Nursing research
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The majority of diabetics in this country use disposable syringes and needle units for their insulin injections. Health care providers have traditionally recommended that these disposable syringes be discarded after each use to reduce the possibility of infection; manufacturer's instructions also state that the disposable syringes are to be used once and then discarded. Despite the limited research in this area, many American diabetic teaching programs have recently adopted a policy of encouraging ambulatory diabetics to reuse their syringes. ⋯ Four syringes were found to be contaminated with normal skin flora. No pathogenic organisms were isolated. In addition, 15.1% of the subjects did not clean their hands or the site prior to the injection.
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A statewide survey of nurses in perinatal centers was conducted to assess the prevalence of do-not-resuscitate (DNR) policies in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and to examine factors influencing nurses in those centers in their compliance with DNR orders. Three nurses in each of 10 perinatal centers were asked to complete a questionnaire on DNR policies and nurses' compliance and to respond to four hypothetical clinical situations. ⋯ Nurses' intention to resuscitate despite a DNR order varied, depending on the description of the infant. Multiple regression analyses showed that subjective norms (beta = .41 to .82) rather than attitudes (beta = .17 to .39) exerted a more powerful influence on nurses' decisions not to resuscitate.