bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Finnish nurses’ and nursing students’ pharmacological skills
Authors: Grandell‐Niemi Heidi , Hupli Maija , Leino‐Kilpi Helena , Puukka Pauli 
Published: June 2005

Purposes and objectives.  The purposes of this study were to investigate the pharmacological skills of Finnish nurses and graduating nursing students, to determine how pharmacological skills are related to background factors and to identify differences between nurses and students and, finally, to examine how the instrument used, the Medication Calculation Skills Test, works.Background.  Pharmacology is a relevant and topical subject. In several studies, however, pharmacological skills of nurses and nursing students have been found insufficient. In addition, pharmacology as a subject is found to be difficult for both nursing students and nurses.Design and methods.  The study was evaluative in nature; the data were collected using the Medication Calculation Skills Test, developed for the purposes of this study. The instrument was used to gather information on background factors and self‐rated pharmacological and mathematical skills and to test actual skills in these areas.Results.  Results concerning pharmacological skills are reported in this paper. The maximum Medication Calculation Skills Test score was 24 points. The mean score for nurses was 18.6 and that for students 16.3. Half of (50%) the students attained a score of 67% and 57% of nurses attained a score of 79%.Conclusions.  Nurses and students had some deficiencies in their pharmacological skills. Nurses had better pharmacological skills than students according to both self‐ratings and actual performance on the test.Relevance to clinical practice.  It is vitally important that nurses have adequate pharmacological skills to administer medicines correctly. This study showed that the Medication Calculation Skills Test seems to work well in measuring pharmacological skills, even though it needs further evaluation. Findings from this study can be used when planning the nursing curriculum and further education for Registered Nurses.
Asthma – quality of life for Swedish children
Authors: Rydström Ingela , Dalheim‐Englund Ann‐Charlotte , Holritz‐Rasmussen Birgit , Möller Christian , Sandman Per‐Olof 
Published: June 2005

Aims and objectives.  The purpose of this study was to describe how Swedish children with asthma experience their QoL and to search for possible associations between their experience of QoL and some determinants.Background.  Asthma is a chronic disorder that can restrict a child's life, physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually, and this has an impact on a child's quality of life (QoL).Methods.  Two hundred and twenty‐six children with asthma (37% girls and 63% boys) and 371 parents of these children participated in the study. The Paediatric Asthma Quality Of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ) was used to measure the children's QoL. This questionnaire reveals how the children's asthma interferes with their normal activities, their symptoms and how this interference has made them feel.Results.  The findings show that most children with asthma estimated their QoL towards the positive end of the scale. The children reported more impairment in the domain of activities than in emotions and symptoms. The most commonly restricted activity was the children's ability to run. Significant associations were found between a higher QoL outcome and being a boy, as well as living in the south of Sweden. A higher QoL was also found in children with mothers older than 40 years of age and in children with cohabiting parents. It was also associated with their fathers’ QoL in a positive direction.Conclusions.  It is important that children with asthma will maintain a high QoL. In this study the children were being treated with asthma medication when they evaluated their QoL. Perhaps this fact might have influenced the results in a positive direction.Relevance to clinical practice.  The findings of our study underline the importance of accurate nursing assessment including background variables of the children. Nurses also have to be aware that some of the children in the study have a low QoL and these children must not be forgotten. In addition, as caring tends to focus on the patients’ limitations, another important issue for nurses is to try to discover those aspects in a child's daily life that contribute to a high QoL in order to improve and maintain the child's wellbeing.
Assessment of nursing management and utilization of nursing resources with the RAFAELA patient classification system – case study from the general wards of one central hospital
Authors: Rainio Anna‐Kaisa , Ohinmaa Arto E 
Published: June 2005

