Quality outcomes and program evaluation in nursing education: an overview of the journey.

Program evaluation, accreditation, and ongoing quality improvement are complex, interrelated processes in nursing education. The purpose of this article is to provide a general overview of the process of evaluation and accreditation with continuous quality improvement that is required for formal nursing education programs in the United States. This article discusses core components of nursing program evaluation, regional and national accreditation, state boards of nursing and licensure, and the role of specialty certification in nursing.

Hospital nurses' views about physical restraint use with older patients.

1. A survey of knowledge, practice and attitudes about physical restraints was completed by nursing staff (RN, LPN, CNA) from four hospitals. 2.

Acute confusion: nursing intervention in older patients.

Older patients are at high risk for developing acute confusion while hospitalized with an associated increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Causes for acute confusion include physiologic, psychosocial, and environmental alterations. Often not recognized by nurses, acute confusion needs to be differentiated from depression and dementia.

The role of support surfaces and patient attributes in preventing pressure ulcers in elderly patients.

Nurses caring for elderly patients often need to select support surfaces that reduce the likelihood of pressure ulcers, but there is little information about the effectiveness of different support surfaces. This randomized trial compared two support surfaces and investigated patient attributes related to the risk of developing a pressure ulcer. Eighty-four elderly patients were nursed on a convoluted or solid foam overlay and assessed three times a week for pressure ulcers.

Guilt & grief. When daughters place mothers in nursing homes.

In the US there is a persistent myth that adult children do not care for their aging, dependent parents. Also, nursing home placement of a parent is still perceived as a deviant and selfish act by adult children. Adult daughters experience a relationship loss with their mothers' nursing home placement and progressive deterioration.