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Biomedical subjects

C Hinds

Publications and source records attributed to C Hinds.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Documentation practices of nurses in long-term care.

Documentation of nursing care is an important source of reference and communication between nurses and other health care providers. This article describes a study of the documentation practices of nurses in a long-term care institution. Results revealed a number of positive aspects of nurses' documentation practices and areas requiring modification or change which could be facilitated through redesigning the documentation system. Implications for professional practice are discussed, which include the need for a concise, non-duplicating system of documentation, and the importance of nursing documentation in support of evidence-based practice.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Demonstration of a metabolically active glucose-6-phosphate pool in the lumen of liver microsomal vesicles.

Glucose-6-phosphate transport was investigated in rat or human liver microsomal vesicles using rapid filtration and light-scattering methods. Upon addition of glucose-6-phosphate, rat liver microsomes accumulated the radioactive tracer, reaching a steady-state level of uptake. In this phase, the majority of the accumulated tracer was glucose, but a significant intraluminal glucose-6-phosphate pool could also be observed. The extent of the intravesicular glucose pool was proportional with glucose-6-phosphatase activity. The relative size of the intravesicular glucose-6-phosphate pool (irrespective of the concentration of the extravesicular concentration of added glucose-6-phosphate) expressed as the apparent intravesicular space of the hexose phosphate was inversely dependent on glucose-6-phosphatase activity. The increase of hydrolysis by elevating the extravesicular glucose-6-phosphate concentration or temperature resulted in lower apparent intravesicular glucose-6-phosphate spaces and, thus, in a higher transmembrane gradient of glucose-6-phosphate concentrations. In contrast, inhibition of glucose-6-phosphate hydrolysis by vanadate, inactivation of glucose-6-phosphatase by acidic pH, or genetically determined low or absent glucose-6-phosphatase activity in human hepatic microsomes of patients suffering from glycogen storage disease type 1a led to relatively high intravesicular glucose-6-phosphate levels. Glucose-6-phosphate transport investigated by light-scattering technique resulted in similar traces in control and vanadate-treated rat microsomes as well as in microsomes from human patients with glycogen storage disease type 1a. It is concluded that liver microsomes take up glucose-6-phosphate, constituting a pool directly accessible to intraluminal glucose-6-phosphatase activity. In addition, normal glucose-6-phosphate uptake can take place in the absence of the glucose-6-phosphatase enzyme protein, confirming the existence of separate transport proteins.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Functions and preferred methods of receiving information related to radiotherapy. Perceptions of patients with cancer.

A convenience sample of 83 patients with cancer were interviewed before and/or after a full course of radiotherapy, with 36 patients interviewed both times, to determine their perceptions about the functions served by the information received from standard care personnel. Patients indicated the preferred sources of receiving information. The results indicate that information served three main functions. Active participation was the most frequently cited function. There was no difference by gender, age, education, or socio economic status (SES) in type of functions cited. Disadvantages in receiving information were rarely cited but included receiving bad news and inaccurate or vague information. Many stated that they nevertheless still wanted the information. Verbal communication, especially form the physician, followed by written material, was the most popular choice for receiving information at treatment. Written material was more frequently cited as the preferred type of information at posttreatment. Nurses were mentioned as an information source more frequently at posttreatment than at pretreatment. Implications of the findings for practitioners working with patients with cancer are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Post-operative fatigue following coronary artery bypass surgery: relationship to emotional state and to the catecholamine response to surgery.

Post-operative fatigue is an important subjective problem for surgical patients, but its basis is unknown, and the possibility of a psychological component has been neglected. To investigate its putative physiological and psychological bases, 74 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery were studied. Circulating catecholamine levels were measured at intervals perioperatively and questionnaires were used to measure fatigue, depression and anxiety up to 30 days post-operatively. We tested whether fatigue was related either to the catecholamine or to the emotional responses to surgery. The second element to the design was a controlled randomized study: patients underwent different forms of psychological preparation or a no-treatment control procedure in an attempt to test whether post-operative fatigue was amenable to psychological manipulation. Psychological preparation had no effect. Fatigue at 30 days was greatest in patients whose noradrenaline levels were greatest perioperatively. Independently of this relationship, fatigue at 30 days correlated with concurrent levels of depression and anxiety. Post-operative fatigue has both physiological and psychological correlates.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1992

Suffering: a relatively unexplored phenomenon among family caregivers of non-institutionalized patients with cancer.

Suffering is a phenomenon with physical and emotional components. Although several studies have drawn attention to the needs of, and demands placed on families who provide care for patients with a diagnosis of cancer at home, few have discussed the suffering which many of these caregivers experience. This paper will illustrate the phenomenon of suffering as seen in the responses made by family caregivers of patients with cancer. Eighty-three family caregivers drawn from a probability sample of patients with a diagnosis of cancer were interviewed in their homes to determine needs they encountered in their caregiving roles. The caregivers consisted of 43 males and 40 females, with mean ages of 53 and 54 years respectively. Families not only identified their needs, they also indicated several areas which were for them sources of suffering. The findings revealed that family suffering often stemmed from fear of loneliness; uncertainty about the future (their own and that of the patients); lifestyle disruption; communication breakdown; lack of support; and their sense of helplessness. These findings suggest that health professionals, particularly nurses, who work with families in their homes, must be alert and sensitive to cues and circumstances which could indicate suffering, and in so doing, take the necessary steps to ameliorate their situation.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Personal and contextual factors predicting patients' reported quality of life: exploring congruency with Betty Neuman's assumptions.

The search for factors which influence seriously ill people's quality of life continues to generate both interest and research. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted among 87 patients with lung cancer who ranged between the ages of 38 and 82 years. The purposes of this investigation were to determine whether relationships existed between patients' preferences for illness-related information, their satisfaction with family functioning, their level of learned resourcefulness and their reported quality of life. This paper focuses on the results of a stepwise multiple regression analysis which identified seven factors, namely, prognosis, surgery, current radiotherapy, performance status, self-control skills (learned resourcefulness), preference for information and age-group, which accounted for 30% of explained variance in patients' reported quality of life. No single factor contributed a substantial amount of the variance in this sample's reported quality of life. This observation suggests differences in people's perceptions of these factors and their importance to them. These results support a conclusion that people's evaluation of their quality of life is subjective, changeable and depends on the circumstances they face. Congruence between the assumptions underlying Neuman's health care system model, and the personal and contextual nature of these seven factors in patients' quality of life are explored. These findings are relevant for practice.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1985

The needs of families who care for patients with cancer at home: are we meeting them?

A diagnosis of cancer in a family member has an impact on the entire unit. A study was conducted to determine needs perceived by families as they met the care requirements of such patients, to assess how families coped with these needs and to determine the resources they utilized. Families were selected from a stratified random sampling of patients who were receiving treatment at a local cancer clinic. Classification was by sex and site of disease. Families were interviewed in their homes. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data. Chi-square test of independence was conducted on selective qualitative variables. Eighty-three family members consisting of 43 males and 40 females with average ages 53 and 54 years respectively participated in the investigation. Families needed assistance with the physical care of patients. As many as 31% of them were coping poorly with this area of care. There were also several unmet needs in the psychosocial domain. The need most frequently expressed by families was for a place where they could turn to discuss their fears. Nineteen (23%) of the families knew of community services they could call on for assistance. Only seven (8%) of the families had utilized these services. These results suggest that fresh approaches might be needed in order to achieve our goal of family-focused care.

Activities of Daily Living↗