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Examining Chronic Stress in Spouses of Active Duty Military Members
Get PDFEven in the absence of wartime stressors, the military lifestyle is characterized by frequent challenges that affect not only the military member, but also his or her spouse and children. Due to frequent relocations and deployments, military spouses are often relied upon to become the primary child-rearers, make occupational sacrifices, deal with financial concerns independently, organize relocations, and cope with lack of social support. These multiple responsibilities can create a myriad of stressors, which over time lend themselves to the formation of chronic stress. The purpose of this exploratory study is to determine if spouses of active duty military members display chronic stress according to the Trier Inventory for the Assessment of Chronic Stress (TICS-LE). Seventy-one female military spouses responded to the TICS-LE online. Mean scores for all the factors on the TICS-LE ranged between 1.03 and 2.05, which was lower than expected given the plethora of stressors associated with the military lifestyle. Findings suggested that chronic stress levels experienced by military spouses may be mitigated by high quality social support systems, the demographic factors of the military spouse and whether the military family has developed resilience after years of being embedded in the military lifestyle. This major paper project underscores the need for advanced practice nurses to be aware of the multiple stressors that military spouses face, unique cultural phenomena present in military life, and its possible implications on the psychological and physical functioning of military spouses
Nurses Perceptions of Family Presence during Resuscitation in the Emergency Department
Get PDFFamily presence during resuscitation has been a controversial and much debated topic for many years. In the past decade, the movement toward family presence has steadily grown. The Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) and the American Heart Association (AHA) have endorsed family presence and incorporated guidelines for its implementation. Although becoming more accepted in practice, there are still many hospitals without family presence policies, and some nurses and other health care providers continue to identify concerns about its’ use. The purpose of this project was to survey nurses’ perceptions of family presence during resuscitation in the Emergency Department. A researcher developed a survey which was left in the study site’s Emergency Department break room for a period of two weeks. The target samples were Registered Nurses (RNs) employed in the ED. Thirteen out of 59 RNs completed the survey. More than half of the respondents believed in general that family should be present, that family presence encouraged increased professional behavior from the RN, and families being present can facilitate closure. Recommendations and implications for advanced practice nursing and the need for future research are discussed
Educating Nursing Students on Emergency Preparedness: A Pilot Program
Get PDFThe purpose of this project was to determine if a disaster preparedness educational intervention for nursing students’ could engage students in personal preparedness and enhance their willingness to respond during a public health emergency. The United States (U.S.) is among the top five countries in the world that experience frequent natural disasters (Guha-Sapir et al., 2012). With over 3.1 million nurses in the U.S. (AACN, 2011) and their importance to healthcare, the nursing profession plays a crucial role in the ability of the nation to prepare for and respond to disasters. Currently, however, nurses in the U.S. lack the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to effectively respond to disasters, thereby placing the public at risk. A pilot program was developed that introduced the topic of disaster preparedness to senior level nursing students through a one-hour course. The pilot program utilized a pre- and post-survey method to evaluate the effect of the education on nursing students. A convenience sample of 18 students participated in the class, course evaluation and pre-survey, and 14 students responded to the post- survey request. Data were collected and analyzed on the course evaluation, measuring how well the course objectives were met and the appropriateness of the teaching strategies. Pre- and post- survey results were compared to determine the effectiveness of the pilot program. The results indicated that the course encouraged nursing students to engage in preparedness, and to be willing to respond. No increased in pre-registration with a professional emergency preparedness organization was noted. Implications from this pilot program include the need for further studies regarding best methods for educating nursing students. Also, advance practice registered nurses need to lead the nursing profession in emergency preparedness to increase the resilience of the United States during disasters
Streamwise vortices destabilize swimming bluegill sunfish
Get PDFIn their natural environment, fish must swim stably through unsteady flows and vortices, including vertical vortices, typically shed by posts in a flow, horizontal cross-flow vortices, often produced by a step or a waterfall in a stream, and streamwise vortices, where the axis of rotation is aligned with the direction of the flow. Streamwise vortices are commonly shed by bluff bodies in streams and by ships’ propellers and axial turbines, but we know little about their effects on fish. Here, we describe how bluegill sunfish use more energy and are destabilized more often in flow with strong streamwise vorticity. The vortices were created inside a sealed flow tank by an array of four turbines with similar diameter to the experimental fish. We measured oxygen consumption for seven sunfish swimming at 1.5 body lengths (BL) s−1 with the turbines rotating at 2 Hz and with the turbines off (control). Simultaneously, we filmed the fish ventrally and recorded the fraction of time spent maneuvering side-to-side and accelerating forward. Separately, we also recorded lateral and ventral video for a combination of swimming speeds (0.5, 1.5 and 2.5 BL s−1 ) and turbine speeds (0, 1, 2 and 3 Hz), immediately after turning the turbines on and 10 min later to test for accommodation. Bluegill sunfish are negatively affected by streamwise vorticity. Spills (loss of heading), maneuvers and accelerations were more frequent when the turbines were on than in the control treatment. These unsteady behaviors, particularly acceleration, correlated with an increase in oxygen consumption in the vortex flow. Bluegill sunfish are generally fast to recover from roll perturbations and do so by moving their pectoral fins. The frequency of spills decreased after the turbines had run for 10 min, but was still markedly higher than in the control, showing that fish partially adapt to streamwise vorticity, but not completely. Coping with streamwise vorticity may be an important energetic cost for stream fishes or migratory fishes
