bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Nursing Research in Taiwan
Authors: KOONG SHIAO SHYANG-YUN P. , YU CHAO YU-MEI
Published: September 2018

Nursing research in Taiwan has evolved over the past 30 years. This review focused on refereed publications, research published in English, and specifically the 27 studies produced by doctorally prepared first authors. Most investigators used surveys and interviews. Designs were at the levels of description, association, and evaluation, not at the level of experiment. Problems are identified for this body of research. Further evolution of nursing science in Taiwan needs to incorporate the scientific and technologic resources of the world to develop nursing knowledge.
Parenting the Prematurely Born Child
Authors: HOLDITCH-DAVIS DIANE , MILES MARGARET S.
Published: September 2018

The purpose of this chapter is to summarize the findings of the nursing research on parenting the prematurely born child. This research focused on eight general areas: impact of the home environment on infant development status, the relationship between premature infants and their mothers during the first 2 years, parenting during hospitalization, maternal concerns about infant discharge, fathering, subpopulations of premature infants, parenting after the first 2 years, and interventions to improve parenting. There is a need to strengthen the design and conceptualization of these studies, to move toward more intervention research, and to do research that is more culturally sensitive, especially toward fathers, ethnic and cultural minority groups, and the poor.
Motivation for Physical Activity Among Children and Adolescents
Authors: PENDER NOLA J.
Published: September 2018

Assisting children and adolescents in adopting physically active lifestyles is an integral part of the health education and health promotion services provided by nurses in school, family, community, and primary care settings. In order to effectively engage in physical activity counseling, the determinants of physical activity must he understood and integrated into effective interventions for youths. This review of research literature includes a critique of intervention studies aimed at helping children and adolescents adopt active lifestyles that will be sustained throughout life. Social cognitive theory provided the theoretical basis for most of the studies reviewed but specification of how theory concepts were operationalized in the interventions was often unclear. Suggestions for increasing the rigor of theoretically based intervention studies aimed at promoting physical activity are proposed. Models and variables are identified that need further testing to determine their relevance to the promotion of physical activity during childhood and adolescence.
Prenatal and Parenting Programs for Adolescent Mothers
Authors: PERRONE HOYER PAULETTE J.
Published: September 2018

Adolescence is a time of risk taking and exploration. The adolescent’s exploration of the developmental and physical changes taking place often puts the adolescent at greater risk than at any other time in life. The risk-taking behaviors involve sexual activity, experimentation with substances including cigarettes and alcohol, rebellion against paternal norms, suicidal behavior, and violence. This chapter focuses on the potential outcome of one of these risky behaviors: sexual activity. The intent is to summarize the findings of the research community on the pregnancy and parenting programs for adolescents. A summary of some of the recent research and demonstration projects for pregnant and parenting adolescents is provided. Published and unpublished articles from a variety of disciplines are included. These articles vary by method, type of program, location, and outcome measurement. Methodological issues related to the preponderance of quasi-experimental designs with small samples and demonstration projects are addressed. The lack of theoretically driven, longitudinal research that is specific to the developmental level of the population is discussed, and directions are suggested for future research.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Strategies to Improve Functional Status
Authors: LARSON JANET L. , LEIDY NANCY K.
Published: September 2018

People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) experience deterioration in functional status, therefore improving functional status is a major goal of treatment. We reviewed interventions to improve functional status in people with COPD published from 1980 through September 1996. Randomized controlled clinical trials were reviewed to document outcomes in terms of functional capacity and functional performance for the following interventions: pharmacologic therapy including theophylline, inhaled bronchodilators, steroids, antianxiolytics and antidepressants; general exercise strategies including exercise training, exercise and comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation, and upper extremity training; inspiratory muscle therapy including inspiratory muscle training and inspiratory muscle rest; nutritional therapy; oxygen therapy; and specialized nursing care. Improvements for functional capacity were documented in terms of strength of the inspiratory muscles and upper extremities, walking tests, and peak oxygen uptake. Most interventions were targeted to enhance functional capacity, and few were aimed at enhancing functional performance. Further research is needed to examine the relationship between functional capacity and functional performance and to design and test interventions to improve functional performance.
Cognitive Interventions Among Older Adults
Authors: MCDOUGALL GRAHAM J.
Published: September 2018

