Annual review of nursing research
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This chapter provides a review of research literature and describes the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among racial and ethnic minority populations. The relevance of CAM to health disparities is also discussed. Complementary and alternative medicines are terms used to describe methods of health care beyond the usual Western biomedical model. ⋯ Although it is known that racial and ethnic people utilize CAM, the vast array of research questions and aims, CAM definitions, CAM practitioners, and diverse research methodologies result in mixed research findings and conclusions. In some instances, utilization of CAM modalities is stated to be a result of culture among particular groups. Even so, there is currently no evidence that scientifically supports the notion that CAM can be used to reduce health disparities within racial and ethnic minority populations.
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Review
Care of preterm infants: programs of research and their relationship to developmental science.
The purpose of this review was to examine the topics covered in current programs of nursing research on the care of the preterm infant and to determine the extent to which this research is informed by developmental science. A researcher was considered to have a current program of research if he or she had at least five publications published since 1990 and was the first author on at least three of them. The infants in a study could be any age from birth throughout childhood; studies focusing on parenting, nursing, or other populations of infants were not included. ⋯ Most of the studies were longitudinal, but many did not use statistics appropriate for identifying stability and change over time. The response of individual infants and the broader ecological context as evidenced by factors such as gender, ethnic group, culture, and intergenerational effects were rarely examined. Thus research on the care of preterm infants could be expanded if the developmental science perspective formed the basis of more studies.
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This chapter reviews the state of knowledge about nursing homes and assisted living facilities as places for dying. Reviewed are 25 published and unpublished research reports by nurse researchers and researchers from other disciplines that address the following questions: (a) What is known about how communication and shared decision-making about end-of-life care preferences occur? (b) How are symptoms assessed and managed at end-of-life? and (c) What are facility characteristics that influence end-of-life care services delivery? Reports were identified through searches of the following databases: MEDLINE, CINAHL, Health Star, PsychLit, Ageline, Ebsco, and PubMed. The following terms guided the search: advance directives, geriatric assessment or nursing, health services for the aged, hospice, residential facilities, palliative care, symptom management, and terminal care. ⋯ The findings indicate that little is known about end-of-life care in these settings, and that family and staff perspectives differ on the nature and quality of the services provided. Both external and internal factors influence the ability of facilities to provide end-of-life care. Recommendations are provided for further research related to nursing homes and assisted living facilities as places for dying.
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Intimate partner violence against women has received considerable attention from nurse-researchers over the past 10 years. Although the amount and sophistication of both quantitative and qualitative research have changed over time, nursing research on intimate partner violence against women has not lost its perspective; nurse-researchers have continued to address women survivors' full range of human responses to violence. Research into violence during pregnancy and battered women's psychological responses to abuse have received considerable attention. ⋯ International studies on intimate partner violence are beginning to appear in the literature and research that addresses the unique experience of ethnically diverse women is occurring with greater frequency. The purpose of this chapter is to review nursing research on intimate partner violence against women in the past decade. Future directions for nursing research, practice, and education are included.
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Insomnia is among the most frequent health complaints brought to the attention of primary care providers. The prevalence estimates are highest in women, older adults, and patients with medical or psychiatric disorders. Clinical researchers have studied many barriers to sleep as well as some sleep promotion interventions for the ill and aging adult. ⋯ It was concluded that correlates of poor sleep are well described, but theories of sleep promotion are not well explicated. Also, the research base for sleep promotion interventions for use with clinical populations other than those with chronic insomnia is sparse. Gaps in knowledge are identified and conceptual and methodological issues are discussed as the basis for future directions in sleep promotion research.