CE: Nurses Are More Exhausted Than Ever: What Should We Do About It?

For nurses, the challenges posed by demanding work environments and schedules often lead to fatigue, and this can be exacerbated during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, the authors discuss causes and challenges of nurse fatigue and consider several evidence-based strategies and solutions for individual nurses and organizations. Barriers to implementation, including a negative workplace culture and inadequate staffing, are also described, and several resources are presented.

The academic-practice gap: Strategies for an enduring problem.

The academic-practice gap in nursing is well documented. Academe is criticized for producing nurses insufficiently prepared to fully participate in patient care. Practice settings are criticized for having unrealistic expectations of new graduates.

Nurse residency programs: an evidence-based review of theory, process, and outcomes.

Nursing shortages exist worldwide while job stress, dissatisfaction, lack of peer support and limited professional opportunities still contribute to attrition. The aim of this systematic review is to describe and evaluate the quality of the science, report recommendations and lessons learned about implementing and evaluating nurse residency programs (NRPs) designed to improve new graduate transitioning. Databases were searched between 1980 and 2010 using five search terms: nurse, intern, extern, transition and residency programs.

Mental health and sleep of older wife caregivers for spouses with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.

This descriptive study examined sleep and mental health variables in 37 older wife caregivers for spouses with dementia compared to 37 age-matched controls. The relationships among selected caregiving variables (behavioral problems, caregiving hours, and years of caregiving), appraisal of burden, self-reported sleep efficiency for the past week, and mental health outcomes were examined. Lazarus and Folkman's stress and coping framework guided the study.

Comparison of Health Buddy with traditional approaches to heart failure management.

The purpose of this pilot study was to (a) determine the feasibility of providing a heart failure disease management program through an in-home telehealth communication device (Health Buddy) and (b) compare the effectiveness of the Health Buddy with traditional home management strategies (telephonic, home visit) in achieving selected patient outcomes (self-efficacy, functional status, depression, and health-related quality of life). Ninety participants completed the study through 2 months. Thirty percent of participants were either eliminated prior to or withdrawn after enrollment from the study based on Health Buddy issues.

Symptom status and quality-of-life outcomes of home-based disease management program for heart failure patients.

Symptom occurrence, symptom characteristics (frequency, severity, interference with activities and enjoyment of life), and quality of life were examined in heart failure patients after release from the hospital and 2 months after enrollment in a home-based disease management program. The results provide information on the most common and distressing symptoms in a community-based heart failure population. This information may be useful in guiding assessments and designing specific nursing interventions to include in a home-based disease management program.

Reducing disruption of circadian temperature rhythm following surgery.

Temperature and other circadian rhythms are disrupted following surgery and other traumatic events. During recovery, coordination between temperature rhythms and other rhythmic physiologic processes is reduced. Studies of animals and humans have shown that return of synchrony is not immediate, but that it is important in the recovery process.