Western journal of nursing research
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Rapid response teams (RRTs) improve outcomes for patients through early escalation of care. However, subtle signs of clinical deterioration in children may not be consistently recognized by the bedside acute care nurse and therefore the RRT may not be activated. The Pediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS), an evidence-based tool, provides nurses with a mechanism for early detection using quantitative data. ⋯ Our outcome data indicate that cardiopulmonary arrests were reduced by 31% at the pilot unit level and subsequently 23.4% at the organizational level. Data also suggest that bedside nurses effectively escalated patient care needs without activating RRTs (19.4% reduction in RRT activations after PEWS implementation). Strategies to sustain the positive outcomes of PEWS at the unit and organizational levels are also described.
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The purpose of this secondary analysis study was to identify factors associated with increased pain communication by older adults. Data were obtained from 312 older adults with osteoarthritis pain. ⋯ Gender was the only factor associated with increased pain communication from the predictor variables of age, education, gender, ethnicity, race, marital status, pain intensity, functional pain interference, treatment from a practitioner for arthritis and for pain, and pain relief. The lack of association between pain communication and factors such as pain intensity suggests that practitioners should routinely elicit specific pain information from older adults who have a history of chronic painful conditions such as osteoarthritis.
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The purpose of this study was to test the effects of a multistimulant home-based intervention program on cognitive function, anxiety, and depression among older adults with cognitive impairment. This research is quasi-experimental and was designed in an effort to increase the cognitive capacity of individuals above the age of 60 with reduced cognitive capacities. ⋯ The Mini Mental State Test scores of the participants statistically increased, whereas the Beck Anxiety and the Geriatric Depression Scale scores showed a decrease (p < .05) after the intervention. Findings demonstrate that the multistimulant approach to improve cognitive capacity among individuals older than 60 years was successful.
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In the context of an inherited condition such as sickle cell disease (SCD), it is critical to understand how people with SCD or carriers (sickle cell trait [SCT]) face the challenges of making informed reproductive health decisions. The purpose of this analysis was to examine the beliefs, attitudes, and personal feelings of people with sickle cell disease or sickle cell trait related to making informed reproductive health decisions. ⋯ Five themes were identified: health-related issues in sickle cell disease, testing for sickle cell trait, partner choice, sharing sickle cell status with partners, and reproductive options. These findings enhance understanding of the reproductive experiences in people with SCD and SCT and provide the groundwork for developing an educational intervention focused on making informed decisions about becoming a parent.
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Emergency department (ED) nurses are in a key position to initiate life-saving recommendations for myocardial infarction, which include a physician-read electrocardiogram (ECG) within 10 min of ED arrival. Using a quasi-experimental, one-group pretest-posttest design, the authors evaluated the preliminary effectiveness of the Aid to Cardiac Triage (ACT) intervention to improve ED nurses' cardiac triage decisions. ⋯ Postintervention, the proportion of women receiving an ECG within 10 min of ED arrival improved, as did the odds of women receiving a timely ECG. Preliminary evaluation of the ACT intervention indicates its effectiveness at improving ED nurses' cardiac triage decisions and obtaining a 10-min physician-read ECG.