What Are the Predictors of Acute Care Nurses' Stroke Knowledge?: Empirical Research Quantitative.

Aims: To examine the predictability of categorical and quantitative study variables on acute stroke knowledge amongst study participants.

Design: Non-experimental, descriptive correlational.

Methods: A convenience sample of registered nurses caring for adult, hospitalized patients recruited from the urban Southeast.

The Use of the Acute Stroke Management Questionnaire to Measure Acute Care Nurses' Stroke Knowledge.

BACKGROUND: Nurses are key in identifying and treating in-hospital strokes (IHSs). Delayed treatment times and poor patient outcomes are associated with IHSs. Information is needed on nurses' stroke knowledge and the objective measurement of stroke knowledge using a validated tool.

RN-to-BSN Students' Intent to Become Faculty: A Multisite Study.

Background: A nursing faculty shortage means fewer nurses, exacerbating nursing shortages.

Purpose: The purpose was to determine RN-to-BSN students' intent for a future nurse faculty role. A secondary purpose was to evaluate differences between students who indicated high and low intent to pursue a faculty role.

Characterization of nurses' duty to care and willingness to report.

Background: Nurses must balance their perceived duty to care against their perceived risk of harm to determine their willingness to report during disaster events, potentially creating an ethical dilemma and impacting patient care.

Research Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate nurses' perceived duty to care and whether there were differences in willingness to respond during disaster events based on perceived levels of duty to care.

Research Design: A cross-sectional survey research design was used in this study.

Growing Your Own: Will Your Associate Degree Nursing Student Consider a Future Faculty Role?

Aim: The purpose of the study was to determine the intent of associate degree in nursing (ADN) students to pursue a future nursing faculty role.

Background: Nursing faculty shortages negatively affect the capacity to educate new nurses.

Method: A prospective correlational research design was used to conduct a national survey of ADN students regarding their intent for a future nursing faculty role using constructs of social cognitive career theory.

Moral Distress Among School Nurses.

School nurses are well positioned to provide care to a diverse population of school-age children, but their role and work environment can present a variety of moral dilemmas leading to moral distress. The purpose of this study is to identify the moral distress level that exists in school nurses and to describe its relationship to common moral dilemmas and school nurse characteristics. Data were collected through face-to-face attendance at school nurse meetings in North Carolina where 307 school nurses participated in the survey.

Parent and teacher perceptions of the impact of school nurse interventions on children's self-management of diabetes.

Diabetes is a common chronic illness among school-age children. The school nurse collaborates with the student, parents, and teachers to help the child manage their diabetes effectively. Very little is known about the relationship between school nurse interventions and parent/teacher perceptions of the child's self-management.

Pain experience of the elderly.

Too often, the elderly suffer silently and needlessly with chronic pain. To investigate the pain experience of the elderly living in the community, a descriptive research design was used. The aims of the study were to determine the prevalence of pain in an older population living in the community, to obtain a description of the older adult's pain experience, and to determine strategies used to manage their pain.

A biopsychosocial pilot study of overweight youth and care providers' perceptions of quality of life.

This pilot study examined the relationship between youth and care provider self-reports of depressive symptoms assessed through the Patient Health Questionnaire and reports of youth physical and psychosocial functioning assessed by PedsQL4.0 in a rural outpatient overweight pediatric population (N = 66 child and care provider pairs). The relationship between youth body mass index (BMI), youth and care provider depression, youth quality of life (QOL), care provider perception of youth QOL, and youth and care provider congruence of QOL perceptions was examined.

The importance of assessing for depression with HRQOL in treatment seeking obese youth and their caregivers.

Purpose: The purpose of this manuscript is to (1) explore the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of youth attending a tertiary obesity treatment center compared to healthy population reference data; (2) compare the congruence between the HRQOL of youth self-reports and caregiver proxy reports; and (3) examine the associations between youth HRQOL and (a) teen and (b) caregiver depression.

Methods: The sample included 267 youth and caregiver dyads. A cross-sectional descriptive design was used.

A pilot study to reduce risk for antepartum depression among women in a public health prenatal clinic.

This pilot study evaluated the feasibility, effectiveness, and helpfulness of Insight-Plus, a brief culturally-tailored cognitive behavioral intervention for African-American and Caucasian rural low-income women at risk for APD [Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) > or = 10]. Forty two percent (63/149) of women in this non-randomized study were at risk for APD and 41% (26/63) of women, who met all eligibility criteria, initially agreed to participate. Seventeen participants completed all six intervention sessions.

Relationships of new nurses' perceptions and measured performance-based clinical competence.

Background: This study examined the relationship between new nurses' performance-based measurements and perceptions of clinical competence.

Methods: Descriptive correlational designs were used to examine the relationships. Performance-based clinical competence was measured by the Performance Based Development System developed by Del Bueno (1990), and perceived competence was measured by specific items on the Casey-Fink Graduate Nurse Experience Survey (1999).

The use of innovative pedagogies in nursing education: an international perspective.

