Critical care nurse work environments 2013: a status report.

Background: The health of critical care nurse work environments has been shown to affect patient care outcomes as well as the job satisfaction and retention of registered nurses. The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Critical Care Nurse Work Environment Survey was first conducted in 2006 following the release of the AACN Standards for Establishing and Sustaining a Healthy Work Environment and was conducted again in 2008. This article reports the results of the third AACN Critical Care Nurse Work Environment Survey conducted in 2013.

Group cohesion and organizational commitment: protective factors for nurse residents' job satisfaction, compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and burnout.

Stress can have detrimental effects on nurse residents' levels of job satisfaction, compassion, fatigue, and burnout. This can lead to high turnover rates and poor quality of care among novice nurses. Therefore, it is critical to identify protective factors to prevent the onset of negative nurse outcomes (compassion fatigue, burnout, and job dissatisfaction) and to promote positive nurse outcomes (job satisfaction, compassion satisfaction).

New graduate nurse residency program: a cost-benefit analysis based on turnover and contract labor usage.

A cost-benefit analysis was conducted to assess the economic outcomes of a new graduate registered nurse (NGRN) residency program utilizing turnover rate and contract labor usage data from a multi-site health care corporation. Secondary data analysis of NGRNs (n=524) was conducted including descriptive and step-wise regression analyses. Findings indicated a new graduate residency program was associated with a decrease in the 12-month turnover rate from 36.

Improving retention, confidence, and competence of new graduate nurses: results from a 10-year longitudinal database.

Developing competent and confident new graduate nurses who remain with their hospitals is a major challenge. A structured evidence-based RN residency was developed and implemented in hospitals across the United States. Outcomes data were collected from over 6000 new graduate nurses who completed the RN residency over a 10-year period.

Back pain and backpacks in school children.

Objective: Back pain in adults is common and well studied. In contrast, back pain in children has received comparatively little scientific study, despite recent media attention. The purpose of this study is to see what factors influence the prevalence of back pain in middle school children, with particular attention to the weight of children's backpacks and the availability of school lockers.

Biomechanical comparison of lumbosacral fixation using Luque-Galveston and Colorado II sacropelvic fixation: advantage of using locked proximal fixation.

Study Design: Biomechanical evaluation of sacropelvic fixation strategies as they apply to neuromuscular scoliosis.

Objectives: The primary objective was to compare the rigidity of 2 methods of sacropelvic fixation (Galveston vs. Colorado II).

Childhood diskitis.

Childhood diskitis may occur in the thoracic, lumbar, or sacral spine and can affect children of all ages, but it is most common in the lumbar region in children younger than 5 years. Physical examination, laboratory tests, and radiologic studies all aid in the diagnosis of this clinical syndrome, and proper use can prevent unnecessary invasive intervention. Presentation varies with age; the child may refuse to bear weight on the lower extremities or may present with back pain, abdominal pain, a limp, or, if an infant or toddler, with irritability.

The feasibility of anterior thoracoscopic spine surgery in children under 30 kilograms.

Study Design: A retrospective comparison of pediatric patients weighing less than 30 kg who underwent thoracoscopic anterior spinal release and fusion for deformity correction. This group was compared to two control groups: patients weighing over 30 kg (thoracoscopic) and patients under 30 kg (open).

Objective: To determine the efficacy and safety of thoracoscopic anterior spinal release and fusion in small pediatric patients weighing less than 30 kg.