Online Education to Improve Palliative Care Professionals' Knowledge of Sleep Management.

Inadequate sleep is a common problem among those receiving palliative care services, yet there is limited knowledge regarding nonpharmacological sleep interventions among staff. An educational online program was developed to address this deficit. This study assessed the extent of knowledge acquired following the online educational sleep program and determined the feasibility of using this intervention with palliative care professionals.

Intent to stay, moral distress, and nurse practice environment among long-term care nurses: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey study.

Background: Many long-term care facilities in the United States face significant problems with nurse retention and turnover. These challenges are attributed, at least in part, to moral distress and a negative nurse practice environment.

Objective: The purpose of the study was divided into two parts: first, to investigate the relationships among nurse practice environment, moral distress, and intent to stay; second, to explore the potential mediating effect of the nurse practice environment on the intent to stay among those with high levels of moral distress.

Exploring the Relationship Between Health-Illness Transition Experiences and Distress Among Patients With Pancreatic Cancer.

Objectives: To explore the correlation between health-illness transition (HIT) experiences and distress among patients with pancreatic cancer.

Sample & Setting: 55 patients with a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer receiving chemotherapy at a tertiary cancer center in New York.

Methods & Variables: A prospective correlational study was performed to explore the frequency, extent, and management of HITs.

Moral distress in long-term care questionnaire modification and psychometric evaluation.

Background: Licensed nurses working in long-term care facilities experience ethical challenges if not resolved can lead to moral distress. There is a lack of an English-language validated tool to adequately measure moral distress in the long-term care setting.

Aims: To describe the modification and psychometric evaluation of the Moral Distress Questionnaire.

Development and palliative care staff reactions to a sleep regulation educational intervention.

Background: In palliative care, sleep and circadian rhythm problems are common symptoms. Nonpharmacological interventions are available; however, health care providers are not aware of these or lack the knowledge to effectively implement in practice. This study reports the content and design development of the PRIME™ (Program for Improving & Managing Environments for Sleep) sleep online educational intervention as well as the evaluation of the intervention by practicing nurses with a focus on perceived acceptability and satisfaction.

Systematic review: auditory stimulation and sleep.

Study Objectives: Auditory stimulation devices (white and pink noise) are used to mask sounds and facilitate relaxation and sleep; however, the effectiveness of this intervention is not well established. This systematic review examined the scientific literature for the effect of specific types of auditory stimulation on sleep outcomes in adults.

Methods: The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement guided this review.

A Quasi-experimental study on prevention and reduction of involuntary treatment at home (PRITAH) in people with dementia.

Aim And Objectives: To examine the implementation (reach, dose, fidelity, adaptations, satisfaction), mechanisms of impact (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control and intention) and context of the PRITAH intervention.

Background: Involuntary treatment, defined as care provided against one's will, is highly prevalent in home care. The PRITAH intervention comprises policy, workshops, coaching and alternative measures for professional caregivers to prevent and reduce involuntary treatment in home care.

Caregiver decision-making concerning involuntary treatment in dementia care at home.

Background: Dementia care at home often involves decisions in which the caregiver must weigh safety concerns with respect for autonomy. These dilemmas can lead to situations where caregivers provide care against the will of persons living with dementia, referred to as involuntary treatment. To prevent this, insight is needed into how family caregivers of persons living with dementia deal with care situations that can lead to involuntary treatment.

The Role of Frailty in Predicting 3 and 6 Months Functional Decline in Hospitalized Older Adults: Findings from a Secondary Analysis.

Frailty represents one of the most relevant geriatric syndromes in the 21st century and is a predictor of adverse outcomes in hospitalized older adult, such as, functional decline (FD). This study aimed to examine if frailty, evaluated with the Frailty Index (FI), can predict FD during and after hospitalization (3 and 6 months). Secondary data analysis of a prospective cohort study of 101 hospitalized older adults was performed.

Palliative Care Nurse Perceptions of Nonpharmacological Sleep-Promoting Interventions.

Poor quality of sleep is common among those with advanced serious illness. Several interventions have been demonstrated to improve sleep; however, the extent to which these are used is unknown. This study describes nurses' perceptions of 36 nonpharmacological sleep-promoting interventions as well as facilitators and barriers to implementing nonpharmacological interventions.

Involuntary treatment in dementia care at home: Results from the Netherlands and Belgium.

Aims And Objectives: To gain insight into the request, use and associated factors of involuntary treatment in people with dementia (PwD) receiving professional home care in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Background: Most of the PwD remain living at home as long as possible. Due to complex care needs, this can result in an increased risk for care provided against the wishes of the client and/or to which the client resists, referred to as involuntary treatment.

Perceptions of Older Adult Care Among Ambulatory Oncology Nurses.

Background: Most cancer treatment is provided in the ambulatory setting; thus, it is important to know what issues ambulatory oncology nurses identify in their practice with older cancer patients as well as resources that are helpful or are needed.

Objective: The aim of this study was to capture ambulatory oncology nurses' perceptions of the unique aspects of caring for older patients and to present the development process, content validity testing, and psychometric evaluation of a survey designed to denote nurse perceptions of older adult care.

