Reducing the burden of medication costs to improve medication adherence.

The high cost of medications is one reason that patients do not adhere to treatment plans. Providers can take actions to relieve the economic burden such as prescribing generic medications and offering patients information on various resources, including discount generic drug lists, discount cards, mail-order pharmacies, and prescription assistance programs.

"Releasing a lot of poisons from my mind": patients' delusional memories of intensive care.

Objectives: To describe intensive care unit (ICU) patients' delusional memories and interpretations of those memories.

Background: Delusional memories of the ICU are distressing for patients and may impact psychological recovery.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis from a study of mechanically ventilated patients' recall in relation to sedation.

Psychometric properties of the index of relocation adjustment.

More and more American older adults are relocating to retirement communities, and they experience challenges in adjusting to new surroundings that may increase their depression and mortality. An instrument not previously tested in the United States, the Index of Relocation Adjustment (IRA), may help in early identification of poor relocation adjustment. This study examined the psychometric properties of the IRA using secondary data from a convenience sample of 104 older adults who relocated to 6 retirement communities in Northeast Ohio.

Factors associated with the emotional distress of women family members of adults with serious mental illness.

Women family members of adults with serious mental illness are at great risk for emotional distress. This study examined associations between characteristics of 60 women (age, race, and education), their relatives with mental illness (age, diagnosis, and years since diagnosis), and the family situation (relationship, living arrangements, and care provided) and symptoms of emotional distress. Depressive symptoms were greater among those with younger, non-sibling relatives.

Fostering Ambulation for a Preschool Child with Rett Syndrome: A Case Report.

Unlabelled: Children with Rett Syndrome (RS) have neuromotor impairments that impact their mobility. Poor hand function among children with RS limits the selection of an assistive device for ambulation.

Purpose: The purpose of this case report is to describe the process of selecting an assistive device for a child with RS to promote ambulation.

Public health model identifies recruitment barriers among older adults with delirium and dementia.

Recruiting older adults and their family caregivers into research studies presents challenges. Although the literature notes some general recruitment challenges, no studies specifically address the unique challenges of recruiting older adults who have Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and their family caregivers in studies about delirium or suggest using a framework to identify barriers to recruiting this population. In conducting a pilot study about preparing family caregivers to detect delirium symptoms in older adults with (AD) the researchers used the Public Health Model for identifying barriers to recruitment.

Self-assessed health in caregivers of persons with autism spectrum disorder: associations with depressive symptoms, positive cognitions, resourcefulness, and well-being.

Purpose: Caregiving for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can affect family caregivers' self-assessed health. The purpose of this study was to determine whether depressive symptoms, positive cognitions, resourcefulness, and well-being will differ significantly among those who rated their health as fair, good, or excellent.

Design And Methods: This study is a secondary analysis of 109 ASD caregivers who were recruited from the Interactive ASD Network.

Perinatal outcomes of prenatal probiotic and prebiotic administration: an integrative review.

The purpose of this integrative review was to identify, critique, and synthesize the maternal and neonatal evidence on the prenatal use of probiotics and prebiotics to inform perinatal health professionals. A comprehensive literature search resulted in 37 studies of prenatal probiotics and 1 on antepartal prebiotics published from 1990 through 2011 that reported maternal, fetal, and/or neonatal outcomes. The methodologic quality of the studies reviewed was high, although investigators used different probiotic combinations and inconsistently reported perinatal clinical outcomes.

Influence of motivation on the efficacy of natural family planning.

Purpose: To determine the influence of mutual motivation on unintended pregnancy rates of couples who used natural family planning (NFP) methods to avoid pregnancy.

Study Design And Methods: Using an online taught NFP method, 358 women and (their male partners) indicated "how much" and "how hard" they wished to avoid pregnancy on a scale of 0 to 10 before each menstrual cycle charted over 12 month of use. This motivation scale is used in the National Survey of Family Growth as a measure of motivation.

Spiritual care of the child with cancer at the end of life: a concept analysis.

Aim: The aim of this paper is to report an analysis of the concept of spiritual care of a child with cancer at the end of life.

Background: Spirituality is a vital dimension of a child's experience at the end of life; providing comfort; support; and a sense of connection. Spiritual care is paramount to address the substantial spiritual distress that may develop.

A review of patients with renal disease undergoing vascular access surgery: is gray-scale ultrasound enough?

