The Sacred Hoop: The Hero and Community in Selected Works of Mari Sandoz

This study explores the theme of the hero and community in the works of Mari Sandoz. The hypothesis is that Sandoz believed in the concept of a world community so that her works are centered around the hero as community builder. Using the Lakota concept of the sacred hoop as the controlling metaphor for the study, I have asserted that Sandoz has illustrated in her novels, biographies, and histories that true heroes try to build and maintain the sacred hoop of community, but their efforts are continually thwarted by the weaknesses in themselves and society. The study is organized around the three genres of biographies, histories, and novels that Sandoz uses in developing the theme of heroes as community builders. In her two biographies of community builders, Old Jules and Son of the Gamblin\u27 Man, Sandoz describes the efforts of Jules Sandoz and John Cozad, respectively, to build homes for their families and for others on the Nebraska plains. Old Jules is the creative community builder who can work for others but cannot establish sound relationships with his own family and friends, and John Cozad is the ambitious developer who wants to help others, but whose aloofness prevents him from being a true part of the community. In her histories, Crazy Horse and Chevenne Autumn, Sa.ndoz uses the Plains tribes to represent what the true community should be and how the visionary hero unites teat community. The ultimate destruction of both the hero and the Indian community are a result of the overwhelming forces of greed and power represented by the fragmented white community which seeks individual rather than communal gratification. In Sandoz\u27s four novels, Slogum House, Capital City, The Tom-Walker, and Miss Morissa, she illustrates how greed and will-to-power are th\u3e forces that thwart the hero who seeks to build or to restore community. Only when heroes work with others in a communal act can they successfully defeat the selfishness that places the individual before the community

Knowledge and Attitudes of Select Ugandan Nurses towards Documentation of Patient Care

Ideally through documentation, nurses track changes in a patient’s condition, make decisions about needs, and ensure continuity of care. However, nursing documentation has often not met these objectives. In Uganda, the systematic nursing specific approach is not reflected in documentation of nursing care. A mixed methods intervention study was conducted to determine knowledge and attitudes of nurses towards documentation, including an evaluation of nurses’ response to a designed nursing documentation form. Forty participants were selected through convenience sampling from six wards of a Ugandan health institution. The study intervention involved teaching nurses the importance of documentation and using of the trial documentation tool. Pre and post testing and open-ended questionnaires were used in data collection. On both pre and post-tests, most participants strongly agreed that nursing notes were meaningful and necessary for legal protection, as well as a nursing priority. Most participants strongly disagreed that there was familiarity with policies on nursing documentation, and that an uninterrupted environment for care documentation existed. Although participants’ knowledge about documentation improved by 20% following the intervention, there was no significant change in attitudes toward documentation. Participants consistently reflected on documentation as an important practice, but highlighted contextual constraints limiting implementation and quality of documentation. The study findings have implications for pre and post-service training, documentation policies, and organizational supports for nursing documentation

Nurse Health, Work Environment, Presenteeism and Patient Safety

Presenteeism is linked to negative outcomes for patients, nurses, and health care organizations; however, we lack understanding of the relationships between nurse fatigue, burnout, psychological well-being, team vitality, presenteeism, and patient safety in nursing. Therefore, the two aims of this study were: (a) to examine the fit of a literature-derived model of the relationships between presenteeism, psychological health and well-being, fatigue, burnout, team vitality, and patient safety; and (b) to examine the role of presenteeism as a mediator between patient safety and the other model variables. Survey data were analyzed using Composite Indicator Structural Equation (CISE) modeling, a type of structural equation modeling. Model fit was acceptable with multiple significant relationships. Presenteeism due to job-stress mediated multiple relationships to patient safety. Our findings indicate that focusing on job-stress presenteeism may be relevant for this population and may offer additional insight into factors contributing to decreased nurse performance and the resulting risks to patient safety.JONAS PhilanthropiesThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

The Nursing Documentation Dilemma in Uganda: Neglected but Necessary. A Case Study at Mulago National Referral Hospital

In Uganda, nursing documentation still remains a challenge, in most of the government hospitals and some private hospitals, it remains at a manual (non-technology driven) level and omissions have been observed. Nurses continue to capture standard elements in their documentation. A mixed methods intervention study was conducted to determine knowledge and attitudes of nurses towards documentation, including an evaluation of nurses’ response to a designed nursing documentation form. Forty participants were selected through convenience sampling from six wards of a Ugandan health institution. The study intervention involved teaching nurses the importance of documentation and using of the trial documentation tool. Pre- and post-testing and open-ended questionnaires were used in data collection. The results from the close-ended questions were presented in the previous publication; the responses from the open-ended questions would then be presented. The open-ended questions regarding comments about the nursing documentation process and suggestions about the process of implementing the nursing documentation system in the ward units were considered. All participants were provided the opportunity to provide personal comments, reflections, or stories of their experiences with documentation in patient care. A thematic analysis approach was used during data analysis. The results showed that the participants had positive attitude towards documentation of patient care, but they had constraints limiting them to document, they reflected issues concerning the perceived pressure from the administrations and support to document. The study findings have implication that there is need for organizational support and to have multisite studies and extension of the documentation tool

What Should We Do Different, More, Start and Stop? Systematic Collection and Dissemination of Massage Education Stakeholder Views from the 2017 Alliance for Massage Therapy Educational Congress†

