Verbal abuse: a proactive approach.

Of the 151 nurses responding to a survey conducted at a 400-bed acute care hospital, 85% had experienced verbal abuse and 45% had experienced verbal abuse within the last 15 working days. Recommendations, assertiveness or crisis intervention techniques, and patient/family education help nurses manage their feelings about abuse and the verbally abusive patient and family.

Entitling the student doctor: defining the student's role in patient care.

Oscar Thompson, a third-year medical student on a shift in the emergency department, is eager to participate in as many procedures as possible. According to the triage nurse's history, the next patient to be seen is a 58-year-old man who has had fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Anticipating his first lumbar puncture, Oscar approaches the room with enthusiasm.

Pregnancy and extracranial shunts: case report and review of the literature.

This case involves a 32-year-old pregnant patient with a preexisting ventriculoperitoneal shunt. At term, she had a vaginal delivery with vacuum assistance, an epidural, and prophylactic antibiotics. Although there are no controlled studies validating the best course of management in such cases, there seems to be agreement that vaginal delivery can be attempted in the absence of other obstetrical indications for operative delivery.

Developing competency in the neonatal intensive care unit: a hospital training program.

There are few specialized programs available to train occupational therapists and physical therapists to treat competently in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), yet hospitals are trying to fill such positions, and the need for advanced training is essential. A hospital-based program that provides clinical NICU training to therapists from other hospitals is presented. The program is short-term and highly individualized and emphasizes learning pertinent medical information, nonintrusive evaluation skills, and therapeutic intervention with advanced clinical judgment.

Night shift call systems in family practice residencies.

Background: The number of hours worked by residents has come under scrutiny recently. One approach to decreasing the number of consecutive hours worked is the night shift call or night float system.

Methods: A survey was sent to the directors/administrators of all family practice residency programs.

Changes in nursing's periodical literature: 1975-1985.

A comparison of 1975 and 1985 nursing journals reveals that more and better educated nurses are writing the profession's articles than was the case 15 years ago. Findings point to a significant growth in the professionalism of the nursing literature.

Sensory integrative processing in delinquent-prone and non-delinquent-prone adolescents.

The purposes of this study were to obtain a preliminary description of the sensory integrative and practic abilities of 114 non-delinquent-prone adolescents aged 12 through 18 years and to compare their performances with those of 12 delinquent-prone adolescents with learning problems. Ten of the 17 subtests of the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests (SIPT) (Ayres, 1989) as well as the Finger Posture Imitation Test (Druker, 1980) and the MacQuarrie Test for Mechanical Ability (MacQuarrie, 1925/1953) were administered to both groups. It was hypothesized that performance on some tests would correlate with age in the non-delinquent-prone adolescents.

Model for physical therapy in the NICU.

The role of the PT can range from consultant for orthopedic and feeding problems to daily therapist for neurological concerns. The PT can always be an additional source of education and support to parents and NICU staff. The PT is and should be an integral part of the neonatal team.