Understanding Skin Failure: A Scoping Review.

Objective: To map the use of the term "skin failure" in the literature over time and enhance understanding of this term as it is used in clinical practice.

Data Sources: The databases searched for published literature included PubMed, Embase, the Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Google Scholar. The search for unpublished literature encompassed two databases, Open Gray and ProQuest Dissertation and Theses.

Nurse-Led Randomized Controlled Trials in the Perioperative Setting: A Scoping Review.

Purpose: Nurses provide care at each phase of the complex, perioperative pathway and are well placed to identify areas of care requiring investigation in randomized controlled trials. Yet, currently, the scope of nurse-led randomized controlled trials conducted within the perioperative setting are unknown. This scoping review aims to identify areas of perioperative care in which nurse-led randomized controlled trials have been conducted, to identify issues impacting upon the quality of these trials and identify gaps for future investigation.

Acute Skin Failure in the Critically Ill Adult Population: A Systematic Review.

General Purpose: To present a systematic review of the literature conducted to define and extend knowledge of the risk factors, causes, and antecedent conditions of acute skin failure (ASF) in adult intensive care patients.

Target Audience: This continuing education activity is intended for physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and nurses with an interest in skin and wound care.

Learning Objectives/outcomes: After participating in this educational activity, the participant should be better able to:1.

Daily 2% chlorhexidine gluconate bath wash in a tertiary adult intensive care and high dependency units to reduce risk of hospital acquired multi resistant organisms: a best practice implementation project.

Background: There is growing evidence that the incidence of hospital acquired multi resistant organisms are increasing worldwide. Intensive care patients are particularly prone to hospital-acquired infections. In an effort to combat increasing nosocomial infections rates within the intensive care/high dependency unit setting, Canberra Hospital has implemented a daily 2% chlorhexidine gluconate bath wash in combination as part of a best practice policy to reduce hospital acquired multi resistant organism rates of colonization.

Risk assessment and decision making about in-labour transfer from rural maternity care: a social judgment and signal detection analysis.

Background: The importance of respecting women's wishes to give birth close to their local community is supported by policy in many developed countries. However, persistent concerns about the quality and safety of maternity care in rural communities have been expressed. Safe childbirth in rural communities depends on good risk assessment and decision making as to whether and when the transfer of a woman in labour to an obstetric led unit is required.

Identification of occupational therapy clinical expertise: decision-making characteristics.

Background: Experts are usually determined on the basis of length of experience, reputation, peer acknowledgement, and certification. While these characteristics are important they may, however, not be sufficient for this purpose. Another method for determining clinical expertise is to look at how individuals make decisions in their area of expertise.

The effects of time pressure and experience on nurses' risk assessment decisions: a signal detection analysis.

Background: Time pressure and, occasionally, suboptimal assessment decisions are features of nursing in acute care.

Objectives: To explore the effect of generic and specialist clinical experience on the ability to detect the need to take action in acute care and the impact of time pressure on nurses' decision-making performance.

Methods: Experienced acute care registered nurses (n = 241) were presented with 50 vignettes of real clinical risk assessments.

Nursing's ways of knowing and dual process theories of cognition.

Aim: This paper is a comparison of nursing's patterns of knowing with the systems identified by cognitive science, and evaluates claims about the equal-status relation between scientific and non-scientific knowledge.

Background: Ever since Carper's seminal paper in 1978, it has been taken for granted in the nursing literature that there are ways of knowing, or patterns of knowing, that are not scientific. This idea has recently been used to argue that the concept of evidence, typically associated with evidence-based practice, is inappropriately restricted because it is identified exclusively with scientific research.

Occupational therapists' decision-making in the management of clients with upper limb hypertonicity.

This study applied social judgement theory to the exploration of factors influencing occupational therapists' decision-making when they manage upper limb hypertonicity in clients with cerebral palsy. To achieve this goal, both objective and stated policies were investigated. This quantitative study drew information from a literature review and a survey with experienced occupational therapists to identify 12 factors that could influence decision-making.

Distinguishing between learning and motivation in behavioral tests of the reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality.

According to Gray's (1973) Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST), a Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) and a Behavioral Activation System (BAS) mediate effects of goal conflict and reward on behavior. BIS functioning has been linked with individual differences in trait anxiety and BAS functioning with individual differences in trait impulsivity. In this article, it is argued that behavioral outputs of the BIS and BAS can be distinguished in terms of learning and motivation processes and that these can be operationalized using the Signal Detection Theory measures of response-sensitivity and response-bias.

A systematic review of structured group interventions with mentally disordered offenders.

Background: Over the last 15 years, rehabilitation of offenders has been rigorously researched, resulting in new knowledge and understanding about factors decreasing recidivism amongst them. Typically, such interventions have been based on cognitive behavioural therapy. However, until recently, little research had been carried out on the rehabilitation of offenders with mental disorder.

A SAS Macro for Jackknifing the Results of Discriminant Analyses.

In discriminant analysis, the correlations between the variables and the discriminant functions, structure coefficients, are used in interpretation. Rules of thumb are used to set a cut-off value. It would be useful for structure coefficients to be at least statistically significantly different from zero before being used in an interpretation.

What value is given to quality of life assessment by health professionals considering response to palliative chemotherapy for advanced cancer?

A study was designed to obtain information on the importance of quality of life assessment (QL) during palliative chemotherapy. A questionnaire was answered by 542 health professionals (392 general practitioners, 20 specialist oncologists, and 130 oncology nurses). In both simulated patient situations and multiple-choice questions, all groups rated QL higher than other standard methods of assessment.

The relationship of child abuse indicators to the assessment of perceived risk and to the court's decision to separate.

The most serious decision taken in child abuse cases is to formally separate the child and the family. There has been concern that the criteria for making these decisions should be made explicit. The consequences of the separation for the child, family, and society is one set of reasons for this concern.

A multiple-observations model for response latency and the latencies of correct and incorrect responses in recognition memory.

A model for response latency in recognition memory is described which is a strength model incorporating the notion of multiple observations and with the additional assumptions that the variance of the strength distributions increase with set size and that the observer attempts to keep his error rate at a constant level over set size. It is shown that the model can, without recourse to particular parameter values, predict a near linear RT set-size function and, since it is a (TSD) model in its decision aspects, can account for errors and hence error latencies in the recognition task. After the model is described, two experiments are performed which test the prediction that correct mean latency is generally shorter than incorrect mean latency.