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THE IMPACT OF RACE/ETHNICITY ON OCCUPATIONAL STRESS IN EAST TEXAS CERTIFIED NURSING ASSISTANTS
Get PDFSignificance: Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) provide direct care to those who live in long-term care facilities. As the population ages, the need for CNAs has grown. Nurse researchers have studied turnover and occupational stress, but no studies have examined racial/ethnic differences in CNA stress in East Texas.
Design / Purpose Statement: A convergent parallel mixed methods study was planned to address occupational stress experienced by CNAs in East Texas long-term care facilities. The Work Stress Scale and demographic questions were used to compare levels of reported occupational stress between racially diverse CNAs. However, lack of response to interview invitations necessitated a change to a cross-sectional quantitative study.
Theory: The Demand-Control Model of Occupational Stress was the basis for the research.
Methods: A convenience sample of CNAs (n = 140) was recruited from multiple long-term care facilities. Results from the Work Stress Scale were analyzed to determine levels of occupational stress. A hierarchical binary logistic regression model was used to analyze relationships between demographic variables, diversity climate, and occupational stress.
Findings: In bivariate analysis, occupational stress was related to CNA race. However, at the multivariate level, race was no longer significant, but occupational stress was significantly related to participant age, gender, and higher scores on the Diversity Climate Scale.
Conclusion: These findings show the need for continued research to explain CNA occupational stress. A qualitative or mixed methods study could potentially explain the problem further
THE UTEACH PROGRAM: MINIMIZING THE DISCONNECT BETWEEN TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS AND TEACHING ACTUALIZED
Get PDFNew teachers entering classrooms from teacher preparation programs are inadequately prepared to handle the demands of educating today\u27s youth, as the country confronts teacher shortages in historic numbers, particularly in the fields of science and mathematics. The research underscores the pressing need for adequately prepared teachers in today\u27s classrooms, particularly in addressing teacher shortages, which have been historically significant, especially in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields such as science and mathematics. To address these issues, the University of Texas at Austin introduced the UTeach program in 1997 with the aim of improving the quantity and quality of secondary mathematics, science, and computer science educators. This study explores UTeach students\u27 STEM pathways and what motivates UTeach students to choose specific STEM pathways. This evaluation can provide insights into how to attract more individuals to become STEM educators. The study assesses the extent to which the UTeach program aligns with best practices in STEM teacher preparation. Alignment is crucial for ensuring that future teachers receive the necessary training to excel in their roles. Additionally, it examines how UTeach graduates fare in real school settings as this is vital in determining the effectiveness of the UTeach program in preparing teachers for the challenges and demands of the classroom. The research identifies barriers that impede the certification of mathematics and science teachers. Understanding these challenges can help in developing strategies to encourage more individuals to pursue teaching in these critical fields. One of the key features of UTeach is the streamlined four-year degree plan, where students take courses in their major alongside teacher preparation classes, ultimately graduating as certified mathematics and science teachers. The implications for degree plan adjustments are significant, as they aim to facilitate the attainment of STEM degrees and integrated education degrees as this can help bridge the gap between teacher preparation and actual classroom teaching, leading to more qualified and competent STEM educators
Organizational Methods of Reducing Burnout: The Impact of Self-Rostering on Work-Life-Integration
Get PDFWith burnout being at an all-time high, organizations must find new ways to prioritize staff wellbeing and promote work-life balance. According to the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) turnover in emergency departments ranges from 15-30% within the first year of nursing, and 43% within the first three years (Roncallo et al., 2020). These turnover rates cost a 300-bed facility approximately four million dollars in annual expenditure (Hesse, 2016). This level of loss and expenditure is unsustainable for the future of nursing and diverts resources away from our patients.
In recent studies, it was shown that burnout leads to difficulties for nurses in personal life and an increase in medical errors during their shifts (Boamah et al., 2016; Vidal-Blanco et al., 2019). While workload is largely driven by staffing conditions and availability of additional support services, scheduling was reported to be the most significant influence on work-life integration (Vidal-Blanco et al., 2019). Currently, the only institutional measure that has been noted to have any significant reduction in burnout is through schedule modification, specifically empowering staff to take ownership of their schedule (Min et al., 2019; Ruotsalainen et al., 2016). The literature shows that through the empowerment of staff, nurses will experience a reduction in burnout, and improve staff morale and patient care throughout the organization (Butler et al., 2019; Drach-Zahavy & Marzuq, 2012; Joyce et al., 2010; Ruotsalainen et al., 2016; Savic, 2019).
