The lived experience of feeling cared for: a human becoming perspective.

The purpose of this study was to answer the research question, What is the structure of the lived experience of feeling cared for? The participants were 10 women volunteers who were struggling with lack of economic, social, or interpersonal resources and who were or had been homeless. The Parse research method, a phenomenological-hermeneutic method, was used to discover the meaning of feeling cared for. The major finding of this study is the structure: Feeling cared for is contentment with intimate affiliations arising with salutary endeavors, while honoring uniqueness amid adversity.

Rh negative status and isoimmunization update: a case-based approach to care.

Prior to the 1970s and the advent of Rho (D) immune globulin (RIG) for Rh negative women, hemolytic disease of the newborn led to morbidity, long-term disabilities, and mortality. Antepartum RIG administration has been a standard of practice since 1983. Yet, Rh isoimmunization (sensitization) and its sequelae have not been completely eradicated.

Diet and exercise in low-income culturally diverse middle school students.

It is important to understand constructs essential to low-fat-diet and physical-activity behaviors of low-income culturally diverse middle-school-age students, because ethnicity and socioeconomic status influence body weight status, and these groups are most at risk for obesity later in life. In this descriptive study, constructs important in low-fat diet and physical activity in low- to middle-income, culturally diverse middle school students were examined. Revised for cultural/developmental appropriateness and reading level, instruments incorporating constructs from the Health Promotion and Transtheoretical Models were tested with 221 youth.

Service and education share responsibility for nurses' value development.

This article examines professional values of senior baccalaureate nursing students and practicing nurses. An important finding was that practicing nurses rated behaviors reflecting values in the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code for Nurses as more important than did senior students, thereby supporting the notion that practice contributes to value formation. The ongoing development and internalization of the nursing professions' values requires active involvement by staff development educators.

The intervention of surveillance across classification systems.

Purpose: To analyze the intervention of surveillance across nursing classification systems.

Data Sources: Published literature and book chapters.

Data Synthesis: Surveillance is a clearly established nursing intervention used in multiple practice settings and in response to many diagnoses.

A university-wide health fair: a health promotion clinical practicum.

Can sophomore baccalaureate students in their first clinical experience develop a health promotion activity to meet the needs of a university community? The authors describe how students, focusing on wellness and the nursing process, developed a university-wide health fair; the learning experiences, both planned and serendipitous; the importance of collaboration in health promotion and disease prevention activities; and the promotion of nursing's presence on a university campus.

Parish nurse practice with client aggregates.

The purpose of this study was to describe 1 aspect of parish nurses' practice: working with client aggregates. Nineteen parish nurses practicing in 22 faith communities collected data using 2 standardized nursing classification systems--North American Nurses Diagnosis Association Taxonomy and Nursing Intervention Classification. Nurses recorded 77 group encounters for services provided over a 5-month period.

Surveillance as a nursing intervention: use in community nursing centers.

The purpose of this multisite retrospective descriptive study was to describe the nature of surveillance as a nursing intervention within 3 urban community nursing centers (CNCs). Secondary analysis of clinical data was conducted for clients seen in 1995. The CNCs used the Automated Community Health Information System (Lundeen & Friedbacher, 1994), a relational database.

Rearing the child who is technology dependent: perceptions of parents and home care nurses.

Issues And Purpose: Most children who are dependent on technology for survival live with their families at home. This study explores the perceptions of parents and home care nurses regarding rearing the technology-dependent child.

Design And Methods: In this qualitative study, interviews were conducted with 16 parents whose child is technology dependent and 15 registered nurses who provided home care.

Resolving the uncertainty of preterm symptoms: women's experiences with the onset of preterm labor.

Objective: To describe expectant women's experiences with the onset of preterm labor.

Design: Qualitative, using grounded theory methods.

Setting: Southwestern tertiary women's hospital.

Components of a proper hospital discharge for elders.

