Nursing research
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Multicenter Study
The impact of nurses' empathic responses on patients' pain management in acute care.
Although nurses have the major responsibility for pain management, little is known about nurses' responses to patients in the process of managing acute pain. ⋯ Empathy was not associated with patients' pain intensity or analgesic administration.
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Review Comparative Study
Unplanned hospital readmissions: a home care perspective.
The extensive literature concerning hospital readmissions is grounded in a medical or hospital perspective, and fails to address hospital readmissions during home care. ⋯ Chronic illness appears to be the best indicator for hospital readmission. The crucial time period for hospital readmission during home care is the first 2-3 weeks following hospital discharge. Intensive study of home care service arrangements utilized by readmitted patients, as well as agency variations, are needed. Study findings concerning patients readmitted from home care point to similarities with rehospitalized patients generally. Findings may assist home care clinicians in targeting high risk patients who could benefit from interventions aimed at minimizing unplanned returns to the hospital.
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The burden produced by caring for relatives with dementia is an increasing problem in the United States and Taiwan, necessitating a better understanding of the interrelationships of the factors that influence burden. ⋯ The Burden Model tested in this study corroborates findings from other burden studies and extends our knowledge of caregiver burden. Filial obligation, self-efficacy, demands of care, involvement in care, and coping were shown to predict burden in this sample of Taiwanese caregivers. Future study is needed to evaluate interventions designed for family caregivers of persons with dementia. Especially needed is research in the area of counseling and mental health services to assist caregivers in dealing with manifestations of burden.
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Cost analyses are needed to inform resource decisions. Oftentimes, however cost-benefit analysis (CBA), cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), cost-minimization analysis (CMA), and cost-utility analysis (CUA) are performed using untested techniques and adhering to a variety of questionable principles. ⋯ Funded cost analyses of nursing interventions that adhere to the six known methodologic principles are needed to inform policy-level health care decisions. Because of the complexity of cost analysis methodology, including sensitivity analysis, future interdisciplinary efforts using existing databases may prove most effective. The six methodologic principles presented in this article can be useful for future nursing education and cost-analysis research designed to control cost and increase the quality of health care.