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PubMed2001

The role of the clinical nurse specialist in creating a healthy work environment.

The clinical nurse specialist (CNS) contributes to a healthy work environment through partnerships with the nursing staff, nurse manager, physicians, and other colleagues across the health system. Examples of these partnerships are described in this article, highlighting how the work of the CNS influences the care that patients and families receive, shapes the practice environment, and fosters collegial and respectful relationships among caregivers. The CNS is a pivotal figure in creating an environment where nurses can provide the care that is needed and feel valued for their work. Partnership with a variety of clinicians enables the CNS to influence critical care nursing practice, the intensive care unit team, and the environment in which care is provided.

Education, Nursing, Graduate↗

PubMedDate not supplied

How reliably do community members audit the neighborhood environment for its support of physical activity? Implications for participatory research.

Environmental audits are used to assess supports for physical activity in the community. Understanding the suitability of such instruments for use by community members is crucial for advocacy and participatory research. This study examined the reliability of an audit instrument filled out by trained researchers and untrained community members. Two researchers and five community members conducted environmental audits on a total of 335 street segments in lower-income areas in St Louis, Missouri (representing a "low-walkable city"), and Savannah, Georgia (representing a "high-walkable" city). The audit tool consisted of six major sections--land use environment, recreational facilities, transportation environment, aesthetics, signage, and social environment. Interrater agreement between researchers and community members was assessed using percent observed agreement and the kappa statistic. According to observed agreement, the majority of audit items (67 of 76) had substantial to almost perfect agreement (> or =0.60) between researchers and community members. However, much lower agreement was observed using the kappa statistic (only 8 of 76 items with kappas > or =0.60). With some formal training, this audit tool may be useful for advocacy and participatory research to assess the activity friendliness of neighborhood environments.

Community Participation↗

PubMed2005

Moderate fetal alcohol exposure impairs the neurogenic response to an enriched environment in adult mice.

BACKGROUND: Prenatal ethanol exposure results in a spectrum of cognitive and behavioral deficits and affects an estimated thirteen percent of children born in the United States. The basis of prenatal ethanol-induced impairment of brain function has been widely studied in animal models, where significant changes in the physiological and structural plasticity of hippocampal function have been documented. Here, we explored the possibility that exposure to moderate levels of alcohol in utero might also result in long-lasting impairment of adult hippocampal neurogenesis, a novel form of plasticity that occurs throughout adulthood. METHODS: Female mice were trained to voluntarily consume 10% EtOH throughout pregnancy using the two-bottle choice paradigm, which results in moderate blood alcohol levels of approximately 121 mg/dl, as previously described (Allan et al., 2003). Offspring were exposed to standard or enriched living conditions for 8-12 weeks post-weaning. BrdU was administered at 50 mg/kg for 12 consecutive days. Mice in each housing condition were sacrificed at either 24 hrs or four weeks following the final BrdU injection, and BrdU cells within the dentate gyrus were evaluated using immuno-histochemical methods. RESULTS: Neither fetal alcohol exposure (FAE) nor enriched environment affected the number of proliferating progenitors within the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the dentate gyrus. However, FAE severely impaired the neurogenic response to enriched environment. Control mice housed in enriched environment displayed a two-fold increase in hippocampal neurogenesis, whereas FAE mice responded to enriched environment with neither enhanced progenitor survival nor enhanced neuronal differentiation. CONCLUSIONS: These observations indicate that moderate FAE results in a long-term, persistent defect in neurogenic responses to behavioral challenge.

Animals↗

PubMed1979

The cell as an extreme environment.

Living cells and their intracellular parasites show many of the characteristics ascribed to extreme environments and their dominant species. The diversity of species colonizing intracellular habitats is low, and successful inhabitants exhibit special fitness traits that often render them obligately dependent on residence within a host cell. However, the diversity-limiting factor in the extreme environment of the host cell interior is not abiotic, as it is in conventional extreme environments. It is biotic: the living cell itself and its many activities. Host cells bar the entrance to most would-be parasites, they destroy most of those that do manage to get inside, and they deny parasites free access to many components of their soluble metabolite pools. Successful intracellular parasites have evolved fitness traits that give them the capacity to survive in the face of diversity-limiting factors or to modify the intracellular habitat so that those factors no longer operate. Looking on the cell as an extreme habitat emphasizes its simultaneous roles as environment, antagonist, and competitor.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Environmental variability in the early rearing environment generates behaviourally flexible cod: implications for rehabilitating wild populations.

