Psychosocial Effects of a Holistic Ayurvedic Approach to Well-being in Health and Wellness Courses.

Background: As individuals are increasingly attending health and wellness courses outside of the conventional medical system, there is a need to obtain objective data on the effects of those programs on well-being.

Methods: In total, 154 men and women (mean age 54.7 years; range 25-83) participated in 3 different holistic wellness programs based on Ayurvedic Medicine principles (Seduction of Spirit, Journey into Healing, and Perfect Health) or a vacation control group.

The Effects of Grounding (Earthing) on Bodyworkers' Pain and Overall Quality of Life: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: It is well known that massage therapists routinely develop a number of health problems related to their profession.

Purpose: To determine the effects of grounding on massage therapists' quality of life and pain. Grounding, refers to being in direct body contact with the ground, such as walking barefoot on humid soil or on grass.

Relationships among classifications of ayurvedic medicine diagnostics for imbalances and western measures of psychological states: An exploratory study.

Background: According to Ayurveda, the traditional medical system of India, doshas are a combination of characteristics based on a five-element philosophy that drive our mental and physical tendencies. When the doshas, or functional principles, are out of balance in quality or quantity, wellbeing is adversely affected and symptoms manifest.

Objective: This study examined relationships among imbalances in the doshas (termed Vikruti) reported via questionnaire and Western measures of psychological states.

Change in Sense of Nondual Awareness and Spiritual Awakening in Response to a Multidimensional Well-Being Program.

Objective: This study examined the effects of a comprehensive mind-body program on sense of nondual awareness and spiritual awakening.

Design And Intervention: The study compared the effects of participation in an intensive 6-day Ayurveda-based mind-body program that addressed physical, emotional, and spiritual domains as compared with a control condition.

Setting: Resort setting.

The Self-Directed Biological Transformation Initiative and Well-Being.

Objective: To examine the effects of a comprehensive residential mind-body program on well-being.

Design: The Self-Directed Biological Transformation Initiative was a quasi-randomized trial comparing the effects of participation in a 6-day Ayurvedic system of medicine-based comprehensive residential program with a 6-day residential vacation at the same retreat location.

Setting: Retreat setting.

Veterans Health Administration mentoring model for new nurse executives.

A nurse executive mentoring program was implemented through the Veterans Health Administration Office of Nursing Service to standardize orientation and increase retention rates in this vital healthcare role. The Veterans Health Administration system has 154 nurse executives throughout the United States with 74% eligible for retirement. This mentoring program is intended to support the integration of new appointees into the nurse executive role.

Therapeutic challenges identified while implementing a mission and cultural change on an acute inpatient psychiatric unit.

This article describes the transformation of a unit culture within a federal hospital inpatient psychiatric unit. A change from a 30-bed inpatient acute psychiatric unit to a locked acute psychiatric unit with a diversified complex mix of inpatients including management of medical comorbidities required a considerable effort. Extensive reorganization and changes were made through staff education, training and evaluation, unit policy and procedure revision, and unit physical reconstruction for safety and aesthetics.

Nursing leadership succession planning in Veterans Health Administration: creating a useful database.

An electronic database was developed for succession planning and placement of nursing leaders interested and ready, willing, and able to accept an assignment in a nursing leadership position. The tool is a 1-page form used to identify candidates for nursing leadership assignments. This tool has been deployed nationally, with access to the database restricted to nurse executives at every Veterans Health Administration facility for the purpose of entering the names of developed nurse leaders ready for a leadership assignment.