Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J Llewellyn.
The number of women who actually perform breast self-examination (BSE) monthly is less than desired. This is unfortunate since BSE is critical to the early detection of breast cancers. Common motivators and barriers to performance, and nursing strategies to increase the effectiveness of BSE, are explored in this review.
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A convenience sample (n = 60) of two comparable groups of cardiac bypass patients was studied to assess the effectiveness of a structured teaching guide used by nurses in educating patients and families about normal postoperative recovery and risk-factor modification. One group was educated by an unstructured method, and the other group received structured teaching with the use of a written guide developed by nurses experienced in open-heart recovery. Both groups had higher total knowledge scores postoperatively than preoperatively. To assess whether the type of teaching had affected changes in behavior, a six-week postoperative health interview was conducted, and a follow-up questionnaire was mailed at one year.
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A cohort of mothers whose babies were born over one calendar month were followed up eight to 11 months after being given a personal health record for their newborn babies. Eight per cent of mothers lost the records and three more said they had not been given a record while in hospital; a total of 10% of mothers had either lost or misplaced the record. There were no particular demographic characteristics which identified the mothers who were more likely to lose the record. Most parents liked personal health records and used them frequently, as did the community health staff. Most private doctors, however, did not find them useful. Before wider distribution of such records is contemplated health workers should be adequately prepared, especially doctors in the private sector.
A convenience sample of two comparable groups of patients who had coronary artery bypass surgery was studied to assess the effectiveness of a structured teaching guide used by nurses in educating the patient and his family about normal postoperative recovery. Preoperative health assessments were performed on 64 patients, and risk factors for heart disease were identified for each individual. One group was educated by an unstructured method; the other group received structured teaching with the use of a guide developed by nurses experienced in recovery after open heart surgery. Knowledge was assessed before instituting teaching and on discharge from the hospital. All patients were again assessed 6 weeks after discharge for postoperative health and compliance with their health risk factors identified earlier. An analysis of variance with repeated measures revealed that both groups had higher total knowledge scores after surgery. Most postoperative health behaviors (angina, smoking, hypertension, and diet) were comparable between groups. However, those patients who had structured postoperative teaching walked more blocks after surgery (mean = 15.61) than those patients who received routine teaching (mean = 7.00) (p less than 0.005), although these two groups were not equivalent before surgery. In addition, the patients who had structured teaching had higher total compliance scores (mean = 86.8) than those who had unstructured teaching (mean = 79.5) (p less than 0.05). Therefore although structured teaching may not have initially affected patient's knowledge, it may have had an impact on their compliance with postoperative health behaviors.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The move toward outpatient and same-day surgical services has been phenomenal in recent years. In this study comparing same-day and traditional surgery patients in a Midwest tertiary care center, hospital charges and costs were significantly lower for same-day surgery patients. These differences reflected decreased lengths of stay and reduced ancillary services.
This study compared the effects of the towel bath and the conventional bed bath on patient anxiety. The sample of 105 patients were divided into two groups--those who would be having invasive procedures and those with unrelieved pain. Anxiety was measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Palmar Sweat Index (PSI), and the Behavioral Cues Index (BCI). The scores from the STAI A-State subscale supported the hypothesis that the towel bath resulted in a significant decrease in anxiety for the sample as a whole and for the invasive procedure subsample. The hypothesis was rejected for the unrelieved pain subsample. Scores from the Palmar Sweat Index and the Behavioral Cues Index did not support any of the hypotheses. Based on the findings of this study, bathing is recommended for its anxiety-reducing effects.