This chapter reviews psychoeducational and/or psychosocial interventions designed to improve cognitive function in adults without cognitive impairment. Included are sections on (a) meta-analyses and other reviews; (b) cognitive aging and cognitive improvement; (c) memory training; (d) depression and memory improvement; (e) self-efficacy and aging memory; (f) maintenance of gains and subject retention; (g) comprehensive memory improvement program; and (h) future research. Several aspects of memory training now known to influence outcomes, i.e., memory performance, need to be considered in future studies. First, follow-up instruction (booster sessions) facilitates the use of these newly learned memory strategies in elders’ everyday lives. Second, elders’ memory self-efficacy (beliefs and confidence) impacts performance. Third, the inclusion of subjective measures in memory training is recommended. Fourth, greater emphasis needs to be placed on the modification of participants’ attitudes toward aging-related memory loss. Fifth, designs must emphasize the long-term outcomes of the memory training. Sixth, establishing a relationship between a memory intervention and functional ability (IADLs) is the next step in assisting older adults to remain independent. If early failure in cognitive ability can be improved through intervention, perhaps early decline in functional independence and the need for formal services, e.g., nursing home placement, can be delayed.
Breakthroughs in Scientific Research: The Discipline of Nursing, 1960–1999
Authors: DONALDSON SUE K.
Published: September 2018

The period of 1960 to 1999 was an era of evolution and rapid growth of scientific research in the discipline of nursing during which specific knowledge realms, or subfields of the discipline, emerged and scientific breakthroughs occurred. This review presents the milestones or scientific breakthroughs of the era in the context of the prevailing thinking within and beyond the discipline of nursing. The nature of each scientific breakthrough in nursing is characterized as to the transdisciplinary change in thinking brought about by the work. The pathfinders for each scientific breakthrough are identified as well as their pathfinding modes. Opportunities for future scientific breakthroughs in nursing are presented.
Lesbian Health and Health Care
Authors: BERNHARD LINDA A.
Published: September 2018

Research on lesbian health and health care is very limited, but is beginning to increase. Evidence of limited access to care, homophobic attitudes of health care professionals, and expected or actual negative experiences in interactions with health care professionals help to explain why lesbians are less likely than other women to seek health care. Lesbians have many of the same physical health needs that other women do, but the most prevalent topics on which research could be found were screening for breast and cervical cancer, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and HIV. More research has been conducted in areas related to mental health, such as stress, use of therapy, alcohol abuse and recovery, and violence. The chief conclusion from this review is that there is a need for all types of research in all areas of lesbian health.
Immigrant Women and Their Health
Authors: AROIAN KAREN J.
Published: September 2018

Immigrant women’s health is a relatively new research area. At the beginning of the 1990s, nurse scholars concluded that there was insufficient research on this topic. They recommended broadening the overly narrow research foci on immigrant women’s childbearing and on select populations, developing national data bases, identifying high-risk groups, and developing population-specific interventions. This chapter reviews 292 research articles published in journals during the 1990s about adult immigrant women’s health. It; (I) summarizes research findings on topics that were the major foci of research conducted in the 1990s, (2) evaluates progress over the last decade in the research agenda proposed above, and (3) makes recommendations for research in the new millennium.
Sleep and Fatigue
Authors: LEE KATHRYN A.
Published: September 2018

This chapter provides a review and synthesis of research on women’s sleep and fatigue from a nursing perspective. Most of the research involves four primary issues for women: menstrual cycles, childbearing, chronic mental or physical illness, and oncology. Research with healthy women focused on diurnal fluctuations in fatigue and relationships to sleep, without regard for exercise or level of daytime activity. Research on chronic illness and cancer fatigue focused on general fatigue and its impact on activity, without regard for sleep or therapeutic use of rest and naps. A comparison of these two areas highlights gaps in nursing knowledge about sleep and fatigue. Further research is needed to understand relationships between nonrestorative sleep, fatigue, and symptoms related to poor quality of life. From a synthesis of these studies, nonpharmacologic interventions that could be prove useful in promoting a higher quality of life for those with either acute or chronic fatigue are then proposed.
Health Decisions and Decision Support for Women
Authors: ROTHERT MARILYN L. , O’CONNOR ANNETTE M.
Published: September 2018

Women are more likely to live longer with chronic illness and have a longterm relationship with their health care provider; this requires a situation in which patients and providers have a role in managing illness. In this chapter, the authors provide a conceptual overview of decision making along with key issues: historical concepts related to patients and providers, consumerism, informed choice/consent, patient rights, shared decision making, patient involvement, as well as an overview of models of patient/provider partnerships. This review builds on the work of O’Connor et al. (1999), which resulted in a Cochrane review of decision aids and focuses the examination of patient decision aids that support women’ decisions regarding health treatment or screening. The authors conclude with a look to the future and recommendations for research in the area of shared decision making and health care decision aids.
Women As Mothers and Grandmothers
Authors: MCBRIDE ANGELA B. , SHORE CHERYL PROHASKA
Published: September 2018

