Clinical nursing research
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Clinical nursing research · May 2003
The bereavement experience following home-based family caregiving for persons with advanced cancer.
The purpose of this qualitative interpretive study was to explore the experience of bereavement following home-based family caregiving for persons with advanced cancer. The research question addressed by this research was: How do family caregivers of patients with advanced cancer perceive the effects of home-based caregiving on their bereavement? Fifteen caregivers were retrospectively interviewed twice after the death of their family member. Caregivers reported both positive (e.g., feelings of accomplishment, improved family relationships) and negative (e.g., haunting images, feelings of failure) outcomes that they attributed to having cared for their family member. Overall positive outcomes predominated and bereaved family members reported satisfaction with having provided care for their loved one who had died.
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Clinical nursing research · Nov 2002
Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialMinimizing fire risk during eye surgery.
Supplemental oxygen under the drapes in high concentrations can lead to fires in ophthalmic theaters. This study attempted to eliminate the fire risk while maintaining the required therapeutic effect. The sample consisted of 201 patients undergoing ophthalmic surgery, with 104 subjects in the control group and 97 in the experimental group. ⋯ There was a significant difference in oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations under the drapes (p <.05). The fractional inspiratory carbon dioxide was reduced in the experimental group. The new method was adopted to reduce the risk of fire in ophthalmic operating theaters.
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The purpose of this study was to ascertain if any gender differences existed in the behaviors of infants experiencing different levels of acute established pain and different levels of arousal within each level of pain. To do this, the behaviors of 152 two-week- to 12-month-old infants were videotaped and compared. ⋯ There was no gender difference in any facial or other bodily behavior. One cannot interpolate from these results that there are any gender differences in pain thresholds, only that there seem to be gender differences in behavioral responses to acute established pain.
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Clinical nursing research · Nov 2001
Adult patients' postoperative pain descriptions and responses to the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire.
This study examined the clinical usefulness of the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ). Thirty postoperative patients were asked to describe their postoperative pain and were then administered the SF-MPQ. ⋯ Pain descriptions by patients that go beyond pain intensity descriptions may communicate more precise information about the pain and lead to more effective pain interventions. Patients with difficulty describing their pain might be assisted by using the SF-MPQ.
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Clinical nursing research · May 2001
Generalizability and clinical utility of a practice-based infant pain assessment instrument.
The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical usefulness and generalizability of an infant pain assessment instrument. Earlier work showed that this instrument--an algorithm derived from a model of infant pain assessment-possessed excellent content validity, criterion-like validity, and 3-month stability (test-retest reliability). In this study, generalizability was determined by comparing the percentage agreement between inexperienced pediatric nurses and one author, both using the tool to assess pain of infants in various clinical settings, and by comparing the percentage agreement between one author who used the tool to assess pain and the infant's pediatric nurse caretaker who used his or her clinical expertise, not the tool, to assess pain across various clinical settings. The results show excellent generalizability.