Eye on Ethics: Saying \u27I\u27m Sorry\u27: Social Workers\u27 Error Management
No full textOne sad reality of social work practice is that practitioners sometimes encounter crises when they err and when clients and former clients accuse them of wrongdoing. Too often I’ve consulted on litigation and licensing board cases where unhappy clients and former clients claim, for example, that social workers violated boundaries, mismanaged confidential information, improperly terminated services, provided poor service, or engaged in a conflict of interest. The good news is that it’s relatively rare for social workers to be named in formal complaints. The bad news is that this happens too often
Cap and Gown Convocation Program, Spring 2014
Get PDFIncludes recipients, description and history of award, and Alma Mater sheet music.https://digitalcommons.ric.edu/cg_convocation_programs/1034/thumbnail.jp
Intravenous Acetaminophen use in Postoperative Pain Management
Get PDFSurgery is a most common source of acute pain and effective postoperative pain management is crucial for wound healing and recovery. Opiods are the mainstay for acute pain management but have various adverse effects including death. The multimodal approach involves the use of multiple drugs with varying mechanism of action to achieve optimal pain relief with less adverse effects. Intravenous acetaminophen (IVAPAP) is a new addition to the multimodal approach that appears to afford effective pain relief with a low risk profile. The purpose of this research study was to examine the impact of IVAPAP use in multimodal pain management on decreased opioid consumption and decreased average length of hospital stay in the post colectomy population. A comparative two group retrospective chart review was conducted, with a total of 72 charts meeting the inclusion criteria. Group 1(n=36) study subjects who received IVAPAP for pain management were compared to Group 2(n=36) subjects who had not received IVAPAP after colectomy. Results demonstrated that Group 1, those who had received IVAPAP, used less opioids during the postoperative period as compared to those in Group 2 who had not received IVAPAP; there was no difference in length of stay between the groups. Further research related to the use of multimodal pain management strategies in general, and related to IVAPAP in particular, is indicated. Recommendations and implications for advanced practice nursing are presented and discussed
APRNs\u27 Confidence to Prescribe
Get PDFPrescribing medications is an integral part of the Nurse Practitioner (NP) role. Review of the literature revealed a considerable amount of evidenced-based practice recommendations related to prescribing with accuracy. Petty (2012) suggested using evidence-based data to drive prescribing decisions; knowing the patient’s medications; involving the patient in the decision making process; being knowledgeable about drug interactions; remembering that every patient is unique and listening to their story; avoiding polypharmacy; and reviewing the need for continuing a medication and monitoring appropriate labs/diagnostics related to usage. The purpose of this study was to explore the confidence level of the NP related to prescribing medications. The survey used to examine prescribing confidence levels was a 10-question survey entitled Measuring Confidence. This study used a quantitative descriptive design with one open ended question. The sample included a convenience sample of NPs from one organization. Results revealed that overall NPs were confident in prescribing practices. Four areas of low confidence included adjusting medications prescribed by other providers, recommendations for alternative therapies, identifying potential drug interactions, and identifying adverse drug interactions. The practitioners identified the need and desire for further education related to prescribing. Recommendations and implications for practice are discussed
Perceptions and Occurrences of Relationship Abuse and Sexual Assault
Get PDFPrevious research illustrates that college age students experience relationship abuse and sexual assault. I test lifestyle-routine activities theory to determine how college students perceive non-stranger relationship abuse and/or sexual assault and if both are occurring on a college campus, off a college campus, or through technology, including social media. Like previous studies, this one found that alcohol played a role in victimization. Also, more male participants than female participants were likely to be harassed through social media than in actual physical locations, such as at a bar or a private party. Findings from this study show that both women and men experience cyberstalking/ cyber-harassment, and that the use of social media is a predictor of coercive tactics. This study contributes to the literature by acknowledging the limitations of lifestyle-routine activities theory. Despite its wide applicability, it failed to adequately explain social media\u27s effect on relationship abuse and sexual assault
Examining Escherichia Coli Plasmid Gene Expression in Vibrio Species B-18
Get PDFThe goal of this experiment was to determine if lower temperatures could serve to induce runaway replication for the expression of the lacZ gene in Vibrio species B-18 carrying a different runaway replication vector, pJM9487. One experiment compares β-galactosidase activity in cells incubated at 35, 37, and 39°C while the second experiment examines the enzyme levels for cells incubated at either a low temperature or a high temperature in the presence and absence of the chemical inducer used for the promoter (ptrp) that controls the expression of the lacZ gene on this plasmid