This chapter analyzes the literature on women as mothers; research reports published between January 1985 and December 1999 were reviewed. As in the past, almost all of the extant studies analyzed the experience of mothers in their children’s first year of life. Although therapeutic suggestions were made in many studies, relatively few interventions have been implemented and evaluated. More studies are needed that go beyond traditional family forms and that explore mothers’ role development over the full course of their children’s growth and development. Additional longitudinal research that views maternal role development as a process is indicated.
Transitional Care of Older Adults
Authors: NAYLOR MARY D.
Published: September 2018

This chapter reviews 94 published research reports on transitional care of older adults by nurse researchers and researchers from other disciplines. Reports were identified through searches of MEDLINE, CINAHL, HealthSTAR, Sociological Abstracts and PsycINFO using combinations of the following search terms: transitional care, discharge planning, care coordination, case management, continuity of care, referrals, postdischarge follow-up, patient assessment, patient needs, interventions, and evaluation. Reports were included if published between 1985 and 2001, if conducted on samples age 55 and older, if relevant to nursing research, and if published in English. Intervention studies had to have a control or comparison group and a test for statistical significance. Four key findings from this review were identified. A high proportion of elders and their caregivers report substantial unmet transitional care needs, with the need for information and increased access to services consistently among the top priorities. Differences in expectations between and among patients, families, and health care providers, and the need for increased patient and family involvement in decision making, are common themes in discharge planning studies. Gaps in communication have been identified through the discharge planning process. Evidence about the effects of innovations in transitional care on quality and cost outcomes is sparse. Four main recommendations are made. Differences in older adults’ transitional care needs based on race, ethnicity, and educational level, with attention to potential disparities, require further study. Studies of strategies to promote effective involvement of patients and families in decision making throughout discharge planning are needed. The development and testing of referral and other information systems designed to promote the transfer of accurate and complete information across sites of care should be a research focus. A priority for future research should be continued study of strategies to improve transitional care outcomes of older adults and their caregivers.
Interventions for Persons with Irreversible Dementia
Authors: BURGENER SANDY C. , TWIGG PRUDENCE
Published: September 2018

This chapter provides an overview and critique of the theoretical and research literature by nurse researchers and researchers in other disciplines regarding interventions for persons with dementia (PWD). Reports were included if published in English between 1990 and 2000 and if a descriptive, correlational, longitudinal, or intervention design was used. Case studies and narrative descriptions were not included. No specific age criteria for study participants were applied; however, PWD are generally over age 55. The theoretical literature and various disease stages were reviewed, including clinical and behavioral indicators for disease progression. Using a variety of approaches to survey the extant literature (review of computer databases, contacts with experts in the field, ancestry method, and manual searches of key gerontology journals), over 1,200 citations were initially reviewed, allowing for approximately 375 publications undergoing thorough analysis with 157 research publications being included in this synthesis. Key findings include the identification of well-supported cognitive-behavioral interventions to enhance cognitive functioning and memory, and to relieve depression in the early disease stages; multiple environmental and behavioral approaches for improvement in functioning, maintenance of activities, and alleviation of behavioral symptoms in the middle disease stages; and behavioral, interactive, and staff support and education interventions for adequate nutritional intake, urinary incontinence, and management of problematic vocalizations and other behavioral symptoms in the later disease stages. Recommendations for future studies include the need for development of operational definitions of behavioral symptoms, inclusion of the perspective of PWD, evaluation of long-term outcomes, adequate sample size, community rather than institutional-based studies, and increased intervention testing at various stages of the disease.
The Sibling Experience of Living With Childhood Chronic Illness and Disability
Authors: VAN RIPER MARCIA
Published: September 2018

The main purpose of this integrative review is to summarize existing nursing research on the sibling experience of living in a family that includes a child with a chronic illness or disability, specifically highlighting nurse researchers who have conducted more than two studies concerning the sibling experience. A secondary purpose is to determine to what extent nurse researchers interested in the sibling experience have used or been informed by a developmental science perspective. A final purpose is to discuss future research needed to further develop the existing knowledge base concerning the sibling experience of living with childhood chronic illness and disability. Forty of 86 published research articles were authored or coauthored by nurses. There were four nurse researchers with programs of research. Most studies used a categorical approach and were descriptive, cross-sectional designs; there were few longitudinal studies. Multiple factors were identified that affect how siblings respond to childhood chronic illness and disability. Future research needs to focus on siblings and families from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, and outcomes need to be assessed at multiple levels. Furthermore, intervention studies building on the descriptive research are needed.
Maternal Mental Health and Parenting in Poverty
Authors: BEEBER LINDA S. , SHANDOR MILES MARGARET
Published: September 2018

