Using a Fall Prevention Checklist to Reduce Hospital Falls: Results of a Quality Improvement Project.

Unlabelled: : Purpose: This quality improvement (QI) initiative aimed to promote patient safety by improving adherence to an existing hospita-approved fall prevention protocol. Specific aims of the initiative were to evaluate the impact of using a fall prevention checklist on (1) the implementation of a bundle of 14 specific interventions (the fall prevention protocol) and (2) the incidence of falls on participating units.

Methods: A QI team conducted a 26-day fall prevention initiative.

Managing Chemotherapy Side Effects: Achieving Reliable and Equitable Outcomes.

Receiving information about treatment-related side effects is a high priority for patients receiving chemotherapy. Infusion nurses typically assume responsibility for teaching patients how to manage treatment-related side effects, but providing reliable and equitable information across visits and across different infusion centers can present a problem. Implementing a standardized, patient-centered, departure encounter checklist can help ensure that nurses consistently provide patients with targeted, timely, and regimen-specific information about treatment-related side effects.

Patient Preference for Instructional Reinforcement Regarding Prevention of Radiation Dermatitis.

Background: Although patient preference is a core value within the context of patient-centered models of care, little attention has been paid to determining patient preference for instructional media. Nurses have traditionally used verbal face-to-face instruction as the mainstay of patient education, with written materials being used extensively as teaching guides to supplement verbal instruction or for instructional reinforcement. However, advances in technology have made possible the adding of video instruction to nurses' repertoire of instructional media.

Standardizing Assessment of Competences and Competencies of Oncology Nurses Working in Ambulatory Care.

A nursing quality consortium standardized nursing practice across 17 independently functioning ambulatory oncology sites. Programs were developed to validate both competences and competencies. One program assessed nine competences needed to develop systems of care to detect and treat treatment-related side effects.

Minimizing Staff Exposure to Antineoplastic Agents During Intravesical Therapy.

Exposure to chemotherapy is a daily risk for nurses in oncology infusion centers. Although significant advances have been made in developing systems to make IV administration of antineoplastic agents safer, less attention has been given to developing systems to minimize exposure risk during instillation of intravesical chemotherapy. This article describes the use of a closed system developed at a comprehensive cancer center and compares it to two closed systems reported in the literature.

Workplace fatigue among oncology nursing personnel.

Workplace fatigue is common among occupations that have prolonged work hours, rotating shifts, night-time work hours, inadequate time for rest during work, and insufficient time for recovery between shifts. Available evidence suggests that workplace fatigue poses a substantial threat to patient safety and contributes to worker injury and decreased vigilance. However, little is known about workplace fatigue among nursing personnel working in institutions dedicated solely to the care of patients with cancer.

The Environment of care model: a paradigm shift in comprehensive breast care.

The delivery of comprehensive breast care seems to be undergoing a paradigm shift driven by advances in technology, interprofessional collaboration and patient dissatisfaction with interruptions in care. This paradigm shift includes the emergence of new models of care that optimize the use of embedded radiology services and encourage greater interprofessional collaboration. This paper briefly reviews the three drivers (advances in technology, expectations regarding interprofessional collaboration and patient dissatisfaction with interrupted care) underlying the paradigm shift in comprehensive breast care as well as introduces the environment of care model, which describes the proximity of radiology services and interprofessional collaboration between the Women's Wellness Clinic (WWC) and Radiology at the Karmanos Cancer Institute (KCI) - both based in the United States.

Self-care demands of persons living with an implantable left-ventricular assist device.

Heart failure (HF) is a growing public health problem affecting approximately 23 million people worldwide. Treatment options for advanced HF patients have moved beyond pharmacologic therapy to include left-ventricular assist devices (LVADs). Patients with an LVAD must manage a complex regimen of care.

Braden Scale risk assessments and pressure ulcer prevention planning: what's the connection?

Objective: To investigate the relationship between risk assessment scores on Braden subscales and nurses' selection of 10 commonly used best-practice pressure ulcer (PU) preventive interventions.

Design: Exploratory secondary data analysis, using a descriptive correlational design.

Setting And Subjects: A total of 377 Braden Scale PU risk assessments were made on 102 patients at different levels of risk.

The relationship of nursing students' spiritual care perspectives to their expressions of spiritual empathy.

Guided by Chism's Middle-Range Theory of Spiritual Empathy, the overarching purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which nursing students' spiritual care perspectives account for their expressions of spiritual empathy. In this descriptive correlational study, spiritual care perspectives accounted for 8.6% of the variance in nursing students' (N = 223) expressions of spiritual empathy after controlling for relevant demographic and spirituality variables.

