Implementing Electronic Tablet-Based Education of Acute Care Patients

Poor education-related discharge preparedness for patients with heart failure is believed to be a major cause of avoidable rehospitalizations. Technology-based applications offer innovative educational approaches that may improve educational readiness for patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings; however, a number of challenges exist when implementing electronic devices in the clinical setting. Implementation challenges include processes for "on-boarding" staff, mediating risks of cross-contamination with patients' device use, and selling the value to staff and health system leaders to secure the investment in software, hardware, and system support infrastructure. Strategies to address these challenges are poorly described in the literature. The purpose of this article is to present a staff development program designed to overcome challenges in implementing an electronic, tablet-based education program for patients with heart failure

Family Involvement in Adult Chronic Disease Care: Reviewing the Systematic Reviews

Health care providers, policy makers, and investigators are dependent upon the quality and accuracy of published research findings to inform and guide future practice and research in their field. Systematic reviews, the synthesis of outcomes across studies are increasingly more common in the family literature; however, published review reports often lack information on strategies reviewers used to insure dependability of findings, and minimize methodological bias in the review. In this article, we summarize findings from systematic reviews of interventions and outcomes from family involvement in adult chronic disease care published between 2007 and 2016. In addition, we explore procedures reviewers used to insure the quality and methodologic rigor of the review. Our discussion provides guidance and direction for future studies of family involvement in chronic disease care

Finding meaning in caring for a spouse with dementia

Dementia caregiving can be burdensome with many challenges, especially for spousal caregivers who are elderly and may have limited resources and chronic conditions of their own. However, it can also be an opportunity for growth and transcendence. Thematic qualitative analysis was conducted with 11 caregiver interviews to investigate how spousal caregivers of individuals with dementia found personal meaning in their caregiving experience. Caregivers commonly had altruistic values, and the discipline to live those values. They found meaning by believing in a choice of attitude and perceiving satisfaction in living according to their values in life. They had faith in a higher power, a strong sense of love for their spouses and they derived strength from past challenges. Positive attitudes among caregivers of individuals with dementia may be enhanced by sharing these stories and strategies. Study results also provide an expansion beyond commonly held views of caregiving for nurses