The release of hatchery-reared fishes for restoring threatened and endangered populations is one of the most controversial issues in applied ecology. A central issue has been to determine whether releases cause extinction of local wild populations. This may arise either through domesticated or non-local fishes hybridizing with wild fishes, or through inappropriate behavioural interactions; for example, many hatchery fishes show exaggerated aggressive and competitive behaviour and out-compete wild counterparts. The impact of the impoverished hatchery environment in shaping behaviour is only now receiving attention. Attempts to counteract hatchery-related behavioural deficiencies have utilized intensive training programmes shortly before the fishes are released. However, we show here that simple exposure to variable spatial and foraging cues in the standard hatchery environment generates fishes with enhanced behavioural traits that are probably associated with improved survival in the wild. It appears that fishes need to experience a varying and changeable environment to learn and develop flexible behaviour. Using variable hatchery rearing environments to generate suitable phenotypes in combination with a knowledge of appropriate local genotypes, rehabilitation of wild fishes is likely to succeed, where to date it has largely failed.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed2002

Effect of environment partitioning on the survival and coexistence of autocatalytic replicators.

The paradigm of cubic autocatalytic replicators with decay in coupled isothermal continuous stirred tank reactors is selected as a model to study complex behavior in population dynamics of sexually reproducing species in a heterogenous environment. It is shown that, even a setup with single species in two coupled environments may have regions in parameter space that result in chaotic behavior, hence segregation in the environment causes complexity in the system dynamics. Furthermore, partitioning is found to lead to emergence phenomena exemplified by steady states not obtainable in the equivalent homogeneous system. These phenomena are illustrated through case studies involving single or multiple species. Results show that the coupled environments can host species, that would not survive should the coupling be removed.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Nursing work environment and quality of care: differences between units at the same hospital.

The literature suggests that improvements in nurses' work environments may improve the quality of patient care. Furthermore, monitoring the work environment through staff surveys may be a feasible method of identifying opportunities for quality improvement. This study aimed to confirm five proposed sub-scales from the Nursing Work Index - Revised (NWI-R) to assess the nursing work environment and the performance of these sub-scales across different units in a hospital. Data were derived from a cross-sectional survey of 243 nurses from 13 units of a 300-bed university-affiliated hospital in Quebec, Canada, during 2001. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the five subscales were confirmed; three of the sub-scales had greater ability to discriminate between units. Using hierarchical regression models, "resource adequacy" was the sub-scale most strongly associated with the perceived quality of care at the last shift. The NWI-R sub-scales are potentially useful for comparison of work environments of different nursing units at the same hospital.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed1997

Managing hospitals in dynamic environments.

Hospital environments have changed dramatically over the past two decades. Hospitals now have to contend with the dynamics of regulation, market forces, and quality and cost-conscious environments. The strategies proposed here emulate the changes pursued by much of US industry. Provides a framework for analysing hospital environments. Applies Deming's total quality management concepts to hospitals. Also suggests strategies to deal effectively with different types of hospital environments.

Cost Control↗

PubMed2005

Perceptual limits for a robotic rehabilitation environment using visual feedback distortion.

