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Biomedical subjects

L M Gerace

Publications and source records attributed to L M Gerace.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Enhancing nursing competence with substance abusing clients.

Alcohol and other drug abuse, major threats to health, pose challenges for nurses in virtually every practice setting. Progress toward increasing nursing competence in the addictions field is being made through the development of practice standards and model curricula and through federal initiatives to increase faculty expertise in this field. The next critical step is to forge creative collaborative links with practice settings, links that assure that requisite learning is reality-based and in step with the future of health care. This article outlines progress toward improving nursing competence in substance abuse and suggests reality-based learning strategies as a future direction for this important goal for nursing education. Two successful models of collaboration between education and practice, designed to augment basic curriculum and improve nursing knowledge, skills and attitudes related to substance abuse, are described.

Alcoholics Anonymous↗
PubMed1995

Improving nurses' responses toward substance-misusing patients: a clinical evaluation project.

Practitioners in acute and primary care settings often fail to identify and intervene with chemically dependent patients. Counterproductive attitudes, lack of knowledge, and poor clinical skills impede early identification, treatment, and referral. In response to these problems, an educational intervention was designed to improve practicing nurses' recognition of and responses to substance-misusing patients. Results of the pretest posttest comparison group evaluation suggest that educational interventions were influential in improving nurses' confidence in caring for substance misusing patients. Although data reflecting changes in attitudes were less compelling, the improvement in treatment optimism is a positive change that has important clinical implications.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Family nurse practitioner clinical competencies in alcohol and substance use.

The prevalence of substance use among patients presenting to primary health care settings mandates clinical competency in the area for nurse practitioners (NPs). An educational intervention with an evaluation component is described. The effect of incorporating substance use content into a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) curriculum was tested with a convenience sample of 16 FNP students and 8 practicing NPs. Students' knowledge increased significantly; however, differences in students' and practicing NPs' knowledge did not reach significance. Students' clinical competency increased significantly, as demonstrated by standardized patient clinical evaluations, and was significantly better than the practicing NPs in the skill domains of evaluation and record keeping. Educational intervention can improve NP identification of substance-abusing patients in primary health care settings.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1994

The substance abuse pandemic: determinants to guide interventions.

The substance abuse pandemic calls for a comprehensive model from which nurses can organize the vast array of drug and alcohol knowledge required for practice in the community. The model health for all: a model for nursing's contributions provides a framework for organizing factors that affect health status into four determinants: biologic, sociocultural, medical-technologic-organizational, and environmental. The model serves as an organizing mechanism to present key information about alcohol and drug abuse.

Community Health Nursing↗
PubMed1993

Information sharing concerning schizophrenia in a family member: adult siblings' perspectives.

Content analysis of 11 in-depth interviews of adult siblings having a brother or sister with schizophrenia shows a variation in families' needs and desire for information about the illness. Families who do not seek information appear to be in denial, whereas those who can be classified as withholding information realize the significance of illness but are reluctant to share information. Information provided by mental health professionals is thought to be scarce and frequently confusing. Subjects believe they must actively pursue information, and they find advice on everyday problems to be the most practical. Health care professionals need to know about the family's differing stages of readiness to receive information, to have some insight into the family's attitudes toward illness, and a recognition of the stigma of mental illness many of these families feel.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Sibling perspectives on schizophrenia and the family.

Intensive audiotaped interviews with 14 adult siblings of schizophrenia patients were used to explore their experiences. Interviews focused on the ways adult siblings define and experience their sibling's mental illness and their participation in illness management. Cross-case analysis revealed that recognition of schizophrenia in a brother or sister was characterized by a pivotal, reorganizing event that redefined behavior previously viewed as difficult or different. Subjects' approach to the sibling's illness reflected three distinct patterns: collaborative, crisis-oriented, and detached. The impact of a mentally ill brother or sister on subjects' lives ranged from pervasive to discrete and was seen as emanating from the family and the sibling, but in different ways. These findings can help sensitize clinicians to the complex nature of sibling experiences as well as to the needs of siblings and their families.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Faculty development and curriculum change in substance abuse.

What approaches can be used to upgrade nursing education and clinical skills in alcohol and drug abuse? The authors discuss the development of faculty and curricula in three schools of nursing. The programs described are part of a national initiative to ensure that health care professionals have basic knowledge and clinical skills in screening, assessment, intervention, and the appropriate use of referral systems for clients with substance abuse problems.

Curriculum↗