A Comparative Study of Traditional Nursing Schedules vs. Extended Nursing Schedules on Patient Satisfaction

This study compared patient satisfaction with nursing care given by nurses working traditional eight-hour shifts versus the satisfaction of patients being cared for by nurses working twelve-hour shifts. The conceptual framework was derived from Systems Theory incorporating the interrelated subsystems within the organization that contribute to patient satisfaction as identified by Johnson, Kast, and Rosenzweig (1973). The Patient Satisfaction Instrument designed by Risser(1975) and adapted by Hinshaw and Atwood (1979) for in-patient use was utilized for data collection. One medical-surgical unit in a Veterans Administration Hospital constituted the experimental group where patients were surveyed before and after the staffing change. Another medical-surgical unit served as the control group. Analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. At a probability level of .05 there was no difference in patient satisfaction between nursing care given during the eight and twelve-hour shifts. The study, utilizing Systems Theory, indicated that a structural change in one subsystem did not effect patient satisfaction assuming the other subsystems remained stable

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Alterations in the ankyrin domain of TRPV4 cause congenital distal SMA, scapuloperoneal SMA and HMSN2C

Contains fulltext : 88054_2.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access) Contains fulltext : 88054.pdf (author's version ) (Open Access)Spinal muscular atrophies (SMA, also known as hereditary motor neuropathies) and hereditary motor and sensory neuropathies (HMSN) are clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorders of the peripheral nervous system. Here we report that mutations in the TRPV4 gene cause congenital distal SMA, scapuloperoneal SMA, HMSN 2C. We identified three missense substitutions (R269H, R315W and R316C) affecting the intracellular N-terminal ankyrin domain of the TRPV4 ion channel in five families. Expression of mutant TRPV4 constructs in cells from the HeLa line revealed diminished surface localization of mutant proteins. In addition, TRPV4-regulated Ca(2+) influx was substantially reduced even after stimulation with 4alphaPDD, a TRPV4 channel-specific agonist, and with hypo-osmotic solution. In summary, we describe a new hereditary channelopathy caused by mutations in TRPV4 and present evidence that the resulting substitutions in the N-terminal ankyrin domain affect channel maturation, leading to reduced surface expression of functional TRPV4 channels.1 februari 201