Biomedical subjects

K Compton

Publications and source records attributed to K Compton.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Factors affecting cathode ray tube display performance.

Monitors are a complex combination of analog circuits that perform absolutely amazing feats of current and voltage control at both low and high frequency. Digital circuits can reduce the complexity of interfacing with the adjustments and even be used to build complex waveforms, but they cannot replace the point at which pure power is required. Five main topic areas are covered, each building on the other in how they relate to display performance. They are glass composition, resolution and addressability, phosphor selection and aging characteristics, light output and uniformity, and the tools available to assess display performance.

Data Display↗

PubMed1996

Needs and experiences of family caregivers during marrow transplantation.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To determine the information needs of family members of people undergoing marrow transplantation as well as their actions to meet those needs. DESIGN: Descriptive, cross-sectional, qualitative design. SETTING: Marrow transplant units in the Pacific Northwestern United States. SAMPLE: 19 adult family members of people who had undergone marrow transplants. METHODS: Researchers conducted four focus group interviews. Three served as data generation interviews, and the fourth served as the validation interview. A transcriptionist recorded the subjects' responses, which then were analyzed using constant comparative techniques. FINDINGS: Themes emerged from the data in five categories: (a) Preparing for Caregiving (seeking and acquiring health care, obtaining information and materials, and evaluating the validity of information), (b) Managing the Care (providing physical care, protecting, maintaining the patient's connection with life, and advocating), (c) Facing Challenges (personal and interpersonal stress, communication barriers with healthcare professionals, and healthcare system barriers), (d) Developing Supportive Strategies (community resources, personal and self-care resources, and healthcare system facilitators), and (e) Discovering Unanticipated Rewards and Benefits (personal growth and family cohesion). CONCLUSIONS: Family members, as well as patients undergoing marrow transplant, experience a unique set of information needs and demands as a result of this experience. However, these demands can be mitigated by actions that provide appropriate education strategies and foster a sense of caring and a nurturing way of interacting among the family, healthcare professionals, and the healthcare system. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Healthcare professionals need to acknowledge the caregiving role and actively involve and support the family caregiver throughout the transplant experience.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1996

Understanding the caring relationship during marrow transplantation: family caregivers and healthcare professionals.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To understand the caring relationship that family caregivers of marrow transplant recipients wish to have with healthcare professionals within the context of Swanson's Caring Model. DATA SOURCES: Published articles, books, research results. DATA SYNTHESIS: This article describes how family caregivers of marrow transplant recipients experience caring relationships with healthcare providers within the context of the five caring processes identified by Swanson. Specific strategies for forming caring relationships with family caregivers are recommended. CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare professionals can enhance their caring relationship with family caregivers of marrow transplant recipients by embracing the five processes of Swanson's Caring Model: maintaining belief, knowing, being with, doing for, and enabling. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Strategies for forming caring relationships between healthcare professionals and family caregivers curing marrow transplantation include acknowledging family caregivers as individuals and providing clear expectations of the family caregiver role.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1996

Educational interventions for family caregivers during marrow transplantation.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To make recommendations for the use of informational strategies and the development of resources for family caregivers of patients receiving marrow transplantation based on their identified informational needs. DATA SOURCES: Literature review and research that identifies informational needs of family caregivers of patients receiving marrow transplantation. DATA SYNTHESIS: Stetz, McDonald, and Compton described informational needs of family caregivers. The needs fell into five major categories: Preparing for Caregiving, Managing the Care, Facing Challenges, Developing Supportive Strategies, and Discovering Unanticipated Rewards and Benefits. CONCLUSIONS: Family members and close friends are assuming increasing responsibilities in providing care in the home for the patient during marrow transplantation. Much of this care occurs when the patient is being treated on an outpatient basis. The responsibilities are demanding and involve helping the patient access treatment, evaluate and deal with the stress of information, gain skills with complex procedures, manage symptoms at home, and communicate with healthcare providers. For this essential role, family caregivers need to be educated and supported by appropriate resources. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Family caregivers' need for information begins well before the patient's treatment is initiated at the selected center. Availability of accurate, specific written guidelines and personal contact is essential. Educational strategies that prepare family members before the caregiving skills are needed could include skill development, access to and use of resources, homecare management, decision making, and self-care.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1995

Green fluorescent protein production in the cellular slime molds Polysphondylium pallidum and Dictyostelium discoideum.

The green fluorescent protein-encoding gene from Aequorea victoria has been cloned into several different transforming vectors and expressed in the cellular slime molds, Polysphondylium pallidum and Dictyostelium discoideum. We find that the protein is stable and non-toxic in both species, can be easily visualized in living and fixed specimens, and can be used to purify rare cells by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS).

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Provisional practice: the nature of psychosocial bone marrow transplant nursing.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: To develop an empirically based description of the key concepts guiding psychosocial nursing practice for the patient undergoing bone marrow transplantation (BMT). DESIGN: Retrospective, descriptive. SETTING: National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. SAMPLE: Medical records of 23 adults (11 males, 12 females; X age = 33 years) who have undergone BMT. METHODS: All psychosocial-related charting was extracted manually from the subjects' medical records and nursing care plans. Text was analyzed for content, coded, and sorted into 42 categories. The investigators wrote category definitions. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: All present and past psychosocial problems that had been identified; psychosocial assessment; psychosocial-related admission and discharge teaching; and references to pain and sleep disturbances that included or implied psychosocial overlay. FINDINGS: Thematic categories were present in each of five core concepts: discovering the lived reality, managing the flow, emerging awareness, keeping watch, and behind closed doors. Synthesis of these concepts led to one encompassing concept--the provisional nature of psychosocial BMT nursing practice. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide empirical evidence that five key concepts exist within psychosocial BMT nursing and can be applied to a new paradigm of nursing care. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Provisional practice, as a new paradigm, requires further development. The five concepts derived from this study provide a useful framework for delineating significant psychosocial needs of patients and families and for designing tailored nursing therapeutics. The study suggests that preparation for practicing BMT nursing should include education in specific psychosocial strategies, documentation, and coping with the personal implications of practice in this setting. The study raises important issues in psychosocial care requiring further clarification and elucidation. These center around the nature of uncertainty, caring, and social support in BMT.

Adaptation, Psychological↗