Advanced Nursing Practice and Advanced Practice Nursing roles within low and lower-middle-income countries.

Introduction: Population health initiatives rely on the availability and skills of an appropriate workforce to meet required goals. One global workforce initiative with demonstrated ability to expand health care services and improve access to care is the development of Advanced Nursing Practice and Advanced Practice Nursing roles. Given the sparse published information about these roles in Low and Lower-Middle-Income countries, this study seeks to describe their development and application in these countries.

Low- and lower middle-income countries advanced practice nurses: an integrative review.

Aim: To review published literature descriptions of advanced practice nurses' roles in low- and lower middle-income countries.

Background: Advanced practice nurse roles have the potential to address insufficient healthcare resources in low- and lower middle-income countries.

Introduction: This integrative review highlights advanced practice nurses' roles in the delivery of healthcare services in low- and lower middle-income countries.

Role of the registered nurse in primary health care: meeting health care needs in the 21st century.

There is widespread interest in the redesign of primary health care practice models to increase access to quality health care. Registered nurses (RNs) are well positioned to assume direct care and leadership roles based on their understanding of patient, family, and system priorities. This project identified 16 exemplar primary health care practices that used RNs to the full extent of their scope of practice in team-based care.

Building framework for nursing scholarship: guidelines for appointment and promotion.

As nursing academia responds to shifts in nursing education--the emergence of clinically focused doctoral degrees and an emphasis on evidence-based practice, comparative effectiveness, and translational research, nursing scholarship is undergoing transformation. This article outlines guidelines for appointment and promotion that incorporate the academic tripartite and are relevant for all faculty. A clear and equitable pathway for professorial advancement for the both the clinician and research faculty is delineated.

Prevalence of high-risk human papilloma virus among women with hepatitis C virus before liver transplantation.

Background: We sought to assess the prevalence and risk factors for high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among female liver transplant (LT) candidates. Traditional health screening before LT listing has included Pap smear and is typically carried out by the patient's local provider. The prevalence of high-risk HPV in this population has not been studied.

Patient hand hygiene practices in surgical patients.

Background: Little is known about the hand hygiene practices of surgical patients. Most of the research has been directed at the health care worker, and this may discount the role that hand hygiene of the surgical patient might play in surgical site infections.

Methods: A quasiexperimental, pretest/post-test study was conducted in which patients (n = 72) and nurses (n = 42) were interviewed to examine perceptions and knowledge about patient hand hygiene.

Appreciating life: being the father of a child with severe cerebral palsy.

This phenomenological study examined the experience of being the father of a child with severe cerebral palsy (CP). Participants were selected using purposive sampling. Two interviews were conducted with 6 English-speaking, biological fathers whose children with CP (ages 5-27 years) were enrolled in a residential and day school in northeastern United States.

Organizational climate and intensive care unit nurses' intention to leave.

Objective: The purposes of this study were to a) estimate the incidence of intensive care units nurses' intention to leave due to working conditions; and b) identify factors predicting this phenomenon.

Design: Cross-sectional design.

Setting: Hospitals and critical care units.

Roller coaster marathon: being a live liver donor.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the meaning of being a live liver donor. Six people between ages 27 and 53 years participated. A qualitative, in-depth, semistructured interview format was used to explore donors' thoughts and feelings about being an organ donor.

Diagnostic utility of an epilepsy monitoring unit.

Guidelines recommend that patients with persist- ent seizures not responsive to standard antiepileptic drugs after 1 year be referred to specialized epilepsy centers for evaluation, which may include inpatient video-electroencephalographic monitoring. This 1-year retrospective, limited-focus review of 213 admissions and 3-year postdischarge review of epilepsy surgery referrals sought to determine if admission to an inpatient adult epilepsy monitoring unit resulted in a definitive diagnosis, a change in diagnosis or treatment, and whether referral patterns were consistent with guidelines. The median duration of time since symptom onset prior to admission was 15 years.

Organizational climate and intensive care unit nurses' intention to leave.

Objective: The purposes of this study were to a) estimate the incidence of intensive care units nurses' intention to leave due to working conditions; and b) identify factors predicting this phenomenon.

Design: Cross-sectional design.

Setting: Hospitals and critical care units.

Factors which influence Latino community members to self-prescribe antibiotics.

Background: Although there is consistent evidence of a link between antibiotic use and increasing antimicrobial resistance in the community, inappropriate use of antimicrobials continues to be a global problem.

Objective: To describe knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Latino community members in upper Manhattan regarding use of antibiotics.

Methods: Written questionnaires and eight focus groups comprised of Hispanic community members (three groups), bodega employees, and healthcare providers (one group) in a Latino neighborhood in New York City.

Essential health care: affordable for all?

Access to affordable health care has become a national crisis. The uninsured have many faces and many reasons for being uninsured. The nation cannot afford to sustain this broken system; not in terms of resources, nor in terms of the deteriorating health of the public.

Diabetes care processes and outcomes in patients treated by nurse practitioners or physicians.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare selected diabetes care processes and outcomes of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physicians (MDs) in the primary care of adults with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: Adults with type 2 diabetes and no regular source of primary care were enrolled from the emergency room and randomized to an NP or MD practice. Chart reviews were conducted to assess processes of care; patient interviews and hemoglobin A1C (A1C) testing were performed to measure patient outcomes.

Nursing research activities in New York state are alive and well: a survey of selected acute care facilities and schools of nursing.

This survey was conducted to assess the nature and extent of nursing research activities in acute care facilities and schools of nursing in New York state. A questionnaire was mailed to 269 acute care facilities and 42 schools of nursing with a response rate of 29%. Sixty-seven percent of acute facilities and 100% of schools responding reported participating in nursing research activities.

Perceptions of the importance placed on religion and folk medicine by non-Mexican-American Hispanic adults with diabetes.

The high incidence of diabetes and diabetes-related complications in Hispanic adults in the United States continues to be of concern among healthcare providers. The underutilization of screening services and early treatment centers by Hispanic adults seems to contribute to the problem. This survey examined whether religious, spiritual, and folk medicine beliefs play a role in the participants' view of diabetes and treatment choices.

Composition of weight loss in severely obese women: a new look at old methods.

Seven severely obese, outpatient dieters lost weight (mean +/- SEM, 14 +/- 1 kg), and the composition of weight lost was determined by six different models. Total body water (TBW), total body potassium (TBK), and body density, bone mineral content, and fat as determined by dual photon absorptiometry (DPA) were measured while subjects were weight-stable, before and after weight loss. Fat loss was calculated by three two-compartment models (2C-TBW, 2C-TBK, and hydrodensitometry [2C-HD]), one three-compartment model (HD with correction for water content of fat-free mass [FFM], 3C), and one four-compartment model (HD with correction for water and mineral content of FFM, 4C), and was measured directly by DPA.

Evaluation of diabetic patients' home urine glucose testing technique and ability to interpret results.

The attention of diabetes educators has focused on home blood glucose monitoring, with little attention being given to the educational needs of patients who choose to perform home urine glucose monitoring. This study assessed patients' urine glucose testing technique and ability to interpret test results. A questionnaire was developed and administered by clinic nurses to 100 adults with diabetes who perform home urine glucose monitoring.