The caregiver's careshop. A renewal experience for nursing staff.

What are some creative methodologies that staff development educators can use to nurture nursing staff while promoting caring and compassionate behaviors? The authors describe an innovative process used during a 1-day workshop designed to convey caring to nursing staff through a variety of experiences. The overall goal of the session is to provide caregivers with a variety of new "tools" to care for themselves as they deal with multiple stressors in their personal and professional lives.

Health-related research among Amish women: a review of findings.

The objective of this literature review is to explore and synthesize research related to Amish women's health issues. Literature searches were conducted on an extensive list of Internet-based databases, with a total of 767 articles identified. Inclusion criteria consisted of published, gender-based, and evidence-based research.

Policies on documentation and disciplinary action in hospital pharmacies after a medication error.

Hospital pharmacies were surveyed about policies on medication error documentation and actions taken against pharmacists involved in an error. The survey was mailed to 500 randomly selected hospital pharmacy directors in the United States. Data were collected on the existence of medication error reporting policies, what types of errors were documented and how, and hospital demographics.

H reflex and F wave latencies to soleus normal values and side-to-side differences.

Objective: Electromyographers must reliably differentiate between H reflexes and F waves when recording from the soleus muscle in the evaluation of S1 radiculopathy. The use of F waves in root-level injuries is questioned, whereas H reflexes have shown value in the evaluation of S1 radiculopathy. We studied the relationship between the tibial H reflex and F wave latencies in the limbs of 40 subjects.

Dietary restrictions for patients with neutropenia: a survey of institutional practices.

Purpose/objectives: To describe institutional practices related to dietary restrictions for patients with neutropenia to determine whether restrictions are used and when they are implemented and discontinued.

Design: Descriptive survey.

Sample: 156 institutions belonging to the Association of Community Cancer Centers.

Anoxic-hypotensive brain injury: neuropsychological performance at 1 month as an indicator of recovery.

Design: This case control study included assessments at 3 and 8 weeks post brain injury. Controls were the non-brain injured subjects whose normative data has been published for neuropsychological measures. Data and medical information were obtained with informed consent.

Epoetin alfa: focus on inflammation and infection. Case study of the anemic patient.

Infectious and inflammatory disorders cause a disturbance in iron metabolism that leads to a sequestration of iron in the reticuloendothelial (R-E) system and a sometimes sharp and sudden decline in red blood cell indices. Underlying inflammatory conditions can decrease responsiveness to Epoetin alfa in dialysis patients and complicate anemia management. Understanding the possible infectious and inflammatory etiologies that can affect enemia management is essential to enhancing the nursing care of dialysis patients.

Asset management in theory and practice.

Managing capital-intensive imaging environments continues to be a challenge for nearly all administrators. Asset management, the strategic management of equipment inventory, must include planning, assessment, procurement, utilization review, maintenance, repair and disposal of equipment to reduce costs and improve efficiency. It must involve some shared risk between the facility and the provider, whether an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or independent service organization (ISO).

Evolution of a cardiovascular information system.

The competitive nature of our evolving health care system mandates a concomitant increase in the level of sophistication of the cardiovascular information system. The new paradigms in health care also mandate a re-engineering of the process of data collection and analysis. This paper deals with a variety of hardware, software, and human issues encountered at our institution.

Major depression: assessing the role of new antidepressants.

Major depression is a common disorder. Historically, tricyclic antidepressants have been the standard pharmacologic agents in the treatment of this disorder. Unfortunately, the occurrence of significant side effects has limited the use of these drugs.

Epoetin alfa--focus on patients who are hospitalized. Case study of the anemic patient.

Maintaining continuity of care in dialysis patients who require hospitalization is an ongoing challenge for nephrology clinicians. One of the keys to improving continuity of care is establishing open lines of communication between the staffs of the dialysis center and local hospitals. This article examines the integral role nurses can play in this communication process and uses anemia management to illustrate how proactive planning can help improve continuity of care throughout the treatment continuum.