Doctoral Program Student Recruitment: Same Day Admission Innovation.

In the context of declining doctoral admissions and scarce resources, a small, private university in southern California serving a diverse student population created an innovative Same Day Admission event for their doctoral nursing programs. In a collaborative effort between the university's doctoral programs and admissions leadership, the complex and lengthy admission process was reduced and the number of applicants increased. A "1-stop shop" concept improved the efficiency of the application and admission process to the Doctor of Nursing Practice and Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing programs.

Depressed or not depressed: untangling symptoms of depression in patients hospitalized with coronary heart disease.

Background: Assessing depression in patients hospitalized with coronary heart disease is clinically challenging because depressive symptoms are often confounded by poor somatic health.

Objective: To identify symptom clusters associated with clinical depression in patients hospitalized with coronary heart disease.

Method: Secondary analyses of 3 similar data sets for hospitalized patients with coronary heart disease who had diagnostic screening for depression (99 depressed, 224 not depressed) were done.

The association of health literacy, social support, self-efficacy and interpersonal interactions with health care providers in low-income Latina mothers.

Objective: We explored relationships between maternal health literacy (HL), communicative self-efficacy (SE), social support (SS) and maternal perception of interactions with health care providers (HCPs).

Methods: Using a cross-sectional, correlational design, we assessed sociodemographic characteristics, maternal HL, social support, communicative self-efficacy, and interpersonal interactions with HCPs among 124 low-income Latina mothers of young children.

Results: Informal SS significantly predicted maternal SE in interactions.

Self-reported recall and daily diary-recorded measures of weight monitoring adherence: associations with heart failure-related hospitalization.

Background: Weight monitoring is an important element of HF self-care, yet the most clinically meaningful way to evaluate weight monitoring adherence is uncertain. We conducted this study to evaluate the association of (1) self-reported recall and (2) daily diary-recorded weight monitoring adherence with heart failure-related (HF-related) hospitalization.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study among 216 patients within a randomized trial of HF self-care training.

A single-item self-report medication adherence question predicts hospitalisation and death in patients with heart failure.

Aims And Objectives: To determine whether a single-item self-report medication adherence question predicts hospitalisation and death in patients with heart failure.

Background: Poor medication adherence is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Having a simple means of identifying suboptimal medication adherence could help identify at-risk patients for interventions.

Low literacy is associated with increased risk of hospitalization and death among individuals with heart failure.

Background: Low literacy increases the risk for many adverse health outcomes, but the relationship between literacy and adverse outcomes in heart failure (HF) has not been well studied.

Methods: We studied a cohort of ambulatory patients with symptomatic HF (NYHA Class II-IV within the past 6 months) who were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of self-care training recruited from internal medicine and cardiology clinics at four academic medical centers in the US. The primary outcome was combined all-cause hospitalization or death, with a secondary outcome of hospitalization for HF.

Health literacy and interpersonal interactions as predictors of maternal perception of ambulatory care for low-income, Latino children.

Objective: This study explores whether maternal HL (MHL) and maternal perception of health care provider (HCP) interpersonal interactions predict maternal perception of quality of pediatric ambulatory care received.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 124 low-income Latina mothers of children 3 months to 4 years. Maternal HL, perception of maternal-HCP interpersonal interactions, and perception of pediatric ambulatory care were measured using well-validated surveys.

Depression screening: utility of the patient health questionnaire in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Background: Depression screening in cardiac patients has been recommended by the American Heart Association, but the best approach remains unclear.

Objectives: To evaluate nurse-administered versions of the Patient Health Questionnaire for depression screening in patients hospitalized for acute coronary syndrome.

Methods: Staff nurses in an urban cardiac care unit administered versions 2, 9, and 10 of the questionnaire to 100 patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Multisite randomized trial of a single-session versus multisession literacy-sensitive self-care intervention for patients with heart failure.

Background: Self-care training can reduce hospitalization for heart failure (HF), and more intensive intervention may benefit more vulnerable patients, including those with low literacy.