Background.  RAFAELA is a new Finnish PCS, which is used in several University Hospitals and Central Hospitals and has aroused considerable interest in hospitals in Europe.Aims and objectives.  The aim of the research is firstly to assess the feasibility of the RAFAELA Patient Classification System (PCS) in nursing staff management and, secondly, whether it can be seen as the transferring of nursing resources between wards according to the information received from nursing care intensity classification.Methods.  The material was received from the Central Hospital's 12 general wards between 2000 and 2001. The RAFAELA PCS consists of three different measures: a system measuring patient care intensity, a system recording daily nursing resources, and a system measuring the optimal nursing care intensity/nurse situation. The data were analysed in proportion to the labour costs of nursing work and, from that, we calculated the employer's loss (a situation below the optimal level) and savings (a situation above the optimal level) per ward as both costs and the number of nurses.Results.  In 2000 the wards had on average 77 days below the optimal level and 106 days above it. In 2001 the wards had on average 71 days below the optimal level and 129 above it. Converting all these days to monetary and personnel resources the employer lost €307,745 or 9.84 nurses and saved €369,080 or 11.80 nurses in total in 2000. In 2001 the employer lost in total €242,143 or 7.58 nurses and saved €457,615 or 14.32 nurses. During the time period of the research nursing resources seemed not have been transferred between wards.Conclusions.  RAFAELA PCS is applicable to the allocation of nursing resources but its possibilities have not been entirely used in the researched hospital. The management of nursing work should actively use the information received in nursing care intensity classification and plan and implement the transferring of nursing resources in order to ensure the quality of patient care.Relevance to clinical practice.  Information on which units resources should be allocated to is needed in the planning of staff resources of the whole hospital. More resources do not solve the managerial problem of the right allocation of resources. If resources are placed wrongly, the problems of daily staff management and cost control continue.
The impact of an ICU liaison nurse: a case study of ward nurses’ perceptions
Authors: Chaboyer Wendy , Gillespie Brigid , Foster Michelle , Kendall Melissa 
Published: June 2005

Aims and objectives.  To provide a description of ward nurses perceptions of the intensive care unit liaison nurse role.Background.  Critical care outreach services have become commonplace over recent years. In Australia, the intensive care unit liaison nurse, developed at a local level by healthcare providers, has emerged as a way of improving the continuity of care offered to this patient group. As a relatively new development in critical care services, evaluation of this role has been limited, particularly in relation to the perceptions of ward nurses who receive patients on discharge from intensive care unit.Design.  Case study of one Australian hospital that utilizes an intensive care unit liaison nurse.Methods.  Ten ward nurses were purposefully selected for their representativeness of the population and for their experience with the intensive care unit liaison nurse role. Each of these nurses participated in semi‐structured in‐depth interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.Findings.  Three major themes emerged from the interviews, highlighting role behaviours, contextual demands and outcomes associated with the intensive care unit liaison nurse role. The role behaviours of the liaison nurse included the professional characteristics of the individual and the primacy of clinical liaison as a role descriptor. Contextual demands were environmental characteristics relevant to providing patient, family and staff support. Outcomes of the role were perceived to include environmental preparation and education.Conclusions.  This qualitative study has presented an overview of ward nurses perceptions of the intensive care unit liaison nurse role within one Australian hospital, illustrating the educative and empathic support that the liaison nurse role can provide to ward nurses.Relevance to clinical practice.  Collaboration with ward nurses in developing specialist roles such as the intensive care unit liaison nurse is essential in ensuring improvements in patient and family care across the continuum.
Care needs of residents in community‐based long‐term care facilities in Taiwan
Authors: Li I‐chuan , Yin Teresa Jeo‐chen 
Published: June 2005

