Rehabil Nurs
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The pulmonary rehabilitation program has become a cornerstone in the management of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Programs based in hospital and treatment facilities, however, are inconvenient and underutilized. A home-based program is a promising alternative, but studies of its effectiveness have yielded inconsistent results. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of home-based pulmonary rehabilitation programs on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and other health outcomes in patients with COPD. ⋯ Home-based pulmonary rehabilitation programs represent effective therapeutic intervention approaches for relieving COPD-associated respiratory symptoms and improving HRQoL and exercise capacity. Rigorously designed, large-scale RCTs are still needed to identify an optimal standard home-based pulmonary rehabilitation program.
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Discharge information needs are known to be common problems for total hip and knee arthroplasty (THA, TKA) patients due to surgical and technological developments of arthroplasty, treatment procedures, and reducing the duration of hospitalization. The purpose of this study is to collect individual interviews about information needs of patients who have had THA or TKA for the first time. ⋯ After an evaluation of the conclusions, healthcare professionals can contribute to the development of scheduling programs for patients who are discharged following THA or TKA surgical procedures.
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Interdisciplinary teams in rehabilitation are effective for positive patient outcomes. They require skills in team building and interprofessional collaboration. The Institute of Medicine has interdisciplinary teams as one of the five core competencies for healthcare workers. ⋯ Significant findings came from questions on educational levels of team members between nurses and occupational therapists and also within the nursing groups. Open-ended questions asked about barriers and facilitators for effective teams. We hope that these pilot results will lead to discussions on how to improve interdisciplinary teams and make them more effective for better patient outcomes.
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The purpose of this study was to retrospectively review Humpty Dumpty Falls Scale (HDFS) scores using electronic medical records (EMR) reports at a pediatric hospital to determine characteristics related to falls, injuries, and performance of the HDFS tool. The specific research question was: Is there a significant difference in HDFS total scores between cases (children who fell) and controls (those who did not fall)? Results from 74 cases and 242 controls revealed the number of falls did not differ significantly between those who obtained high HDFS scores and those who obtained low scores. ⋯ The pediatric patients who fell were mostly oriented and ambulating; falls with injury did not exceed 19%. Future case-control studies should use larger sample sizes across multiple institutions with EMR capability.