Nursing Evaluation Research

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study sought to assess the impact of a standardized protocol to maintain nasoenteral tube (NET) patency in patients requiring fluid restriction and identify factors associated with tube patency. BACKGROUND: Nasoenteral tube obstruction may interrupt nutritional support and prohibit drug administration. Balancing NET patency in the context of fluid restriction can be a challenge. DESIGN AND METHODS: The impact of the standardized protocol was assessed by using a quasi-experimental design and an historical control.

Pregnancy presents many problems without working through additional problems in coping with an ostomy. Yet many women with an ostomy do get pregnant and do deliver healthy babies. Evidence-based nursing is of the utmost importance, as there is little published information on this topic. Because of the scarcity of pregnant subjects within the ostomy category, most studies, by necessity, select a purposive subject base. Therefore, other information sources regarding nursing management of the pregnant woman with an ostomy take on considerably more importance.

BACKGROUND: Behavior change is integral to the prevention and treatment of many disorders associated with deleterious lifestyles. Rigorous scientific testing of behavior change interventions is an important goal for nursing research. APPROACH: The stage model for behavioral therapy development is recommended as a useful framework for evaluating behavior change strategies. The NIH model specifies three stages from initial testing of novel behavioral therapies to their dissemination in community settings.

Pregnancy presents many problems without working through additional problems in coping with an ostomy. Yet many women with an ostomy do get pregnant and do deliver healthy babies. Evidence-based nursing is of the utmost importance, as there is little published information on this topic. Because of the scarcity of pregnant subjects within the ostomy category, most studies, by necessity, select a purposive subject base. Therefore, other information sources regarding nursing management of the pregnant woman with an ostomy take on considerably more importance.

Palliative medicine and complementary therapies (CTs) have developed within the NHS as parallel philosophies of care. As a result, the last decade has seen an increase in the integration and usage of CTs, as adjunct therapies to conventional medical treatment. Documented benefits of relaxation, decreased perception of pain, reduced anxiety and improved sense of wellbeing have been shown to enable an enhanced quality of life, where curative treatment is no longer an option. Reiki is a more recent addition to the range of CTs available to cancer patients.

The purpose of this article is to explore the adequacy of published scientific evidence supporting therapeutic touch as a nursing intervention. Meta-analytic techniques were used to integrate the research-based literature published in the past decade. The results seem to indicate that therapeutic touch has a positive, medium effect on physiological and psychological variables.

Quantitative research on Therapeutic Touch (TT), published in referred nursing journals from 1985 to 1995, is reviewed. Therapeutic Touch is defined by Dolores Krieger, the founder of this nursing intervention. The authors of this Integrative Review examine what is known and not known to date in order to facilitate appropriate application of this modality in practice, and to offer recommendations for future research. Critical characteristics of eleven quantitative studies are identified and analyzed.

With more than 10 million patients with cancer in the United States, pain and symptom management is an important topic for oncology nurses. Complementary therapies, such as therapeutic touch, may offer nurses a nonpharmacologic method to ease patients' pain. Using 12 research studies, the authors examined the evidence concerning the effectiveness of this type of treatment in reducing pain and anxiety.

This paper describes two studies that had three purposes: (a) to modify a parent-child interaction tool used previously in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU); (b) to demonstrate interrater reliability, Chronbach's Alpha reliability, and construct validity of the tool with adolescent mothers, and (c) to determine the ability of nurses engaged in usual work duties to observe maternal behaviors. The first study tested interrater reliability. Two NICU nurses were trained, observed adolescent mothers (n = 20) for the same 15 min, and then separately completed the measure.

PURPOSE: To examine the effect of Taegyo-focused prenatal classes on maternal-fetal attachment and self-efficacy related to childbirth. METHODS: Over 4 weeks, 49 women, 20 to 36 weeks of gestation participated in a prenatal program led by the nurse who developed it. In addition to Lamaze content it included; understanding ability of fetus to respond, sharing motivation, purpose of pregnancy, and preconceptions of experiencing childbirth, training in maternal-fetal interaction, writing letters and making a declaration of love to unborn baby.