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Biomedical subjects

D A Santo-Novak

Publications and source records attributed to D A Santo-Novak.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

MSHAKE. A tool for measuring staff knowledge related to geriatric mental health.

This article describes the development of a knowledge-screening instrument used with staff caring for elderly patients with neuropsychiatric disability. A 25-item tool, referred to as the Mary Starke Harper Aging Knowledge Exam (MSHAKE), was developed to verify knowledge competencies of 171 employees at a geropsychiatric center in the Southeastern United States. The MSHAKE assesses basic geriatric mental health knowledge in an educationally diverse health care work force. A variety of descriptive and inferential statistics provide preliminary evidence supporting the use of the MSHAKE as an effective measure of staff members' essential knowledge of aging and neuropsychiatric disorders. This tool has practical application in the clinical setting as part of a competency verification system or in-service evaluation.

Administrative Personnel↗
PubMed1997

Older adults' descriptions of their role expectations of nursing.

A qualitative descriptive approach was used to identify 28 older adults' role expectations of nursing. This study describes elders' opinions, expectation and health care preferences which influence their judgments about nursing. Three categories emerged from analyzing transcripts of the audiotaped interviews. The older adults expected the nurse to be knowledgeable, caring and attentive by: demonstrating professional competence when recognizing patients' needs, as well as being concerned for the individual in the responsive delivery of services. The results of this study are congruent with descriptions of valued nursing behaviors that have been identified in previous studies. Additional findings, also corroborated by prior research, indicated that nursing roles and actions may not be accurately perceived or understood by the older consumer. Nurses therefore not only need to be vigilant in eliciting and evaluating consumer expectations but also need to be diligent in explaining their role and informing the public of their qualifications.

Aged↗