Nursing research
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The purpose of this study was to test a theoretical model predicting the relationships among four concepts: predictability of events, control, anxiety, and coping effort of mothers of children hospitalized with acute physical conditions. The sample consisted of 45 mothers of acutely ill, hospitalized children from 1-24 months of age. For each of the concepts, 16 events commonly associated with hospitalization of a child were proportionately ranked using magnitude estimation measurement technique. ⋯ Multiple regression analysis indicated that 97% of the dependent variable, coping effort, was explained by two of the three predictor variables--predictability of events and anxiety. Mothers who knew what events to expect experienced less anxiety and reported expending less effort to cope with the stressful events. Control was not a significant factor in predicting the mothers' coping effort.
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The purpose of this study was to determine the validity of the axillary site for temperature measurement in the postoperative patient. Axillary electronic, axillary mercury, rectal mercury, and core body temperatures were obtained in 18 postoperative patients. ⋯ Electronic axillary were the poorest indicator of core temperature, r = .92, and were on average .6 degrees C lower than core. The correlation of -.64 between age and postoperative core temperature suggests that the elderly are most susceptible to hypothermia in a surgical setting.
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The extent to which pH values of aspirates from feeding tubes could be used to differentiate between (a) gastric and intestinal placement, and (b) gastric and respiratory placement were determined in a clinical study. The sample consisted of 181 adult subjects, 94 with small-bore nasogastric tubes and 87 with nasointestinal tubes. Data were collected at the time of initial tube placement and again, when possible, after one or two days of tube feedings. ⋯ Findings indicated that pH readings were often effective in differentiating between gastric and intestinal placement (p less than .0001). For example, approximately 81% of the aspirates from nasogastric tubes had pH values ranging from 1 through 4, while almost 88% of the aspirates from nasointestinal tubes had pH values of 6 or greater. Only one aspirate from a tube inadvertently placed in the lung was tested; as expected it had an alkaline pH.