Biomedical subjects

Nancy Ryan-Wenger

Publications and source records attributed to Nancy Ryan-Wenger.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Developing military nursing research priorities.

Congress established the TriService Nursing Research Program (TSNRP) in 1992 to serve the nursing research needs of the military. The TSNRP advances the science of military nursing to support mission readiness and deployment, improves the health and quality of life of military personnel, and provides optimal nursing care in settings worldwide. In 1995, the TSNRP Advisory Council commissioned the Institute of Medicine to make recommendations on management, research funding areas, resource allocation, and objectives. In 1996, the committee issued its report, The Program for Research in Military Nursing: Progress and Future Direction. A principal recommendation was that the TSNRP hold regular research priority-setting conferences. In response, since 2000, the TSNRP has held three conferences. This article follows up the Institute of Medicine report and summarizes the results of those conferences. The article describes conference processes, constituents, and conclusions and outlines future TSNRP research directions.

Congresses as Topic↗

PubMed2003

Stressors and stress symptoms of mothers with children in the PICU.

The purpose of this study was a description of sources of stress and stress symptoms over time for mothers with a child in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and a comparison with mothers with a child in a general care unit (GCU). The sample contained 31 PICU mothers and 32 GCU mothers who were studied during four time periods over 6 months using the Parental Stressor Scale: PICU and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised. Findings showed all the PICU mothers were stressed from the total intensive care experience and the use of monitors. PICU mothers experienced more stress symptoms than the GCU mothers did during all four time periods. This is valuable information because nurses should know how mothers of critically ill children feel and what stresses them in order to help the mothers and teach them about what changes to expect in themselves. Nursing practice must enable parents to continue in their family roles to be effective and therapeutic to their children.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Measures of overweight status in school-age children.

Identifying and intervening with overweight children may decrease their likelihood of developing heart disease later in life. This secondary analysis of 58 children in the 3rd grade examined the prevalence of overweight children, methods for measuring overweight status, and the relationship among these measures and other risk factors for heart disease. Approximately one third of the 58 children were categorized as overweight. Several measures, such as weight, body fat percentage, body mass index (BMI), and skin-fold, are available to school nurses for measuring overweight status. The highest correlations were between BMI and weight and between BMI and body fat. Anthropometric measurements cannot predict cholesterol level, 24-hour diet recall, or family history. Blood pressure can be predicted by weight, body fat percentage, and BMI. BMI and body fat percentage highly correlate; however, body fat percentage is more liberal in identifying children at risk for overweight status. Therefore, body fat percentage is recommended for identification of overweight status in school-age children.

Anthropometry↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Long-term effects of pediatric intensive care unit hospitalization on families with young children.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to prospectively examine the long-term effects of the pediatric intensive care unit experience on parents and on family adaptation. DESIGN: A three-group prospective, comparison, convenience sample was used in this study. SETTING: The study took place in a midwestern university-affiliated tertiary pediatric medical center. SUBJECTS: Three groups of parents (parents with children in the pediatric intensive care unit, parents with children in a general care unit, and parents with nonhospitalized ill children) were studied. The children were ages 5 years or younger. OUTCOME MEASURES: Indicators of family adaptation included parental stress, stress symptoms, family functioning, and life events. RESULTS: The mothers' stress symptoms in all groups were more prevalent than a normative sample, and they perceived their families as dysfunctional after discharge from the hospital. Slope analysis was used to examine the patterns of stress symptoms and family functioning and indicated little directional change over time for the mothers. CONCLUSION: Despite the smaller than expected sample sizes over time, results suggest that parents are still having stress-related symptoms and difficulties with family functioning as long as 6 months after a child's illness event.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A school-based intervention to teach third grade children about the prevention of heart disease.

Coronary heart disease continues to be a leading cause of death in adults. Because many risk factors for heart disease make their first appearance in childhood, early intervention is an attractive strategy for this disease. A convenience sample of 58 third grade children participated in a year-long, quasi-experimental study to compare a school-based educational program, HeartPower!, to the standard health education curriculum. Variables examined included knowledge, hypercholesterolemia, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, hypertension, exposure to cigarette smoke, and parental participation. The students who participated in the HeartPower! Program showed improvement (p < 0.05) in their knowledge of healthy lifestyles. Modest improvements in hypertension and exposure to tobacco smoke were observed. These results indicate that focused instruction on important health issues may be preferable to a broad approach.

Child↗