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The Effectiveness of Laser Acupuncture in Pain Management: a Systematic Review
Get PDFBackground: Pain is a common symptom across many medical conditions that patients experience. Pain management is complex and may need a combination of several management techniques. Laser acupuncture(LA) has been previously used as an adjunct to conventional pain treatments.
Objective: This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of laser acupuncture in various fields of medical situations such as chronic pain, low back pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, postoperative pain and dental procedures.
Methods: A computer based literature search of databases through GoogleScholar and PubMed was used to identify randomized controlled trials(RCTs) published after 2018 that studied the effect of LA in pain management.
Result: It was observed that LA was effective at decreasing the pain levels and found most effective with musculoskeletal disorders. The reviewed papers had the most success when the laser parameters that were set at minimum of 3J of energy per acupoints with 5 acupuncture sites received over at least 3 sessions. The final result of pain relief and recurrence rate was lower than the standard care.
Conclusions: LA has several appealing attributes that make it a favorable treatment modality. The minimal sensation experienced by patients allows ease of integration in their treatment plan in all ages, the short treatment duration, low risk of infection and complications marks itself as a viable adjunct process of pain management. To enhance the understanding and fully take advantage of LA’s potential, future studies are required with standardized high-quality methodologies with consistent laser parameters to establish future clinical applications
Reiki for Health Promotion
No full textStress is often overlooked in the nursing profession. Chronic stress can lead to adverse health conditions. Dialysis nurses are at high risk of experiencing stress due to work, school, family responsibilities, finances, and illness. Thus, self-care is necessary for nurses to manage stress and maintain health and well-being. Reiki is an alternative medicine that has shown benefits in reducing stress and effectively promoting relaxation. Reiki is a powerful energy healing that shifts stress and balances the energy in the body by using hand techniques directing Reiki energy over one\u27s body, channeling energy to areas of need. A Reiki educational training program guided by Watson’s Human Caring theory was developed to help reduce stress among dialysis nurses at the Midwest hospital. A PowerPoint presentation and a demonstration of hand positions will be used to teach the nurses how to perform self-Reiki. The project\u27s success will be evaluated through pre and post surveys, measuring the nurses\u27 stress levels and knowledge about Reiki. A metaphor of hands over the heart was developed to depict the integration of Reiki, letting go of stress, and practicing self-love. The Reiki educational program aims to increase nurses\u27 consciousness levels to achieve awareness and balance the body\u27s energy for healing. The future plans include implementing the Reiki training program at the dialysis unit and integrating this healing practice into nursing practice
The Benefits and Limitations of a Clinician Lead Sexual Education Program in Wisconsin Public Schools
Get PDFBackground: Abstinence-based sexual education is the primary method of sexual education in public schools.4 The majority of public schools use teachers who may or not have proper training to teach the course. Comprehensive sexual education taught by clinicians could potentially decrease sexual risky behavior in the youth population.
Purpose: Identify potential benefits or limitations to a clinician-led sexual education program in Wisconsin public schools. Methods: Articles 2017 or newer were reviewed utilizing search engines such as PubMed, Google Scholar, and NIH. A Google Forum with 18 questions was sent out to 420 Wisconsin public school administrators. It was open for 7 days and yielded 49 responses. Ten of the responses were graphed and analyzed for data.
Conclusions: Due to the unequal sample size, the data cannot be properly analyzed to have a concrete conclusion.13 Throughout the literature review it was found that teachers who had taken a course in teaching sexual education, yielded better outcomes with their students
The impact of skin-to-skin contact with infants on postpartum depression: A comparative case study
No full textPostpartum depression affects a significant percentage of new mothers and poses risks to maternal well-being and infant care. Kangaroo care study examines the impact of skin- to skin contact on postpartum depression symptoms through a comparative case study of two mothers with full-term infants. One mother engaged in daily skin-to skin contact, while the other did not. Weekly assessments using the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale (EDPS) shows a notable decline in symptoms for the skin-to-skin contact participant, highlighting the potential benefits of this practice. More research is needed to explore its effectiveness in diverse cultural and social contexts.
Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) affects 10-20% of new mothers, causing mood disturbances within the first year after childbirth. It has showed to impact maternal well-being, family dynamics and child development. Some risk factors are hormonal changes, genetic predisposition, low self-esteem, and lack of social support. PPD the stigma and lack of awareness associated with it, often goes underdiagnosed. Addressing PPD requires comprehensive screening and tailored interventions. Research seeks to understand prevalence, risk factors and effective treatment to improve support and care for affected mothers and their families.
