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P S Brenner

Publications and source records attributed to P S Brenner.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Perceived learning needs of patients with heart failure.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the perceived learning needs of patients with heart failure (HF) compared with identified needs by registered nurses (RNs). DESIGN: Descriptive, comparative. SETTING: Two midwestern hospitals: 1 community hospital and 1 that is part of a large, university-affiliated, integrated health care system. SAMPLE: A convenience sample of 84 adult patients with HF from left ventricular systolic dysfunction and 84 registered nurses. OUTCOME MEASURE: The Heart Failure Learning Needs Inventory, developed for this study, was used to rate 98 individual items divided into 8 subscales suggested in the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) practice guidelines. The subscales include general HF information, psychologic adaptation to illness, risk factors, medications, diet, activity, prognosis, and signs and symptoms. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis of variance was completed. The patients perceived the subscales of general HF information, risk factors, medications, prognosis, and signs and symptoms as more important to learn than the RNs did (P <.05). Patients perceived diet information as less important to learn than the RNs did (P <. 05). There were no differences in the patients' and nurses' perceptions in the activity and psychologic subscales. The patients perceived all 8 subscales as more realistic to learn than the RNs did (P <.05). Although not in identical order, both groups ranked education related to medication and signs and symptoms as the 2 priority areas. Diet information was ranked eighth by the patients and third by the RNs. CONCLUSION: The findings are consistent with previous research supporting the overall trend that patients with HF perceived patient education to be more important and realistic to learn during hospitalization than the nurses did. Patients and nurses identified education related to signs and symptoms and medication as the 2 most important content areas. In comparison with the AHCPR clinical practice guidelines, the group of RNs studied would ascribe the additional category of signs and symptoms as essential content to be taught during hospitalization.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The impact of a burn wound education program and implementation of a clinical pathway on patient outcomes.

Patients are often discharged before burn wounds are fully healed, which requires home care nurses to manage complex burn care. This study evaluated patient outcomes at 3 periods: (1) before visiting nurses participated in a burn care education program, (2) after visiting nurses participated in a burn education program, and (3) after the implementation of a burn clinical pathway. A random sample of 54 patient records from the first 2 periods and the entire sample of 12 records from the third period were reviewed. Demographic variables included age, sex, race, percentage of total body surface area burned, and mechanism of burn. Outcome variables measured were weight maintenance, wound infection, pain management, unplanned readmissions to the burn unit, and documentation of patient education. The findings of this study show the positive impact of education in combination with the use of a burn home care clinical pathway.

Adolescent↗