Biomedical subjects

Elizabeth W Bayley

Publications and source records attributed to Elizabeth W Bayley.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

ENA's Delphi study on national research priorities for emergency nurses in the United States.

INTRODUCTION: This study identified and prioritized research questions with greatest value to emergency nurses and of highest importance for health care consumers. METHODS: Three hundred twenty emergency nursing leaders were invited to participate in 3 rounds of mailed surveys aimed at developing consensus. During round I, 147 nurses submitted 456 research problems. These problems were synthesized into 154 researchable questions, encompassing 17 themes. The round II questionnaire listed these questions in random order. Respondents used a 7-point Likert scale to rate each question's value for practicing nurses and importance for health care consumers. One hundred one nurses rated 106 questions >5.0. The round III questionnaire was individualized to provide each respondent's round II score and each item's median group score. Reflecting on these data, subjects again rated the 106 questions. RESULTS: Seventy-nine nurses rated 16 questions 6.0 or greater for value for practicing nurses; 3 questions were rated 6.0 or greater for importance to consumers. Optimum staff to patient ratios, effects of mandatory overtime, holding admitted patients, and ED overcrowding, as well as effective strategies for educating and ensuring competence of nurses, were highest priority research problems for practicing nurses. Pain relief, impact of and methods of decreasing holding/lengthy ED stay, and effective strategies for patient teaching were judged most important for consumers. DISCUSSION: Nurses' concerns with staff shortages and overcrowding of emergency departments and their effects on patients are paramount. Pain management and patient education were chief clinical issues requiring research. The mission of ENA is "to provide visionary leadership for emergency nursing and emergency care." This mission encompasses a number of values, including the following: "The discipline of emergency nursing includes a defined and evolving body of knowledge based on research."(1) In 1998, the ENA appointed vision councils to develop futuristic ideas to advance ENA's mission. The Research Vision Council proposed that ENA develop a center for emergency nursing research to provide leadership and focus for scientific approaches to the many issues that concern emergency nurses and their patients. The Board of Directors supported this idea by formulating a work group to develop the National Institute for Emergency Nursing Research. In 1999, the work group proposed that a study be conducted to determine national priorities for emergency nursing research. This article reports on the methods and results of a Delphi study conducted for that purpose.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

A description of clinical nurse specialist programs in the United States.

Changes have occurred in clinical nurse specialist educational requirements in recent years, and it is not known how programs have responded. The purpose of this descriptive survey was to identify the number of clinical nurse specialist programs in the United States, describe curricula, and examine enrollment and employment trends. This report contains data from 157 separate clinical nurse specialist programs/majors representing 139 different schools. The mean number of credit hours for semester- and quarter-based programs was 41.4 and 52.2, respectively. The mean number of clinical/practical clock hours was 416.2. Approximately half of the respondents (56%) used the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists to guide curricula. Nearly 66% of the programs had from 1 to 10 applicants during the previous year. The majority (68%) indicated that their graduates do not have difficulty finding employment after graduating. These findings indicate that efforts to revise curricula and clarify the CNS role must continue.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed2002

Incidence of adult immunization for influenza and pneumonia in a preadmission testing unit.

Health care-associated (nosocomial) infection is now more common in surgical patients than surgical-site or wound infection. Elderly patients and those having abdominal, neck, cardiac, or other thoracic procedures are at the highest risk. Pneumococcal pneumonia and influenza are the fifth leading cause of mortality in the elderly population. In the United States, only 54% of persons older than 65 years have received a pneumococcal vaccine, whereas approximately 67% have been immunized for influenza. In this study, interviews were conducted with 160 elderly patients seen in the preadmission testing unit of a large community hospital. Results showed immunization rates of 57% for pneumonia and 76% for influenza. Similar to findings of previous studies, minorities were less likely to be immunized than whites. Of those who were not immunized for pneumonia or could not recall their immunization status, 71% stated they had not been offered immunization. Sixty-four percent stated they would take the vaccine to prevent pneumonia if it were offered. Of those patients who were not immunized for influenza, 54% had not been offered this protection and 41% stated they would take the influenza vaccine if offered. Although vaccination rates of participants in the present study surpassed the 1998 national baseline for noninstitutionalized adults, there is much opportunity for improvement. Perianesthesia nurses have an important role in reducing surgical patients' risks of developing health care-associated pneumonia and invasive bacteremia by assessing the patient's immunization status and being proactive in helping surgical patients obtain appropriate vaccinations. Routine documentation of a vaccination history for pneumococcal pneumonia and influenza during preadmission testing and use of a standard protocol for educating and immunizing those who lack this protection are strategies that can be easily implemented by nurses practicing in perianesthesia settings such as ambulatory surgical sites and preadmission testing units. This practice would foster achievement of the Healthy People 2010 goal of 90% vaccination rates for persons at high risk for these deadly diseases.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

Into thinner air.

At a Colorado ski resort with an altitude of 8,500 feet, a guest is overcome by exhaustion, nausea, and headache. Could it be acute mountain sickness?

Acclimatization↗