Biomedical subjects

Caterina E M Lasome

Publications and source records attributed to Caterina E M Lasome.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Leveraging palm technology in the advanced practice nursing environment.

The use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) in healthcare has expanded exponentially in the past several years. In addition to common feature functions such as contact lists, calculators, calendars, and expense logs, current PDAs boast a wide variety of practical healthcare-related applications such pharmacologic databases, infectious disease programs, medication calculators, and patient scheduling and billing applications. This article examines PDAs in general and the Palm series of handheld devices in particular for use in the advanced practice setting. These devices have several implications for advanced practice nursing including support of both differential diagnosis and diagnostic reasoning, reduction of medication errors, and development of effective treatment protocols. Personal digital assistant technology will inevitably become part and parcel of advanced practice nursing. The rapid, almost daily, changes in the healthcare environment require immediate access to the myriad resources and databases used by advanced practice nurses. Personal digital assistant technology provides such access.

Computers, Handheld↗

PubMed2003

The emerging role of electronic diaries in the management of diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes mellitus affects an estimated 17 million people in America. A cornerstone to the treatment of this population is appropriate glycemic control, which has been associated with better patient outcomes and cost savings from lack of diabetes complications needing treatment. The patient diary serves as the primary means used by patients and care providers to monitor and ensure glycemic control among this population and as a key component to effective diabetes management. Diabetic patients are encouraged to track continually, in a systematic way, blood glucose levels, dietary intake, activity level, and insulin dose if applicable for use in guiding appropriate care decisions. Traditionally, the recording of such patient experience data has occurred in paper-based diaries. More recently, with the advent of personal digital assistant (PDA) technology, electronic diaries are demonstrating promising benefits over paper-based diaries. To take advantage of this technology, patients must be able to use PDA devices accurately and providers must be knowledgeable about their capabilities. Advanced practice nurses (APNs) in general, and nurse practitioners in the outpatient setting more specifically play a key role in assessing the appropriateness of PDA technology for individual patients, educating patients in various software applications, and ensuring the documentation and trending of data. This article provides an overview of traditional diabetes management record-keeping techniques followed by a review of current PDA technologies and resources that aim to improve the state of diabetic documentation by patients.

Computers, Handheld↗

PubMed2002

Ethics and computer-mediated communication: implications for practice and policy.

Computer-mediated communication, or email, has become a common workplace practice. Interviews with Army nurse managers (n = 9) and their staff nurses (n = 13) revealed that nurses incorporate the ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice into their computer-mediated communication use, but to varying degrees. Without clearly defined policies to guide computer-mediated communication practices, informal norms evolve that have an impact on both individual and corporate communication. The authors provide insight into the ethical considerations that have an impact on computer-mediated communication use. The spectrum of participant interpretation of appropriate use of this type of communication suggests the need for policies to establish clear boundaries for workplace usage. Policy recommendations are included.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Evaluation of a virtual reality simulator in sustainment training.

Is there a better way to train and prepare our health care personnel to function in a chemical biological environment while continuing to provide for patient care in a variety of healthcare settings? The purpose of this pilot work was to compare the effectiveness and user satisfaction of the Cath-Sim Intravenous Training System to the traditional IV arm model for teaching and achieving competence at IV insertion while in Mission-Oriented Protective Posture level 4 for Army medical personnel. Grounded in adult psychomotor learning principles and in an established evaluation model, participants were tested on both the traditional IV arm and Cath-Sim models and then allowed to practice on each model while at Mission-Oriented Protective Posture level 4. One week later, participants were again tested on both models. Outcome measures included (1) a computer-generated score sheet measuring time to success and criterion success/nonsuccess on the Cath-Sim; (2) time and success rating for IV insertion on the IV arm model; and (3) satisfaction evaluations completed by the participants. There were conflicting evaluation scores for recommending one model over the other. Participants felt that there was some benefit to each model depending on user, setting, and purpose.

Biological Warfare↗

PubMedDate not supplied

RN, CIO: an executive informatics career.

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) position is a viable new career track for clinical informaticists. Nurses, especially informatics nurses, are uniquely positioned for the CIO role because of their operational knowledge of clinical processes, communication skills, systems thinking abilities, and knowledge about information structures and processes. This article describes essential knowledge and skills for the CIO executive position. Competencies not typical to nurses can be learned and developed, particularly strategic visioning and organizational finesse. This article concludes by describing career development steps toward the CIO position: leadership and management; healthcare operations; organizational finesse; and informatics knowledge, processes, methods, and structures.

Career Choice↗