Biomedical subjects

D L Mahony

Publications and source records attributed to D L Mahony.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

The effects of laughter on discomfort thresholds: does expectation become reality?

Distraction and relaxation have been controlled in previous studies as possible mechanisms for the effectiveness of mirthful laughter in coping with pain and discomfort. The purpose of this study is to control expectation of benefit from laughter. Discomfort thresholds for a blood pressure cuff at the upper dominant arm were recorded immediately before and after exposure to either a humorous or a relaxation video. Instructional sets led participants to believe that the video would either increase or decrease their sensitivity to discomfort. A 5th group watched the humorous video without manipulation of expectation. All participants completed A. Ziv's (1979) Sense of Humor Questionnaire (SHQZ). Humor and relaxation videos raised discomfort thresholds, and the effect of both video types was enhanced by expectations. Humorous personality trait (SHQZ) did not moderate effects. The larger issue of whether mirthful laughter has any unique benefit for pain or discomfort control beyond the effects of relaxation, distraction, or expectation is discussed.

Affect↗

PubMed1998

A five-year-old with a dental abscess: a case study.

Dental caries remain one of the most common disorders of childhood in the United States. Often nurse practitioners (NPs) will see children who are suffering from the complications of a dental carie, such as a dental abscess and/or cellulitis. This article describes the case of a 5-year-old girl who presented at an evening clinic with tooth pain, fever, and facial swelling. Three treatment choices are discussed: (1) 400 mg of amoxicillin (Augmentin), by mouth, with comfort measures, and return to the clinic in the morning; (2) 2 g of ceftriaxone by injection, with comfort measures, and return to the clinic in the morning; (3) or hospitalize via emergency department for intravenous fluids and antibiotics. The treatment that was chosen not only takes into account the disease process, but also the impact of this choice on the family. A model for the progression of dental caries in low-income groups with recommendations for prevention is also presented.

Child, Preschool↗

PubMed1998

Children witnessing domestic violence: a developmental approach.

Over the past 30 years, domestic violence has been brought to the forefront of society's consciousness as a number of studies have defined it, identified prevalence and causal factors, and described intervention initiatives. Children who witness domestic violence are at risk for developing behavioral and emotional problems. These behaviors depend on the age of the child, the duration of the violence, whether the child is also being directly abused, the fierceness of the violence, and if the child remains in the abusive environment. The purpose of this paper was to review the literature and theoretical frameworks associated with children who are witnessing domestic violence from a developmental perspective and to determine if in their clinical practices expert pediatric nurse practitioners (PNPs) are seeing these behaviors in witnessing children. Twenty-eight PNPs returned a four-question survey tool describing behaviors in the four developmental categories: infancy, preschool, school-aged, and adolescence. Their descriptions were similar to data recorded in the literature, with extreme behaviors of aggression and withdrawal observed in all age groups. PNPs are in a position to identify the presence of domestic violence if they are sensitive to the behaviors displayed by witnessing children.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Issues in the integration of standardized nursing language for populations: a study of drug-exposed infants' records.

This study investigates nursing documentation thereby illustrating issues in the integration of standardized nursing language for vulnerable populations. The records of 145 drug-exposed infants referred to a VNA for home care services from 1988-94 were reviewed to determine the most frequent nursing problem statements, interventions, and outcomes. When adjustments were made using key words, the most frequent nursing problem statements involved "caretaking/parenting." Intervention language did not describe nursing actions which could be linked to standard language, even by key words. Outcomes did not appear to be attributable to nursing interventions. The discussion section considers issues which must be resolved before standardized labels can ethically be applied to populations.

Community Health Nursing↗

PubMed1992

Using children's humor to clarify the relationship between linguistic awareness and early reading ability.

This study uses linguistic humor to show that an awareness of only those linguistic units transcribed by the orthography bears a special relation to early reading success. The subjects were 48 second-grade children tested on ten "phoneme/morpheme" riddles which manipulate phonemes and bound morphemes and ten "control" riddles which depend on awareness of other aspects of linguistic structure and "common sense". Each child also received the Word Identification and Word Attack subtests of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Reading ability was significantly related to correct resolution of the phoneme/morpheme riddles but not to correct resolution of the control riddles. PPVT scores were significantly related to performance on both types of riddles but not to reading ability. Thus, while IQ is related to the resolution of riddles in general, reading ability has a special relation to riddles which manipulate phonemes and morphemes, consistent with the morphophonological nature of English orthography.

Child↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Neonatal drug exposure: assessing a specific population and services provided by visiting nurses.

Historically, community health nurses have provided nursing services to infants who were exposed to licit and illicit drugs in utero and their mothers. The charts of 145 infants whose mothers had a history of drug and alcohol abuse and who were referred to a visiting nurse agency between 1988 and 1994 were reviewed for this study. Of the infants who were reported to have been exposed to drugs in utero, 69% were exposed to cocaine, 11% to heroin, and 6% to marijuana. The average age of the mothers was 26 years; 83.4% were single; 82.1% received Aid for Families of Dependent Children (AFDC); 92.4% were on Medicaid; and 95.9% were involved with child protective services. The most frequent nursing problems identified were (a) maternal-child attachment, (b) sleep patterns, (c) infant feeding, and (d) infant development. Nursing interventions included nutritional management, physical assessment, monitoring growth and development, and education in parenting skills. Fifty percent of the infants increased their weight by at least one percentile and 31% increased two percentiles. Resolution of nursing problems occurred in 50% of the cases.

Adult↗