Rapid Response Teams: Is it Time to Reframe the Questions of Rapid Response Team Measurement?

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to present an overview of rapid response team (RRT) history in the United States, provide a review of prior RRT effectiveness research, and propose the reframing of four new questions of RRT measurement that are designed to better understand RRTs in the context of contemporary nursing practice as well as patient outcomes.

Organizing Construct: RRTs were adopted in the United States because of their intuitive appeal, and despite a lack of evidence for their effectiveness. Subsequent studies used mortality and cardiac arrest rates to measure whether or not RRTs "work.

Stress and coping of parents caring for a child with mitochondrial disease.

Unlabelled: Mitochondrial disease comprises a group of rare, genetic, life-limiting, neurodegenerative disorders known to affect children. Little is known about disease-related challenges, parental stress, and coping when caring for a child with a mitochondrial disease.

Purpose: This study explored disease-related characteristics and parental stressors and coping behaviors related to caring for a child with mitochondrial disease.

The Parent Experience of Caring for a Child with Mitochondrial Disease.

Unlabelled: Mitochondrial disease is a spectrum of progressive genetic disorders resulting from dysfunctions of cellular metabolism in the mitochondria that greatly compromise the lives of affected individuals, who are often children.

Purpose: This study described the parent experiences unique to caring for a child with mitochondrial disease.

Methods: Internet surveys were made available to parents of children with a known mitochondrial disease.

Rapid response team implementation and in-hospital mortality*.

Objective: To determine the relationship between implementation of rapid response teams and improved mortality rate using a large, uniform dataset from one state in the United States.

Design: This observational cohort study included 471,062 adult patients hospitalized between 2001 and 2009.

Setting: Ten acute tertiary care hospitals in Washington State.

Serum uric acid: relationships with biomarkers in adolescents and changes over 1 year.

Objectives: To (1) elucidate the range of serum uric acid (UA) levels in adolescent sample; (2) examine the relationships of serum UA and 1-year change with gender, anthropometric and cardiometabolic factors.

Materials And Methods: Measurements (anthropometrics, fasting venipuncture and blood pressure) were performed at the beginning of the seventh and eighth grades. Descriptive data, differences according to weight, correlations and changes over time were examined.

Pediatric patients with asthma: a high-risk population for subsequent hospitalization.

Objectives: Asthma is one of the most common chronic conditions among children and is one of the leading causes for pediatric hospitalizations. More evidence is needed to clarify the risks of repeat hospitalization and the underlying factors contributing to adverse health outcomes among pediatric patients hospitalized with asthma. The purpose of this study was to examine the risk of subsequent hospitalizations among pediatric patients hospitalized with asthma compared to a reference cohort of children hospitalized for all other diagnoses.

Creating a community coalition to prevent childhood obesity in Yakima County, Washington: Rev It Up! 2008.

Background: One-third of the US population is obese, and childhood obesity has tripled since the late 1970s. Childhood obesity is a significant health issue requiring interventions on individual, interpersonal, community, organizational, and policy levels. Community coalitions offer successful strategies for engaging community partners with health improvement goals.

Biological correlates and predictors of insulin resistance among early adolescents.

Abnormal glucose metabolism is associated with obesity, insulin resistance (IR), and Type 2 diabetes mellitus. The purposes of this study were to describe anthropometric and laboratory markers of adolescents, examine correlates of IR, and test ability of anthropometric and laboratory markers to predict risk of exhibiting IR. A total of 150 early adolescents participated.

The process of curriculum development and implementation for an adolescent health project in middle schools.

Childhood obesity has reached epidemic levels in developed countries and is showing no signs of abating. The causes of obesity in adolescence are extremely complex, and therefore approaches to prevention and treatments must be multifaceted. Early adolescence is a developmental period when youth are becoming more independent, are influenced by peers, and are making more decisions related to their own health and lifestyles.

