Improving Intraoperative Parathyroid Hormone Specimen Handling and Processing.

Surgeons request intraoperative parathyroid hormone (PTH) monitoring during parathyroidectomy procedures to confirm identification of abnormal gland tissue. Generally, a 50% decrease in the baseline PTH level indicates the abnormal tissue has been removed. A delay in collecting and processing PTH blood samples can complicate intraoperative decision making and prolong the procedure.

Factors Associated With Reporting Attitudes of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Direct Care Workers in South Korea.

Background: Workers' reporting of work-related injuries or illnesses is important for treatment and prevention, yet research often focuses on reporting barriers. This study aimed to identify factors related to work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WRMSD) reporting attitudes and their connection to reporting intention and behavior.

Methods: We analyzed data from 377 direct care workers employed in 19 long-term care facilities in South Korea.

Health Insurance Matters: Insurance Coverage and Health Service Use Among Direct Care Workers in the United States.

Objectives: Direct care workers (DCWs) play a central role in supporting individuals' health and well-being across care settings, yet may face barriers to accessing health care themselves, particularly because of high rates of uninsurance.

Design: An observational study using pooled National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data from 2014 to 2018.

Setting And Participants: The sample included survey respondents employed as direct care workers (DCWs), including hospital aides, home care workers, and nursing and residential care aides.

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.

Personal Care Aides: Assessing Self-Care Needs And Worker Shortages In Rural Areas.

Previous research has documented shortages of personal care aides who provide Medicaid home and community-based services, but there are few detailed geographic data to determine the areas of greatest need and assess the availability of personal care aides nationwide. Using 2013-17 data from the American Community Survey and the Office of Management and Budget, we analyzed potential need for personal care aide services among adults and the supply of aides across the US. Areas with the highest percentages of adults with self-care disability were mainly in the South, and the gap between the potential need for personal care aide services and the aide supply was greatest in southern states.

The Association of Race, Ethnicity, and Wages Among Registered Nurses in Long-term Care.

Objective: This study seeks to measure wage differences between registered nurses (RNs) working in long-term care (LTC) (eg, nursing homes, home health) and non-LTC settings (eg, hospitals, ambulatory care) and whether differences are associated with the characteristics of the RN workforce between and within settings.

Study Design: This was a cross-sectional design. This study used the 2018 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (NSSRN) public-use file to examine RN employment and earnings.

Recommendations to Deliver Person-Centered Long-Term Care for Persons Living With Dementia.

Person-centered care (PCC) is the standard for the delivery of long-term services and supports (LTSS). In this article, we summarize the state of the science on meaningful outcomes and workforce development and discuss what is needed to ensure that person-centered LTSS becomes a universal reality. These 2 themes are intimately related: the dementia care workforce's capacity cannot be improved until care processes and outcomes that are significant to PCC are explicated.

A retrospective comparison of guidelines to assess hospital-diagnosed urinary tract infection in nursing home residents.

Background: Inappropriate antibiotic treatments for urinary tract infection (UTI) in nursing home (NH) residents are common and contribute to antibiotic resistance. Published guidelines aim to improve accurate assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of UTIs. This study assessed whether records from hospitalized NH residents diagnosed with UTI, while comparing the Cooper Tool and Stone criteria, supported appropriate treatment.

Nurse practitioner students as an essential workforce: The lessons of coronavirus disease 2019.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disrupted the education and clinical training of nursing students. Clinical sites shut out students over low equipment supplies, physical distancing requirements, and redeployment of staff.

Purpose And Methods: The purpose of this paper is to highlight a progressive solution to engage nurse practitioner students as part of the COVID-19 response given the disruption of their traditional clinical training environments so that student could continue to matriculate and graduate in a timely manner.

Medical Staffing Organization and Quality of Care Outcomes in Post-acute Care Settings.

Background And Objectives: Medical providers are significant drivers of care in post-acute long-term care (PALTC) settings, yet little research has examined the medical provider workforce and its role in ensuring quality of care.

Research Design And Methods: This study examined the impact of nursing home medical staffing organization (NHMSO) dimensions on the quality of care in U.S.

Admission of first generation to college pre-licensure master's entry and graduate nursing students.

Background And Purpose: A growing body of literature is examining the relationships between socio-demographic factors influencing recruitment and retention of students in higher education. The purpose of this study was to explore the characteristics of first generation to college (First-Gen) nursing applicants including socio-demographic variables compared to applicants whose parents received a higher education degree. We also aimed to explore whether acceptance or rejection into the program varied based on an applicant's First-Gen identification.

Medical Care Delivery in U.S. Nursing Homes: Current and Future Practice.

The delivery of medical care services in U.S. nursing homes (NHs) is dependent on a workforce that comprises physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants.

Learning to Lead: Reflections from the Tideswell-AGS-ADGAP Emerging Leaders in Aging Program Scholars.