Method:
Participants: Two first-time mothers, aged 26 and 30, who delivered full-term, infants within the past three months. Study Design: Case study investigating the correlation between skin-to skin contact and postpartum depression symptoms.
Intervention: One participant practiced skin-to skin contact (Kangaroo care) for at least two hours daily with her infant, while the other did not perform skin-to skin contact. Assessment tool: The Edinburgh postnatal depression Scale (EDPS) was used for weekly assessment over six weeks to measure postpartum depression symptoms.
Follow-up: Both participants were followed for eight weeks after childbirth, completing weekly EDPS assessments. Data Analysis: EDPS scores were analyzed to compare postpartum depression symptoms between the skin-to skin contact and non-skin to skin- contact groups.
Result: Two-month case study, the participant practicing skin-to-skin contact showed a gradual decline in postpartum depression symptoms (EDPS score from 10 to 4). The control group participant, without, skin-to skin contact had fluctuating scores (EDPS score from 8 to 6). The skin-to skin contact participant reveals 20% decrease in postpartum depression symptoms compared to the control group (a 2-point difference). More research with larger and diverse populations is needed to confirm these findings.
Discussion: This case study followed two women for two months, using EDPS to assess postpartum depression symptoms. The skin-to skin contact participant showed a gradual decrease symptom (EDPS score from 10 to 4), while the control group had fluctuating scores of (EDPS score from 8 to 6). The small sample size and the similarities between participants limit the study reliability. In addition, the result suggests a potential benefit of skin-to skin contact in reducing postpartum depression risk. However, further research with larger and diverse populations is needed to get more true accurate representation of the findings.
Conclusions: Skin-to skin contact may play a role in reducing postpartum depression symptoms. Further research is needed to confirm these finding and explore its potential benefits for maternal mental health. Addressing postpartum depression and promoting skin-to skin contact can be vital for supporting mothers and their infants
Underlying Mechanisms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder in an Experimental Fear-Conditioning Paradigm
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to examine the potential underlying mechanisms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) including fear generalization, maladaptive avoidance, and intolerance of uncertainty (IU) in a sample of adults with GAD, as compared to healthy controls in the context of a lab-based fear conditioning paradigm. The current study utilized data from the University of Minnesota ANGST Laboratory’s Danger Zone – Research Domain Criteria (DZ-RDoC) neuroimaging study. Participants consisted of 40 individuals ranging from ages 18-60, with 19 meeting criteria for GAD (M age = 30.57, SD = 11.70) and 21 healthy controls (M age = 32.86, SD = 13.56) meeting no disorder criteria based on the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV (SCID-IV) (First & Gibbon, 2004). Participant risk ratings and avoidance decisions were used to measure fear generalization and level of avoidance to a given stimulus type throughout the fear-conditioning paradigm. Overall, findings from this study suggest that individuals with GAD did not differ from healthy controls in their fear generalization and generalized avoidance behavior within the context of this paradigm. Both groups demonstrated appropriate, adaptive generalization of fear to the threat cue and inhibition of fear as stimuli less resembled that threat cue, which was contrary to the initial hypotheses. Higher levels of IU were observed in individuals with GAD compared to healthy controls, but IU did not moderate the effect of GAD on fear generalization or maladaptive avoidance. Limitations of the study are discussed, and suggestions are made for future research and implications for clinical practice. Broadly, results of this study suggest that further research on the underlying mechanisms of GAD and other anxiety and related disorders is warranted
The Barriers Hispanic Students Face In The United States, and The Underrepresentation of Hispanic Providers
No full textThe Hispanic population in the United States is experiencing significant growth, making it one of the faster growing demographic groups in the country. However, despite their increasing numbers, Hispanics remain underrepresented in the healthcare field, presenting a significant challenge to achieving culturally competent and unbiased healthcare. This literature review aims to investigate the barriers faced by Hispanic healthcare students and providers and propose potential solutions to address the underrepresentation. The review highlights the educational challenges that limit access to quality education for Hisapnic students, including financial burdens and standardized testing biases. Also, it explores the scarcity of Hispanic students\u27 academic and professional success. Additionally, the study examines the lack of Hispanic providers in various healthcare specialties. The review calls for the implementation of mentorship and support programs tailored for Hispanic students, incorporating culturally relevant curriculum, providing financial assistance and scholarships, and promoting diversity training and cultural competency among healthcare providers. These proposed solutions seek to create a more inclusive and diverse healthcare system, bridging language and cultural barriers, and improve outcomes for Hispanic students/providers in the United States
Racial Justice, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Implict Bias Education in Nursing
