Biomedical subjects

Paulette G Burns

Publications and source records attributed to Paulette G Burns.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Ethics committees in long-term care facilities.

Biomedical ethical dilemmas occur in long-term care facilities (LTCFs), particularly in the absence of residents' advance directives. Ethics committees are required in hospitals and long-term care facilities accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), but many LTCFs do not have JCAHO accreditation. A survey of LTCFs in one county in a Southwestern state found that only 29% of those LTCFs responding had an organized ethics committee. This article discusses the purpose, membership, and meetings of an ethics committee in LTCFs. A sample process for resolving a biomedical ethical dilemma is presented. Nurses can initiate the development of an ethics committee using available resources or combining resources with other local LTCFs. The ethics committee should consider the education of all persons involved to facilitate resolution of clinical ethical dilemmas.

Advance Directives↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Development and implementation of an online CNS program.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: Online educational programs are rapidly increasing in all fields. This article describes a private university's online clinical nurse specialist graduate program that included supervised clinical practicum experiences. METHODS: The program was designed using the 1998 National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS) Statement on Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice and Education as a curriculum guide. Issues that occur with online program development/design, implementation, and evaluation are described and solutions are presented. CONCLUSIONS: The online education program for clinical nurse specialists faced challenges; however, faculty and students agreed that this innovative program is a success.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Reducing infant mortality rates using the perinatal periods of risk model.

Despite decreases in the last 50 years, infant mortality rates in the United States remain higher than in other industrialized countries. Using overall infant mortality rates to determine the effectiveness of interventions does not help communities focus on particular underlying factors contributing to static, and sometimes increasing, community rates. This study was designed to determine and rank contributing factors to fetal-infant mortality in a specific community using the Perinatal Periods of Risk (PPOR) model. The PPOR model was used to map fetal-infant mortality for 1995 to 1998 in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, Healthy Start Program as compared to traditional calculation methods. The overall fetal-infant mortality rate using the PPOR model was 12.7 compared to 7.11 calculated using the traditional method. The maternal health cell rate was 5.4, maternal care cell rate was 2.9, newborn care cell was 1.9 compared to a 4.1 neonatal death rate calculated using the traditional method, and the infant health cell was 2.4 compared to a 2.9 postneonatal rate calculated using the traditional method. Because the highest infant mortality was in the maternal health cell, intervention strategies were designed to promote the health of women prior to and between pregnancies. The PPOR model was helpful in targeting interventions to reduce fetal-infant mortality based on the prioritization of contributing factors.

Female↗