Nurses' protocol-based care decision-making: a multiple case study.

Aim: To describe and explain nurses' protocol-based care decision-making.

Background: Protocol-based care is a strategy to reduce variability in clinical practice. There are no studies looking at protocol-based care decision-making.

Learned Helplessness and Sexual Risk Taking in Adolescent and Young Adult African American Females.

Research involving adolescent and young African American (AA) females has demonstrated that they face uncontrollable obstacles which can interfere with the negotiation of safer sexual behaviors. If these obstacles are perceived as uncontrollable, then these females may be at risk for the development of Learned Helplessness (LH). As the LH model predicts, if these obstacles are believed not to be in their control, it may lead to deficits in motivational or cognitive decision-making, deficits that could certainly influence their sexual risk taking behaviors.

Musculoskeletal Injury Prevention for New Nurses.

Nurses continue to sustain musculoskeletal injuries even with increased emphasis on safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM) and organizational cultures of safety to protect health care workers. Analysis of data from 2011-2014 registered nurse graduates explored hospital safety culture, SPHM education/training, and incidence of new-nurse musculoskeletal injury. Results indicated hospitals provided some type of SPHM education and training, but 46% of study participants were not informed or aware of national SPHM standards or guidelines.

Using simulation to improve the medication administration skills of undergraduate nursing students.

Aim: This quasi-experimental pilot study examined simulation methods to improve nursing students' medication calculation and administration abilities.

Background: Approximately 25 percent of junior-level students in the nursing program who took a medication administration exam (MAE) failed in their first attempt. It was theorized that simulation could facilitate their success.

Acute ischemic stroke and hyperglycemia.

To increase the comprehension about the profound effects of hyperglycemia within the first 48 hours poststroke on the outcomes of acute ischemic stroke, the authors reviewed multiple studies and literature reviews. Research supports the detrimental effects of hyperglycemia on the morbidity and mortality of patients diagnosed with acute ischemic stroke. The studies that were examined revealed that although further research is necessary, controlling hyperglycemia is overall beneficial to support superior clinical outcomes.

Constructivist philosophy and nursing student medication calculations.

Prelicensure nursing students often have difficulty performing medication calculations (MCs). Faculty at one baccalaureate nursing program wanted to use nursing theory to guide the development of a teaching-learning approach related to MC's. Finding little theory related to the topic of MCs, a constructivist-based teaching-learning approach was used instead.

The relationship of self-esteem and risky sexual behaviors in young African-American women.

In the United States, African-American women are at disproportionate risk for contracting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and face the most profound burden of HIV infection. Reducing the risk of exposure to HIV in African-American women is a priority for health-care providers. The findings of this study add to the existing literature by examining the relationship of self-esteem and risky sexual behaviors in young African-American women.

Reducing HIV in Michigan African American young adult women.

African American (AA) women are at disproportionate risk for contracting HIV, which has reached epidemic proportions, especially in women of color. Reducing the risk of exposure to HIV in AA women is a priority for health care providers. Despite the many studies conducted on HIV in the AA community, factors that influence sexual risk taking, such as non-condom use by AA women, have yet to be understood.

Patient and family education in the emergency department: how nurses can help.

Non-emergent use of the emergency department has grown over the past decade. Lack of resources, access to care, medical insurance, and knowledge can all contribute to the inappropriate use of the emergency department. In return, the increase in the number of patients will then add to the wait time for those who need emergent treatment.

Critical care open visiting hours.

To gain an understanding of and increased knowledge about the effects of open visiting hours on patients, their family members, and nurses within the intensive care unit environment, the author reviewed 10 empirical studies. Much has been debated about the essentials needed to create a healing environment that best promotes harmony of the mind, body, and spirit for the critically ill patient. Research indicates an open visiting policy may improve the quality of care and satisfaction of patients, family members, and nurses in the intensive care unit.

The effect of context on nursing student math aptitude.

Math proficiency is a prerequisite to the performance of many nursing functions, including medication calculations, but many nursing students have difficulty performing this basic clinical skill. Research has demonstrated that math aptitude alone does not fully explain student outcomes on medication calculation assessments (MCAs), and contextual factors associated with reading and interpreting written medication questions are important for nurse educators to better understand. Reading and English aptitude are proposed as two potential contextual factors that may help explain the nursing student's ability to pass a written MCA.

Sleep deprivation among critical care patients.

To gain an understanding and increased knowledge regarding the presence and affects of ambient stressors on patients' sleep and the efficacy of implementing sleep promotion measures within the intensive care unit environment, the author reviewed 10 empirical studies. Research indicates that ambient stressors within the intensive care unit have detrimental effects on patients' sleep, and nursing interventions that focus on the abatement of ambient stressors enhance patients' sleep. In the intensive care unit, optimizing the environment to promote sleep requires the active removal of ambient stressors.

Coping with HIV: perspectives of mothers.

This qualitative study explored how HIV-infected mothers cope with a diagnosis of HIV and their resulting life circumstances. The study was a secondary analysis of qualitative semistructured interviews with a subgroup of women (N = 35) who had participated in a larger quantitative and qualitative longitudinal study, Living with HIV/AIDS: Mother-Child Coping and Adjustment. The sample for the current study was primarily low-income HIV-infected mothers.

The process of disclosing HIV serostatus between HIV-positive mothers and their HIV-negative children.

The current study explores the impact of HIV disease on mothers as they face the task of balancing their own physical and psychological needs with the needs of their families as well as the additional burden of deciding whether to disclose their HIV status to their children. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 35 women and 19 children 10-18 years of age. Mothers were interviewed about the experience of being an HIV-positive mother and issues regarding disclosure.