A quasi-experimental study to assess the effect of technology-assisted training on correct endorsement of pressure ulcer preventive interventions.

The two-fold purpose of the Detroit Medical Center (DMC) Braden Scale Training Module is to teach nurses to use the Braden Scale to correctly assess pressure ulcer risk and to effectively plan risk-based prevention interventions. A pre-test, post-test, two-group, quasi-experimental study was conducted to evaluate the effect of web-based DMC Braden Scale Training on staff nurses' ability to correctly endorse the use or non-use of 10 commonly-used risk-based pressure ulcer preventive interventions for patients at different levels of risk for pressure ulceration. "Regular" or "new" users of the Braden Scale from three hospitals assessed 102 patients.

The nursing process and pressure ulcer prevention: making the connection.

Purpose: To provide the wound care practitioner with an understanding of how use of the nursing process enhances pressure ulcer prevention.

Target Audience: This continuing education activity is intended for physicians and nurses with an interest in skin and wound care.

Objectives: After reading this article and taking this test, the reader should be able to: 1.

The effect of Web-based Braden Scale training on the reliability of Braden subscale ratings.

Purpose: The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of Web-based Braden Scale training on the reliability of Braden Scale subscale ratings made by nurses working in acute care hospitals. A secondary purpose was to describe the distribution of reliable Braden subscale ratings before and after Web-based Braden Scale training.

Design: Secondary analysis of data from a recently completed quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest, interrater reliability study.

Nursing students' perceptions of barriers to addressing patient sexuality concerns.

Little is known about nursing students' perceptions of barriers to addressing patient sexuality concerns. The twofold purpose of this study was to identify and describe attitudes and beliefs that might act as barriers to addressing patient sexuality concerns and to determine the extent to which these attitudes and beliefs are influenced by personal factors such as age, gender, and education. The Sexuality Attitudes and Beliefs Survey was used to assess students (N = 341) enrolled in either a traditional or accelerated second-degree baccalaureate program.

Multisite Web-based training in using the Braden Scale to predict pressure sore risk.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a Web-based Braden Scale training module on nurses' knowledge of pressure-ulcer risk assessment and prevention.

Design: Pre-experimental, posttest-only design.

Setting: Web-based learning environment.

The effect of Web-based Braden Scale training on the reliability and precision of Braden Scale pressure ulcer risk assessments.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of Web-based Braden Scale training on the reliability and precision of pressure ulcer risk assessments made by registered nurses (RN) working in acute care settings.

Design: Pretest-posttest, 2-group, quasi-experimental design.

Setting And Subjects: Five hundred Braden Scale risk assessments were made on 102 acute care patients deemed to be at various levels of risk for pressure ulceration.

Barriers to addressing patient sexuality concerns across five areas of specialization.

Purpose And Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the barriers to addressing patient sexuality across areas of specialization.

Design: A descriptive correlational design was used in this study.

Sample And Setting: A convenience sample of nurses (N = 302) was recruited from a large Midwestern medical center.

Social network structure and social support in HIV-positive inner city mothers.

It has been documented that social support influences health outcomes of persons with chronic illnesses. The incidence of HIV and AIDS among minority women is growing at an alarming rate, but little is known about social support in this vulnerable population, and even less is known about the social network conveying that support. Guided by the convoy of social networks model, this study describes the social networks in a sample of HIV-positive, urban-dwelling mothers (N = 147) by stage of disease (i.

Barriers to addressing patient sexuality in nursing practice.

Sexuality assessment and counseling are part of the nurse's professional role, but few nurses integrate this awareness into practice. Findings of this study suggest that educational programs are needed to help nurses develop confidence and comfort in dealing with patient sexuality.

Nursing attitudes and beliefs toward human sexuality: collaborative research promoting evidence-based practice.

Purpose And Objectives: The purpose of this study was to use a collaborative process between Advanced Practice Nurses and a nurse researcher to identify barriers to incorporating sexuality assessment and counseling into nursing practice.

Design/approach: This article provides an historical account of the collaborative group processes leading to the development and testing of the Sexuality Attitudes and Beliefs Survey (SABS).

Background/rationale: Nurses often are called upon to talk to patients about their sexuality and sexual concerns.

The effects of health state, hemoglobin, global symptom distress, mood disturbance, and treatment site on fatigue onset, duration, and distress in patients receiving radiation therapy.

Purpose/objectives: To describe the fatigue experience of patients with cancer receiving radiation therapy and determine to what extent diverse correlates of fatigue affect fatigue onset, duration, and distress.

Design: Descriptive correlational study completed by secondary data analysis.

Sample/setting: Data were obtained from 384 subjects recruited from two urban, university-affiliated, radiation oncology clinics located in a large, Midwestern city.