From hospital to home healthcare: the need for medication reconciliation.

Medication reconciliation is a process of comparing medications being used by a client to a current list of prescribed medications to verify its accuracy, and is a best-practice strategy to reduce medication errors. In home healthcare, medication reconciliation includes comparing medications specified in hospital discharge instructions, those taken before the hospitalization, and those now taken by the client, and documenting action taken to resolve discrepancies noted. This exploratory study was designed to describe the adequacy of medication reconciliation in a Midwestern home healthcare agency.

Psychoeducational groups to promote effective coping in school-age children living in violent communities.

Children living in violent communities may experience chronic stress, which may place them at risk to develop mental health problems. Children who learn to cope effectively with stress develop protective mechanisms that promote and enhance mental health. The use of psychoeducational groups to promote and enhance effective coping in children who live in communities with chronic violence has not received much attention in the professional literature.

Life transitions of parents at the unexpected death of a school-age and older child.

The purpose of this study was to describe parents' responses to the unexpected death of a school-age and older child. The nonrandomized sample consisted of 16 mothers and 11 fathers who each were interviewed at least 1 year after their child's death and who were not in active therapy for grief resolution at the time of their participation. Data were collected in single, tape-recorded, private interviews.

Nursing and marketing: collaborative teaching.

The authors discuss a graduate course in health care marketing using both nursing and marketing professionals in a collaborative teaching effort. Didactic material was supplemented with practical experience in designing promotional and marketing strategies.

Life transition theory: the resolution of uncertainty.

Nurses care for many people undergoing major life transitions, developmental or health related. Selder's life transition theory helps us crawl into their skins and understand what goes on as they face the awesome task of creating a new life and finding meaning in it.