Imperceptible visual distortion, in the form of a disguised progression of performance goals, may be a helpful addition to rehabilitation after stroke and other brain injuries. This paper describes work that has been done to lay the groundwork for testing this hypothesis. We have constructed and validated an experimental environment that provides controllable visual distortion and allows precise force and position measurements. To estimate the amount of visual distortion that should be imperceptible, we measured the limits for force and distance/position perception in our rehabilitation environment for young and elderly unimpaired subjects and for a single traumatic brain injury (TBI) patient. We found the Just Noticeable Difference (JND) for produced force to be 19.7% (0.296 N) and the JND for movement distance/finger position to be 13.0% (3.99 mm) for young subjects (ages 18-35). For elderly subjects (ages 61-80), the JND for force was measured to be 31.0% (0.619 N) and the JND for distance/po'sition was 16.1% (5.01 mm). JNDs of 46.0% (0.920 N) and 45.0% (14.8 mm) were found for the motor-impaired individual. In addition, a subject's rating of effort was found to be profoundly influenced by visual feedback concerning the force magnitude. Even when this feedback was distorted, it accounted for 99% of the variance of the effort rating. These results indicate that substantial visual distortions should be imperceptible to the subject, and that visual feedback can be used to influence the subject's perceived experience in our robotic environment. This means that we should be able to use imperceptible visual distortion to alter a patient's perception of therapeutic exercise in a robotic environment.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Qualitative visual environment retrieval.

A system for retrieval of an unstructured environment under static and dynamic scenarios is proposed. The use of cylindrical mosaics or omnidirectional images is exploited for providing a rich description about the surrounding environment spanning 360 degrees. The environment description is based on defining the attributes of the nodes of a graph derived from the angular partitions of the captured images. Content-based image retrieval for each of these partitions is performed on an exemplar image database to annotate the nodes of the graph. The complete environment description is recovered by collating the retrieval results over all the partitions based on a simple voting scheme. This offers a qualitative description of the location in a totally natural and unstructured surrounding. The experiments yield quite promising results.

Environment↗

PubMed2002

Assessment of the within-family environment in twins: absolute versus differential ratings, and relationship with conduct problems.

BACKGROUND: The aim was to compare the psychometric properties of absolute versus differential ratings of the within-family environments and to examine their associations with conduct problems in 8-16-year-old twins. METHODS: The sample comprised 1117 pairs of like-sex male and female twins and their parents, recruited from the school population of Virginia. The within-family environment was assessed from the Twin Inventory of Relationships and Experiences (TIRE), which provided measures of differential parental criticism, parental preference for one twin, and twins' peers' conduct problems, as rated by mothers, fathers and each of the twins. Twins' conduct problems were assessed by a modified version of the Olweus questionnaire. RESULTS: Although differential ratings and absolute ratings had similar psychometric properties, the use of absolute ratings to differentiate the twins resulted in a construct with weak inter-rater agreement and low stability over time. Differential ratings of the twins' environment showed significant associations with differences in conduct problems between the twins, whereas the difference in absolute ratings of each twin did not. The differential parental criticism effect was uninfluenced by the overall level of criticism in the family. CONCLUSIONS: A direct contrast between siblings or twins, as part of the rating procedure (as provided by differential ratings), may be a more efficient way to assess aspects of the within-family environment that are reliable and which are associated with psychopathology. Both differential parental criticism and peers' conduct disturbance were associated with conduct problems in the twins.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Genetic variance of sexually selected traits in waxmoths: maintenance by genotype x environment interaction.

When traits experience directional selection, such as that imposed by sexual selection, their genetic variance is expected to diminish. Nonetheless, theory and findings from sexual selection predict and demonstrate that male traits favored by female choice retain substantial amounts of additive genetic variance. We explored this dilemma through an ecological genetic approach and focused on the potential contributions of genotype x environment interaction (GEI) to maintenance of additive genetic variance for male signal characters in the lesser waxmoth, Achroia grisella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). We artificially selected genetic variants for two male signal characters, signal rate (SR) and peak amplitude (PA), that influence female attraction and then examined the phenotypic plasticity of these variants (high- and low-SR and high- and low-PA lines) under a range of environmental conditions expected in natural populations. Our split-family breeding experiments indicated that two signal characters, SR and PA, and several developmental characters in both high- and low-SR and high- and low-PA lines displayed considerable phenotypic plasticity among the environments tested. Moreover, strong GEIs leading to crossover between high- and low-SR lines were found for SR and developmental period. Therefore, neither high- nor low-SR genetic variants would achieve maximum attractiveness and fitness in every environment, and those variants producing unattractive signals with low SRs under normal conditions may remain in populations provided that gene flow across environments or generation overlap are sufficiently high. We speculate that the phenotypic plasticity for SR and developmental period is adaptive in A. grisella populations experiencing a range of temperature and density conditions. Females mating with attractive (high-SR) males may be assured of obtaining good genes because these males sire offspring that develop more rapidly and a crossover for developmental period may parallel that for SR. Such parallel crossovers may be expected wherever good-genes sexual selection mechanisms operate.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed2000

Density dependence and population differentiation of genetic architecture in Impatiens capensis in natural environments.