Methods: An expert panel and 2 focus groups informed the development of a 34-item survey scored on a 5-point Likert-type agreement scale and 2 open-ended questions.

Prevention and reduction of involuntary treatment at home: A feasibility study of the PRITAH intervention.

Sometimes care is provided to a cognitively impaired person against the person's will, referred to as involuntary treatment. We developed the PRITAH intervention, aimed at prevention and reduction of involuntary treatment at home. PRITAH consists of a policy discouraging involuntary treatment, workshops, coaching by a specialized nurse and alternative interventions.

Moral Distress and Intention to Leave the Profession: Lithuanian Nurses in Municipal Hospitals.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the level of moral distress experienced by nurses, situations that most often caused moral distress, and the intentions of the nurses to leave the profession.

Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational design was applied in this study. Registered nurses were recruited from five large, urban Lithuanian municipal hospitals representing the five administrative regions in Lithuania.

Development and Testing of the Pain Assessment Tool in Cognitively Impaired Elders (PATCIE): Nonverbal Pain Behaviors in African American and Caucasian Nursing Home Residents with Dementia.

Background: People with dementia experience a decline in language skills required to self-report pain; researchers thus recommend the use of nonverbal behaviors to assess pain. Although multiple instruments exist for assessing nonverbal pain behaviors, psychometric data are lacking for African American nursing home residents with dementia.

Aims And Design: The purpose of this methodological study was to describe the development and testing of the Pain Assessment Tool in Cognitively Impaired Elders (PATCIE) in African American and Caucasian nursing home residents with dementia.

Joint movements associated with minimum toe clearance variability in older adults during level overground walking.

Background: Approximately one-third of falls are caused by the swing foot contacting an object or the ground, resulting in a trip. The increased incidence of trip-related falls among older adults may be explained by greater within-person minimum toe clearance (MTC) variability.

Research Question: Will kinematic variability at any of the 6 major joints in the lower limbs, individually or in combination, be associated with MTC variability?

Methods: This cross-sectional study investigated whether single or multiple joint movements best explained MTC variability in older adults.

Self-Management Interventions for Psychological Distress in Adult Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review.

Psychological distress is prevalent among cancer patients, who may be vulnerable to distress at times of transition, such as a change in symptom experience, employment, or goal of treatment. Independently, both psychological distress and transitions impair patients' quality of life, and together their adverse impact may be intensified. Self-management allows patients to engage in tasks that influence the disease experience and can include strategies to help mitigate distress associated with transitions.

Non-pharmacological solutions to sleep and circadian rhythm disruption: voiced bedside experiences of hospice and end-of-life staff caregivers.

Background: Sleep disturbance is a significant issue, particularly for patients with advanced terminal illness. Currently, there are no practice-based recommended approaches for managing sleep and circadian disruptions in this population. To address this gap, a cross-sectional focus group study was performed engaging 32 staff members at four hospices/end-of-life programs in three demographically diverse counties in New York State.

Professional and family caregivers' attitudes towards involuntary treatment in community-dwelling people with dementia.

Aims: The aim of this study was to gain insight into professional and family caregivers' attitudes towards involuntary treatment in community-dwelling people with dementia (PwD).

Background: The number of PwD with complex care needs living at home is increasing rapidly. In some situations, caregivers provide care against the will of PwD, referred to as involuntary treatment, which includes non-consensual care, psychotropic medication and physical restraints.

Feasibility of a Family-Centered Hospital Intervention.

Approximately one half of the 40 million family caregivers in the United States are regularly performing medical/nursing tasks, with very little training from clinicians. The goal of the current project was to encourage health care and social service professionals to proactively engage family caregivers as partners in care. The phases of the Professional Partners Supporting Family Caregivers project and results of an intervention are presented.

A systematic review of non-pharmacological interventions to improve nighttime sleep among residents of long-term care settings.

Background: Disturbances in sleep and circadian rhythms are common among residents of long-term care facilities. In this systematic review, we aim to identify and evaluate the literature documenting the outcomes associated with non-pharmacological interventions to improve nighttime sleep among long-term care residents.

Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews guided searches of five databases (MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, and Cochrane Library) for articles reporting results of experimental or quasi-experimental studies conducted in long-term care settings (nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, or group homes) in which nighttime sleep was subjectively or objectively measured as a primary outcome.

An Integrative Review of Nonpharmacological Interventions to Improve Sleep among Adults with Advanced Serious Illness.

Background: Sleep fragmentation is common among those with advanced serious illness. Nonpharmacological interventions to improve sleep have few, if any, adverse effects and are often underutilized in these settings.

Objective: We aimed to summarize the literature related to nonpharmacological interventions to improve sleep among adults with advanced serious illness.

Development of a Community-Based Palliative Care Screening Tool for Underserved Older Adults With Chronic Illnesses.

Although they experience high rates of chronic illness, low-income minority communities have traditionally underutilized palliative care services compared to whites and those with higher incomes. One reason for this trend is lack of screening by community providers. We utilized a community-based participatory research approach to develop and implement an innovative multidomain palliative care screening tool in aging service agencies.