and materials to reach people with limited literacy skills. This paper reviews the link between cancer and illiteracy, the magnitude of the problem, and the association between cancer, certain health-related behaviors, and educational attainment. It also examines innovative National Cancer Institute and Cancer Information Service programs and materials designed to reach this high-risk population.     

Information exchange as empowerment: a case study

In July 1994 a newspaper was created to share information in and among the community of people with disabilities in Palmerston North, New Zealand. The project became, in only a few months, not only economically viable, but extremely successful as a social and community experiment, and an endeavour by people with disabilities to inform each other and the larger community. This article describes the origin, design and development, and the current status of the newspaper, and advances the recommendation that people with disability elsewhere, and those professionally employed in the rehabilitation field, consider similar initiatives to inform, and thereby empower, people with disabilities.     

对黄金矿产资源价值经济评价的研究

依据劳动价值理论,全面论述了黄金矿产资源不仅有价值,而且还有使用价值。综合系统论的思想,把黄金矿产资源作为一项资产,从资源的自然属性出发,研究了矿产资源的财务属性、商品属性、资产价值转移方式与矿产资源使用价值的运行特征。提出了黄金矿产资源资产评估应以矿产储量为基础、以矿产资源及矿业权获利潜力为目标进行资源资产全面评价。     

Obsolescence or lifelong education: A choice for the professional.

Discusses the importance of professional obsolescence in psychology, medicine, and engineering, and the factors responsible for the recent emergence of this problem. The half-life concept is presented as a means of estimating the rapidity of obsolescence, its symptoms and causes, and present efforts of coping with it. The potential contribution of psychology in continuing education is discussed in certain areas, e.g., motivation for professional updating, adult learning, measuring and assessing professional competence, educational technology, counseling adults, midcareer change, research and evaluation, and periodic readmission of professional persons for postgraduate training and external degree programs. Potential opportunities for the employment of psychologists in continuing education areas are presented. (51 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Current topics in health sciences librarianship": a pilot program for network-based lifelong learning

The long-term objective of this project is to make health sciences librarians more effective in their role by using emerging technologies to deliver timely continuing education (CE) programs to them regardless of their physical location. The goals of the one-year planning project at the William H. Welch Medical Library are to plan, implement, and evaluate a pilot CE program that includes (1) a three-day general-interest session organized in four tracks: Market Forces and Management, Information Technology and the Internet, Publishing and Copyright, and Education; (2) a one-day special topic session on the Informatics of the Human Genome Project; and (3) an electronic poster session in parallel with the general-interest session. The program will be offered in three simultaneous formats: (1) on-site, in a distance-learning classroom in Baltimore; (2) as a telecourse, in a similar classroom outside Washington, DC; and (3) online, via the World Wide Web. An electronic proceedings of the entire program will be published on the Web to serve as a continuously available CE resource for health sciences librarians. This paper gives an overview of the planning process, presents a status report on the programmatic and technical implementation of the pilot project at its midpoint, and discusses future directions for the program.     

Spontaneous fantasy as a resource of high grade retardates for coping with a failure-stress frustration.

Institutionalized high grade (60 IQ and above) retardates between the ages of 12 and 22 were divided into 2 groups on the basis of degree to which fantasy (as measured by a Fantasy Inventory) characterized their personality makeup. Ss were then placed in a frustrating situation (E making deprecatory remarks regarding S's tracing geometric designs). Post frustration, Ss were placed in a waiting room situation, one group permitted, the other not, to talk, smoke, and chew. High and low fantasizers were not generally distinguishable except by 2 of the subscales of an Attitude Questionnaire. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Substance abuse education for clinical nurses: a controlled study

BACKGROUND: A study was conducted to evaluate a substance abuse component of a workshop for nurses being promoted to the position of Advanced Clinical Nurse. METHODS: We compared whether the 88 nurses who received the educational intervention increased their knowledge and enhanced their feelings of competence regarding the care of chemically dependent patients more than a control group of nurses who received the promotion workshop without the substance abuse component. RESULTS: The nurses in the intervention group had greater increases in knowledge and competence. CONCLUSIONS: This study points out the importance of providing hospital nurses with continuing education on substance abuse to compensate for their educational deficiencies, to provide the information they need and desire, and to help them meet the ANA's practice standards.     

Neural tube defects: a primary prevention role for nurses

Carvedilol has been shown to determine a significant improvement in left ventricular function, symptoms, clinical course and prognosis of patients with chronic heart failure. However, these results were obtained in medium-term studies of < 1 year duration. We report the results obtained with long-term (3-4 years) carvedilol administration to 40 patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy who were initially recruited in a 4-month double-blind placebo-controlled trial. In the initial 4-month double-blind trial, 20 patients were randomized to placebo and 20 to carvedilol treatment. All patients, except one who was not on ACE-inhibitors, were on digoxin, furosemide and ACE-inhibitors. Carvedilol or placebo doses were progressively titrated, at weekly intervals, up to the maximal doses of 25 mg bid. After the initial 4-month double-blind phase, all patients were followed long term. Mean follow-up duration was 52 +/- 12 months (range 48-61). Among the 20 patients initially randomized to carvedilol administration, 4 died (3 for cardiac and 1 for extracardiac causes) and 2 underwent heart transplant. Among the 20 patients initially randomized to placebo, 5 died for cardiac causes, 3 underwent heart transplant and 4 were started on carvedilol because of progressive heart failure during the initial 4 months of the study. The remaining 8 patients, who were kept on digoxin, furosemide and ACE-inhibitors, were used as control group. Each patient underwent an assessment of clinical conditions (NYHA functional classification and Minnesota Living with Heart Failure questionnaire), equilibrium radionuclide ventriculography, and maximal cardiopulmonary bicycle exercise testing. Exams were performed before treatment, after 4 and 12 months, and at the end of the follow-up period. No significant difference between the carvedilol and control group was present at baseline. Compared with baseline, patients in the control group presented a significant increase in left ventricular end-diastolic volume after long-term follow-up (from 126 +/- 62 to 138 +/- 43 and 158 +/- 52 ml/m2 after 12 and 48 months, respectively). No significant difference, compared to baseline values, was noted. Patients on carvedilol presented a persistent improvement in left ventricular function. This was shown by the progressive increment in left ventricular ejection fraction from 22 +/- 6 to 34 +/- 11, 37 +/- 11 and 37 +/- 13%, after 4, 12 and 48 months, respectively (p < 0.001) with a concomitant reduction in left ventricular end-diastolic volume from 147 +/- 54 to 101 +/- 44 ml/m2 at the end of the follow-up (p < 0.05). NYHA functional class remained significantly improved, in comparison with baseline (2.6 +/- 0.5 to 1.9 +/- 0.3, 1.9 +/- 0.8 and 2.0 +/- 1.0 after 4, 12 and 48 months, respectively; p < 0.01). Maximal functional capacity, assessed as peak VO2 was not significantly changed after 4 months (from 15.2 +/- 3.6 to 16.4 +/- 4.0 ml/kg/min) and showed a tendency towards a further improvement after 12 months and at the end of the follow-up (17.3 +/- 5.6 and 17.2 +/- 5.3 ml/kg/min, respectively). These results show that the favorable effects of carvedilol administration on left ventricular function and clinical symptoms are maintained also after long-term treatment.