Healing from Childhood Loss.

Childhood loss creates environmental challenges that disrupt the integrity of body-mind-spirit, having profound lifelong effects on both health outcomes and life satisfaction. The author in this report describes a middle-range theory of healing childhood loss, which can be used to guide practice and research. Theoretical influences are Levine's conservation model of nursing, the theory of chronic sorrow, and the adverse childhood experiences pyramid.

Childhood Loss Experiences, Religiousness/Spirituality, and Hope as Predictors of Adult Life Satisfaction.

The purpose of this study was to explore how adaptive patterns of religiousness/spirituality and hope predict adult life satisfaction in adults, even if they had childhood loss experiences. Using a cross-sectional survey design with132 adult participants (mean age 33.8 ± 15.

Better Together: A Win-Win Pediatric Academic Partnership.

As healthcare facilities and academic nursing programs are challenged to be efficient and effective in light of an ever-changing healthcare system, recent literature has focused on the value of creating academic practice partnerships. Using the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) and American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) Academic Practice Partnership Guiding Principles, a children’s hospital and state university are working collaboratively to improve evidence-based practice and research, create innovative educational opportunities for undergraduate and advanced practice students, promote academic progression that enables nurses to advance their education, improve access to health care services for underserved families, and implement initiatives that improve patient- and family-centered care. This article will describe the initiatives, processes, and outcomes of this fruitful partnership.

Neonatal abstinence syndrome: evaluating the effectiveness of an evidence-based multidisciplinary care approach.

An evidence-based, multidisciplinary neonatal abstinence syndrome protocol was developed using a stepwise continuous quality improvement (CQI) approach with the goal of standardizing care procedures for these infants. A retrospective secondary data analysis was performed to evaluate the differential effects of each step of the CQI project on 4 key clinical outcome measures: length of stay (total and post-opioid wean), weaning time from opioids, and use of adjunct medications. Data were analyzed from 386 newborn infants with a diagnosis of neonatal abstinence syndrome undergoing treatment in a level III neonatal intensive care unit.

Religiousness/Spirituality and anger management in community-dwelling older persons.

Mismanaged anger is associated with adverse health outcomes. This study examined whether dimensions of religiousness/spirituality could predict healthy anger management in a sample of 82 community-dwelling older Americans. A correlational research design was employed using the Deffenbacher Anger Scale and the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality.

Evaluating nurse staffing patterns and neonatal intensive care unit outcomes using Levine's Conservation Model of Nursing.

Aims: To explore the influences of intensity of nursing care and consistency of nursing caregivers on health and economic outcomes using Levine's Conservation Model of Nursing as the guiding theoretical framework.

Background: Professional nursing practice models are increasingly being used although limited research is available regarding their efficacy.

Method: A structural equation modelling approach tested the influence of intensity of nursing care (direct care by professional nurses and patient-nurse ratio) and consistency of nursing caregivers on morbidity and resource utilization in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) setting using primary nursing.

Becoming an older volunteer: a grounded theory study.

This Grounded Theory study describes the process by which older persons "become" volunteers. Forty interviews of older persons who volunteered for Habitat for Humanity were subjected to secondary content analysis to uncover the process of "becoming" a volunteer. "Helping out" (core category) for older volunteers occurs within the context of "continuity", "commitment" and "connection" which provide motivation for volunteering.

Relationships among stress, infectious illness, and religiousness/spirituality in community-dwelling older adults.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among stress, infectious illness, and religiousness/spirituality in community-dwelling older adults in the southeastern United States. Four assessment tools were completed by 82 older adults (mean age = 74, age range = 65 to 91): the Perceived Stress Scale, the Carr Infection Symptom Checklist (SCL), the Brief Multidimensional Measurement of Religiousness/Spirituality, and a demographic form. A significant correlation was found between stress and SCL scores; however, four dimensions of religiousness/spirituality moderated the relationship between stress and infection.

Predictors of American elders' home stay: a secondary data analysis study.

The purpose of this study was to identify the predictors of home stay for American elders. This study used a cross-sectional, descriptive, secondary data analysis design. The National Home and Hospice Care Survey 2000 (NHHCS 2000) public-use data files were used for this study.

The relationship between leadership styles and empathy among student nurses.

Much of the nursing literature on leadership describes the qualities of existing nursing leaders, while emphasizing the need for leadership development in student nurses for both managerial and clinical practice. However, there is a lack of research literature on the characteristics of current students. Conducted by the University of Tennessee College of Nursing Empathy Research Group, this pilot study explores the relationship between leadership styles and empathy (cognitive and affective) levels.

Growing up and growing older.

Americans are living longer than ever before. A child born today can expect to live 80 years, 90 years, or longer. Many of today's children will live to be centenarians.

A theory of health promotion for preterm infants based on Levine's Conservation Model of Nursing.

The infant born prior to the completion of term gestation faces many challenges in order to merely survive in the extrauterine environment. A preterm birth is also a time of extreme crisis for the family. There is a great need for the refinement of nursing practice models for neonatal intensive care nursing, to assure that the holistic nursing care needs of the infant and family are met.