Novel tactile bottle neck adaptor facilitates eye drop adherence in visually impaired patients.

Purpose: To test the use of Ring-IT, a novel 3D tactile bottle neck adaptor in topical eye drop adherence in visually impaired patients.

Methods: Bottle neck ring adaptors with either one, two or three protrusions with cube or sphere endings were designed. In phase 1, low vision was simulated in healthy subjects (n=20) with a 20/200 vision simulator; while in phase 2, visually impaired patients (n=26; 20/70 or worse) were recruited.

Practice What We Preach: Beginning a Journey to Embrace Patient-Centered Outcomes Research.

Background: Patient-centered outcomes research seeks to answer patient-centered questions. The process includes varied locations and individuals throughout the care continuum to address individual differences and constraints in implementation and dissemination.

Problem: This paper intends to answer this question: do academic nurses practice what they preach by assisting patient-centered outcomes research and researchers through their engagement with patients, caregivers, and other community stakeholder partners in nursing research?

Approach: This paper provides an overview of how academic nurses in a single institution (the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston School of Nursing) began to embrace patient-centered outcomes research.

Utilizing In-Hospital Fabrication to Decrease Simulation Costs.

Background: Two restrictive factors for surgical training through simulation, are the cost of and accessibility to materials and consoles for simulation models. Commercial surgical simulation models continue to maintain high prices with a wide range of fidelity levels. We believe that by utilizing in-house fabrication, these barriers can be decreased while maintaining and even improving the functionality of surgical simulation models as well as increase their individualization and customization.

Development of a Low-cost, High-fidelity Skin Model for Suturing.

Background: In a survey of students at our institution, suturing was the most desired workshop for simulation; however, cost, quality, and availability of skin pads is often prohibitive for suturing workshops. In-hospital fabrication may be utilized to manufacture noncommercial, high-fidelity, and low-cost simulation models. We describe the production, value, and face validation of our simulated skin model.