Sleep symptoms signaling the menopausal transition.

Study Objectives: To describe changes in sleep quality and associated sleep symptoms as women begin menopausal transition compared with premenopausal controls.

Methods: In a repeated-measures design, we analyzed data collected every 2-6 months from a community-based sample of 223 women aged 40-50 (45.6 ± 2.

Sleep Self-Report and Actigraphy Measures in Healthy Midlife Women: Validity of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index.

Validity of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) has not been established for midlife women before menopause, and evidence suggests that two-factor or three-factor models may be more informative than the PSQI global score derived from its seven components. We hypothesized that the PSQI and its factor structure would be valid in premenopausal women. We performed a validation study of the PSQI against wrist actigraphy in a community-based convenience sample of 71 healthy premenopausal women (aged 40-50 years).

Nurse practitioner students as an essential workforce: The lessons of coronavirus disease 2019.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disrupted the education and clinical training of nursing students. Clinical sites shut out students over low equipment supplies, physical distancing requirements, and redeployment of staff.

Purpose And Methods: The purpose of this paper is to highlight a progressive solution to engage nurse practitioner students as part of the COVID-19 response given the disruption of their traditional clinical training environments so that student could continue to matriculate and graduate in a timely manner.

Academic/clinical nursing integration in academic health systems.

Background: Sustained partnerships that strengthen and expand nursing's contribution to the integration of academic nursing into clinical practice holds the promise of improving Academic Health Systems (AHS).

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework whereby academic/clinical integration can be achieved within the AHS to enhance relationships between academe and clinical nursing entities.

Methods: Nursing deans and chief nurse officers/vice presidents from top ranked AHS offer perspectives to advance the integration of nursing leadership into the governance of high functioning AHS.

Depressive symptoms associated with physical health problems in midlife women: A longitudinal study.

Background: It is unclear if the relationship between depression and physical health problems in women is related to age, reproductive stage, obesity or socio-demographic risk factors.

Methods: Longitudinal data were obtained every 6 months for 36 months in 264 midlife African American, Caucasian and Latina women who began the study as healthy regularly menstruating 40 to 50-year-olds; 75 transitioned to peri- or post-menopause by 36 months. Scores of 16 or higher on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale were used to estimate depression risk.

Family Involvement in Adult Chronic Disease Care: Reviewing the Systematic Reviews.

Health care providers, policy makers, and investigators are dependent upon the quality and accuracy of published research findings to inform and guide future practice and research in their field. Systematic reviews, the synthesis of outcomes across studies are increasingly more common in the family literature; however, published review reports often lack information on strategies reviewers used to insure dependability of findings, and minimize methodological bias in the review. In this article, we summarize findings from systematic reviews of interventions and outcomes from family involvement in adult chronic disease care published between 2007 and 2016.

The Digital Drag and Drop Pillbox: Design and Feasibility of a Skill-based Education Model to Improve Medication Management.

Objective: We present the design and feasibility testing for the "Digital Drag and Drop Pillbox" (D-3 Pillbox), a skill-based educational approach that engages patients and providers, measures performance, and generates reports of medication management skills.

Methods: A single-cohort convenience sample of patients hospitalized with heart failure was taught pill management skills using a tablet-based D-3 Pillbox. Medication reconciliation was conducted, and aptitude, performance (% completed), accuracy (% correct), and feasibility were measured.

Implementing Electronic Tablet-Based Education of Acute Care Patients.

Poor education-related discharge preparedness for patients with heart failure is believed to be a major cause of avoidable rehospitalizations. Technology-based applications offer innovative educational approaches that may improve educational readiness for patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings; however, a number of challenges exist when implementing electronic devices in the clinical setting. Implementation challenges include processes for "on-boarding" staff, mediating risks of cross-contamination with patients' device use, and selling the value to staff and health system leaders to secure the investment in software, hardware, and system support infrastructure.

Adapters, strugglers, and case managers: a typology of spouse caregivers.

Although family home care problems are frequently described in the health care literature, the ways in which families and other informal caregivers manage those problems are not often addressed. We conducted a descriptive analysis of interviews in which spouses caring for a partner with Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease were asked to describe difficult home care problems and how they managed those problems. Analysis of these interviews indicated three recurring management styles.

The language of data: tools to translate evidence for nurses in clinical practice.

In clinical practice, nurses are expected to understand and implement the science that supports patient care, yet they fall short of goals to implement evidence in practice. One reason is difficulty in interpreting research results. Interpretation requires an ability to read and speak a language that many nurses have never mastered-the language of data.

Finding meaning in caring for a spouse with dementia.

Dementia caregiving can be burdensome with many challenges, especially for spousal caregivers who are elderly and may have limited resources and chronic conditions of their own. However, it can also be an opportunity for growth and transcendence. Thematic qualitative analysis was conducted with 11 caregiver interviews to investigate how spousal caregivers of individuals with dementia found personal meaning in their caregiving experience.

Physical activity, weight, and waist circumference in midlife women.

During midlife years, women are at risk of increasing body weight and waist circumference. We evaluated changes in weight and waist circumference from enrollment to 2 years later and examined the influence of physical activity level on those changes among 232 women aged between 40 and 50. Weight increased significantly for the entire sample.

An academic-health service partnership in nursing: lessons from the field.

Purpose: To describe the development of an academic-health services partnership undertaken to improve use of evidence in clinical practice.

Approach: Academic health science schools and health service settings share common elements of their missions: to educate, participate in research, and excel in healthcare delivery, but differences in the business models, incentives, and approaches to problem solving can lead to differences in priorities. Thus, academic and health service settings do not naturally align their leadership structures or work processes.

Body mass index in multiethnic midlife women: influence of demographic characteristics and physical activity.

We examined the influence of demographic characteristics and physical activity on body mass index (BMI) in multiethnic midlife women. A sample of 236 African, European, and Mexican/Central Americans aged 40-50 completed the initial, 1-year, and 2-year assessments. The effects of demographic characteristics and physical activity on BMI at the 2-year assessment were evaluated using hierarchical multiple regression analysis.

Clinical leadership development in accelerated baccalaureate nursing students: an education innovation.

Nursing faculty members are responsible for assuring competence and safety in the preparation of prelicensure students who are preparing to deliver care in diverse settings. The growing complexity of care and the rapid expansion of knowledge have challenged the adequacy of traditional educational approaches. Proposed solutions have encouraged closer integration of classroom and clinical teaching.

Recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce in nursing: from evidence to best practices to policy.

Health policy makers, providers, clinicians, and social scientists are among those who have identified racial and ethnic diversification of the health care workforce as one strategy for solving the seemingly intractable problem of health disparities in the U.S. population.

The nature and scope of stressful spousal caregiving relationships.

The caregiving literature provides compelling evidence that caregiving burden and depressive symptoms are linked with stressful care relationships, however, relational difficulties around caregiving are seldom described in the literature. This article presents findings from content analysis of baseline interviews with 40 Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) spousal caregivers enrolled in a home care skill-training trial who identified their care relationship as a source of care burden. Disappointment and sadness about the loss of the relationship; tension within the relationship; and care decision conflicts within the relationship were recurrent themes of relational stress in caregiving.