Maternal mental health is a key factor affecting the quality of parenting and, ultimately, a child’s developmental outcomes. Thus, the persistence of mental health problems such as chronic depressive symptoms or addiction in low-income mother-child dyads may be the critical determinant of their collective future. This review examines the research conducted by nurses that focuses on maternal mental health, mothering, and child outcomes in the context of rearing children in poverty. Multiple methods were used for the search. Four programs showed evidence of sustained, related studies focused on the mental health of low-income mothers and their parenting. Two of these programs included intervention studies aimed at improving the mental health of mothers and developmental outcomes for their children. There were four newer programs of research in which the research teams had begun to focus on mothers rearing children in poverty and five other researchers who conducted single studies of maternal mental health. Additionally, two investigators focused on mothers who were prisoners, one team focused on homeless mothers, and another on mothers with HIV. Studies were critiqued using a developmental science framework. Studies varied widely in the degree to which they used developmentally based conceptual frameworks, designs, and measures. While nurse scientists have made progress in conducting research with mothers rearing children in poverty, there is an urgent need for more developmentally sensitive research aimed at strengthening maternal mental health and assisting mothers to be more effective parents in the midst of the challenges of poverty and welfare reform. By doing so, nursing interventions can improve the child’s developmental outcomes.
A Review of the Second Decade of the Annual Review of Nursing Research Series
Authors: FITZPATRICK JOYCE J. , STEVENSON JOANNE S.
Published: September 2018

This chapter includes a review of the second decade of Annual Review of Nursing Research, Volumes 11–20. The authors analyze the content of these volumes and summarize the significant changes in the nursing scientific community. Also described are the contextual changes related to the development of nursing research.
Immigration and Health
Authors: HILFINGER MESSIAS DEANNE K. , RUBIO MERCEDES
Published: September 2018

The purpose of this integrated review was to examine research on the relationships between immigration and health. The review was limited to studies of immigration into North America published since 1994. The results suggested that, although recent research has furthered the understanding of immigration and health, the multiple health effects of the various social and cultural processes immigrants undergo are still not clearly understood. In addition, research on acculturation has not clarified the positive or negative effects of acculturation on health. The incorporation of transnational perspectives and contemporary concepts and frameworks such as biculturalism, undocumentedness, and transitions was noted as a significant contribution from recent research. The results of this integrative review indicate that interdisciplinary research on immigration and health is moving in new directions. The reviewers provide suggestions for future research on health disparities as well as on possible health protective factors among diverse immigrant populations.
Health Disparities Among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
Authors: ESPERAT M. CHRISTINA , INOUYE JILLIAN , GONZALEZ EIZABETH W. , OWEN DONNA C. , DU FENG
Published: September 2018

The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) group is the fastest-growing minority group in the United States. AAPIs have been touted in the literature as the “model minority” because of their achievements in the socioeconomic and educational spheres, which in certain categories are beyond the average levels of the dominant majority. However, generalizations such as these are very misleading, because they mask the glaring health disparities that are experienced by subgroups within the AAPI population. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the literature dealing with health disparities among AAPIs. Twenty-eight usable research reports were reviewed after a thorough review of the literature that spanned the years between 1990 and 2003. The review has revealed that the predominant psychosocial and cultural variables studied in research dealing with AAPI are acculturation, family and social networks, help-seeking behaviors, and cultural brokering. In general, research conducted on this group tended to be at the descriptive and comparative-correlational levels; more studies that investigate the effects of interventions to reduce or eliminate health disparities on this group are needed. The challenge is to build a body of knowledge on which to base future action.
Community Partnerships: The Cornerstone of Community Health Research
Authors: PORTILLO CARMEN J. , WATERS CATHERINE
Published: September 2018

Community partnerships have been recognized as the cornerstone of community research. The recent Institute of Medicine report, Unequal Treatment, puts forth the idea of creating community partnerships as a strategy to address racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Community-based research is frequently reported in the literature as a study conducted in the community versus with the community. The objective of this review is to examine models of community partnerships, to consider their implications for community-based research, and to identify directions for future nursing research.
Alcohol, Children, and Adolescents
Authors: Loveland-Cherry Carol J.
Published: September 2018

