Understanding the commission on collegiate nursing education accreditation process and the role of the continuous improvement progress report.

Continuous quality improvement is an essential element of the accreditation process. This article describes the content and process for writing the Continuous Improvement Progress Report (CIPR) required by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) at the midpoint of the accreditation cycle. The rationale for writing the report and the purpose for the contents of the report are reviewed.

The Nursing Home Falls Self-Efficacy Scale: development and testing.

We examined a brief measure of falls self-efficacy in nursing home residents participating in a pilot randomized controlled trial to study the effects of hip protectors on the prevention of fractures (N = 116, mean age 82 ± 8, 72% female). Internal consistency reliability was acceptable with Cronbach's alpha of .79.

A review of issues and concerns of family members of adult burn survivors.

The purpose of this review is to synthesize what is known about the issues and concerns of families of adult burn survivors from research and clinical articles written between 1973 and 2009. Electronic database searching, ancestry searching, and electronic hand searching were performed to identify relevant articles. Seventeen research studies and 14 clinical articles were identified.

Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale-Motor Exam: inter-rater reliability of advanced practice nurse and neurologist assessments.

Aim: This paper is a report of a study to establish the inter-rater reliability of advanced practice nurse and neurologist neurological assessments which included ratings with the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale-Motor Exam.

Background: Around the world, advanced practice nurses are performing tasks once completed only by physicians. To promote consumer and provider confidence, it is important to establish that nurse and physician ratings using assessment tools are similar.

Can older adults with dementia accurately report depression using brief forms? Reliability and validity of the Geriatric Depression Scale.

The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is a commonly used screening tool, but its use in older adults with cognitive impairment has been controversial. This study compared the short forms of the GDS with clinician diagnosis of depression using standard criteria (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, text revision) in people with and without dementia. Sensitivity and specificity were acceptable for all forms of the GDS.

Refinement and validation of the episode-specific interpretations of exercise inventory.

The purpose of this study was to refine an instrument to measure interpretations of exercise, the Episode-Specific Interpretations of Exercise Inventory (ESIE), and further examine its validity. This study was a secondary data analysis using community-dwelling older adults from two larger clinical trials. Fit indices from confirmatory factory analyses were strong.

Gastric residual volume and aspiration in critically ill patients receiving gastric feedings.

Background: The helpfulness of bedside assessment of gastric residual volume in the prediction of aspiration has been questioned, as has the volume that signals increased risk of aspiration.

Objective: To describe the association between gastric residual volumes and aspiration of gastric contents.

Methods: In a prospective study of 206 critically ill patients receiving gastric tube feedings for 3 consecutive days, gastric residual volumes were measured with 60-mL syringes every 4 hours.

Associations between psychiatric disorders and menstrual cycle characteristics.

An understanding of the relationship between psychiatric disorders and menstrual characteristics is important to the assessment and care of women. Menstrual cycle regularity and length have significant associations with specific current and lifetime psychiatric disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether psychiatric disorders are associated with menstrual cycle length or regularity.

Promoting physical activity in teen girls: insight from focus groups.

Purpose: To describe adolescent girls' views about physical activity and explore strategies that nurses can use to promote physical activity.

Study Design And Methods: A qualitative study using focus groups and interviews with 28 girls (12-18 years of age) recruited from schools and neighborhood health centers in a Midwest metropolitan area. An interview guide with 15 open-ended questions was used, and data were analyzed using content analysis.

Brief: nursing diagnostic applications derived from National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (NACB) draft guidelines and recommendations for laboratory analysis in the diagnosis and management of diabetes mellitus.

This brief indicates how methods used by the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (NACB) in the development of its guidelines and recommendation for the laboratory analysis in the diagnosis and management of diabetes mellitus may be applied to advance nomenclature, clinical practice, and research development within nursing. Specifically, human response diagnoses require the identification of accurate tests to confirm or reject the diagnoses. Each test needs to be described in terms of its use, rationale, analytical, and emerging considerations.

Preliminary reliability and validity of the grandparent version of the Grandparent Support Scale for Teenage Mothers (GSSTM-G).

