Music for untying restrained patients.

The purpose of this descriptive pilot study was two-fold: (a) to test psychometrically an observational instrument designed to measure patient behaviors displayed while unrestrained and receiving a musical intervention; and (b) to determine the effect of a musical intervention on the behavioral reactions of physically restrained patients. The Restraint-Music Response Instrument (RMRI) is a 40-item observational checklist consisting of 22 positive and 18 negative responses developed by the researchers. Content validity was assessed by a panel of experts.

History of higher education: educational reform and the emergence of the nursing professorate.

At the end of the 19th century and prior to any published nursing theories, a number of visionaries in the field of nursing were engaged in the pursuit of a liberal education for nurses. These special people, rarely considered in contemporary nursing curricula, were responsible for moving nursing education out of hospitals and into universities. This shift was primarily responsible for the development of nursing professors, which never may have developed had nursing education remained under the auspices of hospitals.

Transcultural perspectives in nursing administration.

Population demographics are reshaping the healthcare work force with respect to race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, age, handicap, disability, and related factors as national sensitivity to various forms of diversity grows. Given the demographic trends, it is inevitable that nurse administrators will need skill in transcultural administration as they manage diversity and identify the cultural origins of conflict in the multicultural workplace. Culture influences the manner in which administrators, staff and patients perceive, identify, define and solve problems.

A model for cultural change.

Using transcultural nursing administration concepts is essential for survival, growth, satisfaction, and achieving goals in the multicultural workplace. Here, a model for cultural change in diverse health care settings assesses strengths, community resources, and readiness for change.

Social support sources among older women with heart failure: continuity versus loss over time.

The extent to which older women with heart failure experienced continuity or loss of their support sources and the relationship between support source loss, perceived enacted support, and psychological well-being were examined in this study. In-home interviews were conducted with 57 older women who completed two interview 18 months apart following a hospital admission for heart failure. Both the emotional and tangible support sources were quite stable, indicating that the predominant pattern is continuity for older women with heart failure.

Older adults' symptoms and their duration before hospitalization for heart failure.

Objective: To describe the older adult heart failure patients' symptoms and their duration before a hospital admission and to explore related factors.

Design: The study was an archival study of inpatient hospital records at one acute care facility in western New York.

Sample: One hundred eighty-one patients with a mean age of 76 years.

Music intervention with physically restrained patients.

Lack of appropriate alternatives to the use of restraints in hospitals and rehabilitation settings is a major concern of nurses. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the behavioral effects of music intervention with physically restrained patients. The results demonstrated that the number of positive behaviors increased significantly during the music-listening period, during which patients were not restrained, as compared to their typical restrained status.

The liberal arts and professional nursing: making the connections.

A liberal education is essential for professional nurses today. "Liberally educated nurses make informed and responsible ethical choices and help shape the future of society as well as the nursing profession" (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 1986, p. 5).

A discharge survey of twenty day treatment program patients.

This article describes a discharge survey of patients who were preparing to leave a day treatment program. It developed out of staff interest in patients' beliefs about their preparedness for discharge and patients' view of their experience at the end of their treatment.

Cultural perspectives on nursing in the 21st century.

By the year 2000, more than one fourth of the US population will consist of individuals from culturally diverse groups. Increasing numbers of international visitors and exchange students will use the US health care delivery system, and US nurses will engage in international interchanges with increasing frequency. To keep pace with these population and health care trends, US nurses will need to base their nursing care on a theoretically sound foundation that draws on knowledge from the physical, natural, and behavioral sciences, as well as on research-based theories from transcultural, cross-cultural, and international nursing.

Resumption of physiological functions in the wood frog (Rana sylvatica) after freezing.

We monitored the resumption of physiological functions in frogs that were frozen at -2 to -3 degrees C for 24 h and thawed rapidly (at 23-25 degrees C) or slowly (at 6-8 degrees C). Bodily functions were restored sooner during fast thawing, but this did not enhance the survival of frogs. The first physiological parameter to return was cardiac function, but during the early stages of thawing heart rates were lower than heart rates of unfrozen frogs at comparable body temperatures.

Physiology course content in graduate education.

Because first-year graduate students at the University of Rochester School of Nursing have a widely varying competency in basic physiology, the faculty devised two courses designed not only to provide these students with a review of basic physiology, but also to encourage them to correlate this science with the science of nursing. This prepares the students to function as nurse clinicians who deal with nursing issues, not medical issues.

Strategic planning: preparing for the twenty-first century.

If educational institutions for nursing are to survive these uncertain times and to experience new life in the advent of the 21st century, careful planning for the future must be undertaken. Strategic planning, a relatively new term in nursing education, is a concept designed to achieve goals in dynamic, competitive environments through the judicious allocation of resources. The primary purpose of strategic planning is to achieve success with mission while linking the institution's future to anticipated changes in the environment.

Freezing-induced changes in the heart rate of wood frogs (Rana sylvatica).

During the first few hours of freezing the cardiovascular system must distribute cryoprotectant throughout the body of freeze-tolerant frogs. This study presents initial documentation of the changes in heart rate of wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) during nonlethal freezing. Heart rate was determined by measuring the electrocardiogram of frogs.