Patient Advocacy at the APRN Level: A Direction for the Future.

Patient advocacy is seen as a critical role for the nursing profession. Although there is an existing body of literature surrounding the registered nurse level of patient advocacy, little is known about the advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) and patient advocacy. This article examines the existing patient advocacy research literature and existing APRN competencies to provide direction for further research.

Clinical course of adult patients with ependymoma: results of the Adult Ependymoma Outcomes Project.

Background: Ependymomas are a rare tumor in adults, and there are limited reports of the clinical course, treatment, and current health status of patients.

Methods: Patients with ependymoma completed an online survey regarding their diagnosis, treatment course, and current health status. Descriptive statistics were used to report the characteristics and degree of symptom severity.

Patient profiling for treatment toxicity: potential use of clinical and genomic factors.

Significant advances have been made in the identification of genes associated with the occurrence and prognosis of a variety of cancers. Recent efforts have also identified specific genomic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are associated with treatment toxicity in oncology, including toxicity associated with irinotecan, 5-FU, and 6-mercaptopurine. Despite the identification of these potential genomic predictors, their clinical use has been limited.

Contribution of skin temperature regularity to the risk of developing pressure ulcers in nursing facility residents.

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to determine whether characterizing skin temperature regulation as a functional property of the skin as it relates to tissue tolerance improves the clinician's understanding of pressure ulcer risk prediction.

Design: A 2-group time-series design was used to observe skin temperature regularity (entropy) and self-similarity (spectral exponent).

Methods: Twenty nursing facility residents wore skin temperature monitors continuously for 5 days.

Twenty-four-Hour blood pressure variability after acute ischemic stroke.

In people who are healthy, circadian rhythm in blood pressure is well established, with a 10% to 20% decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressure during nighttime. Deviations correlate with target organ disease such as left ventricular hypertrophy, retinopathy, renal disease, and stroke. Little is known about blood pressure and circadian patterns in stroke patients.

Pilot study of bone mineral density in breast cancer patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy.

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD) in breast cancer patients previously treated with adjuvant chemotherapy. Sixteen of 27 patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy became permanently amenorrheic as a result of chemotherapy. BMD was measured at the lumbar spine using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA).