Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Maura MacPhee

Publications and source records attributed to Maura MacPhee.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

An evidence-based approach to nasogastric tube management: special considerations.

Although there have been helpful literature reviews on pediatric nasogastric (NG) tube management, there is a lack of evidence with regards to special circumstances, such as at-risk patients with altered neurological status or developmental disabilities. At our hospital, an interdisciplinary Enteral Feeding Task Force was created to address the special needs and concerns of complex pediatric patients. We carefully weighed the evidence from the literature, incidents at our hospital and other children's hospitals, and a synthesis of expert opinion. This article describes our evidence-based process of policy revision, and it includes excerpts from our revised NG tube management policy.

Benchmarking↗
PubMed2006

Nurse staffing and patient safety.

Safe, effective and ethical nurse staffing requires that there is a sufficient number and appropriate use and mix of competent nurses available to care for patients. Because of its close connections with patient safety, nurse staffing has become an important concern for governments, health-care providers and the public. This article provides highlights from the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation research report Evaluation of Patient Safety and Nurse Staffing (2005), which focused on the connections between nurse staffing and patient safety. The report findings were discussed at a roundtable of decision-makers and experts, and these deliberations and the literature evidence were used to create the final synthesis. The authors present one of the key recommendations for nurse staffing that arose from the synthesis.

Canada↗
PubMed2005

Evidence-based practice.

The following document is a position statement of The Society of Pediatric Nurses (SPN) that pertains to evidence-based practice (EBP). This document was developed by the Clinical Practice Committee of SPN, and it includes an overview of EBP basics and SPN recommendations with regards to EBP.

Benchmarking↗
PubMed2005

Pediatric nursing.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Pediatric Nursing↗
PubMed2004

"Mirror, mirror...".

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Evidence-Based Medicine↗
PubMed2002

Evidence-based practice in action.

As Associate Editor for Journal of Pediatric Nursing (JPN), I will be assisting with evidence-based practice (EBP) submissions or other clinically based articles. I welcome questions, works-in-progress for constructive criticism, and finished submissions for review. This article comprises an overview of the EBP process, an EBP submission format for JPN, and 4 examples of EBP in a variety of pediatric clinical settings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Using evidence-based practice to create a venous access team: the Venous Access Task Force of the Children's Hospital of Denver.

The following article is an example of evidence-based practice applied to an institutional Quality Improvement (QI) project. QI originated in the 1980s and is best associated with the work of W. Deming (1986). It is also known as Continuous Quality Improvement, because a major principle of this approach is constant improvement of services or products. This improvement process contains other critical components: scientific method, employee participation and teamwork, accountable leadership, appropriate training and ongoing education, and client focus (Demming, 1986). QI has been globally successful and has helped transform American industry, including health care services. The following clinically based project illustrates the application of QI concepts and evidence-based practice to enhance outcomes.

Child↗
PubMed2002

The role of social support networks for rural hospital nurses: supporting and sustaining the rural nursing work force.

OBJECTIVE: This survey study describes the workplace social support networks of rural hospital nurses in one geographic region of Colorado. This rural sample was compared with data from a sample of urban hospital nurses in Colorado. BACKGROUND: Social support networks influence nurses' satisfaction and retention. Nursing recruitment and retention is especially critical in rural areas where it takes healthcare facilities 60% longer than urban facilities to fill nursing vacancies. Little is known about rural nurses' social support networks. METHODS: The Social Network Questionnaire (SNQ) was mailed to all nurses within one rural region of Colorado. Descriptive, correlational and comparative statistics were used to evaluate the structure and function of these nurses' networks. RESULTS: The nurses' networks were predominantly peer-based, but managers provided significant functional supports. The types of support provided by managers depended on the managers' placement in the nurses' networks. Some managers provided only performance feedback, and other managers offered physical assistance and emotional support. Rural nurses expected more guidance from management than did their urban counterparts. IMPLICATIONS: This sample of nurses clearly delineated the types of leadership styles most beneficial to them. Communication of roles and expectations between staff and management can enhance nursing satisfaction in the workplace setting.

Adult↗