This study demonstrates the preliminary reliability and validity of the grandparent version of the Grandparent Support Scale for Teenage Mothers (GSSTM-G), a measure designed to assess grandparents' perceptions of triadic relationships that support or imperil the teen mother's care of her baby. Grandparents (N = 61) who participated in this study were parents and parent surrogates of teen mothers who completed a teen version of the scale (GSSTM-T). Principal axis factoring with oblique rotation resulted in a reduction of the GSSTM-G scale from 19 to 14 items.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy, exercise, and older adults' quality of life.

This study examined health-related quality of life (HRQL) at baseline and 6, 9, and 12 months after initiating exercise training in three groups of older adults. The conditions were cognitive-behavioral therapy, attention-control health promotion education, and a control group. Participants (N = 332) were mainly women (n = 252, 75.

Preventing aspiration in older adults with dysphagia.

Dysphagia, the impairment of any part of the swallowing process, increases the risk of aspiration. Dysphagia and aspiration are associated with the development of aspiration pneumonia. While some changes in swallowing may be a natural result of aging, dysphagia is especially prevalent among older adults with neurologic impairment or dementia, leading to an increased risk of aspiration and aspiration pneumonia.

Pediatric nurse practitioner salary and practice: results of a Midwest metropolitan area survey.

The St. Louis Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners has conducted a local biennial salary, practice, and benefits survey since the mid 1990s. This cross-sectional, descriptive study investigated demographic characteristics, salary, benefits, and practice patterns of pediatric nurse practitioners (PNPs) in the St.

A dialogue on the future of nursing practice.

Purpose: The challenges of health care; its safety, effectiveness, and efficiency; the quality of care; and the outcomes patients experience are issues central to nursing practice. This centrality needs to be affirmed as the profession shapes its practice over the next 50 years. The purpose of this article is to initiate a dialogue on the future of nursing practice.

Legacies of advantage and disadvantage: the case of teen mothers.

Objectives: The life trajectories of teen mothers and their children were examined with data from a larger longitudinal study.

Design: All 5 waves of the study were designed from the hermeneutic tradition.

Sample: Sixteen families began the study in 1988-1989 (Time 1) and were invited to participate in subsequent studies (1993, 1997, 2001, and 2005).

Caregiver perspectives on safety in home dementia care.

Home safety is a significant problem for caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. This focus group study is designed to gain insight into caregivers' experiences of managing safety issues and to explore application of the transtheoretical model of health behavior change (TTM) to this problem, toward development of interventions to improve safety care. Caregivers identified safety problems and management strategies, as well as barriers and factors facilitating management, that can help guide the development of interventions.

Light exposure, melatonin secretion, and menstrual cycle parameters: an integrative review.

Dysfunction in menstrual physiology has pronounced effects on quality of life, involving mood changes, body image, infertility, and pregnancy complications. Light exposure may affect menstrual cycles and symptoms through the influence of melatonin secretion. The purpose of this systematic review is to determine the current state of knowledge about the effects of light and melatonin secretion on menstrual phase and cycle alterations.

Is it time for a new category of nursing diagnosis?

Professional vigilance, the art of "watching out," is the essence of nursing. Vigilance is the mental process that makes the informed nursing actions of assessment, diagnosis, intervention, and evaluation possible and meaningful. Nursing vigilance must be described in our nursing terminology or it risks remaining invisible to others.

Evaluation of online and on-site options for master's degree and post-master's certificate programs.

Measures related to program evaluation were selected to compare on-site and online options of a master's and post-master's nursing program. Although some differences were found in student-related outcomes, the decision to continue the online options was based on program and organizational effectiveness. The decline in the number of on-site students has been offset by the expanding enrollments of online students and their national distribution.

Complications related to feeding tube placement.

Purpose Of Review: Blind placement of a feeding tube can result in serious complications. Given the widespread use of tube feedings, even a small percentage of such problems can affect a significant number of people. The purpose of this review is to describe recent reports of feeding tube placement problems and to examine possible solutions.

Nursing diagnoses, interventions and outcomes - application and impact on nursing practice: systematic review.

Aim: This paper reports a systematic review on the outcomes of nursing diagnostics. Specifically, it examines effects on documentation of assessment quality; frequency, accuracy and completeness of nursing diagnoses; and on coherence between nursing diagnoses, interventions and outcomes.

Background: Escalating healthcare costs demand the measurement of nursing's contribution to care.