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J A Thibodeau

Publications and source records attributed to J A Thibodeau.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

25+ and going strong: nurse practitioners and nursing practice.

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between role attitudes and values of nurse practitioners and their level of confidence about practice knowledge and skills. The stratified random sample comprised 482 nurse practitioners representing the specialty areas of certified nurse practitioners. Findings indicate a relationship between level of confidence and role orientation. The sample also rated themselves as more confident about hands-on skills than about indirect role components such as utilization of research, change theory, and evaluation of practice outcomes.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1994

Moving toward a nursing model in advanced practice.

The nurse practitioner focus has been evolving from a medical to a nursing orientation since the inception of the role in 1965. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between role attitudes and values, confidence about practice knowledge and skills, and orientation to a medical or nursing model to guide practice. A national random sample of 482 nurse practitioners completed the Attitudes and Values Scale, the Confidence in Skills Scale, and a demographic survey. Findings indicate that nurse practitioners are very confident about their practice skills and knowledge and have a very strong nursing orientation. There is a direct positive correlation between level of confidence and degree of nursing orientation. Nurses in the sample also rated themselves as more confident about hands-on skills than indirect role components such as utilization of research, change theory, and evaluation of practice outcomes. The discussion interweaves this study's findings with role theory and offers a comparison and contrast to the existing body of knowledge.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1993

Using a conceptual model for practice in a nursing wellness centre for seniors.

The use of a conceptual model to guide practice is critical to the maturation of the profession. Distinguishing between nursing and other health care professions rests, in part, on nursing's ability to articulate what it offers to clients. The nursing paradigm, comprising the essential components of the individual (client), health, environment, and nursing, provides general rules of thumb for the profession (Fawcett, 1984). Selecting a nursing model for a practice setting contributes to theory development: clinical questions generated from the model can be formulated as testable hypotheses. The Wellness Centre offers a unique opportunity for use of a conceptual model in a nurse-managed practice setting serving seniors. If conceptual models are to be useful, they need to be tested in the settings where nurses practise and for the roles that comprise nursing. Use of the crisis model, in this setting provides reality testing of the model which has evolved to a higher level of internal consistency and external validity as a direct result of practice.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Nurse practitioners: factors affecting role performance.

This descriptive, correlational investigation was designed to examine the attitudes/values held by nurse practitioners concerning their roles, self-assessment of their skills/knowledge, and orientation toward a nursing or medical model to guide practice. The results indicate that the nurse practitioners in this sample have a high degree of confidence in their skills and knowledge and have a fairly strong nursing orientation in their practice. The great deal of variability in responses to items concerned with audit, quality assurance and financial aspects of the role have important implications for nurse practitioner education and practice.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1988

Developing an original tool for research.

An instrument must be tested for validity and reliability before it can be used to measure the variables of interest specified in the research design. If the instrument is not valid and reliable, then the results of a study have limited credibility or usefulness in practice. The process is meticulous, but the results are gratifying when new data on nurse practitioners can be generated.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1987

Evolution of a nursing center.

The collaborative spirit that characterized the project period resulted in continuation of the nursing center after the expiration of the contract. The town purchased the modular unit and provides ongoing maintenance, housekeeping services, and utilities. A secretary is funded through a program providing employment for older adults. The University provides the salary for one full-time certified NP to manage the center, and students and faculty together provide care and continue the services of the center. An advisory committee composed of representatives from the town, senior center, and university oversees the ongoing activities of the center. Although the center has evolved from a small room to a fully equipped modular unit, the purpose of providing high-quality nursing care through education, practice, and research remains the same.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Degradation of adsorbed fibrinogen by surface-generated plasmin.

An investigation of the physical status of fibrinogen that has been adsorbed to glass and then eluted has been conducted. Exposure of Kabi fibrinogen to glass was carried out using a glass bead column experiment. The fibrinogen was eluted sequentially, first by 1 M Tris and then by SDS. The initially eluted fibrinogen showed considerable degradation (SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) while the later fractions were less degraded. Fibrinogen purified by chromatography on either DEAE-cellulose or Sepharose-lysine to remove plasminogen was less degraded. When purified plasminogen was added to fibrinogen, degradation of column eluates was very extensive in all eluted fractions. These results are interpreted in terms of a surface-mediated activation of plasminogen to plasmin followed by fibrinogenolysis. Although such an effect remains to be demonstrated as a general property of surfaces, it is speculated that surfaces may vary in their activation of fibrinolysis as well as their activation of clotting, and that maximization of fibrinolysis is a worthwhile goal in the development of blood-compatible surfaces.

Adsorption↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Identification of proteins adsorbed from human plasma to glass bead columns: plasmin-induced degradation of adsorbed fibrinogen.

In a bead column experiment, attempts have been made to identify the proteins adsorbed from plasma onto a glass surface. Proteins adsorbed after a 3-h contact time were eluted sequentially by 1 M tris buffer and SDS. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of eluted proteins showed a multiplicity of components, and not all of these could be identified. Positive identifications were made by immunodiffusion against specific antibodies, band positions on electrophoresis gels, and location of radioactivity in gels when specific radiolabeled proteins were added to plasma. Proteins found were albumin, IgG, fibrinogen, plasminogen, and fibrinogen degradation products (FDP). A major component with an apparent molecular weight of 25,000 remains unidentified. It is unrelated to albumin, IgG, fibrinogen, factor XII, or plasminogen. Adsorbed fibrinogen was less degraded when experiments were performed with plasmas deficient in either plasminogen or factor XII. It is therefore concluded that FDP are formed by activation of adsorbed plasminogen, as was found previously for purified fibrinogen containing a trace of plasminogen. At least part of this activation is potentiated by the contact activation phase of plasma coagulation, in particular activated factor XII.

Adsorption↗