Integration of disability-related content in nursing curricula.

Despite evidence that health care professionals, including nurses, do not perceive persons with disabilities in a positive light and fail to attend to their health care needs, it is not known how nursing programs address the topic of disability. This descriptive study was conducted to examine the extent to which schools of nursing in the United States address disability-related issues and the strategies used to integrate disability-related content in their curricula. A 27-item investigator-developed survey was sent to a national stratified random sample of 1,000 schools of nursing.

Health promotion interests of women with disabilities.

The number of women with disabilities (WWD) in the United States is substantial and growing. Health promotion education can play a key role in the achievement of optimal health and well-being for this population. A preliminary step in planning educational programs is to identify health promotion topics of interest to this target population.

Osteoporosis risk and low bone mineral density in women with physical disabilities.

Objectives: To describe the results of bone mineral density (BMD) screening in women with different physical disabilities and to identify their risk factors for osteoporosis and use of strategies to prevent osteoporosis.

Design: A cross-sectional descriptive study.

Setting: Community.

Usefulness of the SCORE index as a predictor of osteoporosis in women with disabilities.

Background: Osteoporosis is widely recognized as a common health problem among older women. It has also recently been identified as common in both pre- and postmenopausal women with disabilities. Although several clinical indices have been developed to identify nondisabled women likely to have low bone mineral density (BMD) when tested, studies that have tested the usefulness of these clinical indices have excluded women with disabilities.

Verbal indicators of depression in conversations with stroke survivors.

Topic: This secondary analysis study examined patients' comments at 1 and 6 months poststroke when they had scores of > or = 16 on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale. Stroke survivors' depressive comments were matched with items of two well-established depression instruments.

Methods: A qualitative study using content analysis to analyze the data (N = 7).

The new adult immunization schedule.

Neuroscience nurses, whether they practice in an outpatient or hospital setting, should be aware of the new adult immunization schedule. In particular, they should be prepared to discuss vaccines needed after a traumatic injury and the risk of GBS or MS associated with vaccines. Anytime a vaccine is given, the patient needs to be observed for a reaction.

Accessible online health promotion information for persons with disabilities.

Online health promotion materials have great potential to reach persons with disabilities and provide valuable information to this vulnerable population. While health promotion efforts are important for everyone, they are crucial for individuals with disabilities. Yet information needed to support these efforts is often presented in such a way that its access is limited or its content is inappropriate for this population.

Neuroprotection for ischemic stroke.

Many pharmacological and nonpharmacologic neuroprotective therapies are in various phases of animal or human testing. The future in acute ischemic stroke therapy most likely will consist of combination therapies (Bonnono et al., 2000; Schellinger et al.

Maximizing stroke recovery using patient self-care self-efficacy.

Self-care self-efficacy is a compensatory mechanism that may lead to improved psychological adaptation poststroke. Nurses working with stroke patients may use self-care self-efficacy interventions to help the patients achieve a successful recovery. This article describes the four components of self-efficacy, and discusses their application to stroke patients in rehabilitation.

Smallpox vaccine revisited.

Smallpox is a serious contagious disease which is back in the public eye. Yet, most health care providers are unprepared for its return. Nurses will be key health care professionals in a smallpox outbreak or vaccination program.

A descriptive study of cognitive status in acute motor stroke.

Stroke, or brain attack, is the third leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of disability in the rapidly aging population. Cognitive status after one particular type of brain attack, motor stroke, has received minimal attention. Intact cognition assists in recovery following stroke; therefore, cognitive status is of great interest to clinicians and researchers.

Reproductive decision making in women with multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS), the most common acquired neurological disorder of young adults, often strikes young women in their childbearing years. Despite the overlap of MS onset with the childbearing years of women, little is known about how women with MS make decisions about pregnancy and childbearing. In an effort to understand the process of decision making in these women, an exploratory descriptive qualitative study was undertaken; 15 pregnant women with MS were interviewed about their decisions to become pregnant and the factors that entered into their decision-making processes.

Current concepts and pharmacologic treatment of heart failure.

Heart failure is one of the most common diagnoses and reason for hospitalization in the United States. Ace inhibitors, diuretics, beta-blockers and digitalis are the leading agents in pharmacologic management of heart failure. In order to improve patient outcomes, adult-health nurses need to understand the diagnosis, pathophysiology, nursing interventions, and pharmacologic treatment of this common disorder.