The Tideswell Emerging Leaders in Aging (ELIA) Program is a 1-year leadership training program focused on developing a sustainable pipeline of leaders in aging who are poised to lead initiatives that will optimize the health of older people. The Tideswell ELIA Program is jointly administered by the American Geriatrics Society, the Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs, and Tideswell at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), a program within the Division of Geriatrics at UCSF. The ELIA Program prepares early to midcareer healthcare professionals in aging (scholars) for their transition into key leadership roles that involve one or more areas of patient care, education, and research.

Entrustable professional activities for quality and patient safety.

Background: Further efforts are warranted to identify innovative approaches to best implement competencies in nursing education. To bridge the gap between competency-based education, practice, and implementation of knowledge, skills, and attitudes, one emerging approach is entrustable professional activities (EPAs).

Purpose: The objective of this study was to introduce the concept of EPAs as a framework for curriculum and assessment in graduate nursing education and training.

Nursing Home Patient Safety Culture Perceptions Among US and Immigrant Nurses.

Unlabelled: Patient safety is a global concern, yet little is known about how and whether perceptions of patient safety culture (PSC) vary by nurses' countries of origin and preparation. This is particularly important in American nursing homes (NHs), which are increasingly hiring non-US born and prepared nurses to fill staffing needs.

Objectives: This study compared the PSC perceptions of foreign and domestic born and trained nurses working in urban NHs in 5 states to analyze how nurses' PSC perceptions corresponded to their personal and professional characteristics.

Nurses' Communication of Safety Events to Nursing Home Residents and Families.

Although communication is an essential part of the nursing process, nurses have little to no formal education in how to best communicate patient safety event (PSE) information to nursing home (NH) residents and their family members. The current mixed-methods study tested an intervention aimed at educating nurses on how to communicate a PSE to residents/family members using a structured communication tool. Nurse participants improved their knowledge of PSE communication, especially about the cause of the event, what they would say to the resident/family member, and future prevention of the PSE.

Physical Restraints: Consensus of a Research Definition Using a Modified Delphi Technique.

Objectives: To develop an internationally accepted research definition of physical restraint.

Design: Comprehensive literature search followed by a web-based, three-round, modified Delphi technique comprising reviews and feedback.

Setting: Clinical care settings.

Implementation of the High-Risk Alcoholism Relapse Scale in a Liver Transplant Clinic.

Because of the high prevalence of alcohol relapse after liver transplantation, transplant programs are challenged to evaluate alcoholism among liver transplant patients. Relapse after liver transplantation can have detrimental outcomes such as organ rejection, medical and social resource exhaustion, financial burden to the family and society, and negative public perception of organ transplantation. The purpose of this project was to improve post-liver transplant assessment for the risk of relapse to heavy alcohol use by implementing a protocol using the High-Risk Alcoholism Relapse (HRAR) scale (DiMartini et al.

Implementation of Mental Health Huddles on Dementia Care Units.

Client-responsive behaviours occur commonly among residents in long-term care (LTC) settings; direct-care staff, however, receive little education, support, or opportunities to discuss and collaborate on managing such behaviours. Our participatory action project introduced mental health huddles to support staff in discussing and managing client-responsive behaviours in long-term care. This research project engaged direct-care staff (e.

Accreditation and Resident Safety in Ontario Long-Term Care Homes.

Objective: To determine if accreditation is associated with better resident safety processes and outcomes in 587 Ontario long-term care (LTC) homes. A second area of interest is whether LTC home characteristics influence pursuit of accreditation.

Findings: Out of five safety areas examined, accreditation was only associated with a lower occurrence of falls.

Resident and Facility Factors Associated With the Incidence of Urinary Tract Infections Identified in the Nursing Home Minimum Data Set.

Objective: This research examined resident and facility-specific factors associated with a diagnosis of a urinary tract infection (UTI) in the nursing home setting.

Method: Minimum Data Set and Online Survey, Certification and Reporting system data were used to identify all nursing home residents in the United States on April 1, 2006, who did not have a UTI ( n = 1,138,418). Residents were followed until they contracted a UTI (9.

Examining differences in nurses' language, accent, and comprehensibility in nursing home settings based on birth origin and country of education.

As nursing homes turn abroad to fill vacancies, the diverse linguistic backgrounds of nurse hires are creating new challenges in comprehensibility between nurses, providers, and residents. Accents are a natural part of spoken language that may present difficulty even when the parties involved are speaking the same language. We surveyed 1,629 nurses working in 98 nursing homes (NHs) in five U.

The benefits associated with volunteering among seniors: a critical review and recommendations for future research.

There is an urgent need to identify lifestyle activities that reduce functional decline and dementia associated with population aging. The goals of this article are to review critically the evidence on the benefits associated with formal volunteering among older adults, propose a theoretical model of how volunteering may reduce functional limitations and dementia risk, and offer recommendations for future research. Database searches identified 113 papers on volunteering benefits in older adults, of which 73 were included.