Clinical Leadership: A Call to Action.

Clinical nurses are expected to assume leadership roles to enhance patient care and assure efficient work processes. Dimensions of clinical leadership and the essential knowledge and skills of the clinical leader are described.

Benefits, barriers, sources of influence, and prostate cancer screening among rural men.

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore 3 research questions: (1) What are the perceived benefits of screening for prostate cancer (PC)? (2) What are the perceived barriers to screening for PC? and (3) Is there an association with perceived benefits or perceived barriers and participants' reported source of influence related to prostate cancer screening (PCS) decisions?

Design And Sample: A nonexperimental exploratory design was used for the study. Sample included 94 rural-dwelling male participants aged 40 and older.

Measures: The instruments used included an adapted version of Champion's (1999) revised Health Belief Model scale and a researcher-developed demographic and PCS patterns form.

Caregiver and nurse hopes for recovery of patients with acquired brain injury.

From the moment an adolescent with acquired brain injury (ABI) is admitted to the hospital, his or her caregiver develops hopes for the recovery and future of the patient; however, rehabilitation nurses have reported that these hopes are not always congruent with the nurse's observations of the adolescent's progression. The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) explore the caregiver's hope for recovery of his or her family member who has experienced an ABI, (2) compare the nurse's hopes for the patient with ABI to those of the caregiver, and (3) identify what caregivers and nurses do to maintain hope for recovery during the rehabilitation process. This qualitative study validated that in some cases there was a disconnect between caregivers' and nurses' hopes for recovery.

Nurses nurturing nurses: outcomes and lessons learned.

Retention of new graduate nurses is a challenge for acute care agencies. The Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses sponsored a hospital-based formal mentorship program, Nurses Nurturing Nurses, for interested agencies. The outcomes and lessons learned from this project are presented.

Korean American mother and daughter communication on women's health topics.

The purpose of this study was to explore communication patterns about health behaviors and lifestyles between Korean mothers and daughters living in the United States. Demographic and general health information was also collected. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine Korean mother and daughter dyads.

Nursing care of the person having bariatric surgery.

The increasing incidence of morbid obesity suggests that the quantity of bariatric surgical procedures will continue to multiply each year. Bariatric surgery has become an accepted approach to weight management with the additional benefit of resolution of several co-morbidities. However, quality nursing care and effective patient teaching are essential to achieve positive patient outcomes.

Health related behaviors and cancer screening of lesbians: results of the Boston Lesbian Health Project II.

This paper reports data on health related behaviors and cancer screening from the Boston Lesbian Health Project II (BLHP II), a replication of a national survey of lesbians on a variety of health-related variables completed in 1987. The findings suggest that lesbians have increased their use of primary care, including routine physical examinations, pap smear screening for cervical cancer, and mammography for breast cancer, but that rates continue to be lower than would be expected for women in general. Younger lesbians in this sample smoked at high rates.

The effect of breast cancer screening messages on knowledge, attitudes, perceived risk, and mammography screening of African American women in the rural South.

Purpose/objectives: To determine the effect of three types of breast cancer screening messages (positive/upbeat, neutral/cognitive, and negative/fear) on knowledge, attitudes, perceived risk for breast cancer, and mammography screening of African American women.

Design: Repeated measures intervention.

Setting: Three rural counties in the South.

Comparison of symptoms of younger and older patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery.

Little is known about the symptom experience throughout the trajectory of recovery for patients after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABS). This study investigates the preoperative and postoperative symptoms experienced by younger (< 65 years) and older (> or = 65 years) patients (N= 102) who had undergone CABS. Reported preoperative symptoms were angina, shortness of breath, dizziness, and sweating.

Mentorship: a key to retention and recruitment.

Currently there is renewed interest in the selection of nursing as a career. As nursing education programs graduate more new nurses, the challenge is passed to the clinical agencies to provide an environment in which these novice nurses can flourish and remain engaged in providing quality nursing care. Mentorship programs are essential strategies to retain them in clinical practice as they begin their evolution as professional nurses.

Mentoring managers.

The realities of the nursing shortage, high patient acuity, and high patient-nurse ratios present challenges for today's health care environment. The need for excellent nurse managers cannot be understated if patient care units are to function smoothly. Yet new nurse managers often do not receive the support they need to succeed.

Adult-health/medical-surgical nurses' perceptions of students' contributions to clinical agencies.

The nursing shortage and accompanying increase in nurses' workloads could suggest that the presence of nursing students on clinical units would further increase nurses' responsibilities. Counterbalancing this concern is the need to adequately prepare the next generation of dedicated and skilled nurses. The question arises as to whether nursing students are an asset or liability to clinical agencies.

Does certification status of oncology nurses make a difference in patient outcomes?

Purpose/objectives: To test hypotheses that patients cared for by Oncology Certified Nurses (OCNs(r)) have superior outcomes compared to those cared for by noncertified nurses.

Design: Descriptive ex post facto.

Setting: A homecare agency in the midwestern United States.