Interprofessional Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) Education for Registered Nurses and Behavioral Health Professionals.

Although substance use is prevalent in the United States, the majority of people who misuse substances do not receive appropriate treatment. This paper describes, (1) an interprofessional education (IPE) program for health professionals to provide Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment to rural substance use patients, and (2) compares registered nurses' [RNs] and behavioral health professionals' [BHPs] attitudes to work with those patients and their perceptions on IPE. A data analysis of 62 RNs and 36 BHPs shows statistically significant increases in both attitudes and perceptions.

An intervention to maximize medication management by caregivers of persons with memory loss: Intervention overview and two-month outcomes.

Overseeing medication-taking is a critical aspect of dementia caregiving. This trial examined a tailored, problem-solving intervention designed to maximize medication management practices among caregivers of persons with memory loss. Eighty-three community-dwelling dyads (patient + informal caregiver) with a baseline average of 3 medication deficiencies participated.

Quality of care and resource use among mechanically ventilated patients before and after an intervention to assist nurse-nonvocal patient communication.

Objectives: Implement and test unit-wide patient-nurse assisted communication strategies (SPEACS).

Background: SPEACS improved nurse-patient communication outcomes; effects on patient care quality and resource use are unknown.

Methods: Prospective, randomized stepped-wedge pragmatic trial of 1440 adults ventilated ≥2 days and awake for at least one shift in 6 ICUs at 2 teaching hospitals 2009-2011 with blinded retrospective medical record abstraction.

Effect of a multi-level intervention on nurse-patient communication in the intensive care unit: results of the SPEACS trial.

Objective: To test the impact of two levels of intervention on communication frequency, quality, success, and ease between nurses and intubated intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

Design: Quasi-experimental, 3-phase sequential cohort study: (1) usual care, (2) basic communication skills training (BCST) for nurses, (3) additional training in augmentative and alternative communication devices and speech language pathologist consultation (AAC + SLP). Trained observers rated four 3-min video-recordings for each nurse-patient dyad for communication frequency, quality and success.

Subjective and objective appraisal of activity in adults with obstructive sleep apnea.

Objective. This study examined the association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), daytime sleepiness, functional activity, and objective physical activity. Setting.

Symptom clusters in adults with chronic health problems and cancer as a comorbidity.

Purpose/objectives: To identify and compare symptom clusters in individuals with chronic health problems with cancer as a comorbidity versus individuals with chronic health problems who do not have cancer as a comorbidity and to explore the effect of symptoms on their quality of life.

Design: Secondary analysis of data from two studies. Study 1 was an investigation of the efficacy of an intervention to improve medication adherence in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).