Journal of nursing scholarship : an official publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing
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To examine perspectives of Japanese elderly people on advance directives (ADs) and factors related to positive attitudes toward ADs. ⋯ Most Japanese older adults in this study approved of ADs, and family structure was important to the acceptance of designating a proxy. Discussion about end-of-life care and respect for life-sustaining treatment preferences are important decisions, about the end of life.
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(a) Determine the frequency and types of physical restraints used by nurses in intensive care units, emergency departments, and neurosurgery wards; (b) understand nurses' attitudes toward physical restraint; and (c) identify complications in physically restrained patients. ⋯ Actions to reduce use of and complications from physical restraints should include attention to nurse staffing and education about use of restraints.
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To critically examine research on racial and ethnic disparities in pain management with a focus on who has been studied, the magnitude of disparities, and potential explanations for those disparities. ⋯ Greater clarity and consistency are needed in the use of the terms race, ethnicity, and minority. Groups were treated as if they were homogeneous, and details were lacking about whether subgroups of different races or ethnicities had been studied. Although reported disparities in pain management were small, they were consistent. Further research is needed to examine differences within groups and to explain possible reasons for disparities across groups.
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To review randomized trials of relaxation interventions used for the treatment of pain in adults and to synthesize evidence regarding the efficacy of specific techniques. ⋯ Most of the studies reviewed had weaknesses in methodology, which limited the ability to draw conclusions about interventions. Further research is needed to confirm positive findings related to PMR, jaw relaxation, and systematic relaxation, to address questions related to the dose-response relationship and the individual differences that might influence response to relaxation interventions. These and other relaxation techniques require testing in carefully designed and conducted trials.
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To analyze the research published in peer-reviewed journals between 1996 and 2005 about factors affecting the physical outcomes of older adults after serious traumatic injury. ⋯ Additional research is needed to clarify the contributory effect of variables such as psychosocial sequelae and physiologic resilience on injury outcome. The field of geriatric trauma would benefit from further population-based prospective investigation of the determinants of injury outcome in older adults in order to guide interventions and acute care treatment.