Linking nursing pain assessment, decisionmaking and documentation.

A clinical nurse specialist’s (CNS) experience in the development and implementation of a pain assessment and treatment flowsheet (PATF) to enhance the nursing assessment, decision-making, and documentation of pain on a palliative care unit in a community hospital is described in this article. Members of the palliative care interdisciplinary team use the PATF for clinical decision-making in the day-to-day management of patients’ pain. The PATF is undergoing revision and re-implementation to promote the utilization of the tool beyond the specialty of palliative care and into the general patient population

Refining the Threat Calculus of Technology Threat Avoidance Theory

The number of people using fitness devices and mobile health applications creates unprecedented amounts of health-related fitness data. In the United States, healthcare regulations do not consider the data that these devices collect as protected health information when no covered entity is involved; therefore, the law does not provide such data with the same legal protections as an individual’s health records. Thus, users must ensure that they keep their data safe from potential data breaches and malicious activities. In this study, we analyze users’ motivations to implement safeguards to protect their private health-related fitness data. To test user motivation, we issued wearable activity tracking devices and an associated online health fitness data account to students. We instructed the students about how to use the fitness device and how the device connected to the user’s phone and Web-based application. We then had them complete a survey to determine how they form their threat perceptions and other factors influencing their avoidance motivations for computer-security incidents. With the exception of safeguard cost and privacy concerns, results support a revised threat calculus in the TTAT model and the original model constructs

Barbara Cooney Correspondence

Entries include letters, a newspaper clipping, a photograph of Cooney, and a letter on Farrar & Rhinehart Inc. stationery with biographical informatio

Design and introduction of a quality of life assessment and practice support system: perspectives from palliative care settings

Background: Quality of life (QOL) assessment instruments, including patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and patient-reported experience measures (PREMs), are increasingly promoted as a means of enabling clinicians to enhance person-centered care. However, integration of these instruments into palliative care clinical practice has been inconsistent. This study focused on the design of an electronic Quality of Life and Practice Support System (QPSS) prototype and its initial use in palliative inpatient and home care settings. Our objectives were to ascertain desired features of a QPSS prototype and the experiences of clinicians, patients, and family caregivers in regard to the initial introduction of a QPSS in palliative care, interpreting them in context. Methods: We applied an integrated knowledge translation approach in two stages by engaging a total of 71 clinicians, 18 patients, and 17 family caregivers in palliative inpatient and home care settings. Data for Stage I were collected via 12 focus groups with clinicians to ascertain desirable features of a QPSS. Stage II involved 5 focus groups and 24 interviews with clinicians and 35 interviews with patients or family caregivers during initial implementation of a QPSS. The focus groups and interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using the qualitative methodology of interpretive description. Results: Desirable features focused on hardware (lightweight, durable, and easy to disinfect), software (simple, user-friendly interface, multi-linguistic, integration with e-health systems), and choice of assessment instruments that would facilitate a holistic assessment. Although patient and family caregiver participants were predominantly enthusiastic, clinicians expressed a mixture of enthusiasm, receptivity, and concern regarding the use of a QPSS. The analyses revealed important contextual considerations, including: (a) logistical, technical, and aesthetic considerations regarding the QPSS as a technology, (b) diversity in knowledge, skills, and attitudes of clinicians, patients, and family caregivers regarding the integration of electronic QOL assessments in care, and (c) the need to understand organizational context and priorities in using QOL assessment data. Conclusion: The process of designing and integrating a QPSS in palliative care for patients with life-limiting conditions and their family caregivers is complex and requires extensive consultation with clinicians, administrators, patients, and family caregivers to inform successful implementation

Learning to Look, Looking to Learn

In order to plan and implement lessons that will be effective for a wide variety of learners, teachers must assess what students know and how they know it. They must also know students’ academic strengths, challenges, and preferences. Careful observation of what students do and say as they work provides a rich source of data about both their knowledge and ways of learning. We highlight three strategies we use to help teachers refine their understanding of individual students: (a) building teachers’ skills in observing without making judgements; (b) teaching teachers to use a shared, neurodevelopmental framework through which to view student learning and behavior; and (c) facilitating collaboration among general education and special education teachers in using these tools to assess student learning and plan lessons. The combination of careful observations, a neurodevelopmental lens through which to see and interpret the observations, and the different perspectives of general and special education teachers, builds a foundation for planning appropriately leveled and rigorous lessons that leverage students’ strengths while supporting them in their weaker areas.https://educate.bankstreet.edu/faculty-staff/1057/thumbnail.jp

Perspectives on Initiating Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) involves partnerships between academics and communities to address community priorities through collaborative research. Undergraduate student engagement in CBPR as part of an academic course is uncommon and there is limited evidence on the lessons learned about partnership initiation from course-based partnerships. This paper shares lessons from Medford and Tufts Community Health (MATCH), a course-based CBPR initiative. At the end of this course, three students, the instructor, and two community partners identified a list of four key lessons learned about partnership initiation. First, undergraduates should understand and explicitly attend to the privileges they bring to CBPR as students. Second, internal “champions,” who serve in a dual role in the community and university can provide students with important historical context to support partnership initiation. Third, students should assess and communicate what they can offer to community partners. Fourth, instructors should facilitate relationship building within student research teams. These lessons are critical for undergraduate instructors teaching CBPR courses and looking to initiate community partnerships with students

Comparison of Ten Interventions for a 7-year-old with Unintelligible Speech

The management of speech impairment of unknown origin in children requires SLPs to make important clinical decisions around assessment, analysis, diagnosis and intervention. Ideally, clinicians should be guided in their decision making by evidence. Over thirty years ago, this was a relatively straightforward task. Most children’s speech problems were assessed, analysed and treated from an articulation perspective. Since the paradigm shift from articulation to phonology, clinical decision making has become more challenging. This challenge is in part due to the increase in possible approaches. This short course will outline the application of ten intervention approaches to one child and will conclude with a description and outcomes of one intervention approach Internationally recognized phonologists and speech researchers will present ten intervention approaches for Jarrod, a seven-year-old boy with highly unintelligible speech. Each theoretical framework will be outlined, followed by relevant methods of assessment and recommendations for intervention based on analysis data. Videos of the child during assessment will be shown to help participants understand his speech sound system. The intervention that was implemented will be summarized and results will be provided. Participants in this session will have opportunities to compare major phonological evaluation and intervention approaches currently being used in Australia, America, Canada, and England

Albuminuria in a remote South Australian Aboriginal community: results of a community based screening program for renal disease

Australi

Systems pharmacology assessment of the 5-fluorouracil pathway

To assess the impact of the 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) drug-pathway genes on cytotoxicity, and determine whether loss-of-function analyses coupled with functional assays can help prioritize pharmacogenomic candidate genes