Does a human rights-based approach to harm reduction support commercialized harm reduction? Brief research.

In recent years, the tobacco industry has been pushing a narrative that their newer lines of products-including electronic nicotine delivery devices-are offered in part to meet a social responsibility of providing potentially reduced-harm choices to their consumers. While some of the newer tobacco products might potentially be less harmful than combustible tobacco products, there is also significant deviation from the very concept of harm reduction when it is used for such a conspicuously commercialized purpose. The framing of commercialized tobacco harm reduction as a mere consumer preference by the industry is not clearly consistent with the core principles of harm reduction, let alone the human right to health and the highest attainable level of health.

Appropriate Nurse Staffing Levels for U.S. Nursing Homes.

US nursing homes are required to have sufficient nursing staff with the appropriate competencies to assure resident safety and attain or maintain the highest practicable level of physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident. Minimum nurse staffing levels have been identified in research studies and recommended by experts. Beyond the minimum levels, nursing homes must take into account the resident acuity to assure they have adequate staffing levels to meet the needs of residents.

Reducing Unplanned Admissions: Focusing on Hospital Admissions and Emergency Department Visits for Patients With Head and Neck Cancer During Radiation Therapy .

Background: Head and neck cancer (HNC) treatments cause severe toxicities, leading to high rates of emergency department (ED) visits and unplanned hospital admissions (UHAs). 
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Objectives: The study aimed to evaluate a quality improvement project to reduce ED visits and UHAs.

A New Use for Your Cancer Registry Data.

The following article describes the development of a new data use for cancer registry information. The registry in Hartford Hospital recently participated in a summer program for high school students interested in the field of health care. After an introduction to the registry and its core data elements, a research topic was assigned to the students.

Use of mobile device technology to continuously collect patient-reported symptoms during radiation therapy for head and neck cancer: A prospective feasibility study.

Purpose: Accurate assessment of toxicity allows for timely delivery of supportive measures during radiation therapy for head and neck cancer. The current paradigm requires weekly evaluation of patients by a provider. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of monitoring patient reported symptoms via mobile devices.

Effectiveness of chemoradiation for head and neck cancer in an older patient population.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare chemoradiation therapy (CRT) with radiation therapy (RT) only in an older patient population with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Methods And Materials: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database (1992-2007), we identified a retrospective cohort of nonmetastatic HNSCC patients and divided them into treatment groups. Comparisons were made between CRT and RT cohorts.

Patients do not always complain when they are dissatisfied: implications for service quality and patient safety.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the actions taken by patients who had been admitted to an acute care Queensland hospital and experienced dissatisfaction with service delivery. It is proposed that before complaints can be used as part of a strategy to inform health service improvement and ultimately ensure patient safety, an understanding of the effectiveness of the complaints handling process from the patient's perspective must be gained.

Methods: In-depth qualitative interviews using a phenomenological exploration were undertaken.

Patterns of care in older patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: a surveillance, epidemiology, and end results-medicare analysis.

Background: There is growing evidence in the literature that older patients may not benefit from more intensive therapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). A growing number of patients with HNSCC are age 65 years or older; however, much of the evidence base informing treatment decisions is based on substantially younger and healthier clinical trial populations. The purpose of this study was to assess the patterns of care of older HNSCC patients to better understand how age is associated with treatment decisions.

Treatment of older patients with head and neck cancer: a review.

The incidence of head and neck cancer (HNC) in the elderly is increasing. The treatment of HNC often includes multimodality therapy that can be quite morbid. Older patients (herein, defined as ≥65 years) with HNC often have significant comorbidity and impaired functional status that may hinder their ability to receive and tolerate combined modality therapy.

Advocacy for health: revisiting the role of health promotion.

Issue Addressed: The importance of advocacy in protecting the population's health; and suggested strategies to advance an advocacy role.

Discussion: This article explores the concept of health advocacy, discusses an example of successful health advocacy within Australia, and outlines and addresses some of the barriers to advocacy. It aims to encourage discussion on advocacy's potential to improve the public's health.