Background: An adequate fistula or graft is essential to long-term survival and quality of life for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who are receiving hemodialysis because of its lower complication rates, lower costs, and prolonged patency. Use of duplex ultrasound for preoperative planning is currently recommended by the Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative for patients with ESRD with prior fistulas or grafts, central lines, pacemakers, and prior chest or arm surgery. The preoperative evaluation consisted of gray-scale ultrasound and physical examination in all patients with ESRD in this study.

Spiritual Care of Couples Practicing Natural Family Planning.

There are few studies that have investigated the spiritual problems of couples practicing natural family planning (NFP). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the spiritual problems and interventions of couples who were taught NFP by means of a professional online Web-based support system. Responses from this online system and its forums were categorized according to spiritual responses, spiritual problems, and spiritual interventions to the practice of NFP.

Validation of patient and nurse short forms of the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale and their relationship to return to the hospital.

Objective: To validate patient and nurse short forms for discharge readiness assessment and their associations with 30-day readmissions and emergency department (ED) visits.

Data Sources/study Setting: A total of 254 adult medical-surgical patients and their discharging nurses from an Eastern US tertiary hospital between May and November, 2011.

Study Design: Prospective longitudinal design, multinomial logistic regression analysis.

Psychometric assessment of the depressive cognition scale among caregivers of persons with autism spectrum disorder.

Caregivers of persons with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are prone to depression, and early identification of cognitive depressive symptoms is important to prevent the development of clinical depression. The Depressive Cognition Scale (DCS) can be used for early detection, but the scale's psychometrics has not been tested in caregivers of persons with ASD. In this study, 95 caregivers of persons with ASD completed the eight-item DCS and measures of caregiver burden and resourcefulness.

Measuring use of positive thinking skills: psychometric testing of a new scale.

Positive thinking interventions improve adaptive functioning and quality of life in many populations. However, no direct measure of positive thinking skills taught during intervention exists. This psychometric study of a convenience sample of 109 autism spectrum disorder (ASD) caregivers examined a new eight-item Positive Thinking Skills Scale (PTSS), which measures the frequency of use of positive thinking skills.

Female fertility: a conceptual and dimensional analysis.

Introduction: Female fertility is commonly described as the biological nature of women, yet different meanings emerge when one takes a holistic approach to fertility while considering varying contexts and perspectives. An improved understanding of female fertility will enhance health care professionals' understanding of female fertility and improve communication with women and other health care professionals. This article presents a conceptual and dimensional analysis of female fertility.

Spirituality, religiosity, depression, anxiety, and drug-use consequences during methadone maintenance therapy.

Substance addiction is damaging to the health of persons, families, and society. Often the person with addiction has decreased spirituality and religiosity and suffers from anxiety, depression, or both, increasing the risk for continued substance use and its concomitant negative consequences. The study purpose was to describe spirituality and religiosity, among persons enrolled in methadone maintenance therapy and to examine associations between spirituality, religiosity, anxiety, depression, and drug-use consequences.

Genomics and autism spectrum disorder.

Purpose: To present the current state of the evidence regarding translation of genetics (the study of single genes) and genomics (the study of all genes and gene-gene or gene-environment interactions) into health care of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Methods: This article presents an overview of ASD as an international health challenge, the emerging science related to broad diagnostic criteria, and the role of the nurse in research, education, and practice.

Findings: Much progress is being made in the understanding of genetics and genomics of ASD.

Methodological triangulation: an approach to understanding data.

Aim: To describe the use of methodological triangulation in a study of how people who had moved to retirement communities were adjusting.

Background: Methodological triangulation involves using more than one kind of method to study a phenomenon. It has been found to be beneficial in providing confirmation of findings, more comprehensive data, increased validity and enhanced understanding of studied phenomena.

Effects on resilience of caregivers of persons with autism spectrum disorder: the role of positive cognitions.

Background: Approximately 2.8 million people in the United States are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Family caregivers manage many aspects of their care, which is demanding, overwhelming, and can affect their mental health.

A framework of academic persistence and success for ethnically diverse graduate nursing students.

Aim: The goal of this qualitative study was to examine how ethnically diverse graduate nursing students persisted with academic studies.

Background: Ethnically diverse nurses are vastly underrepresented in the workforce.This problem is accentuated by high attrition rates in academic programs.

Doctor of nursing practice programs across the United States: a benchmark of information: part II: admission criteria.

The adoption of the doctor of nursing practice (DNP) degree by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing has led to the exponential growth of DNP programs across the United States. This article is Part II of a 2-part series exploring DNP program information. The purpose of this research was to create a benchmark of information that can be used to compare and contrast programs throughout the United States.