Alcohol use in children and adolescents continues to be a major health concern. There is a rich literature on correlates and antecedents of alcohol use in children and adolescents, and concerted efforts have been made to develop, implement, and evaluate intervention strategies. This chapter provides a review of the intervention studies to prevent alcohol use in these groups. The interventions are categorized by their primary focus: school, family, and community. The studies were limited to those with either an experimental or a quasi-experimental design and published results.
College Students’ Alcohol Use: A Critical Review
Authors: Boyd Carol J. , McCabe Sean E. , Morales Michele
Published: September 2018

This integrative review of college students’ alcohol use covers research papers as well as review and theoretical papers published between 1990 and 2004. To conduct this review, abstracts were identified by searching Medline (PubMed), Ingenta, ERIC, PsycInfo, and Health Reference Center Academic using the following words: alcohol and college drinking, binge drinking, college students and undergraduates and the years 1990 to 2004. From an initial list of over 400 abstracts, 203 papers were identified and considered for this review. A developmental perspective of college drinking was assumed, and the chapter is organized within five domains: biology, identity, cognition, affiliation, and achievement. In addition, research pertaining to the harmful consequences of college drinking and the assessment of risky drinking is reviewed and discussed. The chapter concludes with the identification of gaps in knowledge and implications for future research.
Measurement of Alcohol Consumption: Issues and Challenges
Authors: Sommers Marilyn S.
Published: September 2018

In both the clinical and research settings, nurses assess patterns of alcohol consumption to screen for risk of adverse events or to determine the health consequences of drinking. The purposes of this critical review are to explore issues and controversies surrounding the measurement of alcohol consumption and to critique the existing literature relevant to the research and clinical arenas. An electronic literature search was completed to identify research articles addressing human studies from 1995 through 2004 related to alcohol consumption. Key words included alcohol drinking (subheadings blood, metabolism, psychology, and urine), standard drink, problem drinking, heavy drinking, and ethanol analysis (subheadings blood, urine, and chemistry). The results were in two primary content areas: self-reported alcohol consumption and assessment of consumption by using biological markers.

Self-reported alcohol consumption can be quantified in a variety of ways, such as ounces of ethanol per day, standard drinks per day, drinking occurrences per month, heavy drinking occasions per month, and frequency of perceived drunkenness. The choice of measure depends on setting (clinical vs. research), the role of the variable under study, the capabilities and demographics of the study population, the study design, and the resources available to collect alcohol consumption data.

A variety of biologic instruments are used to assess alcohol consumption, each with sensitivities and specificities that vary by age, gender, and possibly by ethnicity/race. Previous work has focused on the white, male, alcohol-dependent population and non-alcohol-dependent male controls. Some urgency exists to expand the biometrics of alcohol use to minority and older populations as well as to women across the life span.
Alcohol Brief Interventions
Authors: Finfgeld-Connett Deborah
Published: September 2018

A large proportion of Americans report binge or heavy drinking. The human and economic costs of alcohol misuse are extensive, with hundreds of thousands of lives lost or disrupted and billions of dollars spent due to impaired productivity, crime, and adverse health consequences. In an effort to reduce costs such as these, scientists and clinicians have developed brief interventions, characterized by their low intensity and short (5–60 minutes) duration, as well as by their intent to provide early intervention before drinkers develop alcohol abuse or dependence. The purpose of this review, therefore, is to analyze research studies related to brief intervention and critically analyze and critique their findings. In addition, both prospective randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses will be used to discuss the implications for clinical practice and make recommendations for future research.
Patient Safety in Hospital Acute Care Units
Authors: Blegen Mary A.
Published: September 2018

The most visible threats to patient safety associated with nursing care occur on hospital inpatient units. Patient safety research is a new phenomenon, but it builds on the knowledge provided by quality-of-care research done previously. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the current state of the science in the area of nurse staffing and patient safety. The results of research studies published since the last round of reviews (1996-2005) are described by level of analysis, measures of nurse staffing and patient outcomes. Although research linking nurse staffing to the quality of patient care has increased markedly since 1996, the results of recent research projects do not yet provide a thorough and consistent foundation for producing solutions to the crisis in hospital nursing care. The inconsistencies are largely due to differing units of analysis (hospital, patient, care unit), variability in measures of nurse staffing, the variety of quality indicators chosen, the difficulty finding accurate measures of these indicators, and the difficulty creating risk-adjustment strategies for the indicators most sensitive to nursing care. Nursing administration and policy most urgently need research conducted with standardized data collected at the patient care unit level.
Medication Safety Within the Perioperative Environment
Authors: Wanzer Linda J. , Hicks Rodney W.
Published: September 2018