The relationship between self-efficacy for behaviors that promote healthy weight and clinical indicators of adiposity in a sample of early adolescents.

Objective: Examine the relationship between self-efficacy and various measures of adiposity in a sample of teens.

Methods: A total of 132 teens were selected from schools participating in an existing research study titled Teen Eating and Activity Mentoring in Schools (TEAMS). Teens completed demographic questionnaires and healthy eating-specific and physical activity-specific measures of self-efficacy.

Relationship of weight status and cardiometabolic outcomes for adolescents in the TEAMS study.

The increase in the prevalence of obesity among youth is alarming. Relationships exist between excess weight and adverse cardiometabolic markers. The aims of this study among adolescents in the Teen Eating and Activity Mentoring in Schools (TEAMS) project were to describe selected demographic characteristics, anthropometric measurements, and laboratory values of middle school students; contrast differences in rates of cardiometabolic markers for participants with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 95th percentile and <95th percentile; examine rates of exceeding cardiometabolic cutoffs by weight status; and predict the odds ratio for one or more adverse cardiometabolic outcomes when BMI ≥95th percentile.

Interdisciplinary health science research collaboration: strengths, challenges, and case example.

The mandate for interdisciplinary health research is clear, but barriers persist and researchers are unprepared for collaborative roles. This article explores strengths/challenges/facilitative approaches for interdisciplinary research. Teen Eating and Activity Mentoring in Schools, an example of interdisciplinary research, uses comprehensive communication and information management to enhance interdisciplinary research.

Examination of adolescents' screen time and physical fitness as independent correlates of weight status and blood pressure.

Physical fitness performance is an important health correlate yet is often unrelated to sedentary behaviour in early adolescence. In this study, we examined the association of sedentary behaviour (i.e.

Obesity prevention in early adolescence: student, parent, and teacher views.

Background: Obesity is a significant health problem among today's youth; however, most school-based prevention programs in this area have had limited success. Focus groups were conducted with seventh- to eighth-grade students, parents, and teachers to provide insight into the development of a comprehensive program for the prevention of adolescent obesity: the Teen Eating and Activity Mentoring in Schools project (TEAMS).

Methods: Questions addressed (1) beliefs about the relationship between early adolescent behavior and health; (2) early adolescents' physical activity habits, preferences, influences, and barriers; (3) early adolescents' dietary habits, preferences, influences, and barriers; and (4) recommendations for interventions to promote physical activity and healthy eating in early adolescence.

Effects of individual components, time, and sex on prevalence of metabolic syndrome in adolescents.

Objectives: To examine selected clinical characteristics for cohorts of similar adolescents over 4 survey periods from 1999-2006, to examine changes in rates of adolescents who exceed cutoff points for individual components of metabolic syndrome (MetS), to describe sex differences in individual components of MetS, to describe changes in MetS prevalence from 1999-2006 using 4 common MetS definitions, and to describe sex differences in MetS prevalence from 1999-2006.

Design: Cross-sectional, US representational National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999-2006.

Setting: Mobile examination centers conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Bindler-Ball Healthcare Model: a new paradigm for health promotion.

Nursing of children requires integration of components from many knowledge areas, and nurses must consistently plan and carry out interventions to promote health and prevent disease and injury for children and adolescents. A new healthcare model is applied to child health nursing within all healthcare contexts, from acute care settings to chronic care services to well child focused care. Health promotion and health maintenance are defined and explored, along with application of these concepts in major types of care along the healthcare continuum.

Homocysteine in a multi-ethnic sample of school-age children.

Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States and other developed countries; arterial lesions that are precursors of disease begin during childhood. Homocysteine levels have been associated with cardiovascular disease rates in adults, but information about levels in and impact on children is limited, particularly among various ethnic groups. This study examined the cardiovascular risk factors of a multi-ethnic sample of 100 9-15 year-old Native American, Hispanic, White, and mixed race children in rural central Washington.