Methods And Results: A 1-year, multisite, randomized, controlled comparative effectiveness trial with 605 patients with HF was conducted. Those randomized to a single session received a 40-minute in-person, literacy-sensitive training; the multisession group received the same initial training and then ongoing telephone-based support.

The effect of progressive, reinforcing telephone education and counseling versus brief educational intervention on knowledge, self-care behaviors and heart failure symptoms.

Background: The optimal strategy for promoting self-care for heart failure (HF) is unclear.

Methods And Results: We conducted a randomized trial to determine whether a "teach to goal" (TTG) educational and behavioral support program provided incremental benefits to a brief (1 hour) educational intervention (BEI) for knowledge, self-care behaviors, and HF-related quality of life (HFQOL). The TTG program taught use of adjusted-dose diuretics and then reinforced learning goals and behaviors with 5 to 8 telephone counseling sessions over 1 month.

Knowledge and perceptions of health literacy among nursing professionals.

Low health literacy affects nearly half of the U.S. population.

"Teach to goal": theory and design principles of an intervention to improve heart failure self-management skills of patients with low health literacy.

Self-management is vital for achieving optimal health outcomes for patients with heart failure (HF). We sought to develop an intervention to improve self-management skills and behaviors for patients with HF, especially those with low health literacy. Individuals with low health literacy have difficulty reading and understanding written information and comprehending numerical information and performing calculations, and they tend to have worse baseline knowledge, short-term memory, and working memory compared with individuals with higher health literacy.

Cardiac risk scores in high-risk Hispanics and the predictive value of BNP.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to calculate cardiac risk scores in Hispanic subjects and to determine the predictive value of adding B-type natriuretic peptide in identifying those with asymptomatic left ventricular dysfunction as a measure of cardiovascular disease.

Background: Hispanics have higher rates of cardiovascular risk factors leading to coronary heart disease, asymptomatic left ventricular dysfunction and cardiovascular events. Assessing cardiac risk in these groups is important to identify those at high risk for future cardiovascular events.

Relationship between literacy, knowledge, self-care behaviors, and heart failure-related quality of life among patients with heart failure.

Background: We sought to examine the relationship between literacy and heart failure-related quality of life (HFQOL), and to explore whether literacy-related differences in knowledge, self-efficacy and/or self-care behavior explained the relationship.

Methods: We recruited patients with symptomatic heart failure (HF) from four academic medical centers. Patients completed the short version of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (TOFHLA) and questions on HF-related knowledge, HF-related self-efficacy, and self-care behaviors.

Gender and racial differences in psychosocial factors of low-income patients with heart failure.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a debilitating chronic disease with incidence and prevalence continuing to increase, particularly in low-income, minority groups. Psychosocial variables have recently emerged as important predictors of cardiovascular risk and health outcomes in HF. However few data exist in this group.

B-type Natriuretic Peptide (BNP) is useful in detecting asymptomatic left ventricular dysfunction in low-income, uninsured patients.

Unlabelled: Low-income, uninsured individuals with multiple cardiovascular risk factors (CRFs) are at risk of heart failure (HF). B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) screening for asymptomatic left ventricular dysfunction (ALVD) has not been tested specifically in this group. The purposes of this study were to describe BNP levels in asymptomatic low-income, uninsured individuals with multiple CRFs and determine the correlation between BNP levels and echocardiography for identifying ALVD.

Comparison of a one-time educational intervention to a teach-to-goal educational intervention for self-management of heart failure: design of a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is common, costly and associated with significant morbidity and poor quality of life, particularly for patients with low socioeconomic status. Self-management training has been shown to reduce HF related morbidity and hospitalization rates, but there is uncertainty about how best to deliver such training and what patients benefit. This study compares a single session self-management HF training program against a multiple session training intervention and examines whether their effects differ by literacy level.

Self-care behaviors in indigent patients with heart failure.

Background: Self-care has been shown to be an effective strategy to decrease heart failure (HF) costs and improve patient outcomes. However, high symptom burden, overall poor health, and economic and financial concerns in socioeconomically disadvantaged populations such as those of low socioeconomic status and those who are indigent or uninsured may have difficulty performing self-care behaviors. Currently, little is known about this group and their self-care behaviors.