Digital Commons Network^™

Psychometric Properties Of The Readiness For Hospital Discharge Scale, Marianne Weiss, Linda Piacentine

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

The purpose of the study was to assess the psychometrics properties of the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale (RHDS), a 23-item instrument that measures patients' perception of readiness for discharge. Data were obtained from 356 respondents from two urban tertiary medical centers (adult and children's) in the midwestern United States who were participants in a larger study of predictors and outcomes of readiness for hospital discharge. Confirmatory factor analysis, contrasted group comparisons, and predictive validity testing supported the 4-factor structure and construct validity of the instrument. Following deletion of two poorly performing items, Cronbach's alpha for the revised 21item scale …

The Power Of Collaboration With Patient Safety Programs: Building Safe Passage For Patients, Nurses, And Clinical Staff, Karlene M. Kerfoot, Kathryn Rapala, Patricia R. Ebright, Suzanne M. Rogers

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Patient safety is a relatively new field, with many opinions and few effectively proven approaches. One factor is clear: optimal patient safety outcomes cannot be achieved in isolation. Although it is well recognized that multidisciplinary collaboration in the healthcare setting is necessary to effect patient safety, collaboration with resources external to healthcare-academia and industry in particular-will not only aid but also quicken the patient safety efforts. The authors outline a healthcare system's use of all available resources to build a patient safety program.

Pushing For Change, Lisa Hanson

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Rhythm Method As Cause Of Embryonic Death Based On Flawed Assumptions, Richard Fehring

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Response to "The rhythm method and embryonic death" by L. Bovens in Journal of Medical Ethics, Vol. 32 (2006): 355-356.

Recommendations For Sexuality Education For Early Adolescents, Kristin Haglund

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Objective: To determine community support and identify appropriate learning methodologies, parameters of delivery, and intervention content.

Design: Qualitative descriptive study in which participants were interviewed in a semistructured format. Data were analyzed thematically.

Setting: An urban pediatric primary care clinic from which youths and parents were recruited.

Participants: Ten youths, 10 parents, and 10 community members. Community members included professional and laypersons who had experience in working with early adolescents or in working with children of any age on sexuality issues. Overall, most participants were female (67%) and African American (67%).

Results: Descriptions of early adolescents ’ knowledge of sexuality, …

Matching A Graduate Curriculum In Public/Community Health Nursing To Practice Competencies: The Rush University Experience, Susan M. Swider, Pamela F. Levin, Sarah Ailey, Susan Breakwell, Julia M. Cowell, Diane Mcnaughton, Marilyn O'Rourke

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

An evidence‐based approach to Public/Community Health Nursing (P/CHN) requires that P/CHN educators prepare practitioners with the relevant skills, attitudes, and knowledge. Such education should be competency‐based and have measurable outcomes to demonstrate student preparation. In 2003, the Quad Council competencies were developed to be applied at two levels of public health nursing practice: the staff nurse/generalist role and the manager/specialist/consultant role. This paper describes a process for evaluation and revision of a graduate curriculum to prepare Advanced Practice Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) in P/CHN, to ensure that the educational program addresses and develops knowledge and proficiency in all relevant competencies. …

Girls On The Move Program To Increase Physical Activity Participation, Lorraine B. Robbins, Kimberlee A. Gretebeck, Anamaria S. Kazanis, Nola J. Pender

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Background:

Because physical inactivity poses serious health risks, interventions are urgently needed to reverse the increasingly sedentary lifestyles of adolescent girls.

Objective:

The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of "Girls on the Move," an individually tailored computerized physical activity (PA) program plus nurse counseling intervention, in increasing PA.

Methods:

A pretest-posttest control group design was used with 77 racially diverse sedentary girls in Grades 6, 7, and 8 from two middle schools. Each of the instructional grades was randomly assigned to either an intervention or control condition. After completing computerized questionnaires, each girl in the control …

Variability In The Phases Of The Menstrual Cycle, Richard Fehring, Mary Schneider, Kathleen Raviele

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Objective: To determine variability in the phases of the menstrual cycle among healthy, regularly cycling women. Design: A prospective descriptive study of a new data set with biological markers to estimate parameters of the menstrual cycles. Participants: One hundred forty one healthy women (mean age 29 years) who monitored 3 to 13 menstrual cycles with an electronic fertility monitor and produced 1,060 usable cycles of data. Measures and Outcomes: Variability in the length of the menstrual cycle and of the follicular, fertile, and luteal phases, and menses. The estimated day of ovulation and end of the fertile phase was the …

Peripheral Blood Pressure Changes Induced By Dobutamine Do Not Alter Bold Signals In The Human Brain, Heng Liu, Charles Rainey, Kathryn K. Lauer, Linda B. Piacentine, Alan S. Bloom, Robert C. Risinger, B. Douglas Ward, Elliot Stein, Shi-Jiang Li