With the widespread patient safety movement comes an increased public awareness of the risks inherent within the health care setting. More specifically, the highly publicized medication error cases that hit the media demonstrate the effect mediation errors have on patient safety within the perioperative environment. This awareness, however, has triggered limited research across the continuum of care within this complex environment. A current review of the state of the science related to medication safety within this setting reveals research primarily focused on the anesthesia domain of practice. Although application to the perioperative environment can be extrapolated from this research, there is a notable lack of nursing-initiated research that focuses on improved systems or processes related to medication safety within the perioperative continuum of care. This knowledge gap in the literature presents an excellent opportunity for nursing to grow a research program to improve medication safety within the perioperative environment in support of evidence-based practice.
Nurse Home Visit Programs for the Elderly
Authors: Marek Karen D. , Baker Carol Dean
Published: September 2018

Nurses are the largest professional provider of health care services in the home setting. However, nurse home visit programs are diverse. The purpose of this review was to examine the many factors that influence the effectiveness of nurse home visit programs for older adults. Donebedian’s Quality Assessment Model was used to organize the review using the components of structure, process, and outcome. A total of 60 home visit studies were identified that met the following criteria: (1) nurses were a major or only provider of the intervention, (2) the intervention was delivered by home visits, and (3) the study included a comparison group. This review demonstrates the complexity of variables that determine the effectiveness of home visit interventions. Many studies demonstrated lower overall health care costs for the intervention group with either improved or at least no change in clinical outcomes.
Nursing Home Safety: A Review of the Literature
Authors: Scott-Cawiezell Jill , Vogelsmeier Amy
Published: September 2018

The number of older persons in the United States is rapidly growing and, based on this growth projection, the number of consumers needing nursing home (NH) care will likely triple in the next 10 years. Although NHs have been bombarded and scrutinized about the care that they provide, the concept of safety (specifically, error prevention) remains at the margin of most quality improvement efforts. The purpose of this review is to explore what has recently been written (2000–2005) about the evolution of the NH as an organization focused on safety and the most critical clinical processes that must be closely monitored for a safe NH environment to occur. After a thorough review of both organizational and clinical NH literature, 30 organizational studies and 39 clinically based studies were reviewed. The review revealed that, organizationally, teamwork, communication, and leadership all were critical in resident and staff outcomes and clinically, assessment was an important missing process at critical points in the residents’ care for prevention and timely treatment of potentially dangerous conditions. The value of the registered nurse (RN) in this setting was clear in the many assessment issues noted and the lack of RN guidance for adherence to recognized practice guidelines. To explicate the role of the RN, first, better outcome measures must be developed that are nurse sensitive. A second clear agenda for NH research is the explication of the role of leadership, particularly nursing leadership, to create an environment where open and accurate communication can be accomplished among all of the diverse NH roles. This will help all members of the team to identify care improvement opportunities. Finally, a new frontier for the NH setting is the use of technology and the need to harness the information that has set in the NH system for years. Information mastery for staff and leadership is a necessary aspect of the organization that must be developed to provide sound information for strategic and focused change to occur.
Informatics for Patient Safety: A Nursing Research Perspective
Authors: Bakken Suzanne
Published: September 2018

In Crossing the Quality Chasm, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on Quality of Health Care in America identified the critical role of information technology in designing a health system that produces care that is “safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable” (Committee on Quality of Health Care in America, 2001, p. 164). A subsequent IOM report contends that improved information systems are essential to a new health care delivery system that “both prevents errors and learns from them when they occur” (Committee on Data Standards for Patient Safety, 2004, p. 1). This review specifically highlights the role of informatics processes and information technology in promoting patient safety and summarizes relevant nursing research. First, the components of an informatics infrastructure for patient safety are described within the context of the national framework for delivering consumer-centric and information-rich health care and using the National Health Information Infrastructure (NHII) (Thompson & Brailer, 2004). Second, relevant nursing research is summarized; this includes research studies that contributed to the development of selected infrastructure components as well as studies specifically focused on patient safety. Third, knowledge gaps and opportunities for nursing research are identified for each main topic. The health information technologies deployed as part of the national framework must support nursing practice in a manner that enables prevention of medical errors and promotion of patient safety and contributes to the development of practice-based nursing knowledge as well as best practices for patient safety. The seminal work that has been completed to date is necessary, but not sufficient, to achieve this objective.
Methodologies Used in Nursing Research Designed to Improve Patient Safety
Authors: Merwin Elizabeth , Thornlow Deirdre
Published: September 2018