The purpose of this global study was to explore the types of innovative pedagogies used in nursing education worldwide; transformative learning theory served as the theoretical basis for the study. A descriptive, mixed-method design with a researcher-developed instrument was used to conduct the electronic survey. Respondents were 946 nurse educator members of Sigma Theta Tau International; more than 93 percent were Caucasian women.

Racial disparities in biopsychosocial factors and spontaneous preterm birth among rural low-income women.

In this descriptive prospective study, 269 African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian women from rural prenatal clinics were interviewed once between 16 and 28 weeks' gestation. Associations between biopsychosocial risk factors and preterm birth (PTB) were examined. African American women with spontaneous PTB were more likely to be older, and to have higher Bowman Gray Risk Index scores and hypertensive diseases of pregnancy than African American women who did not have a spontaneous PTB.

Risks and resources associated with antepartum risk for depression among rural southern women.

Background: Seven to 13% of American women who are pregnant suffers from major depression and 11%-50% experience antepartum depressive symptoms.

Objective: To examine the prevalence of depressive symptoms in pregnancy and examine the biopsychosocial-spiritual risks and resources in low-income women of diverse racial/ethnic groups.

Methods: Prenatal interviews were conducted at 16-28 weeks gestation with 324 pregnant women from rural prenatal clinics in the southeastern United States; 43% were African American, 31% were Caucasian, and 26% were Hispanic.

Risks and protective factors associated with symptoms of depression in low-income African American and Caucasian women during pregnancy.

This article describes the risks and protective factors for symptoms of depression in pregnancy among low-income African American and Caucasian women. Data were collected from 130 women who were between 16 and 28 weeks' gestation and enrolled in an urban prenatal clinic. The questionnaires used in the face-to-face interviews consisted of sociodemographic items, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), the Prenatal Psychosocial Profile (PPP), 3 items from the Jarel Spiritual Well-Being Scale, the Spiritual Perspective Scale, and 4 items on health risk behaviors.

Performance standards improve American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination scores.

Purpose: Although several studies have evaluated factors affecting American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination (ABSITE) performance, none has examined the impact of setting a minimally acceptable standard. It was hypothesized that establishing such a criterion would improve ABSITE scores.

Methods: An expectation for residents to score at the 35th percentile or higher was established in 1996.

Suppression of Lewis lung tumor development in alpha 1,3 galactosyltransferase knock-out mice.

Background: Humans lack the gene alpha 1,3 galactosyltransferase (GalT) and instead produce abundant cytolytic antibodies against cells bearing the antigen [gal alpha1,3 gal] (alphaGal). We have previously studied humoral anti-alphaGal responses in GalT knock-out (GalT KO) mice and shown that murine anti-alphaGal IgM, like human anti-alphaGal IgM, causes extensive complement-mediated cytolysis of GalT+ murine Lewis Lung carcinoma cells (LLCa) in vitro. Here we test the hypothesis that anti-alphaGal immune responses can inhibit the in vivo development of GalT+ tumors.

The relationship of Injury Severity Score and Glasgow Coma Score to rehabilitative potential in patients suffering traumatic brain injury.

The predictive utility of the Injury Severity Score (ISS) and Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) in relation to rehabilitative potential and functional outcome in traumatic brain injury (TBI) is untested. The purpose of this study was to define the relationship of ISS and GCS to rehabilitative potential using the functional independence measure (FIM) score. Trauma and inpatient rehabilitation (IR) registries were queried for demographic, disposition, and injury scoring data.

Religious beliefs and breast cancer screening.

Background: The mechanisms underlying a reported tendency for women who hold strong religious beliefs to seek medical help at more advanced stages of breast cancer are unknown. This study investigates further the effect of religious beliefs with other variables on breast cancer screening and the intended presentation of a self-discovered breast lump.

Methods: The study included 682 eastern North Carolina women aged 40 and over who were interviewed in their homes about religious and other beliefs about breast cancer, screening, and intended actions with a self-discovered breast lump.

Impacting cultural attitudes in African-American women to decrease breast cancer mortality.

Background: Over the past decade breast cancer mortality has decreased 1% or 2% per year in white women, but not in African-American women. The resulting "mortality gap" is a serious national problem, and it must be a high priority to understand the reasons for it and develop solutions.

Methods: The literature is reviewed to elucidate reasons for the mortality gap and the current status of possible solutions to the problem.

Muscle fiber type is associated with obesity and weight loss.

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that muscle fiber type is related to obesity. Fiber type was compared 1) in lean and obese women, 2) in Caucasian (C) and African-American (AA) women, and 3) in obese individuals who lost weight after gastric bypass surgery. When lean (body mass index 24.

Identification of teaching excellence in operating room and clinic settings.

Background: A system for obtaining learner feedback on surgical faculty teaching is a program-specific resource for recognizing faculty accomplishments as well as being a requirement of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). This investigation uses 5 years of feedback from residents to identify surgical teaching behaviors that define teaching excellence.

Methods: Between 1995 and 1999 full-time surgeons in a division of general surgery were evaluated biannually by every resident on their services, using two 10-item Likert scales to assess frequency of performing selected teaching behaviors.