Effects of examination-induced stress on memory and blood pressure.

Stress has been defined in many ways as a state of psychological arousal that results when the external demand is beyond what one can cope with. Stress is caused by various factors called stressors. Medical students are subjected to different kinds of stressors, such as pressure of academics with obligation to succeed, an uncertain future and difficulties of integrating into the system and different teaching protocols, which may affect their learning ability and performance.

Enhancing Hospital Accreditation Practices: Building and Implementing a Continuous Readiness Model.

Accreditation Canada is moving from a three-to-five-year assessment cycle to a continuous assessment program. As our organization shifted to a culture of continuous readiness, we aimed to develop a model that would support a seamless transition. To develop our model, we completed a literature review, environmental scan and an organizational needs assessment.

Nursing care for persons with developmental disabilities: Review of literature on barriers and facilitators faced by nurses to provide care.

Aims: To identify barriers and facilitators to nursing care of individuals with developmental disabilities (DDs).

Background: Individuals with DDs experience health disparities. Nurses, although well positioned to provide optimal care to this population, face challenges.

"This Is ME": Promoting Person-Centred Care within the Digital Health Environment.

In this paper, we describe the implementation of an initiative called "This Is ME," which involves a change in the summary page of a patient's electronic health record in order to include their story and provide a more humanistic perspective. The change includes information related to their family, hobbies and interests - a change that has important implications for facilitating conversation and relationship-building between providers and patients. Since implementation, 1,246 (and counting) patient stories were shared with over 300 healthcare providers, including nurses, social workers, physicians and others.

Transitional discharge model for community mental health integration: A focused ethnographic study of clients' perspectives.

Clients' perceptions of continuous support during the transition from hospital to the community have been understudied. The present study evaluated clients' perceptions of the benefits and potential adjustments to the implementation of a transitional discharge model (TDM), an intervention for community integration of clients with mental health issues. A focused ethnography methodology was used to investigate the effectiveness of the TDM.

An ethnographic study of the implementation of a transitional discharge model: peer supporters' perspectives.

Background: Over the last three decades, there has been worldwide recognition of peer support contributions to improve mental healthcare provision. However, in the current literature, little attention has been paid to exploring perspectives of peer supporters on their involvement in mental health services provision. The purpose of the present study was to examine peer supporters' perspectives on the implementation of a transitional discharge model (TDM), an intervention for the community integration of people with mental illness.

Healthcare professionals' perceptions of the implementation of the transitional discharge model for community integration of psychiatric clients.

Research has demonstrated the benefits of mental healthcare interventions that ensure a safe transition of clients throughout the discharge and community integration process. This paper reports on qualitative data from focus groups with health professionals collected as part of a larger a mixed method study designed to examine the effectiveness and sustainability of implementing the transitional discharge model. Data collection involved two sets of focus groups, which were held at six months and one-year post-implementation.

The Role of Nurse Managers in the Adoption of Health Information Technology: Findings From a Qualitative Study.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the role of nurse managers in supporting point-of-care nurses' health information technology (IT) use and identify strategies employed by nurse managers to improve adoption, while also gathering point-of-care nurses' perceptions of these strategies.

Background: Nurse managers are essential in facilitating point-of-care nurses' use of health IT; however, the underlying phenomenon for this facilitation remains unreported.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted with 10 nurse managers and 14 point-of-care nurses recruited from a mental health hospital environment in Ontario, Canada.

Process and Initial Outcomes of an Initiative to Engage Nurses at a Mental Health and Addictions Hospital.

Feelings of empowerment in nursing staff can contribute to increased job satisfaction, improved quality of care and a higher retention rate within healthcare organizations. Nursing is critical at healthcare organizations, with direct and significant impact on the quality of care provided; yet, nurses often feel undervalued for the work they do. The strength-based approach of appreciative inquiry is one way to engage individuals in finding collective value through the identification of successes, enabling the creation of a shared vision and strategy for the future.

The Development of a Client Care Needs Assessment Tool for Mental Health and Addictions Settings Using a Modified Delphi Approach.

This paper presents the development of a mental health and addictions settings-specific Client Care Needs Assessment (CCNA) tool. The process of tool development was completed using a modified Delphi approach. During Round One, indicators reflecting the unique needs of patients with mental illness and addictions issues were identified through meetings with interprofessional teams.

