The willingness of family members of critically ill adults to learn the coping technique of imagery.

Critical care nurses face the challenge of helping anxious families cope with the critical illness of one of their members. The purposes of this exploratory descriptive pilot study were to identify whether adult family members of surgical intensive care unit (SICU) patients were willing and able to learn imagery during the time of their family member's critical illness, and which factors facilitate the learning. Of the 139 persons invited, 26 (18.

Motor performance correlates of functional dependence in long-term care residents.

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the Motor Performance Inventory (MPI), a series of upper and lower extremity movements for predicting functional dependence and independence. A random sample of 197 persons, aged 65 and above, who resided in one of eight extended care facilities, were stratified as independent, assist (intermediate), or dependent using modified 1990 Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) operational criteria. A stepwise procedure yielded a five-task combination that accounted for 90% of the variance in functional level.

Reliability and validity of a new preadmission acuity tool for long-term care.

The purpose of this project was to develop a new tool designed to assess the acuity of applicants to long-term facilities. Using a known groups method, residents of long-term care facilities were categorized as independent (n = 68), assist (n = 71), and dependent (n = 65) and assessed using the Preadmission Acuity Inquiry Tool (PAI) to generate the data base for examining its psychometric properties. The progression of the mean scores from independent to assist to dependent demonstrates the ability of the tool to differentiate across varying levels of functional independence.

Normal thought processes. An overview.

The complexity of the neurologic mechanisms operating in normal thought processes is obvious as is their impact on the quality of human life. The efficient performance of intellectual activity, that is, thinking and reasoning, assumes an awake, alert state and encompasses the interplay of fundamental mental operations such as attention, memory, spatial orientation, language, and higher order functions of insight, calculation, and abstract reasoning. Systematic assessment of the full range of operations is required to accurately diagnose alterations in thought processes, because the identification of specific impairments may facilitate the localization of brain injury as well as focus nursing intervention.

The use of therapeutic massage as a nursing intervention to modify anxiety and the perception of cancer pain.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the effects of therapeutic massage (consisting of effleurage, petrissage, and myofascial trigger point therapy) on pain perception, anxiety, and relaxation levels in hospitalized patients experiencing significant cancer pain. Thirty minutes of therapeutic massage was administered on two consecutive evenings to nine hospitalized males diagnosed with cancer and experiencing cancer pain. The subjects' self-reports of pain and relaxation (measured by Visual Analogue Scales) as well as anxiety (measured by the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory) were recorded before and immediately after the intervention.