We identified environment-dependent constraints on the evolution of plasticity to density under natural conditions in two natural populations of Impatiens capensis. We also examined the expression of population divergence in genetic variance-covariance matrices in these natural environments. Inbred lines, originally collected from a sunny site with high seedling densities and a woodland site with low seedling densities, were planted in both original sites at natural high densities and at low density. Morphological and life-history characters were measured. More genetic variation for plastic responses to density was expressed in the sun site than in the woodland site, so the evolutionary potential of plasticity was greater in the sun site. Strong genetic correlations between the same character expressed at different densities and correlations among different characters could constrain the evolution of plasticity in both sites. Genetically based trade-offs in meristem allocation to vegetative growth and reproduction were apparent only in the high-resource environment with no overhead canopy and no intraspecific competition. Therefore, genetic constraints on the evolution of plasticity depended on the site and density in which plants were grown, and correlated responses to selection on plastic characters are also expected to differ between sites and densities. Population differentiation in genetic variance-covariance matrices was detected, but matrix structural differences, as opposed to proportional differences, were detected between populations only in the sun site at natural high density. Thus, population divergence in genetic architecture can occur rapidly and on a fine spatial scale, but the expression of such divergence may depend on the environment.

Environment↗

PubMed2003

Evolutionary ecology of egg size and number in a seed beetle: genetic trade-off differs between environments.

In many organisms, large offspring have improved fitness over small offspring, and thus their size is under strong selection. However, due to a trade-off between offspring size and number, females producing larger offspring necessarily must produce fewer unless the total amount of reproductive effort is unlimited. Because differential gene expression among environments may affect genetic covariances among traits, it is important to consider environmental effects on the genetic relationships among traits. We compared the genetic relationships among egg size, lifetime fecundity, and female adult body mass (a trait linked to reproductive effort) in the seed beetle, Stator limbatus, between two environments (host-plant species Acacia greggii and Cercidium floridum). Genetic correlations among these traits were estimated through half-sib analysis, followed with artificial selection on egg size to observe the correlated responses of lifetime fecundity and female body mass. We found that the magnitude of the genetic trade-off between egg size and lifetime fecundity differed between environments--a strong trade-off was estimated when females laid eggs on C. floridum seeds, yet this trade-off was weak when females laid eggs on A. greggii seeds. Also differing between environments was the genetic correlation between egg size and female body mass-these traits were positively genetically correlated for egg size on A. greggii seeds, yet uncorrelated on C. floridum seeds. On A. greggii seeds, the evolution of egg size and traits linked to reproductive effort (such as female body mass) are not independent from each other as commonly assumed in life-history theory.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed2004

Phenotypic consequences of genetic variation in a gynogenetic complex of Phoxinus eos-neogaeus clonal fish (Pisces: Cyprinidae) inhabiting a heterogeneous environment.

