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Biomedical subjects

Tom Olson

Publications and source records attributed to Tom Olson.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Assessment of acutely mentally ill patient outcomes in an ethnically diverse population.

Hawaii's multi-ethnic population provides a special opportunity within the United States to examine relationships between ethnicity, mental illness, and psychiatric-mental health outcomes. Understanding such relationships is essential to facilitate the development of culturally sensitive intervention strategies. The aim of this study was to investigate if differences in patient outcomes exist between Caucasians, Asians and Pacific Islanders hospitalized for an acute psychiatric illness in Hawaii. A descriptive approach was used to examine the functional and mental health outcomes and perceptions of care of 138 subjects. The specific tools employed included the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Short Form 36 Health Survey Version 2 (SF-36v2), Perceptions of Care (POC), and the Psychiatric Records Abstract Instrument (PRAI). In terms of results, the BPRS scores showed an expected improvement at the time of discharge when compared to the admission assessment.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Spasm or transformation? Advanced practice psychiatric nursing education in the United States.

Psychiatric nursing graduate programs are in precipitous decline in the United States, leading many advanced practice psychiatric nurses to question the viability of their field. This article examines the current crisis in advanced practice psychiatric nursing education in the United States by identifying core concerns and exploring the reasons for these concerns. Suggestions for securing the future of this practice area are also discussed. These suggestions include identifying a more clearly focused role for advanced practice psychiatric nurses, development of realistic educational expectations, achievement of greater uniformity in curricula, and the establishment of a strong and rigorous process of accreditation.

Accreditation↗
PubMed2003

Buddhism, behavior change, and OCD.

For individuals with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), the difficulty of their situation comes as no surprise. But what might be less expected is how directly their situation is spoken to in Buddhist teachings. Still, in nearly all mainstream discussions of psychiatric disorders, including OCD, the rich philosophical and spiritual dimensions of these conditions and the related treatment and care tend to be either ignored or disguised in euphemisms and vague explanations. This article sheds light on this hidden aspect of psychiatry and psychiatric nursing through a philosophical analysis of one of the most popular approaches to treating OCD, Schwartz's four-step method from Brain Lock. In so doing, the argument is made that sharing the philosophical and spiritual foundations of treatment and care promises not only to deepen the insights and skills of clinicians but also to empower clients as participants in their own journeys toward wellness and beyond.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed2002

Poems, patients, and psychosocial nursing.

1. Holism can prove just as elusive in psychosocial nursing as in any other specialty area. 2. Students in an undergraduate psychosocial nursing course used poetry to express the fullness of the situations in which they found themselves. 3. The poems touched a deeper and more complete sense of humanity than had been possible in other, more traditional, assignments.

Curriculum↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Stress in families with medically fragile children.

The literature related to the stress experienced by families who care for medically fragile children is analyzed. A model is generated from themes identified in the research literature. Four core themes were identified under which most of the stressors identified in the literature could be grouped. These are role conflict, financial burden, care burden, and independence. These are in turn arranged as a matrix in which the family, the child, the care professional, and health care system interact dynamically with the four core themes. The Family Stress/Task Matrix has the potential for facilitating research related to models that include a family-centered view among health professional and systems.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

From clinician to client: the lived experience of mental illness.

Psychiatric researchers and clinicians are quick to pay homage to the idea that mental illness has no respect for occupational attainments, social status, or academic degrees. Yet there is a considerable gap between accepting this idea solely on the basis of one's involvement in research or caregiving, versus first-hand experience. In this paper, the author delves into his own experience of mental illness in order to deepen clinicians' understanding of the personal meaning of facing such a condition on a daily basis. Special attention is paid to the persistence of obstacles to effective treatment and care, obstacles due not so much to financial constraints as to a lack of enlightenment among those charged with improving the lives of persons with mental illness.

Humans↗