Nursing research studies of patient safety for 2002-2005 were reviewed to determine methods used and methodological challenges within this field of research. Methods used in traditional clinical research and in health services research were often combined or adapted in innovative research designs to advance knowledge regarding nursing care and patient safety outcomes. This relatively new focus of complex research posed methodological challenges in areas such as measurement and the availability and analysis of data. The most frequent methods used included survey research, analysis of secondary data, and observational studies. This review points to the need to increase the incorporation of complex methodological training, including health services research, the analysis of secondary data and complex survey design in our doctoral programs, and to provide opportunities for researchers to gain further methodological training. Increased use of multi-site and multi-level studies is also needed.
Nursing Research in Ireland
Authors: McCarthy Geraldine , Hegarty Josephine , O’Sullivan Dawn
Published: September 2018

This review presents an analysis of research published by Irish nurses during the period 1990–2005. The analysis is the first effort made to identify the main characteristics of Irish nursing research. Overall, 213 published studies were identified for consideration, from which, 152 were included in the review. The studies were published in 60 journals, 4 books, and 8 research reports. Journal articles selected from 6 journals accounted for 52%. Inclusion criteria were quality of research design, sampling (including sample size), data analysis, scientific merit, and authorship. Each article was analyzed based on this schema. The major areas of research identified included clinical practice (56%) (e.g., medical surgical, mental health, intellectual disability, and maternal and child), nursing management and professional issues (19%), and nursing education (25%).
The Intersection of Patient Safety and Nursing Research
Authors: Walker Patricia H. , Carlton Gaya , Holden Lela , Stone Patricia W.
Published: September 2018

The individual and collective discussions of the patient safety issue in the United States have mounted from a low roar to a deafening din in the past 10 years. In this chapter the authors (1) discuss the context of patient safety over the past decade and the federal response to the problem, (2) briefly present Reason’s theory of human error, which frames much of the safety research, and (3) provide a glossary of terms.
Generating Science by Training Future Scholars in Nursing Research Addressing the Needs of Vulnerable Populations
Authors: Dixon Elizabeth L. , Strehlow Aaron J. , Davis Claudia M. , Copeland Darcy , Jones Tonia , Robinson Linda A. , Shoultz Jan , Flaskerud Jacquelyn H.
Published: September 2018

This chapter focuses on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) T32 National Research Service Award (NRSA) funding mechanism, designed to enhance the development of nurse scientists. The general history and principles underlying NIH funding for T32s as well as the National Institute of Nursing Research’s (NINR) involvement in the NRSA program is described, highlighting the University of California Los Angeles School of Nursing’s T32 training program in vulnerable populations research and the program and career trajectory data from close to two-thirds of NINR-funded T32s directors. Recommendations for the improvement of NINR-funded T32 training programs are identified. Findings include the need for increased collaboration between institutions receiving T32 funding from the NINR.
Advancing Nursing Science in Vulnerable Populations: Measurement Issues
Authors: Strickland Ora L. , DiIorio Colleen , Coverson Dorothy , Nelson Michelle
Published: September 2018

This study examined measurement practices of researchers in relation to vulnerable population research published in four general nursing research journals in 2004. The purpose was to identify issues and imperatives in the measurement of research variables with vulnerable populations that warrant attention. A total of 133 articles were eligible for inclusion in the study, and 428 measurement instruments were used in the studies. A content analysis of the 133 eligible articles indicated that most samples included to a greater extent more Whites than predominantly minority populations, and more adults than children. Most of the articles did not specify socioeconomic status of samples. Of the 133 eligible articles, 83 (62.4%) included samples that were comprised of a majority of racial and ethnic minorities; however, percentages of studies that focused predominately on a specific minority group were below 10% in more than 80% of studies.