No full textRacism within health care creates hostile work environments for health care staff and inhibits healing for patients needing care. The communities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, have faced increasing racial tensions in the past three years, with th e COVID- 19 pandemic negatively impacting increased proportions of the Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities as well as the racially motivated murder of George Floyd. Because nurses in this area understand the need to address racism and combat negative health outcomes affecting their patient populations, there was a strong push for increased diversity, equity, and inclusion education in a nurses’ union contract of 2023-2025. It was recognized that for a shift in culture away from racism and towards humility, nurses needed in-person implicit bias education. This project discusses an educational opportunity guided by Madeline Leininger’s Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality, which focuses on implicit bias, historical trauma, and structural racism. Leininger\u27s theory emphasizes the need for nurses to practice culturally congruent care. The educational courses illuminate Leininger’s research giving nurses tools for self- examination and encouraging reflection on one’s perception of culture and bias, as well as tools to recognize implicit bias and mitigate racism. The effectiveness of the education will be measured by a pre and post survey with questions utilizing the Likert scale. The desired outcome of the education will be the increase in each nurse’s cultural humility and the growth of transcultural nursing
Sedative Hypnotic Medications: Effect on Negative Cognition and Insomnia
Get PDFThe pursuit of healthy sleep in the United States often involves the use of prescription medications that were never intended for long-term treatment of insomnia. The use of medication to address sleep difficulty has multiple sources, including the medical system and a consumer driven economy within the United States. Behavioral interventions for insomnia have been increasing in availability and effectiveness over time, but medication use continues to be a first-line treatment for sleep problems. The focus of the current paper is the exploration of relationships between sedative use, sleep difficulties, and negative cognition in a sample of 104 adult participants who endorsed a history of sleep problems (mean age 55.6 years, 46.2% male) from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS), a national study of health and well-being (History & overview of MIDUS, 2011; University of Wisconsin, 2017a; University of Wisconsin 2017b). Specifically, it was hypothesized that sedative use would be correlated with increased negative cognition. Negative cognition has been theorized to contribute to the development of insomnia, the disorder the medication was intended to alleviate. Those reporting sedative use reported more sleep difficulties than those not taking sedatives, though these groups did not differ on reported negative cognitions. No correlation was found between negative cognition and sleep difficulties for those reporting sedative use. For those not reporting sedative use, increased negative cognition was correlated with increased sleep difficulties. The lack of evidence for a relationship between negative cognition and self-reported insomnia for those who used medication could suggest that sedative use may minimize the relationship between negative cognitions and sleep difficulties. Clinical implications of the findings support non-pharmacological treatments in the reduction of negative cognition associated sleep difficulties
Effects of Meditation on Chronic Pain Management among Older Adults
Get PDFThe older adult population is expected to continue to grow. This population is more susceptible to facing chronic health conditions that often contribute to pain. Pain affects many aspects of an individual\u27s life and can be debilitating, affecting physical and mental wellbeing. Chronic pain among older adults is often not well managed. Mindfulness meditation is a holistic healing modality that literature supports for pain mitigation (Creswell & Khoury, 2019). This scholarly project provided mindfulness meditation sessions to older adults in an independent and assisted living facility setting to help educate and guide them in reducing chronic pain. Pain reduction scores occurred after implementing mindfulness meditation sessions at the residential facility among these older adults. These promising results suggest the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation pain reduction. Further, mindfulness meditation can help advance the nursing practice by educating patients on using this modality to reduce pain and improve quality of life and patient outcomes
A Holistic Tool Kit for Family Nurse Practitioners Working with Chronic Pain
No full textHistorically health care providers have used opioid pain medications as a first line treatment
however, as we are uncovering more science about our physiology and mental well-being, we are learning that pain modulation requires treatments that include a holistic perspective. A tool kit of holistic modalities and cultural care guidelines using M. Leininger’s Culture Care Diversity and Universality Theory can offer a more comprehensive and therapeutic approach to addressing pain in the primary care setting. Pain is a universal human condition; no one gets through life without it. Pain can be persistent, intermittent, include aches, twinges, or soreness, pinches, and prickles. Whatever the sensation, pain interrupts patients’ lives and can rob them of the joy of living with its crippling effects. Pain causes the nervous system to be on high alert and can cause feelings of desperation in a plea to make it stop. As pain management evolves away from opioids a holistic toolkit and cultural care references will guide providers in a new approach to care for patients