Tobacco cessation intervention in a nurse practitioner managed clinic.

Tobacco cessation counseling by health care professionals has been associated with increased tobacco cessation rates. In this study we compare the effectiveness of two smoking cessation approaches administered by nurse practitioners--a stepped care approach (n = 34) and a routine care approach (n = 41), using a pre- and post-test control group study design. Additionally, this study was guided by the "stages of change" construct of the transtheoretical model.

An ethnographic approach to understanding the illness experiences of patients with congestive heart failure and their family members.

Objective: The purpose was to understand the illness experiences of patients with congestive heart failure and their family members.

Design And Setting: The study design was a focused ethnography that took place in 1 outpatient cardiology clinic, 2 outpatient heart failure clinics, and informants' homes located in a large metropolitan city in southeast Texas.

Sample: The sample consisted of 28 informants (patients, n = 16; family members, n = 12).

Pain management outcomes for hospitalized Hispanic patients.

The purposes of the study were to describe outcomes of pain management and predictors of patient satisfaction in a minority sample. By using a survey design, 3 instruments were used to collect data: (1) The American Pain Society's Patient Outcome Questionnaire-Modified, a 16-item self-report tool about pain and patient satisfaction; (2) a demographic form; and (3) the Pain Management Index. The sample consisted of 104 hospitalized Hispanic inpatients in a Rio Grande Valley hospital.

Culturally competent care.

Objectives: To define key concepts and summarize available guidelines that are important resources to assist nurses to provide culturally competent care.

Data Sources: Medline, anthropologic and epidemiologic literature, and National Institutes of Health documents.

Conclusions: Controversy remains about the most appropriate language to use to describe features of diverse populations.

Identifying and addressing medical errors in pain mismanagement.

Background: There is strong evidence in the pain management literature that undertreatment of pain is pervasive despite several approaches, including use of national guidelines, to completely correct the problem. Although the concept of medical errors has primarily been concerned with adverse events, it is not unreasonable that mismanagement of pain could also be classified as a medical error.

Errors Of Pain Management: Error types can be classified as errors in assessment and documentation, errors in treatment and management, and errors in patient education.

Substance abuse education liaisons: a collaborative continuing education program for nurses in acute care settings.

Background: Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug abuse undermine physical and psychological well-being, contributing to the array of illnesses that necessitate admission to acute care settings. Addictive disorders often are undetected, underreported, or overshadowed by the primary illness. Nurses need continuing education to enhance competence in meeting this challenging problem.

Regulatory statutes and issues--clinical accountability in perioperative settings.

Nursing regulations exist to protect and benefit the health, safety, and welfare of the individual. Accountability is a multifaceted concept with many interpretations. All nurses are expected to engage in professional role activities appropriate to their education, experience, and position.

Hypothyroidism in elderly patients.

Hypothyroidism is an endocrine condition found in elderly patients that is often confused with normal changes associated with aging. Consequently, the disorder may be quite advanced before it is diagnosed and treated. Depressed T4 and elevated TSH levels confirm primary hypothyroidism.

Differential diagnosis of common causes of pediatric pharyngitis.

Pharyngitis or sore throat is a common result of illness in pediatric and adolescent populations. Sore throat can signal either nonsystemic or systemic disease processes. Clinicians in ambulatory settings are often faced with deriving a differential diagnosis based on this symptom.

Creating paths: living with a very-low-birth-weight infant.

Objective: To describe parents' method of adaptation to the problems of caring for a very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infant at home.

Design: Exploratory, involving three interview sessions, 1 month, 3 months, and 5 months after hospital discharge of a VLBW infant.

Setting: A newborn intensive-care unit in a tertiary-care center.

Nurse-managed clinics: a blueprint for success using the Covey framework.

This article describes the process from inception to successful operation of a university-based nurse managed clinic. The article includes information regarding the planning process, method of financing, political strategies for gaining approval, and on-going development of services. Covey's seven habits of highly effective people are used as a framework on which the development and evolution of the clinic are based.