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

In extending the use of functional MRI to neuropharmacology, a primary area of concern is that peripheral blood pressure changes induced by pharmacological agents could independently produce a change in the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal, resulting in difficulties distinguishing or interpreting drug-induced neural activations. In the present study, we utilized intravenous dobutamine, a beta-adrenergic receptor agonist, to increase the mean arterial blood pressure (MABP), while examining the effects of MABP changes on the BOLD signal in cocaine-dependent participants. Dobutamine infusion significantly increased the MABP from 93 ± 8 mm Hg to 106 ± 12 mm Hg (P < 0.0005), but did not produce a significant global BOLD signal. Yet, a few voxels in the anterior cingulate showed BOLD signal changes that paralleled the changes in blood pressure (BP). Our observations support the conclusion that following the infusion of psychoactive agents, brain BOLD signals accurately reflect neuronal activity, even in the face of relatively large peripheral cardiovascular effects that transiently increase systemic BP.

Correlates Of Cigarette Smoking Among Low-Income African American Women, Jorge Delva, Marisol Tellez, Tracy L. Finlayson, Kimberlee A. Gretebeck, Kristine Siefert, David R. Williams, Amid I. Ismail

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Objective: This study examines individual and contextual correlates of cigarette smoking in a randomly selected, community-based sample of low-income African American women.

Design: The study sample was selected by using a two-stage area probability sample design.

Setting: Participants were recruited from > 12,000 housing units selected from 39 census tracts in the city of Detroit.

Participants: Participants for this study include a total of 921 women who completed the baseline assessment of a randomized clinical trial aimed at improving the oral health of African American families.

Main outcome measures: Past month prevalence of cigarette use and number of cigarettes smoked during …

The National Children's Study, Waukesha Country, Wisconsin, Vanguard Center, Jeanne B. Hewitt, Steven R. Leuthner, Marianne Weiss, David Whelan, Leslie Athey, Jane A. Mcelroy, Maureen S. Durkin, Christine E. Cronk

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

The National Children's Study (NCS) is a large, long-term study designed to detect environmental influences on the health and development of children. Waukesha County, Wisconsin, was selected as 1 of 7 "Vanguard Centers" currently funded to finalize and lead the implementation of the study protocol. The authors provide an overview of key design and planning processes that will be used at all NCS Vanguard locations, the specific approaches to be used in the NCS Waukesha Country Vanguard Center, and information about Wisconsin physicians and other health care professionals can become involved in working with the NCS.

Understanding Sexual Abstinence In African American Teens, Kristin Haglund

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose: To explore the perspectives of teenage girls on how life contexts influenced sexuality and sexual abstinence.

Study Design and Methods: A qualitative descriptive study with a convenience sample of 14 sexually abstinent African American adolescent females who were interviewed to obtain their life histories. Narrative analysis was used to identify unique and common experiences and to develop themes.

Results: For these participants, being abstinent was a way to demonstrate their emerging identities as adult women. They described themselves as faithful, unique persons who defied negative stereotypes, avoided risky situations, wanted to be strong women like their …

Creating Technology-Enhanced Practice: A University-Home Care-Corporate Alliance, Patricia Flatley Brennan, Laura Burke, Gail Casper, Margaret Sebern, Carolyn Krause, Susan Kossman, Delores Severtson, Judy Murphy

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Insuring full benefit of consumer health informatics innovations requires integrating the technology into nursing practice, yet many valuable innovations are developed in research projects and never reach full integration. To avoid this outcome, a team of researchers partnered with a home care agency’s staff and patients and their corporate parent’s Information Systems and Research group to create a Technology-Enhanced Practice (TEP) designed to enhance care of home bound patients and their family care givers. The technology core of TEP, the HeartCare2 web site, was built in a collaborative process and deployed within the existing patient portal of the clinical partner. …

The Present State Of Nfp Science, The Challenges We Face, Richard Fehring

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Validity And Reliability Of The Perceived Readiness For Discharge After Birth Scale, Marianne Weiss, Polly Ryan, Lisa Lokken

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Objective: To assess the psychometric properties of a scale measuring mothers’ perceptions of readiness for discharge after birth.

Design: Psychometric analyses including construct validity using factor analysis and known groups comparisons, predictive validity, and reliability. Data were collected at discharge and 6 weeks postdischarge. Setting: Tertiary-level perinatal center in the Midwestern United States. Participants: 1,462 postpartum mothers. Intervention: None. Main Outcome Measures: Perceived Readiness for Discharge After Birth Scale scores; subscale scores for personal status and knowledge factors.'

Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the scale contained two factors. Perceived Readiness for Discharge After Birth Scale scores were …