Biomedical subjects

Barbara Penprase

Publications and source records attributed to Barbara Penprase.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

What nurse leaders should know about complex adaptive systems theory.

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of key concepts in understanding complex adaptive systems theory (CAS) and its application to nursing management. CAS concerns altering management practice and revolutionizing how nurse leaders think, behave, and problem solve. CAS discards former beliefs and embraces the concepts of self-organization and attractors (catalysts that allow new behaviors to emerge spontaneously) that enable order and creativity to emerge. Stressing that the most powerful processes begin at the micro level of an organization with the staff, complexity science offers nursing leadership new strategies for successfully navigating chaotic, complex times in health care management.

Humans↗

PubMedDate not supplied

RehabNurse-L: an analysis of the rehabilitation nursing LISTSERV experience.

Computer-mediated discussion is a form of communication via the Internet through groups known as listservs, chatrooms, bulletin boards, newsgroups, or discussion forums. An increasing number of professionals are using these forums to ask and answer common concerns about their practices. Deeper meaning lies within messages that is broader than just an individual posting or a simple communication thread. The messages can have far-reaching effects. Our purpose in this qualitative research was to understand why RehabNurse-L LISTSERV (RehabNurse) participants use the listserv, describe their RehabNurse experiences, how they used information from postings, and their perception of the value of using RehabNurse for their practice. The Rehabilitation Nursing Foundation funded this study. Nurses identified the RehabNurse as a means of "keeping up," sharing, learning, problem solving, and support within their practice. They appraised the information posted on RehabNurse in search of credible entries as well as experiences similar to their own. Nurse respondents described their RehabNurse involvement in terms of community and connectedness, identifying roles familiar to the participants. Rehab-Nurse postings not only were shared within the discussion group, but also extended to their work environment--team members, peers, administrators, patients, and families.

Humans↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Developing comprehensive health care for an underserved population.

An especially vulnerable population is the disadvantaged and underserved older adult population residing in urban communities. This article describes a hospital-sponsored program in an urban community developed to improve access to health promotion and chronic disease control services for older adults. As part of the newly designed service, the hospital also sought to change its image from simply that of a "hospital" to that of a "community setting" dedicated to serving the comprehensive needs of older adults.

Aged↗