Spontaneous perinephric haemorrhage and acute renal failure in pregnancy due to cocaine intoxication.

Cocaine abuse may contribute to the diverse forms of renal injury. We report a case of a pregnant woman who developed a large subcapsular renal haematoma after cocaine intoxication at 18-week gestation. She stabilized on conservative management and presented again at 29-week gestation with pre-eclampsia, acute renal failure and fetal demise.

Patient perceptions regarding effect of gynecological surgery on sexuality.

Introduction: Women undergoing surgery for benign gynecological conditions often voice concerns about how surgery will affect their sexuality. It is unclear what percentage of women shares these concerns, and how well they are addressed.

Aims: To identify what concerns women have about sexuality when they have gynecological surgery, and what factors affect these concerns.

Ecological sustainability: what role for public health education?

This article explores the notion of ecological sustainability in the context of public health education and the contribution Universities can make in creating environments that include ecologically sustainable practices. It considers the important role of environmental health in building a sustainable future for the population as a central plank of public health. It presents the evidence for the need for comprehensive approaches to ecological sustainability within the University and offers suggestions about how this can take place.

Educating the public health workforce: Issues and challenges.

Background: In public health, as well as other health education contexts, there is increasing recognition of the transformation in public health practice and the necessity for educational providers to keep pace. Traditionally, public health education has been at the postgraduate level; however, over the past decade an upsurge in the growth of undergraduate public health degrees has taken place.

Discussion: This article explores the impact of these changes on the traditional sphere of Master of Public Health programs, the range of competencies required at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and the relevance of these changes to the public health workforce.

Assuming the mantle of leadership: issues and challenges for directors of nursing.

This ethnographic study investigated leadership from the perspective of directors of nursing (DONs) in proprietary nursing homes. Data from interviews and extensive participant observation with 10 DONs were analyzed using open coding and content analysis. The study drew on a priori concepts from transformational leadership theory to describe the role, DON approaches to leadership, and factors that facilitate or impede leadership in nursing homes.

Self-management in type 2 diabetes: the adolescent perspective.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to document barriers and facilitators of self-management as perceived by adolescents with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: Focus groups were conducted with adolescents diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Adolescents aged 13 to 19 years were recruited from an academic medical center diabetes clinic.

Prescribing patterns of gerontological nurse practitioners in the United States.

Purpose: To identify the prescribing patterns of gerontological nurse practitioners (GNPs) as reported on the Gerontological Nurse Practitioner Practice Profile. Specifically, the study examined (a) GNPs' frequency of prescribing certain categories of medications for older adults; (b) the influence of practice, education, and experience variables on prescribing practices of GNPs; and (c) the rate of prescribing inappropriate medications for older adults based on the list of medications on the modified Beers Criteria.

Data Sources: The study was part of a larger descriptive survey that examined the practice characteristics of GNPs using the Gerontological Nurse Practitioner Practice Profile.

Clinical practice characteristics of gerontological nurse practitioners: a national study.

Purpose: To determine the clinical practice characteristics of gerontological nurse practitioners (GNPs) in the United States and ascertain whether length of employment, geographic region of practice, work setting, and educational preparation influence GNPs' delivery of advanced clinical services and clinical procedures.

Data Sources: The Gerontological Nurse Practitioner Practice Profile was mailed to a stratified random sample of 1000 GNPs certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Conclusions: Despite the growing demands for GNPs, of the 472 GNPs who responded to the survey, only half were working full-time as a GNP.

Parent perceptions of caring for adolescents with type 2 diabetes.

Objective: No studies have been performed to examine parent perceptions of caring for adolescents with type 2 diabetes. In this qualitative study, we examined parent perceptions of barriers and strategies to address barriers to self-care in adolescents with type 2 diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: Families of adolescents with type 2 diabetes were recruited from a pediatric diabetes clinic.

Agricultural health: a new field of occupational health nursing.

1.) Agriculture remains one of the most dangerous industries in America. To serve this worker population, agricultural health is emerging as a new nursing specialty in which nurses can use their vision to establish new areas of practice.