PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

K Oberle

Publications and source records attributed to K Oberle.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

A decade of research in locus of control: what have we learned?

Locus of control has received considerable attention from nurse researchers over the past decade. A review of nursing studies related to locus of control reveals that the collective results of this research have yielded little information that is useful for nursing practice. It is noted that many of the criticisms levelled at locus of control research at the beginning of the decade are still problematic. For example; most studies are correlational in design; instruments used to measure the construct suffer from reliability and validity problems; researchers have failed in many cases to consider the multidimensional nature of the construct; and in most studies the value of the reinforcer is ignored. If future research in this area is to lead to useful results, nurse researchers must be prepared to move to experimental designs, and must pay greater attention to issues of reliability and validity.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1991

The clinical value of magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of meniscal disorders.

This prospective double-blind study was designed to evaluate the capability of magnetic resonance imaging to serve as a diagnostic tool in patients who have a clinically suspected disorder of the meniscus. The imaging studies provided a diagnostic accuracy of 72 per cent, a sensitivity of 88 per cent, and a specificity of 57 per cent. The positive and negative predictive values were 66 and 83 per cent. The diagnostic sensitivity was 94 per cent for lesions of the medial meniscus; this value differed significantly from that of 78 per cent for lesions of the lateral meniscus (p less than 0.05). The 37 per cent specificity for lesions of the medial meniscus was extremely low compared with the rate of 69 per cent for lesions of the lateral meniscus (p less than 0.01). In the intermediate part of the meniscus, the diagnostic sensitivity was 37 per cent on the medial side and 23 per cent on the lateral side; these values were significantly less than the average of 74 per cent for the other meniscal segments (p less than 0.001). The imaging studies provided an over-all accuracy of 67 per cent in the detection of degeneration of the meniscus, 78 per cent in the identification of meniscal tears, and 82 per cent in the delineation of postoperative lesions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Immunodominant epitopes of the adhesin of Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

Overlapping octapeptides from the amino acid sequence of the adherence protein of Mycoplasma pneumoniae were synthesized and used as the antigen in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with serum samples from M. pneumoniae-infected patients. Of a sequence of 338 amino acids positioned between leucine 801 and leucine 1139, only two regions with immunodominant continuous epitopes were detected. The immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M antibodies of child and adult patients reacted especially with the NH2-(810)-W-I-G-N-G-Y-R-Y peptide but also reacted with the NH2-(1124)-F-T-D-F-V-K-P-R peptide.

Adhesins, Bacterial↗
PubMed1989

A prospective study to identify the fall-prone patient.

A prospective study in 16 patient care units in two institutions was conducted to assess patients' risk of falling. Three types of patient care units were utilized (acute medical and surgical, long term geriatric and rehabilitation areas), with 2689 patients over a 4-month period rated daily for fall risk using the Morse Fall Scale. Differences in mean fall score were evident between the acute care areas and the long term and the rehabilitation areas. Examination of the scores in the acute care institution by length of stay, showed different patterns of fall risk; the mean score of the long term patients showed less variation and higher scores. Patients' falls were analyzed by fall score and type of fall. All types of falls (anticipated physiological, unanticipated physiological and accidental), and the severity of injuries increased, with increasing scores indicating clinical validity of the scale.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Dimensions of the supportive role of the nurse in palliative care.

The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical component of the nurse's role in supportive or palliative care. Data were derived from in-depth retrospective descriptions of the care given by a supportive care nurse to 10 patients and their families. Constant comparative analysis revealed that the nurse's role was a supportive one with multiple dimensions. A model of the supportive role in palliative care was developed, comprised of six interwoven but discrete dimensions: Valuing, Connecting, Empowering, Doing For, Finding Meaning, and Preserving Own Integrity. Valuing and Preserving Own Integrity were key concepts related to the nurse as person and were central to the other dimensions. The findings imply that the nurse as a professional cannot be separated from the nurse as a person.

Attitude to Death↗