Aim.  The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding both of the characteristics of residents who receive the services of nursing assistants and the service intensity (service tasks, service time and cost) of nursing assistants as a means of developing a patient classification based upon resource consumption.Background.  Most people in Taiwan send their disabled older family members to community‐based long‐term care facilities instead of nursing homes because they are much cheaper, and because they are generally closer to their homes, making visits more convenient. Nursing assistants make up the largest group of personnel in long‐term care facilities. To determine resource use, both the service time and the actual activities performed for a resident by nursing assistants need to be assessed and this will help to develop a patient classification system to predict resource use and patient outcomes.Methods.  A descriptive survey method was used to identify the tasks performed by nursing assistants in community‐based long‐term care facilities in Taiwan. Nursing assistants were recruited from 10 long‐term care facilities in the Shihlin and Peitou Districts of Taipei City. Thirty‐four nursing assistants and 112 residents participated in this study.Results.  Findings showed that each nursing assistant spent 5.05 hours per day doing direct service care, which is much higher than the 2.08 hours for nursing assistants in the United States. Among service tasks provided by nursing assistants, personal care consumed 35.1% of their time. Non‐complex treatments were second (33.3%). Skilled nursing and medical services were third (31.6%). The service intensity required of nursing assistants was strongly related to the residents’ activities of daily living and their needs.Conclusion.  Complex nursing procedures are normally provided by Registered Nurses in nursing homes and consumed almost as much of the nursing assistants’ time as did personal care activities in this study.Relevance to clinical practice.  It is suggested that a training program for nursing assistants, especially for foreigners in community‐based long‐term care facilities, should be mandated to assure the quality of service.
Surgeon island granite SHRIMP zircon ages: a clue for the Cambrian tectonic setting and evolution of the Palaeopacific margin of Gondwana (northern Victoria Land, Antarctica)
Authors: Fioretti A.M. , Capponi G. , Black L.P. , Varne R. , Visona D. 
Published: June 2005

AbstractIn northern Victoria Land (NVL), Antarctica, the palaeopacific margin of Gondwana is made up of the inboard Wilson (WT) and the two outboard Bowers (BT) and Robertson Bay (RBT) terranes. The occurrence of a Cambro‐Ordovician magmatic arc in the WT argues for a southwestward subduction leading to the final configuration of this margin during the Ross–Delamerian Orogeny. A U‐Pb SHRIMP crystallization age (511.7 ± 2.9 Ma) obtained on the Surgeon Island Granite (SIG), located at the eastern end of the RBT, indicates that the SIG also belongs to the Ross cycle, and provides evidence for multiple subduction zones during the Ross Orogeny. Structural observations show that the SIG and its country rocks are basement to the RBT turbidites. SIG inherited zircon ages indicate the occurrence of Proterozoic crust east of the RBT and constrains the location of the Proterozoic–Palaeozoic boundary in Cambrian Gondwana.
δ11B as tracer of slab dehydration and mantle evolution in Western Anatolia Cenozoic Magmatism
Authors: Tonarini Sonia , Agostini Samuele , Innocenti Fabrizio , Manetti Piero 
Published: June 2005

AbstractBoron isotope data are presented for Cenozoic Western Anatolia rocks, which define two main associations: (i) calc‐alkaline, shoshonitic and ultra‐potassic rocks (Early to Middle Miocene); and (ii) Late Miocene–Quaternary intraplate alkali basalts. Boron data, together with Sr–Nd isotope and other trace elements, are consistent with a progressive dehydration of the slab, producing fluid phases gradually depleted in B (and 11B). These fluids were added to the supraslab mantle, triggering a partial melting that gave rise to orogenic magmatism. The stretching and tearing of the slab caused by the faster convergence of Greece over Africa with respect to Anatolia facilitated an interaction of the upwelling subslab asthenosphere with residual slab‐fluids during the Late Miocene followed by production of typical intraplate magmas during the Pleistocene–Holocene, whose relatively high δ11B (approximately −2‰) is considered representative of the local asthenosphere not affected by subduction contamination.
Dating faulted alluvial fans with cosmogenic10Be in the Gurvan Bogd mountain range (Gobi‐Altay, Mongolia): climatic and tectonic implications
Authors: Vassallo Riccardo , Ritz Jean‐François , Braucher Régis , Carretier Sébastien 
Published: June 2005

