Western Journal of Nursing Research current issue

Basic Science Is Not Nursing Research?: If It Isn't, What Is?

Holden, J. E. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:01:39 PDT

Hypothalamic--Pituitary-- Adrenal Axis Dysregulation in Women With Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Response to Acute Physical Stress

FitzGerald, L. Z., Kehoe, P., Sinha, K. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:01:39 PDT

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) supports the concept of a dysregulated hypothalamic—pituitary—adrenal (HPA) axis. This study investigates the neuroendocrine and psychological responses to the acute physical stress of a lumbar puncture (LP) in women with diarrhea-predominant IBS by assessing central and peripheral HPA activity and affective measures. Blood samples have been collected at baseline and immediately post- and 1 hr following LP from 13 women with IBS and 13 controls. Plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine levels are analyzed. A single measure of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF_CSF) and norepinephrine_CSF is noted. Affective assessments are used to rate anxiety and depression with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and acute mood state is rated using the Stress Symptom Rating questionnaire (stress, anxiety, anger, arousal). The women with IBS display blunted ACTH and cortisol responses to the LP along with a profile of affective responsiveness suggestive of chronic psychosocial stress, although no CRF_CSF differences between groups are observed.

Transforming Verbal Counts in Reports of Qualitative Descriptive Studies Into Numbers

Chang, Y., Voils, C. I., Sandelowski, M., Hasselblad, V., Crandell, J. L. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:01:39 PDT

Reports of qualitative studies typically do not offer much information on the numbers of respondents linked to any one finding. This information may be especially useful in reports of basic, or minimally interpretive, qualitative descriptive studies focused on surveying a range of experiences in a target domain, and its lack may limit the ability to synthesize the results of such studies with quantitative results in systematic reviews. Accordingly, the authors illustrate strategies for deriving plausible ranges of respondents expressing a finding in a set of reports of basic qualitative descriptive studies on antiretroviral adherence and suggest how the results might be used. These strategies have limitations and are never appropriate for use with findings from interpretive qualitative studies. Yet they offer a temporary workaround for preserving and maximizing the value of information from basic qualitative descriptive studies for systematic reviews. They show also why quantitizing is never simply quantitative.

Academic, Social, and Behavioral Outcomes at Age 12 of Infants Born Preterm

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:01:39 PDT

The effects of gradient levels of perinatal morbidity on school outcomes have been investigated at age 12 in four preterm groups, classified as healthy (no medical or neurological illness), medical morbidity, neurological morbidity, and small-for-gestational-age (SGA), and a full-term comparison group. Teachers report on academic competence, social skills, and problem behaviors. Data on school type, classroom setting, and school service use are gathered from school records. Preterm groups are found to be equivalent to full-term peers in social skills and problem behavior. Preterm groups with neurological and SGA morbidity have the lowest academic competence scores. Unexpectedly, preterm infants with medical morbidity have higher academic competence scores compared with the other preterm groups. School service use increases with greater perinatal morbidity and is contingent on multiple rather than single indicators of perinatal morbidity. Continued monitoring of preterm infants through early adolescence will ensure that appropriate school services and resources are available to maximize their school success.

The Relationship Between RN Job Satisfaction and Accountability

Sorensen, E. E., Seebeck, E. D., Scherb, C. A., Specht, J. P., Loes, J. L. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:01:39 PDT

The purpose of this descriptive correlational secondary data analysis is to describe the relationship between job satisfaction and accountability among registered nurses with clinical responsibilities employed by a rural health care network in the Midwest. The response rate from the primary study is 39%, with 337 RN respondents. The sample for this secondary analysis is 299. The instruments used to measure accountability and job satisfaction are the Specht and Ramler Accountability Index—Individual Referent and the McCloskey—Mueller Satisfaction Scale (MMSS). The results indicate that accountability is perceived to be relatively high and job satisfaction is moderate. Accountability and job satisfaction are significantly correlated at a moderate level. The correlations between the subscales of the MMSS and accountability are all statistically significant but low. The subscales with the highest correlations (e.g., control and responsibility, praise and recognition, professional opportunities, scheduling) provide direction for nurse administrators about important target areas for improvement.

Predictors of Self-Efficacy to Use Condoms Among Seropositive Middle-Aged African American Men

Coleman, C. L., Ball, K. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:01:40 PDT

Condom use during sexual encounters continues to be a challenge for seropositive individuals. Hence, the influence of personal characteristics, AIDS knowledge, and religious well-being on perceived self-efficacy to use condoms has been examined in a convenience nonprobabilistic sample of 130 middle-aged seropositive African American men from the Mid-Atlantic region. AIDS knowledge and religious well-being are strongly related to self-efficacy to use condoms. These findings indicate that it is critical to explore further the relationship of AIDS knowledge and religious well-being with self-efficacy to use condoms.

Women in Substance Abuse Recovery: Measures of Resilience and Self-Differentiation

Sutherland, J. A., Cook, L., Stetina, P., Hernandez, C. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:01:40 PDT

The National Institute of Drug Abuse has promoted drug abuse research in the past two decades focusing on women and gender differences. One hundred twenty-eight Hispanic and White women have participated in this comparative descriptive study that has examined the differences between chemically dependent (CD) women in recovery and non—chemically dependent (non-CD) women in regard to resilience and self-differentiation—demographic variables associated with resilience and self-differentiation and recovery variables associated with resilience and self-differentiation in the CD women. Findings indicate that the CD women and Hispanic women have scored significantly lower on measures of resilience and self-differentiation. Among the recovery variables, resilience and self-differentiation are significant for children support but community support is not significant. The finding that Hispanic and White women in recovery score lower on resilience and self-differentiation is important for designing treatment strategies supportive of women in recovery.

A Review of Discharge Planning Research of Older Adults 1990-2008

Popejoy, L. L., Moylan, K., Galambos, C. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:01:40 PDT

This integrative review of the literature analyzed the research about hospital discharge planning within the historical timeline of public policy changes that affected service utilization. There were 36 articles reviewed that represented a variety of disciplines, nursing (n = 21), social work (n = 6), medicine (n = 5), and sociology (n = 4). The review revealed several interesting findings. Though the family is the first line of defense against problems, little work done has been done that focuses on building partnerships between patients, families, and health care providers. The costs of care drive the health care system; yet costs of interventions were rarely described. Intensive case management of at-risk populations has neither been widely adopted nor is it reimbursed through public funding, even though it has been found to be cost effective.

Using Generalized Estimating Equations to Analyze Longitudinal Data in Nursing Research

Liu, S., Dixon, J., Qiu, G., Tian, Y., McCorkle, R. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:01:40 PDT

Although use of GEE has become widespread for analyzing longitudinal data in many fields, much research in nursing still uses only the traditional statistical methods. This article illustrates use of GEE, using a data set describing symptoms of women with gynecological cancers, with eight data collection times across a period of 6 months. Three research questions are analyzed: (a) Did number of symptoms in women with gynecological cancer change within 6 months after surgery? (b) Did individual symptom (e.g., pain) in women with gynecological cancers change within 6 months after surgery? (c) Were psychosocial and disease variables (age, cancer site, new diagnosis or recurrence, treatment, emotional distress, and use of symptom management toolkit) associated with individual symptoms (e.g., fatigue) in women with gynecological cancers? For each research question, SAS code and explanation of SAS instructions are described in detail. Missing data and time intervals for longitudinal studies are also discussed.

Midwest Nursing Research Society News: October

Rawl, S. M., Lusk, S. L. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:01:40 PDT

Midwest Nursing Research Society News: November

Rawl, S. M., Lusk, S. L. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:01:40 PDT