Critical care nursing quarterly
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A professional nurse engages in lifelong learning that will influence practice and ultimately impact the quality of care that a patient receives. The technical skills and critical thinking acumen demonstrated by the critical care nurse at the bedside are not enough to sustain an evidence-based practice environment. Nurses need to cultivate and internalize a passion for learning throughout their careers. ⋯ Research findings to illustrate the significance of professional development will be presented. The integration of passion for learning that provides a foundation for excellence in practice will be addressed. Finally, a variety of strategies that can be used to participate in and develop interactive CE programs to meet the needs of savvy professional nurse consumers will be explored.
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Clinical Trial
Facilitated sensemaking: a feasibility study for the provision of a family support program in the intensive care unit.
Family members of intensive care unit patients may develop anxiety, depression, and/or posttraumatic stress syndrome. Approaches to prevention are not well defined. Before testing preventive measures, it is important to evaluate which interventions the family will accept, use, and value. ⋯ Operational issues to improve services were identified. As proposed in the Facilitated Sensemaking model, family members welcomed interventions targeted to help make sense of the new situation and make sense of their new role as caregiver. Planned supportive interventions were perceived as helpful.
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Emergency department (ED) nurses care for victims of trauma almost daily. Although preservation of evidence is crucial, the ED is chaotic when a trauma patient arrives and staff members must do everything possible to save the patient's life. However, an integral responsibility of the staff nurse is collection and preservation of forensic evidence. ⋯ Training was designed to specifically address the roles of three major groups of staff: patient representatives and emergency and trauma nurses. Educational topics included evidence recognition, handling of clothing, gross/trace evidence, documentation, packaging of evidence, and use of the "chain-of-evidence" form. Practice modifications included development of a new "chain-of-evidence" form, a forensic cart in the operating room, and use of a collapsible plastic box for collection of clothing in the ED.
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Work structures that empower nurses contribute to a healthy work environment yet there are few studies that have looked at the relationship between nurse participation in formal work structures and their perception of empowerment. Nurses involved in power-sharing activities demonstrate a greater commitment to the organization and have improved job satisfaction. To measure the perception of structural empowerment by nurses and examine the relationship between staff registered nurse participation in organizational structures and perceived structural empowerment. ⋯ Of those who did participate in councils (n = 48, 39.3%), the number of council meetings nurses attended correlated significantly with support (r = 0.37, P = .009). The percentage of time council members communicated information to their peers at the unit level correlated positively with informal power (r = 0.30, P = .04). Organizational structures that provide opportunities for nurses to participate in professional matters that are important to them support empowerment that is essential for a healthy work environment.
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Critical care nursing is one of the most stressful specialties in the nursing profession. The demands of the specialty can lead to frustration and burnout at very high rates. High-quality, effective mentorship can be a valuable tool in recruiting and retaining nurses for these areas as well as improving their sense of job satisfaction. ⋯ The information in this article is not only pertinent to those working in critical care; it can be utilized and explored on all levels of nursing. Through effective mentorship, we can positively impact our healthcare organizations; improve job satisfaction; and promote professional development and empowerment in students, new graduates, staff nurses, educators, nurse leaders, and nurse faculty. Most importantly, mentoring can result in improved nursing care, high-quality healthcare, and improved patient outcomes.