We examined the genetic composition, habitat use, and morphological variation of a Phoxinus eos-neogaeus unisexual hybrid complex and its sexually reproducing progenitor species inhabiting beaver-modified drainages of Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota. In addition to the single diploid P. eos-neogaeus gynogenetic clone, triploid and diploid-triploid mosaic biotypes were present at our study sites. Both P. eos and P. neogaeus, and all three hybrid biotypes were ubiquitous throughout one intensively surveyed drainage, but abundances and relative frequencies of the parental species and hybrids varied considerably within and among successional environments. Data from a large number of additional sites indicated that the proportion of polyploid hybrids within an environment was negatively related to hybrid relative frequency, implying that the genomic constitution of hybrids is an important determinant of clonal fitness among successional environments. Statistical comparisons of variation along size-free multivariate body shape axes indicated that despite its genetic uniformity, the P. eos-neogaeus clone is no less variable than its sexual progenitors, suggesting that a single genotype may actually respond to environmental variation with as much phenotypic variation as a genetically variable sexual population. The incorporation and expression of a third genome in triploid and diploid-triploid mosaic biotypes derived from the gynogenetic clone significantly expanded phenotypic variation of the clone. This additional variation results in greater similarities in habitat use and morphological overlap with the parental species, primarily P. eos, the predominant sperm donor for gynogenetic hybrid females in this complex. Polyploid augmentation of a diploid gynogenetic clone appears to be typical in the P. eos-neogaeus complex, and the additional genetic and phenotypic variation that it generates has potentially significant ecological and evolutionary consequences for the success and persistence of a single genotype in highly variable environments.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Conflict within nursing work environments: concept analysis.

AIM: The aim of this paper is to examine the concept of conflict in nursing work environments using the evolutionary approach to concept analysis. BACKGROUND: In nursing work environments, conflict among nurses is becoming a significant issue resulting in job dissatisfaction, absenteeism, and turnover. Although discussed frequently in the nursing literature, nursing research has focused predominantly on conflict management without first understanding the elements, causes and effects of conflict. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using CINAHL, Proquest, PsychINFO, Social Sciences Index and MEDLINE databases and the keywords conflict and work environment. Articles over the last 25 years from each of these databases were examined to identify major themes, areas of agreement and disagreement across disciplines, changes in the concept over time, and emerging trends. FINDINGS: Conflict is a multidimensional construct with both detrimental and beneficial effects. Most definitions agree that conflict is a process involving two or more people, where a person perceives the opposition of the other. Antecedents stem from individual characteristics, interpersonal factors, and organizational factors. Individual effects, interpersonal relationships, and organizational effects are the main consequences of conflict. A theoretical model of the antecedents and consequences is presented, with implications for further development. CONCLUSIONS: A more thorough understanding of the sources and outcomes of conflict within nursing work environments would enable the prevention of conflict. If properly understood and managed, conflict can also lead to positive outcomes for nurses and healthcare organizations.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed2006

What am I doing in Timbuktu: person-environment picture recognition for persons with intellectual disability.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of familiarity of depicted persons and environments in recognition of photographs for pupils with different degrees of intellectual disability (ID). METHOD: Forty-five pupils with ID participated. RESULTS: An interaction effect between the two variables, person and environment, was found in addition to main effects for both the variables. Pictures of the test person himself or herself in familiar environments were easier to recognize than in unfamiliar environments, whereas the opposite was found for pictures of other familiar persons. No interaction effects of degree of ID were found. CONCLUSIONS: The interaction pattern is explained in terms of absent, present or implausible semantic associations between the person and the environmental context. The results are discussed in relation to augmentative and alternative communication with photographs.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Reflection on how clinical nursing supervision enhances nurses' experiences of well-being related to their psychosocial work environment.

AIM: The aim of this study was to make a synthesis of three studies that deal with the following research question: 'How does clinical nursing supervision enhance nurses' experiences of well-being in relation to their psychosocial work environment?' BACKGROUND: Clinical nursing supervision is one way to support nurses in coping with their stressful work situation. METHOD: A hermeneutic approach was used to reflect and interpret nurses' experiences of well-being in relation to clinical nursing supervision and psychosocial work environment. RESULTS: The findings suggest that clinical nursing supervision has an influence on nurses' experiences of well-being and in relation to their psychosocial work environment. Nurses attending clinical nursing supervision reported increased satisfaction with their psychosocial work environment. CONCLUSIONS: The significance of caring and nursing becomes evident when nurses realize and understand that clinical nursing supervision positively influences their existence and well-being. The value of work becomes clear when nurses reflect on themselves as professionals and as authentic human beings in clinical nursing supervision. This will lead to the emergence of self-recognition.

Adaptation, Psychological↗