The relationships between scheduling, work-life-integration, and burn out are complex and have not been fully assessed by any groups in a dynamic quantitative manner
Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation without the Pulmonary? A Benchmark Project
Get PDFCardiac Arrest occurs outside of the hospital setting more than you think. According to MyCares.net, 15% of OHCA happened in a public setting in 2020. Even if you are a trained healthcare professional, it may not be accessible at times in these situations due to different factors such as equipment availability, trained assistance, etc... Having an alternative option to conventional mouth-to-mouth rescue breath CPR would encourage trained and untrained bystanders to perform life-saving interventions to patients until local EMS responders can arrive. The covid pandemic affected everyone inside and outside the medical world. The general population got a real insight into how certain diseases are transmitted easily, can be prevented, and treated. The question must be asked, in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients (P), is chest-compression-only CPR (I) non-inferior to standard rescue breath CPR (C) in survival rate and neurological outcome (O) 3 months (T) after the cardiac event? My benchmark project focuses on improving the outcome of OHCA patients and providing bystanders with every opportunity to assist.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performed before arrival of the ambulance is one of the strongest predictors of survival. This treatment is commonly performed by a layperson on scene of an OHCA situation and many people might have limited training and little experience of this kind of stressful situation. Nevertheless, their interventions can be lifesaving and which method of CPR can be forever life altering for the patient and their family member
The Impact of Shared Governance on Work Engagement and Job Satisfaction
Get PDFIn 2023, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing revealed that 100,000 nurses left the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic and another 900,000 plan to leave by 2027 due to stress, burnout, and retirement. Identifying and implementing practical strategies to reduce voluntary turnover as a result of stress and burnout is a top priority for nursing leaders across the country. Work engagement and job satisfaction have well been documented in the literature as antidotes to occupational stress and burnout in the nursing profession (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004; Pressley & Garside, 2022). Evidence suggests that implementing shared governance is a practical, cost-effective strategy to increase work engagement and job satisfaction thereby reducing stress, burnout, and ultimately turnover. To investigate the mediating effect of shared governance on work engagement and job satisfaction, the PICOT question was formed: In acute care nurses (P) how does involvement in shared governance (I) compared to no involvement in shared governance (C) influence work engagement and job satisfaction (O) over a three-month period (T)
Implementing New Staffing Ratios In The Emergency Room To Improve Nurse And Patient Outcomes
Get PDFThe significance of appropriate nurse staffing in enhancing patient outcomes and mitigating nurse burnout is well-documented. Inadequate nurse staffing can lead to negative consequences, including burnout, decreased nurse retention, and potential safety risks (Shin et al. 2018; Wynendaele et al. 2019) Research has also established a strong connection between nurse-to-patient ratios, well-being, and job dissatisfaction among nursing staff (Andel et al. 2021; Thompson-Munn et al. 2021).
Given this evidence, there is a compelling rationale for aligning nurse staffing ratios with proposed federal standards to address burnout, improve well-being, and enhance patient outcomes. Implementing these changes necessitates careful planning and assessment. The first step involves evaluating current nurse-staffing ratios in healthcare settings, considering factors like patient acuity, workload, and available resources. Identifying the gaps between current and proposed ratios is crucial. Strategies can then be devised to address these gaps, which may involve hiring more staff, redistributing workloads, or implementing technology solutions. The engagement of key stakeholders, including nurses, nurse managers, and healthcare administrators, is essential in this process.
The subsequent phase requires evaluating the impact of adjusted nurse-staffing ratios on both nurse and patient outcomes. This evaluation encompasses quantitative measures such as assessing nurse burnout and patient safety indicators, as well as qualitative measures like interviews and surveys to gather feedback from nurses and patients about their experiences with the new ratios.
