Improving work environment perceptions for nurses employed in a rural setting.

Context: Effective recruitment and retention of professional nurses is a survival strategy for health care facilities, especially in rural areas.

Purpose: This study examines the use of the Individual Workload Perception Scale to measure nurse satisfaction by a small rural hospital in order to make positive changes in the work environment for nurses.

Methods: Baseline work environment perceptions of nurses employed in a rural Kentucky hospital were assessed using the Individual Workload Perception Scale, a validated 38-item instrument.

Carboxyhemoglobin levels in patients with flu-like symptoms.

Subacute carbon monoxide poisoning is commonly misdiagnosed as an influenza-like viral illness. All patients presenting to the triage nurse at University Hospital with flu-like symptoms during February 1985 were asked to give blood samples for carboxyhemoglobin determination. Fifty-five patients (10% of those eligible) with headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, general malaise, or shortness of breath were enrolled in the study.