Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J D Leuner.
Health care and the nursing profession have been affected dramatically by political and socio-economic conditions in Romania. The Romanian Ministry of Health has recognized the health problems and barriers to care delivery which exist in the country, with several goals identified to improve the status of Romanian health care. This paper explores the critical issues which have impacted on health care and nursing in Romania.
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between social support and quality of life in individuals with HIV. Using a descriptive, correlational design, data were collected from 50 HIV-positive individuals who were: (a) participants in support groups at a behavioral medicine unit, (b) inpatient or respite care patients with HIV, or (c) respondents to advertisements at AIDS service organizations. Instruments used for data collection were the Personal Resource Questionnaire 85-Part 2 (Weinert, 1987), measuring perceived social support, and the Quality of Life Index (QLI) (Ferrans & Powers, 1985), measuring the sense of well-being in life including the satisfaction with and importance of life domains with four subscales: health and functioning, socioeconomic, psychological/spiritual, and family. The results of the study indicated that social support was significantly correlated with quality of life (r = 0.81, p < 0.0001). Further, HIV status (asymptomatic HIV, symptomatic HIV, AIDS) was significantly related to quality of life (p < 0.01). However, HIV status was not significantly related to social support. No significant relationship was found between CD4 counts and HIV status, CD4 counts and social support, or CD4 counts and perceived health status. However, CD4 counts were significantly correlated with scores on the QLI. The findings of the study indicate that social support and quality of life are significantly intercorrelated and that higher CD4 counts are related to quality of life in this sample of persons living with HIV. Further areas for research include evaluation of quality of life over the span of HIV disease and interventions aimed at enhancing or maintaining quality of life in persons across the spectrum of HIV disease.
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A retrospective chart review was undertaken to collect and report data on the prevalence and characteristics of pain in persons with terminal-stage AIDS. A convenience sample consisting of 50 patient charts at a residential AIDS hospice was utilized. Data were collected from the McCaffery Initial Pain Assessment Tool (IPAT) (1983) which was completed at the time of each hospice admission. The IPAT is composed of 10 sections that collectively describe the patient's pain experience. Demographic and AIDS-related pathology data were also collected. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics to examine the incidence and characteristics of pain. Pain was experienced by a majority of the subjects in the sample. Pain levels for 'present pain', 'worst pain gets', 'best pain gets' and 'acceptable level of pain' are reported. Characteristics of pain including location, causal factors and verbal descriptors are reported. Implications for nursing practice and suggestions for further research are discussed.
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A collaborative educational program for Japanese nurses was developed, which merged the resources of the practice and education settings at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the MGH Institute of Health Professions. Two concurrent programs were developed--Adult Health and Maternal-Child Health. These concurrent programs focused on content reflecting key areas in the realm of nursing practice and education in both Japan and the United States. Complementary clinical tours were an integral part of the program. This dyad of lecture and clinical experiences provided a forum to focus on issues relevant to nursing worldwide.
The authors report a descriptive, correlational study that evaluated the relationship between accuracy in selecting diagnostic labels and nursing interventions, and the relationship between accuracy in selecting outcome statements and nursing interventions. An instrument developed by the authors was used, based on previously published case studies. For two case studies, respondents (N = 17) were asked to indicate how important the nursing problem, the intervention, and the outcome statement would be in patient care. No relationship between accuracy in diagnostic label selection and accuracy in intervention selection was found. A positive correlation between accuracy in outcome selection and accuracy in intervention selection was found for one of the cases.