AbstractThe Gurvan Bogd mountain range is a fault system characterized by strong earthquakes (M ∼ 8) separated by long periods of quiescence. Further to the previous works in the area, our study provides new data concerning the tectonic and climatic processes in the Gobi‐Altay. To quantify the slip rates along the faults, we dated offset alluvial fans analysing thein situproduced10Be along profiles at depth. The slip rates along the Bogd strike–slip fault and its associated thrust faults over the Upper Pleistocene–Holocene period are 0.95 ± 0.29 mm yr−1and comprised between 0.12 ± 0.02 and 0.13 ± 0.02 mm yr−1, respectively. The surfaces ages account for a cyclic formation of the fans over the past ∼360 ka, in correlation with the terminations of the marine isotope stages 2, 6, 8 and 10.
Plasmodium falciparum: higher incidence of molecular resistance markers for sulphadoxine than for pyrimethamine in Kasangati, Uganda
Authors: Sendagire Hakim , Kyabayinze Daniel , Swedberg Göte , Kironde Fred 
Published: June 2005

SummaryIn November of 2000, Uganda changed its anti‐malarial policy to replace chloroquine (CQ) with a combination of CQ and sulphadoxine–pyrimethamine (SP) as the first line agents. Information was limited on the efficacy of either drug. The present study was designed to provide baseline information on the efficacy of SP and the prevalence of molecular markers that are associated with SP resistance. Blood samples were collected on filter paper from 169 consenting patients who were diagnosed with malaria. Patients were treated with SP and followed for 14 days using the WHO clinical guidelines. The samples were analysed for molecular resistance markers and correlation of the molecular markers with clinical findings was assessed. SP monotherapy was efficacious for 140 of 163 (85.9%) treated patients. We found a high level of mutations in alleles which have previously been reported to be associated with SP resistance, but there was no correlation between clinical outcomes and molecular markers. With the exception of codon S108 in dhfr (dhfr S108N was at 94.9%), frequencies of dihydropteroate synthase (dhps) mutant and mixed alleles combined (A437G 89% and K540E 83.9%) were higher than those of dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) (N51I 58.4%, C59R 31.3%).
Risk factors for acute pesticide poisoning in Sri Lanka
Authors: Van Der Hoek Wim , Konradsen Flemming 
Published: June 2005

SummaryThis report describes the characteristics of patients with acute pesticide poisoning in a rural area of Sri Lanka and, for intentional self‐poisoning cases, explores the relative importance of the different determinants. Data were collected for 239 acute pesticide‐poisoning cases, which were admitted to two rural hospitals in Sri Lanka. Sociodemographic characteristics, negative life events and agricultural practices of the intentional self‐poisoning cases were compared with a control group. Most cases occurred among young adults and the large majority (84%) was because of intentional self‐poisoning. Case fatality was 18% with extremely high case fatality for poisoning with the insecticide endosulfan and the herbicide paraquat. Cases were generally younger than controls, of lower educational status and were more often unemployed. No agricultural risk factors were found but a family history of pesticide poisoning and having ended an emotional relationship in the past year was clearly associated with intentional self‐poisoning. The presence of mental disorders could only be assessed for a subsample of the cases and controls and this showed that alcohol dependence was a risk factor. This study shows that acute pesticide poisoning in Sri Lanka is determined by a combination of sociodemographic and psychological factors. Suggestions are given for interventions that could control the morbidity and mortality due to acute pesticide poisoning in developing countries.
Seroprevalence of Q‐fever in febrile individuals in Mali
Authors: Steinmann P. , Bonfoh B. , Péter O. , Schelling E. , Traoré M. , Zinsstag J. 
Published: June 2005