The projected time frame for this project is three months, and its cost-benefit analysis predicts the potential for our institution to save a substantial amount of revenue from the possibility of a decrease in adverse patient events and nurse turnover. This research aims to contribute valuable insights to the field, highlighting the impact of federal nurse-to-patient ratios on patient and nurse outcomes
Age-Related Differences in Kinematics, Kinetics, and Muscle Synergy Patterns Following a Sudden Gait Perturbation: Changes in Movement Strategies and Implications for Fall Prevention Rehabilitation
Get PDFFalls in older adults are leading causes of fatal and non-fatal injuries, negatively impacting quality of life among those in this demographic. Most elderly falls occur due to unrecoverable limb collapse during balance control in the single-limb support (SLS) phase. To understand why older adults are more susceptible to falls than younger adults, we investigated age-related differences in lower limb kinematics, kinetics, and muscle synergy patterns during SLS, as well as their relationship to postural control strategies. Thirteen older and thirteen younger healthy adults were compared during the SLS phase of balance recovery following an unexpected surface drop perturbation. Compared to younger adults, older adults demonstrated (1) greater trunk flexion, (2) increased hip extension torque and reduced hip abduction torque of the perturbed leg, and (3) higher postural sway. Trunk flexion was correlated with a delayed latency to the start of lateral-to-medial displacement of center of mass from the perturbation onset. The group-specific muscle synergy revealed that older adults exhibited prominent activation of the hip extensors, while younger adults showed prominent activation of the hip abductors. These findings provide insights into targeted balance rehabilitation and indicate ways to improve postural stability and reduce falls in older adults
The role of salinity in recovery of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) from stimulated angling stress
Get PDFWhite sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in the Lower Fraser River are the focus of a catch-and-release angling fishery in British Columbia, Canada. However, the lower region of the catch area includes areas where tidal waters invade, and the consequence of salinity levels on recovery from an angling challenge are not characterized in sturgeon, despite theoretical implications of its import. We acclimated white sturgeon to various salinities (0, 10 and 20 (parts per thousand)) to investigate the effects of acclimation on recovery from stimulated angling stress that was induced through manual chasing. This challenge elicited the traditional physiological responses such as ion homeostasis disturbance, increases in secondary stress indicators and metabolic acidosis; however, environmental salinity altered the timing of recovery in some of the parameters measured. In addition, the severity of the intracellular pH disturbance in both heart and red blood cell seemed to be mediated in fresh water, yet the recovery pattern of plasma chloride and bicarbonate ions seemed to be facilitated by higher salinity. In general, responses were similar but not identical, leading us to conclude that the role of salinity on recovery from exercise is complex but not insignificant. Salinity may be important to behaviours exhibited by white sturgeon (such as migrations) in their respective saline environments, but less so around the impact of an angling stressor. Further exploration of this response may provide insight on whether the current tidal boundaries for angling white sturgeon are appropriate
Quantifying 64 drugs, illicit substances, and D- and L- isomers in human oral fluid with liquid-liquid extraction
Get PDFAlthough human oral fluid has become more routine for quantitative drug detection in pain management, detecting a large scope of medications and substances is costly and technically challenging for laboratories. This paper presents a quantitative assay for 64 pain medications, illicit substances, and drug metabolites in human oral fluid. The novelty of this assay is that it was developed on an older model AB SCIEX 4000 instrument and renders obscure the need for more technical and expensive laboratory equipment. This method includes addition of internal standard and a 2-step liquid-liquid extraction and dry-down step to concentrate and clean the samples. The samples were suspended in 50% MeOH in water and separation and detection was accomplished using triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Separation was achieved using reverse-phase liquid chromatography with detection by LC-MS/MS. A second injection was done in negative mode to determine THC-COOH concentration as an indicator of THC. An aliquot of the (already) extracted samples was analyzed for D- and L- isomers of amphetamine and methamphetamine using a chiral column. The standard curve spanned from 5 to 2000 ng/mL for most of the analytes (1 to 2000 ng/mL for fentanyl and THC-COOH) and up to 1000 ng/mL for 13 analytes. Pregabalin and gabapentin ranged from 25 to 2000 ng/mL. The result is a low-cost method for the sensitive detection of a wide-ranging oral fluid menu for pain management. This assay has a high sensitivity, and good precision and accuracy for all analytes with an older model mass spectrometer
A hybrid multifunctional physicochemical sensor suite for continuous monitoring of crop health
Get PDFThis work reports a first-of-its-kind hybrid wearable physicochemical sensor suite that we call PlantFit for simultaneous measurement of two key phytohormones, salicylic acid, and ethylene, along with vapor pressure deficit and radial growth of stem in live plants. The sensors are developed using a low-cost and roll-to-roll screen printing technology. A single integrated flexible patch that contains temperature, humidity, salicylic acid, and ethylene sensors, is installed on the leaves of live plants. The strain sensor with in-built pressure correction capability is wrapped around the plant stem to provide pressure-compensated stem diameter measurements. The sensors provide real-time information on plant health under different amounts of water stress conditions. The sensor suite is installed on bell pepper plants for 40 days and measurements of salicylic acid, ethylene, temperature, humidity, and stem diameter are recorded daily. In addition, sensors are installed on different parts of the same plant to investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics of water transport and phytohormone responses. Subsequent correlation and principal component analyses demonstrate the strong association between hormone levels, vapor pressure deficit, and water transport in the plant. Our findings suggest that the mass deployment of PlantFit in agricultural settings will aid growers in detecting water stress/deficiency early and in implementing early intervention measures to reduce stress-induced yield decline