The Prosthetist Role Expectations Scale: Development and initial validation of a scale for clinical settings.

Background: The role of the prosthetist has changed substantially over the past century. In the transition from 'limb-maker' to 'clinician', the expectations of prosthetics professionals have also changed.

Objectives: To develop and test a new scale capable of assessing and comparing current expectations of the roles of the prosthetist.

Engaging Nurses in the Development and Implementation of a Professional Practice Model Through Nursing Salons.

Developing creative ways to solicit nurse input into practice is a challenge for nurse executives. Engaging nurses through the use of nursing salons was seen as an innovative way to engage nurses. Feedback from nurses participating in salons informed development of a Professional Practice Model that reflects nursing practice at this large academic medical center and provided a voice to nursing.

A nursing department faculty-mentored research project.

Faculty must meet academic expectations for retention, tenure, and promotion by demonstrating accomplishments in teaching, scholarship, and service. With fewer than 50% of nursing faculty currently holding a doctorate, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing acknowledges that master's-prepared nurses comprise a significant proportion of current and future faculty. With most of the more than 675 baccalaureate nursing programs in the United States in non-research-intensive universities, junior faculty have limited opportunities to work with experienced nurse researchers and many have limited experience planning, designing, or conducting research.

Plantar pressure pain thresholds and touch sensitivity in rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: In-shoe pressure redistribution to provide relief of forefoot pain in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is based on assumed links between pressure and pain. However, little is known about the size of the pressure change required to reduce pain or the capacity of other plantar regions to bear increased pressure. Our primary aim was to quantify the plantar pressure pain threshold (PPT) in RA and compare it to age- and gender-matched control participants.

Integrating simulation across the curriculum.

The authors describe the process used to implement simulation in a small baccalaureate nursing program and provide examples of how simulation can be used to facilitate the development of key curricular concepts such as critical thinking, therapeutic interventions, and communication. The primary focus is on the use of high-fidelity patient simulators and human "standardized patients."

Antibiotic sampling from central venous catheters versus peripheral veins.

This study was developed to determine if there are statistically or clinically significant differences in antibiotic levels of blood samples obtained from a central venous catheter (CVC) versus a peripheral vein. Currently there is limited and contradictory information comparing aminoglycoside levels drawn from a central line used for antibiotic infusions versus a separate peripheral blood draw. In this study antibiotic levels drawn from a central line were compared with levels drawn simultaneously from a peripheral vein.

Nurse-patient ratios: a systematic review on the effects of nurse staffing on patient, nurse employee, and hospital outcomes.

Objective: To determine whether the peer-reviewed literature supports specific, minimum nurse-patient ratios for acute care hospitals and whether nurse staffing is associated with patient, nurse employee, or hospital outcomes.

Background: Hospital care may be compromised by forces that have increased patient acuity, reduced the ratio of caregivers to patients, and lowered the level of training of these caregivers.

Methods: We systematically reviewed studies of the effects of nurse staffing on patient, nurse employee, and hospital outcomes published between 1980 and 2003 to determine whether they could guide the setting of minimum licensed nurse-patient ratios in acute care hospitals.

Licensed caregiver characteristics and staffing in California acute care hospital units.

Purpose: Concerns about declining quality of care and nurse staffing shortages led to legislation mandating minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in the state of California. Although research finds that better registered nurse (RN) staffing results in higher quality of care, little evidence exists on which to base specific nurse-patient ratios. The authors describe the results of a California survey characterizing licensed caregivers, identifying staffing levels by unit type, and describing how staffing levels vary across hospital types.

Clinician-implemented research utilization in critical care.

The application of research findings to practice is critical for improving patients' outcomes and for ensuring that nursing practice is both cost-efficient and effective. Unfortunately, research findings that clearly should be used are not always implemented, a fact termed the "research-practice gap." In 2000, as a result of the interest of staff nurses in establishing evidence-based practice, nurses from 7 adult critical care units at the University of California Davis Health System, Sacramento, Calif, began discussions on how to implement such a practice.

Developing indicators of nursing quality to evaluate nurse staffing ratios.

Concerns about the adequacy of patient care and safety in the state of California led to legislation that required the implementation of mandatory nurse staffing ratios. The authors describe a novel approach for identifying indicators that could be used to evaluate the impact of these regulations on quality of care and patient outcomes. The results of this project demonstrate that this is a useful method for identifying indicators appropriate for use in outcomes research with a focus on structural predictors of quality in healthcare.

Foraging advantages of mixed-species association between solitary and colonial orb-weaving spiders.

This study investigated association between solitary orb-weaving spiders and a colonial orb-weaving spider, Metepeira incrassata (Araneae: Araneidae). Spiders were sampled along transects and an index of species association showed that two of the species were associated more frequently than expected based on a null hipothesis of random co-occurrence. The potential advantages of mixed-species association were investigated by comparing prey-capture success of one of these associates, Nephila clavipes (Araneae: Tetragnathidae), when it occurs alone, in single-species groups, and when associated with M.