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Biomedical subjects

L Rodrigues-Fisher

Publications and source records attributed to L Rodrigues-Fisher.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Dietary fiber nursing intervention: prevention of constipation in older adults.

Constipation is a major complaint of older adults. Approximately 30% of older adults use laxatives at least once weekly, and laxatives account for 1% of physician prescriptions in addition to approximately 700 over-the-counter preparations. This study evaluated the efficacy of a fiber and fluid nursing intervention on the maintenance of bowel movements and elimination aid withdrawal in residents of a long-term health care facility. The findings indicated that the number of bowel movements reached a peak at 3 months and returned to baseline values at the 6-month point while the use of both laxatives and stool softeners decreased significantly. Enema and suppository use was so infrequent at baseline and throughout the study that changes in these variables were statistically insignificant. The results demonstrate that a natural means of maintaining bowel movements using a fiber and fluid nursing intervention can significantly decrease the number of laxatives and stool softeners needed by residents of a long-term facility.

Aged↗

Frequently selected nursing diagnoses for the rehabilitation client with stroke.

From 2 million to 3 million people in the United States live with the aftereffects of stroke. Nursing diagnoses provide a taxonomy that enables nurses to identify similarities and differences for given groups of clients. The purposes of this study were to identify the most frequently chosen nursing diagnoses for rehabilitation stroke clients and to determine the corresponding objective clinical characteristics (related factors) of these diagnoses. A retrospective descriptive design was used to study charts from randomly selected stroke clients (N = 100) at a large rehabilitation center. At admission and at discharge, impaired physical mobility (99%) and self-care deficit (91%) were the most frequently occurring diagnoses. Impaired physical mobility was usually related to neuromuscular impairment, and self-care deficit was usually related to neuromuscular dysfunction. These objective clinical characteristics help to determine how diagnoses are unique to rehabilitation nursing practice.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Meeting the continuing education needs of pediatric nurses: the Pediatric Nurse Exchange Program.

Today's dynamic health care environment offers multiple challenges as hospitals attempt to design and implement successful nursing career plans and support the development of professional nurses along such plans. The Pediatric Nurse Exchange Program is designed as a means for personal and professional development to support professional nurses as they are challenged to provide quality nursing care to children and their families. A pilot project is designed to provide experiences for professional nurses in three children's hospitals in Ohio. Exchange experiences, of two to five days in length, provide opportunities for nurses to share expertise, exchange patient care strategies, and develop skills as consultants, change agents, educators, and communicators. Nurse participants in the program are awarded continuing education contact hours for the experience.

Clinical Competence↗