J T Matthews — Page 2 | Search PubMed

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Impaired student performance in the clinical setting. A constructive approach.

A challenge for even the most seasoned faculty member is dealing with a student who arrives for clinical experience in an impaired state. Little guidance is available for faculty regarding protocol for the immediate removal of an unfit student from the clinical setting or for subsequent actions aimed at helping the student constructively address the problem. The authors provide guidance to faculty for the development of a policy to address issues pertaining to the impaired student.

Absenteeism↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Home-based ventilator-dependent patients: measurement of the emotional aspects of home caregiving.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the concept of caregiving appraisal with the primary family caregivers of home-based ventilator-dependent patients and test the internal consistency of instruments to measure functional dependency of the patient and caregiving appraisal. DESIGN: Nonexperimental, cross-sectional survey. Respondents were reimbursed $25 for the return of a completed questionnaire. SETTING: Caregivers of home-based ventilator-dependent patients residing in southwestern Pennsylvania. SAMPLE: Caregivers of 39 home-based ventilator-dependent patients, 27 responses (69%) were received. MEASURES: Modified Katz Index, Modified Caregiving Appraisal Scale, investigator-developed instrument to assess the health and sociodemographic characteristics of both patients and their caregivers. INTERVENTION: None. RESULTS: The needs of ventilator-dependent patients, as reported by their primary family caregivers, are extensive. Patients require considerable assistance with activities of daily living, with many patients having total care requirements in many functional domains. Caregivers are responsible for numerous pieces of high-tech equipment, as well as other special care requirements unrelated to the patient's ventilatory insufficiency. Although caregivers reportedly spend an average of 8.4 hours each day caring for their family member, the majority continue to maintain full- or part-time employment. Despite the considerable demands placed on caregivers, responses to the Modified Caregiving Appraisal Scale indicate that home placement is not perceived to be a negative experience. Internal consistency of instruments was determined by use of Cronbach's alpha, yielding the following correlation coefficients on the Modified Caregiving Appraisal Scale: burden subscale, 0.87; satisfaction subscale, 0.71; mastery subscale, 0.73; impact subscale, 0.70; and ideology subscale, 0.65. Alpha coefficients for the Katz Indexes measuring patient functional dependence, and consequent caregiver responsibility, were 0.95 and 0.90, respectively.

Activities of Daily Living↗