The COVID-19 pandemic and food assistance organizations' responses in New York's Capital District.

This research examines the impact of COVID-19 on food security in New York state and the innovative approaches employed by food assistance organizations to help address the changing and increasing demand for their services from March 2020 to May 2021. We examine the case study of New York's Capital District region through a qualitative approach. We find that there was a sharp increase in utilization of emergency services during spring of 2020, which tapered off in the summer and fall of 2020 but remained above the levels of need seen the previous year.

An in vitro quantification of pressures exerted by earlobe pulse oximeter probes following reports of device-related pressure ulcers in ICU patients .

The earlobe often is used to monitor perfusion when pulse oximeter signal quality is impaired in the fingers and toes. Prompted by intermittent occurrences of roughly circular earlobe pressure ulcers among patients in intensive care units, a convenience sample of seven calibrated pulse oximeter probes was used to quantify earlobe pressure exerted by these devices in vitro. All were tested twice with an electronic load cell, a strain gauge with a transducer that transforms the measured force into a readable numerical signal.

Precision and accuracy: comparison of point-of-care and laboratory glucose concentrations in cardiothoracic surgery patients.

Background: There have been variable results on the practice of tight glycemic control, and studies have demonstrated that point-of-care (POC) glucometers have variable accuracy.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the difference between blood glucose concentrations obtained from POC glucometers as compared with laboratory results in cardiothoracic surgery (CTS) patients.

Methods: This was a descriptive study on a convenience sample of 46 CTS patients.

Nurses' perceptions of end-of-life care after multiple interventions for improvement.

Background: Nurses working in intensive care units may lack knowledge and skills in end-of-life care, find caring for dying patients and the patients' families stressful, and lack support to provide this care.

Objectives: To describe nurses' perceptions of (1) knowledge and ability, (2) work environment, (3) support for staff, (4) support for patients and patients' families, and (5) stress related to specific work situations in the context of end-of-life care before (phase 1) and after (phase 2) implementation of approaches to improve end-of-life care. The approaches were a nurse-developed bereavement program for patients' families, use of a palliative medicine and comfort care team, preprinted orders for the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment, hiring of a mental health clinical nurse specialist, and staff education in end-of-life care.

Sexuality in chronic lung disease.

Multiple factors converge to cause sexuality and intimacy problems in individuals who have chronic lung disease. It is imperative that clinicians include in their discussions with patients the ways they can maintain their sexual lives in the face of chronic lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer. Providing patients and their partners with information on ways to enhance their overall physical functioning, as well as discussing the many pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic methods available to maintain healthy sexual lives is critical to maintaining quality of life.