Major findings related to measurement practices indicated inadequate specification of the measurement framework employed; lack of adequate specification of the conceptual base of measurement tools; and, a heavy reliance on the use of self-report data, attitudinal and perceptual measures, and the use of questionnaires and rating scales. There was also inadequate attention to the metric qualities of laboratory physiological measures, and to reliability and validity in general. It was concluded that inadequate attention is given to measurement practices by researchers when studying vulnerable populations.
Community-Academic Research Partnerships With Vulnerable Populations
Authors: Lesser Janna , Oscós-Sánchez Manuel Angel
Published: September 2018

Community-academic research partnerships have evolved as a multidisciplinary approach to involve those communities experiencing health disparities in the development, implementation, and evaluation of health interventions. Community-academic partnerships are intended to bring together academic researchers and communities to share power, establish trust, foster colearning, enhance strengths and resources, build community capacity, and address community-identified needs and health problems. The purpose of this chapter is to review the current state of community-academic research partnerships in the United States and Canada. We discuss contextual issues; present a review of the current literature; identify the major strengths, challenges, and lessons learned that have emerged during the course of these research collaborations; and explore implications for future research and policy.
Lifestyle Behavior Interventions With Hispanic Children and Adults
Authors: Villarruel Antonia M. , Koniak-Griffin Deborah
Published: September 2018

Chronic diseases are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States and account for 7 of every 10 deaths. While the etiology of chronic diseases is multifactorial, individual modifiable behaviors play an important role in both risk and prevention. Hispanics are disproportionately affected by chronic diseases and are a growing and significant population. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze and critique behavioral lifestyle interventions conducted with adolescent and adult Hispanics. Specific recommendations for continued research and policy are provided.
Hospital-Based Emergency Nursing in Rural Settings
Authors: Brown Jennifer F.
Published: September 2018

In 2006, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a series of reports that highlighted the urgent need for improvements in the nation’s emergency health services. This news has provided new energy to a growing body of research about the development and implementation of best practices in emergency care. Despite evidence of geographical disparities in health services, relatively little attention has been focused on rural emergency services to identify environmental differences. The purpose of this chapter is to summarize the contributions of nursing research to the rural emergency services literature. The research resembles a so-called shotgun effect as the exploratory and interventional studies cover a wide range of topics without consistency or justification. Emergency nursing research has been conducted primarily in urban settings, with small samples and insufficient methodological rigor. This chapter will discuss the limitations of the research and set forth an agenda of critical topics that need to be explored related to emergency nursing in rural settings.
Chapter 16 Opportunities for Nursing Research in Tobacco Control
Authors: Bialous Stella Aguinaga , Sarna Linda
Published: September 2018

Nurse scientists have made important contributions to evidence-based practice in tobacco control. This chapter will discuss recent tobacco control developments in the United States and globally, such as legislation giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulatory authority over tobacco products manufacturing, marketing and sales, the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and a brief review of research that has guided policy advances and nursing research in tobacco control. Suggestions for future research based on the update of the U.S. Public Health Services Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence clinical practice guideline will be explored. These developments offer nursing researchers a wealth of opportunities and challenges to advance nursing and tobacco control knowledge, address research gaps, and bring a unique nursing perspective to tobacco use prevention, reduction of exposure to secondhand smoke, tobacco dependence treatment, and tobacco control policies. Additionally, we will address how nursing scholarship can and should be supported by academic and organizational leadership to support nurses in realizing their full potential in mitigating the global epidemic of tobacco-caused death and disease.
Empathy with a Rape Victim: The Role of Similarity of Experience
Authors: Barnett Mark A. , Tetreault Patricia A. , Masbad Iriz
Published: September 2018

The purpose of this study was to replicate and extend a prior investigation (Barnett, Tetreault, Esper, & Bristow, 1986) in order to clarify the role of similarity of experience in women’s empathy with a rape victim. Women who were identified as having been raped rated themselves as more empathic with, and more similar to, a rape victim patient presented on videotape than did nonrape control subjects who had been matched on level of dispositional empathy. However, no difference was found between the two subject groups in their responses to a videotaped patient whose personal problems were unrelated to the experience of rape. In addition, subjects generally rated the rape victim patient as less emotionally stable than the patient whose personal problems were unrelated to rape. Alternative interpretations of the major finding of this study are discussed.
The Linguistic Therapy of Evaluation: A Perspective on Language in Psychotherapy
Authors: Caro Isabel
Published: September 2018

The clinical procedure presented here could be considered a type of cognitive psychotherapy which has the main aim of producing an evaluational change through linguistic means. The linguistic therapy of evaluation is based upon the theory of general semantics and is based on a theory which connects emotional problems, such as anxiety and depression, with language use. These elements are described along with some other important issues, such as how language is understood from the general semantics perspective, the four main therapeutic elements of the therapy, the structure of the clinical procedure and two of its two main techniques: the orders of abstraction and the extensional devices. The paper will conclude by introducing some of the main differences and similarities between the linguistic therapy of evaluation and two of the main cognitive perspectives, those termed rationalist and those termed constructivist.