Biomedical subjects

Laura Caramanica

Publications and source records attributed to Laura Caramanica.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Shared governance: Hartford Hospital's experience.

Shared Governance is the administration and deployment of the organization's services through a partnership model of managers and staff. A system is said to "live" where it provides service. In a health care organization this is the point of service known as the patient care unit. In that arena staff nurses engaged in a partnership model of governance should be acknowledged as the rightful owner of their clinical practice and the systems that support the delivery of patient care. This manuscript describes an acute care hospital's experience in the evolution of its governance structure that enabled staff nurses to assume greater levels of autonomy and control over their practice.

Connecticut↗

PubMed2003

The effects of peer counseling on smoking cessation and reduction.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a peer counseling intervention for pregnant smokers. METHODS: One hundred forty-two pregnant, predominantly Hispanic women were assigned to a peer-led smoking cessation program or to usual care. RESULTS: Compared with usual care, peer counseling reduced smoking (-9.1 versus -4.5 cigarettes daily, P =.03), but did not affect absolute quit rates (24% versus 21%) at 36 weeks' gestation. Infant birth weight negatively correlated with cigarettes smoked per day (r = -0.29, P <.01) and expired carbon monoxide (r = -0.39, (P <.001) at delivery. Birth weight for infants born to women who quit smoking averaged 7.2 lb versus 6.8 and 6.3 lb for mothers smoking one to six and more than six cigarettes per day at delivery (P <.01). CONCLUSION: Peer counseling reduced the number of cigarettes smoked daily but did not increase cigarette abstinence rates. Infant birth weight increases with both smoking cessation and smoking reduction, suggesting that peer counseling intervention programs may improve newborn health despite their failure to affect smoking cessation.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Evidence-based nursing practice, Part 1: A hospital and university collaborative.

This first article in a two-part series describes a collaboration between healthcare and academic organizations that supports evidence-based nursing practice. The multifaceted activities resulting from this collaboration include an annual research and research utilization conference, a series of research roundtables, talks with nurse authors, and a website. Maintaining such a sustained collaboration encourages more rapid dissemination of research findings into practice, enriching nursing practice, and ultimately benefiting patient outcomes.

Congresses as Topic↗

PubMed2002

Evidence-based nursing practice, Part 2: Building skills through research roundtables.

Numerous articles describe barriers to nurses conducting research and achieving evidence-based practice as well as strategies for overcoming barriers. The Research Roundtable format is one such strategy. It is an interactive means for providing novice nurse researchers and nursing students with the skill sets required to drive application of existing evidence to nursing practice and conduct outcome studies to derive new evidence. The authors discuss their Research Roundtable series that addressed a number of barriers to research, research utilization, and evidence-based practice and how the series increased nurses knowledge and skills, demystified the research process, provided role models, demonstrated managerial and collegial support, and provided library, fiscal, and other resource support to complete staff projects. The details of the Research Roundtable series will guide others in replicating the process in their own organizations and academic communities.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Four elements of a successful quality program. Alignment, collaboration, evidence-based practice, and excellence.

The nurse's role in quality improvement and assurance is well established, but this is particularly true as hospitals engage in a culture of patient safety and view quality-related activities as important "safety checks." The role of the nurse in ensuring quality related to patient care and safety cannot be overstated. The achievement of quality and safety in patient care is the result of caregivers doing the right thing the right way the first time. Nurses serve as a critical link to the best quality health care organizations have to offer. This article describes four elements of a successful quality program in a large tertiary health care setting (alignment, collaboration, evidence-based practice, and excellence) and makes the connection between quality and safety in the provision of exemplary patient care. Three examples are provided that show how nurses and other members of the health care team grouped together as a governing council for quality (Performance Improvement Council) and at the bedside as direct caregivers in ensuring patient safety and quality patient care.

Connecticut↗