Introduction: The Future of MT and Bodywork Forum, held July 27 during the 2017 Alliance for Massage Therapy Education (AFMTE) Educa-tional Congress in Tucson, Arizona, systematically gathered the thoughts and opinions of various massage education stakeholders through an exercise following the principles of the World Café model.Methods: Forum attendees participated in three, concurrent 30-minute Breakout Group Sessions (Rounds) in three different adjacent rooms, focused on Continuing Education, Schools, or Employment. During each session, participants rotated for 3, 2.5, 2, and 1.5 min-utes between four tables, asking what should be stopped, started, done differently, or changed in massage education related to the focus topic. Participants recorded their responses in marker on large Post-it® notes (3M, Maplewood, MN). These were reviewed by each of that round’s participants who awarded “importance points” to each response, with 6 blue and 3 orange dots each worth 1 and 3 points, respectively. The Post-it® notes with comments and point alloca-tions were transcribed into a data spreadsheet and analyzed for descriptive statistics and top scoring comments from each room.Results: 85–91 attendees participated in the three breakout sessions resulting in 674 comments with 3,744 assigned value points. The top five scor-ing comments from each room per session (N = 45) determined stakeholder’s most critical views. Stop comments made up the smallest total comments proportion (19%), yet largest top scoring com-ment proportion (36%)—potentially highlighting unified frustration for various massage education practices. Comparatively, Start comments made up 26% of total comments, but the smallest high-est scoring proportion (18%)-perhaps suggesting stakeholders feel it more important to improve what is already being done rather than beginning new endeavors in these areas.Conclusion: Stakeholder opinions on the future of massage therapy education can be system-atically gathered in large conference settings and organized, analyzed, and disseminated to inform field decision-making

What Should We Do Different, More, Start and Stop? Systematic Collection and Dissemination of Massage Education Stakeholder Views from the 2017 Alliance for Massage Therapy Educational Congress†

Introduction: The Future of MT and Bodywork Forum, held July 27 during the 2017 Alliance for Massage Therapy Education (AFMTE) Educa-tional Congress in Tucson, Arizona, systematically gathered the thoughts and opinions of various massage education stakeholders through an exercise following the principles of the World Café model.Methods: Forum attendees participated in three, concurrent 30-minute Breakout Group Sessions (Rounds) in three different adjacent rooms, focused on Continuing Education, Schools, or Employment. During each session, participants rotated for 3, 2.5, 2, and 1.5 min-utes between four tables, asking what should be stopped, started, done differently, or changed in massage education related to the focus topic. Participants recorded their responses in marker on large Post-it® notes (3M, Maplewood, MN). These were reviewed by each of that round’s participants who awarded “importance points” to each response, with 6 blue and 3 orange dots each worth 1 and 3 points, respectively. The Post-it® notes with comments and point alloca-tions were transcribed into a data spreadsheet and analyzed for descriptive statistics and top scoring comments from each room.Results: 85–91 attendees participated in the three breakout sessions resulting in 674 comments with 3,744 assigned value points. The top five scor-ing comments from each room per session (N = 45) determined stakeholder’s most critical views. Stop comments made up the smallest total comments proportion (19%), yet largest top scoring com-ment proportion (36%)—potentially highlighting unified frustration for various massage education practices. Comparatively, Start comments made up 26% of total comments, but the smallest high-est scoring proportion (18%)-perhaps suggesting stakeholders feel it more important to improve what is already being done rather than beginning new endeavors in these areas.Conclusion: Stakeholder opinions on the future of massage therapy education can be system-atically gathered in large conference settings and organized, analyzed, and disseminated to inform field decision-making

2014 Bone and Muscle Risks Standing Review Panel

The 2014 Bone and Muscle Risks Standing Review Panel (from here on referred to as the SRP) met for a site visit in Houston, TX on December 17 - 18, 2014. The SRP reviewed the updated research plans for the Risk of Impaired Performance Due to Reduced Muscle Mass, Strength and Endurance (Muscle Risk) and the Risk of Reduced Physical Performance Capabilities Due to Reduced Aerobic Capacity (Aerobic Risk). The SRP also received a status update on the Risk of Bone Fracture (Bone Risk), the Risk of Early Onset Osteoporosis Due To Spaceflight (Osteo Risk), the Risk of Intervertebral Disc Damage (IVD Risk), and the Risk of Renal Stone Formation (Renal Risk)

Guiding principles for determining work shift duration and addressing the effects of work shift duration on performance, safety, and health

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsab161Risks associated with fatigue that accumulates during work shifts have historically been managed through working time arrangements that specify fixed maximum durations of work shifts and minimum durations of time off. By themselves, such arrangements are not sufficient to curb risks to performance, safety, and health caused by misalignment between work schedules and the biological regulation of waking alertness and sleep. Science-based approaches for determining shift duration and mitigating associated risks, while addressing operational needs, require: 1) a recognition of the factors contributing to fatigue and fatigue-related risks; 2) an understanding of evidence-based countermeasures that may reduce fatigue and/or fatigue-related risks; and 3) an informed approach to selecting workplace-specific strategies for managing work hours. We propose a series of guiding principles to assist stakeholders with designing a shift duration decision-making process that effectively balances the need to meet operational demands with the need to manage fatigue-related risks.Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM)Sleep Research Societ