Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to E M Yeaw.
The authors entered into a collaborative project with the staff of a visiting nurse service to evaluate the utility of a risk assessment inventory (RAI) in identifying factors that lead to falls in elderly persons receiving home care. Although no clear pattern emerged among personal factors, the majority of patients who experienced a fall used one or more assistive devices for ambulation.
A quasi-experimental, repeated-measures cross-over design study on the effect of body position on oxygenation (SaO2) blood pressure, respiration and pulse in patients with unilateral lung pathology was conducted. Previous research strongly suggests that positioning with the healthy (unaffected) lung in the dependent lateral (down) position is related to improved oxygenation, but knowledge about whether this effect is maintained over time is lacking. The purpose of this investigation was to determine: (1) Is positioning with the unaffected lung in the dependent lateral position related to increased arterial blood saturation levels and decreased blood pressure, pulse and respiration? (2) What is the relationship between the dependent variables--oxygenation saturation levels, blood pressure, pulse and respiration--and the independent variables--body position and time in the position? Thirty-nine patients with unilateral lung pathology were positioned on their sides with the unaffected lung down, on their sides with the affected lung down, and also in semi-Fowler's position. Arterial (SaO2) blood saturation and vital signs were measured at baseline 0, 15 and 30 minutes. There was no statistically significant relationship between oxygenation level or systolic blood pressure. Diastolic blood pressure, respiration and pulse did vary significantly with position.
An exploratory, descriptive study was conducted in a large acute care hospital to determine: (1) the indicator/descriptors used by staff nurses to arrive at the diagnosis of confusion, and (2) which indicators/descriptors are perceived as most significant in such a diagnosis. In addition, because the literature frequently cites the occurrence of nurses stereotyping patients as confused and thereby treating them as confused (Libow's self-fulfilling prophecy), the third question explored was the type and quantity of information that was given to nurses at intershift report. A self-constructed interview schedule was used on a sample of 25 staff nurses who were primary caregivers of a confused patient on a given day. Content analysis revealed emergent themes of confusion in two domains: cognitive and behavioral. The findings from this study revealed nurses used cognitive descriptors more frequently to diagnose confusion; however, a large majority of nurses used a combination of both cognitive and behavioral descriptors for diagnosis. Nurses also used independent assessment based on their own observations rather than those from the night nurse in arriving at a nursing diagnosis of confusion. This investigation responds to the need to "confirm defining characteristics of the phenomenon of confusion" posited by Foreman. In addition, results from this study will provide a basis for a taxonomy on the phenomenon of confusion. It is hoped that such a taxonomical classification will enable nurses to assess the confused patient more effectively.
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