Significance: Effective discharge planning is a vital link in continuity of care for elders. Previous studies identify problems with planning for elders' discharge from the hospital and problems elders encounter managing care post-discharge. However, little attention has been given to identifying effective discharge planning processes.

Nurse-midwives' knowledge and promotion of lactational amenorrhea and other natural family-planning methods for child spacing.

The purpose of this study was to describe and assess certified nurse-midwives' (CNMs) knowledge and promotion of two modalities for child spacing, natural family-planning (NFP) and the lactational amenorrhea method (LAM). One thousand two hundred CNMs were randomly selected from a national membership list and mailed a 24-item questionnaire on NFP and LAM. Of the 514 respondents (42.

Living in a house of cards: family experiences with long-term childhood technology dependence.

Families' experiences of providing long-term home care for the child who is technology dependent were explored via parental interviews. Families identified frequent change, uncertainty, and unpredictability in their lives, a phenomenon described as "living in a house of cards." Attempts to increase stability involved the use of vigilance, advocacy, and reframing.

Nurses' perceptions of pain assessment and treatment in the cognitively impaired elderly. It's not a guessing game.

The purpose of the study was to describe nurses' perceptions regarding the assessment and treatment of pain in patients with late-stage dementia. Thirty nurses from six long-term care facilities were interviewed using a semistructured format for this qualitative study. Initial results were presented to a second group for validation and refinement of findings.

Sensoristasis and imbalance in persons with dementia.

Purpose: To present a model of sensoristasis and imbalance for use by health care professionals to deliver care to older adults with irreversible dementing illness.

Organizing Constructs: The Sensoristasis Model shows the need of people with dementia to experience a balance between sensory-stimulating and sensory-calming activity. This model builds on Lawton's environmental docility hypothesis and on Hall and Buckwalter's Progressively Lowered Stress Threshold Model.

Economic trends and issues related to heart transplantation.

Heart transplantation continues to be a focal point of discussion pertaining to the allocation of expensive medical resources. Patients and providers currently face multiple challenges related to the financing of transplantation from pretransplant screening to long-term posttransplant care. Managed care continues to have an impact, which will hopefully lead to improved clinical outcomes and lower costs.

Evaluation of online course discussions. Faculty facilitation of active student learning.

Graduate nursing faculty evaluated their initial experiences with online course discussions after making the transition from traditional use of weekly face-to-face classroom discussions to primarily computer-based interactions with students at distant sites. The online discussion data were analyzed qualitatively. The ways the faculty member communicated to facilitate active student involvement in the online discussions were coded.

Pain, analgesic use, and morbidity in appendectomy patients.

Pain has immunosuppressive effects among the critically and chronically ill, and opioids may immunomodulate pain's deleterious effects. However, little is known about the relations between acute pain, acute illness, and morbidity among previously healthy surgical patients. This study retrospectively examined these relations in appendectomy patients (N = 61).

Family perspectives on dying in long-term care settings.

Dying is a central experience in the life of a family. Yet there are few studies of dying in long-term care and the role of a family. The dynamic relationships among families, staff, and residents in long-term care facilities related to the process of dying is an area where research is needed.

Reducing the effects of acute pain in critically ill patients.

Unrelieved pain in critically ill patients can increase mortality, morbidity, length of stay, and use of resources. This article reviews the physiologic basis of acute pain and the pathophysiologic sequelae that may ensue when critically ill patients experience acute pain. The author recommends strategies critical care nurses and advanced practice nurses can use to provide effective analgesia and potentially improve patient outcomes.

Epoprostenol therapy for primary pulmonary hypertension.

Although a rare disease, PPH is deadly. Until recently, patients had little hope for remission of this disease. Originally viewed as a "bridge to transplantation," new research findings suggest that epoprostenol significantly improves PPH so that transplantation may not be necessary.

Exercise and nutrition: what adolescents think is important.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine adolescents' experiences with health promotion, particularly physical activity and eating patterns. Adolescents' reported experiences were triangulated with measures of physical activity and food frequency to assess congruence with goals of Healthy People 2000 (published by the U.S.