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Blending The Roles Of Home Care Nursing And Cardiovascular Specialties: A Model For Nursing Practice In The Community, Margaret A. Guthaus, Diane White

Peer Reviewed Articles

Changes in reimbursement and advances in technology have resulted in a decreased hospital stay for patients undergoing cardiac surgery. These patients are being discharged into the community setting earlier, resulting in an increased demand for transitional specialty home care. This article relates the experience of a Midwest home care agency charged with the development of specialty home care for these complex patients. It offers a new practice model for professional nursing staff delivering this level of care. This model challenges traditional beliefs that cardiac specialty home care can best be provided by nurses with critical care or acute care cardiology …

Home-Care Nurses' Knowledge And Perceived Preparedness To Counsel Patients On Advance Directives, Mary Moran Barr

Masters Theses

This study examined home-care nurses’ knowledge and perceived preparedness to counsel patients on advance directives (ADs). Joyce Fitzpatrick’s “life perspective rhythm” model provided the framework for the thesis. Sixty-two registered nurses actively practicing in home-care in West Michigan were surveyed over a 4-week period. Each nurse completed a 16-question survey, which included an 11-question true-false test of knowledge of ADs. Survey results indicated that nurses who feel prepared to counsel patients are more knowledgeable than those who do not feel prepared to counsel (t=2.89, df=57, p=<0.05). Overall knowledge was high (87.4%) but only 40 nurses (64%) felt prepared to counsel patients on ADs. The study implies that factors other than knowledge may have an impact on preparedness to counsel. Possibilities for further study include more research on education of healthcare providers about ADs, patient education, and the need for mutual discussions on end-of-life care issues in relationship to completing ADs.

Elders, Values, And Peppermint Candies, Sarah A. Klein, Andrea C. Bostrom

Peer Reviewed Articles

The demographics of the population of the United States are inexorably changing: The baby boomers, who have defined much of the culture of the past half century, will continue to do so over the next 50 years. Just as the population is aging, so are the members of the nursing profession. Working with elders as our patients and as our peers is a reasonable expectation. Encouraging younger nurses to embrace working with elders is a challenge. Learning about how we have come to value aging and our elders is one way to engage the change in the work that nurses …

Examination Of Therapeutic Alliance And Dependent-Care Agency In The Context Of Complementary And Alternative Therapy Utilization By Mothers For Their Children With Asthma, Mary C. Vanderwal

Masters Theses

Complementary and alternative therapies (CAT) are being used by increasing numbers of individuals as both self-care and dependent-care strategies. Nursing leadership is needed to provide guidance and support to individuals using CAT Nurse-client relationships that center on therapeutic alliance may be a vehicle for supporting appropriate use of CAT as self-care and dependent care modalities. Eighty-seven mothers whose asthmatic children were involved in a 6-month glyconutritional supplementation trial were surveyed to evaluate their perceptions of therapeutic alliance using the Kim Alliance Scale (KAS). Greater that 90% of the sample perceived therapeutic alliance most of the time in relationship with the …

The Relationship Between Exercise Knowledge And Exercise Self-Efficacy For The Prevention Of Osteoporosis, Suzanne M. Leclaire

Masters Theses

The conceptual framework for this study was Self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977), based on Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986). The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between exercise knowledge and exercise self-efficacy for the prevention of osteoporosis in young adults. Population selection was based on clinical research findings that bone health is affected by habits early in life, such as calcium intake and establishing regular exercise, which affect bone health in later years. The study was a secondary data analysis of 353 females and males 18 to 35 years of age, primarily Caucasian (92.9%). Results from …

The Effect Of Supportive Education, As A Tertiary Nursing Intervention, On The Quality Of Life Of Patients With Heart Failure, Julie A. Switek

Masters Theses

Quality of life in patients with heart failure is poor. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a supportive educational nursing intervention on quality of life. The quality of life of two groups of patients with heart failure were compared, the control group that received placebo interventions and the experimental group that received a supportive educational intervention. The instrument utilized in this study was the Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index; Cardiac Version III. Betty Neuman’s systems model was the theoretical framework that guided this research. Independent and paired T-tests were utilized to analyze the …

Comparison Of Maternal Perception Of Birth: Labor Induced By Misoprostol Vs Spontaneous Labor, Kristine E. Barber

Masters Theses

This study was a comparison of the maternal perception of birth with spontaneous labor vs. labor induced by misoprostol. Perception of control, a primary factor linked with satisfaction in childbirth, was also evaluated.

Levine’s Conservation Principles guided this study. Many studies have evaluated misoprostol’s effectiveness and safety, but none have evaluated patients’ perception of their birth experience when receiving the drug. An awareness of this aspect is essential to evaluate the drug’s effect on the integrity of the whole individual.

A convenience sample of women who delivered at one regional hospital were given two questionnaires to complete before discharge. There …

Home Health Care Nurses' Knowledge Of Advance Directives, Jennifer L. Zoeteman

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to describe home health care nurses' knowledge of advance directives. Dorothea Orem's Theory of Self-Care guided this descriptive correlational study which investigated the relationship between knowledge of advance directives and the variables of nursing educational preparation and years of nursing experience. A convenience sample of 40 subjects employed by a Michigan home care agency completed a 39 item questionnaire adapted from Crego and Lipp (1998). The mean knowledge score was 84.68%. Analysis of the demographic profile showed no significant difference in knowledge levels by educational preparation. Years of nursing experience was found to have …