SummaryObjectives  We conducted a serological survey for Q‐fever among febrile patients in Bamako and Mopti (Mali) and investigated the main risk factors for seroconversion.Methods  Blood samples from 156 febrile patients were collected in healthcare facilities of Bamako and Mopti and examined with the microimmunofluorescence test.Results  Forty per cent (n = 63) were seropositive for Q‐fever, 28% in Bamako and 51% in Mopti. A more recent infection was suspected in 9.5% (n = 6) of all seropositive patients. This is the first time that Q‐fever seropositivity is reported in febrile individuals in Mali. The patients’ symptoms and diagnoses spanned a wide range of conditions; none had been diagnosed with Q fever by their treating physician. No risk factors for seropositivity could be identified with the exception of the city of residence and none could be identified with a logistic regression model with ‘city’ taken as random effect.Conclusion  A high rate of seropositivity to C. burnetii was found among febrile urban patients in Mali but no risk factors for seropositivity could be identified in this study.
Modelling malaria risk in East Africa at high‐spatial resolution
Authors: Omumbo J. A. , Hay S. I. , Snow R. W. , Tatem A. J. , Rogers D. J. 
Published: June 2005

SummaryObjectives  Malaria risk maps have re‐emerged as an important tool for appropriately targeting the limited resources available for malaria control. In Sub‐Saharan Africa empirically derived maps using standardized criteria are few and this paper considers the development of a model of malaria risk for East Africa.Methods  Statistical techniques were applied to high spatial resolution remotely sensed, human settlement and land‐use data to predict the intensity of malaria transmission as defined according to the childhood parasite ratio (PR) in East Africa. Discriminant analysis was used to train environmental and human settlement predictor variables to distinguish between four classes of PR risk shown to relate to disease outcomes in the region.Results  Independent empirical estimates of the PR were identified from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda (n = 330). Surrogate markers of climate recorded on‐board earth orbiting satellites, population settlement, elevation and water bodies all contributed significantly to the predictive models of malaria transmission intensity in the sub‐region. The accuracy of the model was increased by stratifying East Africa into two ecological zones. In addition, the inclusion of urbanization as a predictor of malaria prevalence, whilst reducing formal accuracy statistics, nevertheless improved the consistency of the predictive map with expert opinion malaria maps. The overall accuracy achieved with ecological zone and urban stratification was 62% with surrogates of precipitation and temperature being among the most discriminating predictors of the PR.Conclusions  It is possible to achieve a high degree of predictive accuracy for Plasmodium falciparum parasite prevalence in East Africa using high‐spatial resolution environmental data. However, discrepancies were evident from mapped outputs from the models which were largely due to poor coverage of malaria training data and the comparable spatial resolution of predictor data. These deficiencies will only be addressed by more random, intensive small areas studies of empirical estimates of PR.
Physical and psychosocial burden due to lymphatic filariasis as perceived by patients and medical experts
Authors: Krishna Kumari A. , Harichandrakumar K. T. , Das L. K. , Krishnamoorthy K. 
Published: June 2005

SummaryPatients with lymphatic filariasis (LF) face considerable physical, psychological and social disabilities. Morbidity management and control are important components of the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis. But information on the various disabilities caused by LF is scanty. We measured the severity levels of seven health states of LF in the physical and psychosocial domains of health from the perspective of patients and medical experts, using a 7‐domain 5‐level (7D5L) descriptive system. Adenolymphangitis had the highest severity levels in all domains of health followed by lymphoedema grade 4 (L4), lymphoedema grade 3 (L3), hydrocele grade 2 (H2), lymphoedema grade 2 (L2), lymphoedema grade1 (L1) and hydrocele grade 1 (H1). People with higher grades of lymphoedema and hydrocele had more severe psychosocial problems than physical ones. Severity levels assessed by medical experts were lower than those reported by sufferers. These findings indicate that LF has considerable impact on the physical, mental and social domains of health. Morbidity management programmes should be broadened to include counselling, rehabilitation and health education to manage the psychosocial problems caused by LF.