Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Griffiths

Publications and source records attributed to M Griffiths.

232 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

The impact of nursing grade on the quality and outcome of nursing care.

The large industry which has grown up around the estimation of nursing requirements for a ward or for a hospital takes little account of variations in nursing skill; meanwhile nursing researchers tend to concentrate on the appropriate organisation of the nursing process to deliver best quality care. This paper, drawing on a Department of Health funded study, analyses the relation between skill mix of a group of nurses and the quality of care provided. Detailed data was collected on 15 wards at 7 sites on both the quality and outcome of care delivered by nurses of different grades, which allowed for analysis at several levels from a specific nurse-patient interaction to the shift sessions. The analysis shows a strong grade effect at the lowest level which is 'diluted' at each succeeding level of aggregation; there is also a strong ward effect at each of the lower levels of aggregation. The conclusion is simple; you pay for quality care.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Tolerance in gambling: an objective measure using the psychophysiological analysis of male fruit machine gamblers.

"Excitement" has often been referred to as the gambler's drug although until recently there was little evidence to substantiate such claims. This study involved the systematic monitoring of the psychophysiology of fruit machine gambling using heart rate measures in 30 adolescent male gamblers. The study was designed to test heart rate differences between regular and nonregular fruit machine gamblers (i.e., between subjects) and differences against the players' own baseline rates (i.e., within subjects). Results showed that there were no heart rate differences between regular and nonregular gamblers although during gambling, both groups' heart rates increased by approximately 22 beats per minute. It was also found that nonregular gamblers' heart rates did not decrease significantly after gambling whereas regular gamblers did. This finding could be argued as the first study to demonstrate an objective measure of gambling tolerance.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A new method for locating saliva stains-spotty paper for spotting spit.

A convenient method of locating saliva stains has been devised. Filter paper covered with blue coloured starch fragments is laid on the material to be tested. Salivary amylase hydrolyses the starch on the areas of paper corresponding to saliva stains, which are then delineated as clear zones whereas negative areas remain speckled with blue particles.

Amylases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Preventing feticide.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Attitudes toward physician-nurse collaboration: a cross-cultural study of male and female physicians and nurses in the United States and Mexico.

BACKGROUND: Inter-professional collaboration between physicians and nurses, within and between cultures, can help contain cost and insure better patient outcomes. Attitude toward such collaboration is a function of the roles prescribed in the culture that guide professional behavior. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to test three research hypotheses concerning attitudes toward physician-nurse collaboration across genders, disciplines, and cultures. METHOD: The Jefferson Scale of Attitudes Toward Physician-Nurse Collaboration was administered to 639 physicians and nurses in the United States (n = 267) and Mexico (n = 372). Attitude scores were compared by gender (men, women), discipline (physicians, nurses), and culture (United States, Mexico) by using a three-way factorial analysis of variance design. RESULTS: Findings confirmed the first research hypothesis by demonstrating that both physicians and nurses in the United States would express more positive attitudes toward physician-nurse collaboration than their counterparts in Mexico. The second research hypothesis, positing that nurses as compared to physicians in both countries would express more positive attitudes toward physician-nurse collaboration, was also supported. The third research hypothesis that female physicians would express more positive attitudes toward physician-nurse collaboration than their male counterparts was not confirmed. CONCLUSIONS: Collaborative education for medical and nursing students, particularly in cultures with a hierarchical model of inter-professional relationship, is needed to promote positive attitudes toward complementary roles of physicians and nurses. Faculty preparation for collaboration is necessary in such cultures before implementing collaborative education.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Single-stage percutaneous gastrostomy button insertion: a leap forward.

BACKGROUND: Gastrostomy buttons are widely used in adults and children with neurologic and nutritional problems. METHODS: The development of the Medicina gastrostomy button (which uses a Foley-type balloon for retention) and the Cope needle (for controlling the stomach) has allowed the development of a single-stage percutaneous technique for gastrostomy button insertion rather than the two-stage technique currently used. RESULTS: Seven patients (aged 1 to 14 years) had a percutaneous gastrostomy button inserted with no mortality and only minor morbidity. No balloon failed. CONCLUSION: This technique is safe and avoids the potential morbidity of a second anesthetic in this high-risk group of patients.

Administration, Cutaneous↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Should smears in a colposcopy clinic be taken after the application of acetic acid?

Conventionally, cervical smears obtained during a colposcopic examination are taken before the application of acetic acid. However, this occasionally precipitates bleeding and removes epithelium from the cervix, particularly in the presence of cervical pathology, making colposcopic evaluation difficult. This study examined the possibility of deferring the smear until the end of the colposcopic examination. In the first part of the study, the cytologic results on cervical samples taken from the same patient before and after the application of acetic acid were compared. In the second part of the study, only one smear was taken per patient (either before or after colposcopic assessment) to eliminate the possibility that the taking of the first smear affected the quality of the second. The results of both parts of the study showed that deferring the smear until after the application of acetic acid leads to an unacceptably high rate of unsatisfactory and falsely negative smears. Thus, deferring the taking of the cervical smear until after the colposcopic evaluation results in a poor cytologic evaluation, although it might facilitate the colposcopic examination in some patients.

Acetates↗