Nordic walking training in persons with Parkinson's disease: Individualized prescription-A case series.

Introduction: Physical therapy interventions for patients with Parkinson's disease prioritize task-specific exercise to address gait and motor dysfunction. Nordic walking (NW) is a moderate intensity exercise promoting walking speed and rhythm. This case series describes the application of customized NW training in individuals with varied severity of Parkinson's gait dysfunction and the outcomes specific to gait, motor and non-motor symptoms; and NW engagement and retention in the follow-up phase.

Evaluation of Disability Education and Emergency Preparedness Curricula of Physician Assistant Programs.

Objective: The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate whether physician assistant (PA) programs in the Midwest integrate both disabilities and emergency preparedness education into 1 curriculum.

Methods: A convenience sample was utilized to survey program directors and deans of PA programs. Emails were obtained from the Physician Assistant Education Association.

The Impact of Interprofessional Education and Practice on Medical Scribe Success Working in the Emergency Department.

Medical scribes assist health care providers with medical documentation, thus freeing providers' time for clinical work. In 2015, Grand Valley State University (GVSU) partnered with Helix Scribe Solutions (HSS) to educate medical scribes with classroom and clinical training, including interprofessional education (IPE) created by the Midwest Interprofessional Education and Research Center. This study explored the impact of an academic scribe training program, including the effect of IPE on scribe student perceptions of teamwork and to determine the factor(s) associated with scribe documentation recording accuracy.

Physical Therapy Interventions in a Patient with Nontraumatic Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury Secondary to Metastatic Lung Cancer: A Case Report.

Background And Introduction: Individuals with dual cancer and spinal cord injury diagnoses present unique challenges to rehabilitation teams. This case report describes the modification of a physical therapy plan of care for an individual with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI) resulting from metastatic lung cancer who underwent adjunctive cancer treatment.

Case Description: A 61-year-woman with small cell lung cancer and T5 iSCI presenting to inpatient rehabilitation (IPR) to address function limitations from iSCI following metastatic epidural tumor resection.

Advancing the clinical nurse leader model through academic-practice-policy partnership.

The nursing profession is tasked with identifying and evaluating models of care with potential to add value to health care delivery. In consideration of this goal, we describe the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) initiative and the activities of a national-level CNL research collaborative. The CNL initiative, launched by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in collaboration with education and healthcare leaders, has delineated CNL education curriculum and practice competencies, and fostered the creation of academic-practice-policy partnerships to pilot CNL integration into frontline nursing care delivery.

Comparing Balance Performance on Force Platform Measures in Individuals with Parkinson's Disease and Healthy Adults.

Introduction: Postural instability is a known contributing factor to balance dysfunction and increased fall risk in those with Parkinson's disease (PD). Computerized posturography employing a force platform system provides objective, quantitative assessments of postural control impairments. This study examines balance performance as measured by force platform (FP) tests in persons with PD compared to age-matched healthy adults.

Developing the Clinical Nurse Leader Survey Instrument: A Modified Delphi Study.

Clinical nurse leader (CNL)-integrated care delivery is an emerging nursing model, with growing adoption in diverse health systems. To generate a robust evidence base for this promising nursing model, it is necessary to measure CNL practice to explicitly link it to observed quality and safety outcome improvements. This study used a modified Delphi approach with an expert CNL panel to develop and test the face, content, and construct validity of the CNL Practice Survey instrument.

Disruption of tubular Flcn expression as a mouse model for renal tumor induction.

The study of kidney cancer pathogenesis and its treatment has been limited by the scarcity of genetically defined animal models. The FLCN gene that codes for the protein folliculin, mutated in Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome, presents a new target for mouse modeling of kidney cancer. Here we developed a kidney-specific knockout model by disrupting the mouse Flcn in the proximal tubules, thus avoiding homozygous embryonic lethality or neonatal mortality, and eliminating the requirement of loss of heterozygosity for tumorigenesis.

Relationship between hip and core strength and frontal plane alignment during a single leg squat.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between frontal plane kinematics of the single leg squat and strength of the trunk and hip in females.

