Effect of Intravenous (IV) Assistive Device (VeinViewer) on IV Access Attempts, Procedural Time, and Patient and Nurse Satisfaction.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of VeinViewer for peripheral vascular accessing a pediatric hematology oncology clinic. After obtaining consent, 53 patients were randomly assigned to either the VeinViewer group (n = 27) or standard methods group (n = 26). Data on number of attempts, procedural time, access complications, and patient and nurse satisfaction were collected.

Racial differences in women's prodromal and acute symptoms of myocardial infarction.

Background: Minority women, especially black and Hispanic women, have higher rates of coronary heart disease and resulting disability and death than do white women. A lack of knowledge of minority women's symptoms of coronary heart disease may contribute to these disparities.

Objective: To compare black, Hispanic, and white women's prodromal and acute symptoms of myocardial infarction.

A low-literacy medication education tool for safety-net hospital patients.

Background: To improve medication adherence in cardiac patients, in partnership with a safety-net provider, this research team developed and evaluated a low-literacy medication education tool.

Methods: Using principles of community-based participatory research, the team developed a prototype of a low-literacy hospital discharge medication education tool, customizable for each patient, featuring instruction-specific icons and pictures of pills. In 2007, a randomized controlled clinical trial was performed, testing the tool's effect on posthospitalization self-reported medication adherence and knowledge, 2 weeks postdischarge in English- and Spanish-speaking safety-net inpatients.

The effect of HIV/AIDS disease progression on spirituality and self-transcendence in a multicultural population.

This study examined the relationship of sociodemographic and clinical factors with spirituality and self-transcendence in people with HIV/AIDS. It involved 420 HIV/AIDS patients from an HIV clinic who were predominantly Hispanic (79%) and male (82%), with a mean age of 39 years. Subjects completed spirituality, self-transcendence, health status, and depression scales.

A comprehensive assessment program to improve blood-administering practices using the FOCUS-PDCA model.

Background: The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations requires that hospitals have a planned approach to systematically collect data on processes related to the use, ordering, and administering of blood components. This study describes how a comprehensive blood-administering assessment program and the FOCUS-PDCA approach improved overall blood-administering practices.

Study Design And Methods: Nurses were trained to observe blood issuance, blood administering, and patient monitoring steps, and to audit patient's charts to measure compliance with blood-ordering procedures.