Keeping Mothers Together With Their Babies Requiring Neonatal Intensive Care During the Birth Hospitalization: An Innovative Model of Care.

Background: Keeping mothers and babies together after birth has long been described as best practice; however, most organizations in the United States move newborns requiring a higher level of care to a different unit in the hospital. The leadership team at a level II, four-bed neonatal intensive care unit in a community hospital averaging 1,400 births per year recognized an opportunity to potentially improve the care for maternity patients and their families.

Intervention: Instead of high-risk newborns being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit while their mothers were on the postpartum unit, an innovative model applied the concepts of rooming-in and couplet care in a new way, keeping mothers and their babies that need a higher level of care together.

"How-To" Guide to Pelvic Floor Muscle Dysfunction.

The purpose of this paper is to assist the clinician in recognizing pelvic floor muscle dysfunction in women with vulvar symptoms, to provide general treatment algorithms, and to facilitate understanding of the scientific rationale behind appropriate treatment. In short, this paper is meant to provide a "how-to" guide to pelvic floor pain management for the Ob/Gyn.

A randomized, double-blind, active control trial of fluoroscopic cervical interlaminar epidural injections in chronic pain of cervical disc herniation: results of a 2-year follow-up.

Background: A recent evaluation of the state of U.S. health from 1990 to 2010 placed neck pain as the fourth condition leading to disability, with low back pain being the number one.

Nursing department education needs assessment: implementation and outcome.

The Education Council was interested in identifying learning needs. Previous needs assessments identified topics but did not assist in prioritizing education. A survey was developed with topics selected from quality and process initiatives.

Effects of economic hardship on adolescent self-esteem: a family mediation model.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between economic hardship, family relationships, and adolescent self-esteem in a sample of 387 midwestern families. The results of LISREL analyses showed that economic hardship had an adverse effect on adolescent self-esteem, and that this effect was primarily mediated through the parent-adolescent relationship. The data also indicated that the marital relationship was negatively affected by economic hardship, but there was no direct relationship between parents' marital relationship and adolescents' self-esteem.