Establishing Empathetic Collaborative Care for Survivors of Violence Through Multidisciplinary Simulation.

Background: Although nurses are introduced to an array of patient populations in nursing school, how to care for and treat survivors of violence typically does not get the same time and attention. Treating survivors of violence not only includes professional competency, but also empathy and the ability to work collaboratively with multidisciplinary professionals. This article describes a multidisciplinary survivors of violence simulation involving nursing, criminal justice, and psychology students that addresses empathetic and collaborative care for victims of violence.

Nurse Educators: Professional Quality of Life Related to Conditions of Work Effectiveness.

Background: Professional quality of life (ProQoL) is the balance between compassion satisfaction (CS) and compassion fatigue (CF). The experience of CF results from secondary traumatic stress stemming from compassionate caregiving and burnout.

Purpose: This study sought to identify the ProQoL of nurse educators and what conditions for work effectiveness affect this ProQoL.

Factors Influencing Work-Life Balance in Physicians and Advance Practice Clinicians and the Effect of Heartfulness Meditation Conference on Burnout.

Background: Burnout levels have risen in recent years and satisfaction with work-life balance has decreased. Individual and organizational factors may affect burnout in physicians and advance practice clinicians (APCs). Meditation is a tool to mitigate stress and enhance well-being.

Effect of heartfulness meditation on burnout, emotional wellness, and telomere length in health care professionals.

: Burnout poses significant challenges during training years in residency and later in the career. Meditation is a tool to treat stress-related conditions and promote wellness. Telomere length may be affected by burnout and stress.

Impact of Neurological Follow-Up on Early Hospital Readmission Rates for Acute Ischemic Stroke.

Introduction: Despite advances in stroke care, readmission rates for patients with ischemic stroke remain high. Although factors such as age, diabetes, and continuous use of antiplatelet agents have been found to predict readmission rates, the impact of after-hospital care has not been examined.

Methods: The present study reviewed the charts of 416 patients with acute ischemic stroke and recorded stroke-related comorbidities, neurology follow-up within 21 days, readmission at 0 to 30 days, readmission at 31 to 90 days, and any reasons for readmission.

Are They Too Old for Surgery? Safety of Cholecystectomy in Superelderly Patients (≥ Age 90).

Context: Cholecystectomy is the most common general surgery procedure in patients older than age 65 years. By 2050, it is estimated that 2.0% of the population will be older than age 90 years.

Use of glucagon in relieving esophageal food bolus impaction in the era of eosinophilic esophageal infiltration.

Esophageal food bolus impaction may require an urgent endoscopy. Glucagon is often administered to promote spontaneous passage of the food bolus. Eosinophilic esophagitis is increasingly recognized as a cause of dysphagia, and food impaction is often the presenting symptom.

Clothes encounter: patient perception of nursing attire in a behavioral health unit.

Background: In an acute behavioral health unit, patients' perceptions of nurses can be influenced by the type of clothing they wear.

Objectives: The purposes of this study were to determine if mental health patients had preferences related to nursing attire, to determine if patient preference varied with age, and to determine if nursing attire affected patients' thoughts on approachability, competence, and professionalism.

Study Design: A six-question survey was distributed to patients who met specific criteria between August and December 2008.

The informed consent process in whole blood donation.

Context: Informed consent in transfusion medicine has been an area lacking of significant research and it is unknown if donors fully comprehend the risks associated with whole blood donation.

Objective: To assess the adequacy of the informed consent process in whole blood donation.

Design: A brief questionnaire was constructed and distributed to whole blood donors visiting various fixed and mobile donor sites of the Central Pennsylvania Blood Bank.

Cardiovascular reactivity and family history of hypertension: a meta-analysis.

A regression-based meta-analysis examined the degree to which the effects of a family history of hypertension on cardiovascular reactivity are moderated by the magnitude of cardiovascular responses elicited in challenge/task conditions. Mean change scores for negative family history groups were regressed on mean change scores for positive family history groups. The slopes of separate regression lines obtained for systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate were significantly less than 1.