Participants: Forty healthy females participated in this study.

Methods: An isometric "make" test using a dynamometer was used to assess peak force normalized to body weight for hip abduction, hip extension, hip external rotation, and a sidelying plank test.

Patient safety culture transformation in a children's hospital: an interprofessional approach.

In 2008, a children's hospital based in the Midwest of the USA launched a hospital-wide safety transformation initiative to improve the safety and quality of care resulting in a decrease in the number of critical safety incidents. In order to build on the early successes of the Hospital's safety program and further improve safety metrics, investigators developed a set of multi-pronged, interprofessional interventions designed to improve overall safety outcomes. The interprofessional interventions focused on didactic training, simulation exercises and safety rounding components.

Prolonged swing phase rectus femoris activity is not associated with stiff-knee gait in children with cerebral palsy: a retrospective study of 407 limbs.

Prolonged swing phase rectus femoris (RF) activity has been implicated as a cause of stiff-knee gait (SKG) in children with cerebral palsy (CP) and continues to be cited as an indicator for RF intervention. The purpose of this study was to determine what, if any, association exists between abnormal RF activity during preswing, initial swing and/or midswing and SKG in children with CP. This retrospective analysis involved three examiners independently reviewing sagittal plane knee kinematic and RF surface electromyographic (EMG) data from 407 affected limbs of 234 pediatric patients with CP.

Developing nontraditional community health placements.

Building capacity for student clinical experiences has become a key concern for nurse educators in the 21st century. For community health faculty, traditional placements at public health departments or other health-affiliated organizations often do not provide adequate numbers or types of placement opportunities. Wishing to expand experiences for its undergraduate program, faculty at a midwestern university have developed and nurtured long-standing collaborative relationships with organizations not typically used by schools of nursing.

Direct consumer access to physical therapy in Michigan: challenges to policy adoption.

Background. Michigan is 1 of only 4 states that require a physician referral or prescription before a consumer can receive treatment from a physical therapist.Objective.

Exploring possibilities: virtual reality in nursing research.

This article describes the use of virtual reality (VR) as a method of measurement in nursing research. Virtual reality refers to the use of computerized displays to show a lifelike environment in which the user interacts. Although many disciplines are beginning to use VR environments in research, nursing has yet to embrace this technology.

Testing a theoretical model of perceived self-efficacy for cancer-related fatigue self-management and optimal physical functional status.

Background: Critical gaps exist in the understanding of cancer symptoms, particularly for cancer-related fatigue (CRF). Existing theories and models do not examine the key role perceived self-efficacy (PSE) plays in a person's ability to manage symptoms.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that physical functional status (PFS) is predicted through patient characteristics, CRF, other symptoms, and PSE for fatigue self-management in persons with cancer.

The relationship between nurse work schedules, sleep duration, and drowsy driving.

Study Objectives: Recent studies have shown that extended shifts worked by hospital staff nurses are associated with significantly higher risk of errors, yet little information is available about the ability to remain alert during the nurses' commutes following the completion of an extended work shift. The purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence of drowsy driving episodes and the relationship between drowsy driving and nurse work hours, alertness on duty, working at night, and sleep duration.

Participants: Data were collected from 2 national random samples of registered nurses (n=895).

Does continuous passive motion during keyboarding affect hand blood flow and wrist function? A prospective case report.

The purpose of this prospective case report was to evaluate the use of a keyboard platform device that uses continuous passive motion (CPM) on vascular flow to the hand for clerical employees who perform daily keyboarding tasks. Subjects were two female volunteers, one symptomatic of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), who were employed in clerical positions and perform daily keyboarding tasks for most of their workday. Data collection consisted of baseline and follow-up measurements at 6 weeks, including: 1) screening for symptoms based on the Carpal Tunnel Function Disability Form, 2) evaluation using standard physical therapy examination and assessment techniques, including modified Semmes- Weinstein monofilament testing, 3) a typing productivity test, and 4) Doppler ultrasound examination to quantify vascular flow at the wrist.