Nursing Leadership: Making a Difference in Mental Health and Addictions.

Five nurse leaders in mental health offer their perspectives on key issues facing the sector and reflect on how nurses can make a difference in the following critical areas: nursing practice, transitions of care, innovative technologies, challenging stigma and creating patient partnerships.

Exploring the role of the nurse manager in supporting point-of-care nurses' adoption of electronic health records: protocol for a qualitative research study.

Introduction: An increasing number of electronic health record (EHR) systems have been implemented in clinical practice environments where nurses work. Findings from previous studies have found that a number of intended benefits of the technology have not yet been realised to date, partially due to poor system adoption among health professionals such as nurses. Previous studies have suggested that nurse managers can support the effective adoption and use of the technology by nurses.

Oxidative stress and psychological functioning among medical students.

Background: Oxidative stress has gained attention recently in behavioral medicine and has been reported to be associated with various psychological disturbances and their prognoses.

Objectives: Study aims to evaluate the oxidative stress (malonylaldehyde (MDA) levels) and its relation with psychological factors (dimensions of personality, levels of anxiety, stress, and depression) among medical/paramedical students of 1(st) and 3(rd) year).

Materials And Methods: A total of 150 students; 75 from 1(st) year (2010-2011) and75 from 3(rd) year (2009-2010); of medical and paramedical background were assessed on level of MDA (oxidative stress) and personality variables, that is, level of anxiety, stress, and depression.

Organizational cultural competence consultation to a mental health institution.

Cultural competence is increasingly recognized as an essential component of effective mental health care delivery to address diversity and equity issues. Drawing from the literature and our experience in providing cultural competence consultation and training, the paper will discuss our perspective on the foundational concepts of cultural competence and how it applies to a health care organization, including its programs and services. Based on a recent consultation project, we present a methodology for assessing cultural competence in health care organizations, involving mixed quantitative and qualitative methods.

Growing practice specialists in mental health: addressing stigma and recruitment with a nursing residency program.

Despite the growing prevalence and healthcare needs of people living with mental illness, the stigma associated with mental health nursing continues to present challenges to recruiting new nurses to this sector. As a key recruitment strategy, five mental health hospitals and three educational institutions collaborated to develop and pilot an innovative nursing residency program. The purpose of the Mental Health Nursing Residency Program was to dispel myths associated with practising in the sector by promoting mental health as a vibrant specialty and offering a unique opportunity to gain specialized competencies.

A pilot study of an electronic interprofessional evidence-based care planning tool for clients with mental health problems and addictions.

Background: The health system must develop effective solutions to the growing challenges it faces with respect to individuals who suffer with mental health disorders and addictions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usability and potential impact on outcomes of a knowledge translation system aimed at improving client-centered, evidence-based care for hospitalized individuals with schizophrenia.

Methodology: A pre-posttest design was used.

Integrating evidence-based interventions into client care plans.

Within the mental health care system, there is an opportunity to improve patient safety and the overall quality of care by integrating clinical practice guidelines with the care planning process through the use of information technology. Electronic assessment tools such as the Resident Assessment Inventory - Mental Health (RAI-MH) are widely used to identify the health care needs and outcomes of clients. In this knowledge translation initiative, an electronic care planning tool was enhanced to include evidence-based clinical interventions from schizophrenia guidelines.

Systematic review on embracing cultural diversity for developing and sustaining a healthy work environment in healthcare.

Objectives  The objective of this review was to evaluate evidence on the structures and processes that support development of effective culturally competent practices and a healthy work environment. Culturally competent practices are a congruent set of workforce behaviours, management practices and institutional policies within a practice setting resulting in an organisational environment that is inclusive of cultural and other forms of diversity. Inclusion criteria  This review included quantitative and qualitative evidence, with a particular emphasis on identifying systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials.

Systematic review on embracing cultural diversity for developing and sustaining a healthy work environment in healthcare.

Objectives: The objective of this review was to evaluate evidence on the structures and processes that support development of effective culturally competent practices and a healthy work environment. Culturally competent practices are a congruent set of workforce behaviours, management practices and institutional policies within a practice setting resulting in an organisational environment that is inclusive of cultural and other forms of diversity.

Inclusion Criteria: This review included quantitative and qualitative evidence, with a particular emphasis on identifying systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials.