Rediscovering the Art of Nursing for Nursing Practice

The art of nursing is discussed throughout nursing literature but research on the topic is lacking. The purpose of this research was to reveal experiences of the art of nursing. Nurses were asked to describe experiences about the art of nursing from their own nursing practice. This study was qualitative in nature and used a phenomenological approach to answer the research question, “What is the experience of the art of nursing in nursing practice?” The study was guided by the philosophical stance of Merleau-Ponty and the research strategies of Thomas and Pollio. Participants included nurses who had experience using the art of nursing to provide patient care and a willingness to articulate these experiences. With IRB approval, eleven nurses participated in the interview process. Participants had between twenty-one and over thirty years of nursing experience and a range of clinical experiences that included hospice, acute care, nurse management, pediatrics, labor and delivery, medical/surgical, mother/baby, intensive care, progressive care, outpatient day surgery, free standing clinic, cardiac surgical step down, outpatient hemodialysis, nursing instructor, neonatal intensive care, prison nurse, telemetry, school nursing, emergency room, hospital nursing education, orthopedics, post-op, chemotherapy, behavioral health, long term care, code team, and one had been a family nurse practitioner in a rural setting. Results demonstrate the art of nursing in nursing practice includes showing up, staying, and helping patients, connecting to patients, intuitive caring, and making a difference in the lives of both patients and nurses. Findings from this study confirm the art of nursing as an essence of nursing with implications for nursing practice, nursing education, and future research

Lerdahl's Surface Tension Rule: Validation or Modification

Lerdahls Tonal Pitch Space (2001) combines music theory with current understanding of music perception and cognition creating of model of tonal pitch space. Lerdahls goals include quantification of areas of tension and relaxation perceived by listeners experienced in Western tonal music. Tension is associated with instability, distance, uncommon tones, and weak attractional force; relaxation with stability, proximity, common tones, and strong attractional force. Quantification requires creation of a time-span segmentation derived from the metrical grid and grouping analysis of the score. The time-span segmentation is necessary for creating the time-span reduction. The time-span reduction removes structurally less significant elements from the musical surface through a series of steps not unlike the layers of Schenkerian analysis. The ultimate goal is the prolongational reduction accompanied by prolongational tree. Global tension is quantified by summing values obtained when considering the region in which an event occurs, distance between successive chords revealed by their position on the chordal circle-of-fifths, number of distinct pitch classes between successive chords, tension inherited by subordinate chords from superordinate chords, melodic and harmonic attraction, and surface dissonance. Lerdahls Surface Tension Rule assigns tension added values due to chord Inversion, chord note in the top voice (Melody), and nonharmonic chord tones. This study tested the validity of assigned tension added values for Inversion and Melody asking 82 participants familiar with Western tonal music to rate perceived tension of Major and minor four-note chords heard devoid of tonal and musical contexts. Results showed Lerdahls tension added values required modification. Root position chords and chords with the root in the Melody require a tension added value greater than 0. Tension due to First Inversion is not the same as tension due to Second Inversion. Tension due to First and Second Inversion is greater than tension due to the third or fifth of a chord in Melody. Tension due to Second Inversion is not different from tension due to root in Melody. A new category, chord Quality, needed to be added. Expertise did not play a role. Lerdahls model and these results provide insight for performers, teachers, listeners, and composers

Restructuring for Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria: The Role of Political Education and Information Communication Technology

The study examined the role of political education and Information Communication Technology (ICT) for sustainable democracy in Nigeria. The paper conceptualized political education and IC T for sustainable democracy. The paper adopted observation and secondary methods of data gathering. The paper argued that electoral violence and fraud that marred conducted elections in Nigeria was  due to decades of military rule that militarized the psyche of most Nigerians, and lack of continuous political education to redirect the militarized mentality they do display in electoral process, to democratized mentality to sustain democracy in Nigeria. This is because the anti-democratic mentality of most Nigerians has created loopholes for politicians to manipulate the electoral process which portents a threat to democracy in Nigeria. The paper revealed that continuous political education through the use of ICT tools like social network sites will create political awareness that will enlighten Nigerians to deter them from electoral violence and fraud, and other related anti-democratic behaviour to bring about sustainable democracy in Nigeria. Therefore, the paper recommends among others, that the Nigerian government should liaise with advanced countries that have successfully built ICT in their democratic governance, to see areas where they can collaborate to ensure stable use of ICT facilities in Nigeria. Keywords: Restructuring, Sustainable Democracy, Political Education, Information Communication Technology (ICT

The Neighbourhood Improvement Program, 1973-1983 : a national review of an intergovernmental initiative

vi, 95 p

Community economic development : an approach for urban-based economies

vi, 203 p

Comparison of exon 5 sequences from 35 class I genes of the BALB/c mouse

DNA sequences of the fifth exon, which encodes the transmembrane domain, were determined for the BALB/c mouse class I MHC genes and used to study the relationships between them. Based on nucleotide sequence similarity, the exon 5 sequences can be divided into seven groups. Although most members within each group are at least 80% similar to each other, comparison between groups reveals that the groups share little similarity. However, in spite of the extensive variation of the fifth exon sequences, analysis of their predicted amino acid translations reveals that only four class I gene fifth exons have frameshifts or stop codons that terminate their translation and prevent them from encoding a domain that is both hydrophobic and long enough to span a lipid bilayer. Exactly 27 of the remaining fifth exons could encode a domain that is similar to those of the transplantation antigens in that it consists of a proline-rich connecting peptide, a transmembrane segment, and a cytoplasmic portion with membrane-anchoring basic residues. The conservation of this motif in the majority of the fifth exon translations in spite of extensive variation suggests that selective pressure exists for these exons to maintain their ability to encode a functional transmembrane domain, raising the possibility that many of the nonclassical class I genes encode functionally important products

KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES TOWARDS MANAGEMENT OF SICKLE CELL DISEASE AMONG CARETAKERS OF SICKLERS AT PAEDIATRIC WARD IN MBALE RRH. A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.

Introduction: Purpose of the study: The study aims at assessing the knowledge, attitude, and practices towards the management of sickle cell disease among caretakers of sicklers at the pediatric ward in Mbale Regional Referral Hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study that employed a simple random probability sampling technique to select 100 caretakers of sicklers at the pediatric ward to participate in the study. The questionnaire method was used in the collection of data. Results: 79(79%) of the caretakers reported pallor as a sign of SCD that requires immediate attention, 71(71%) knew blood transfusion as a treatment option for SCD, and 76(76%) knew the child should drink 10-15 glasses of water per day as a precaution to be taken at home for the child to live healthy. However, the majority of the participants 62(62%) did not know the complications of SCD if not managed well. 86(86%) preferred taking the child to a health facility when they get a sickle cell crisis, 82(82%) agreed that a child with SCD should get regular treatments and 82(82%) agreed that a child with SCD should get regular treatments. 43(43%) reported giving the child painkillers when a child gets a painful crisis and 38(38%) reported ensuring the child drinks enough water to prevent a sickle cell crisis. Conclusions: Given the above results, most of the respondents had good knowledge, a positive attitude, and poor practices towards the management of SCD. Recommendations. Health workers at Mbale regional referral pediatric unit should offer continuous health education to caretakers to improve their practices towards the management of SCD. The Ministry of Health should introduce a universal newborn screening program for early diagnosis and initiation of comprehensive SCD care for children. Caretakers should adhere to the recommended home-based care immediately after the child is diagnosed to prevent complications

Use of VUV Radiation to Control Elastomer Seal Adhesion

Due to their wide operating temperatures and low leakage rates, silicone elastomers are the only class of flight qualified elastomer materials that currently meet NASA's needs for various seal applications, which include docking and hatch seals for future space exploration vehicles. However, silicone elastomers are naturally sticky and exhibit sizeable adhesion when mated against metals and other silicone surfaces. This undesirable adhesion can make undocking spacecraft or opening a hatch problematic. Two approaches that can be used to reduce seal adhesion include use of grease or, application of low doses of atomic oxygen (AO). This paper investigates a third approach: the application of light doses of vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation. Presented are the adhesion and leakage characteristics of S0383-70 silicone elastomer exposed to various VUV doses in the 115 to 200 nm wavelength range. The data indicate that adhesion is expected to be less than the target threshold maximum of 2 lb/in(exp2) after about 1 J/cm(exp2) of VUV exposure for seal-to-metal configurations and after 2 J/cm(exp2) for seal-to-seal configurations with no significant damage, or increase in seal leakage. This paper shows that VUV, without AO or grease, can be an effective means to reduce adhesion to the desired levels necessary for space seals with minimal change in seal leak rates