Holography with a double focus lens: a simple lecture demonstration.
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Helium↗
Biomedical subjects
S J Bennett
Publications and source records attributed to S J Bennett.
Effects of attentional strategies and anxiety constraints on perceptual-motor organisation of rhythmical arm movements.
Effects of anxiety on perceptual-motor organisation of rhythmical forearm movements were examined using an interrupted time series design with staggered baselines. Participants were exposed to repeated baseline sessions interrupted with two anxiety-inducing sessions. Results showed that under moderate levels of anxiety, determined from CSAI-2 and heart rate data, phase relations between oscillating forearms became more stable in in-phase (0 degrees ) and anti-phase (180 degrees ) modes, although these patterns were not maintained in baseline sessions following the anxiety manipulation. Data were consistent with participants employing a strategy of allocating greater attentional effort in stabilizing preferred co-ordination patterns under anxiety-inducing conditions. Results suggest that anxiety can temporarily act as a source of behavioural information, leading to the re-parameterisation of participants' intrinsic dynamics.
Activity Cycles↗
Reconciling quality of life and beneficence in nursing practice: chronic dobutamine infusion in endstage heart failure--a case study.
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Dobutamine↗
Beliefs about medication and dietary compliance in people with heart failure: an instrument development study.
BACKGROUND: Sodium retention is often a precursor to hospitalization in people with heart failure (HF). Lack of compliance with medications and with dietary sodium restrictions affects sodium retention. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Beliefs about Medication Compliance Scale and the Beliefs about Dietary Compliance Scale. METHODS: The Beliefs about Medication Compliance Scale and the Beliefs about Dietary Compliance Scale are instruments we developed specifically to measure beliefs about compliance with behaviors that affect sodium retention in persons with HF. The scales, based on the Health Belief Model, were designed from a review of literature and from self-reports of people with HF. A convenience sample of 101 people with HF completed the scales. RESULTS: Internal consistency reliability was satisfactory. Factor analysis provided initial support for construct validity of the scales. CONCLUSIONS: Future testing of the scales is needed in more diverse populations. The scales can then be used to test interventions tailored to individual subjects' beliefs about compliance.
Adult↗
Cost of hospitalizations for heart failure: sodium retention versus other decompensating factors.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the cost of heart failure-related hospital admissions and to compare the cost of admissions for sodium retention with the cost of admissions for other decompensating factors. DESIGN: Retrospective, non-experimental, cost analysis. SETTING: Midwestern university-affiliated, tertiary care, medical center. SAMPLE: Two hundred seven heart failure-related admissions, 117 (57%) of which were for sodium retention leading to volume overload. OUTCOME MEASURES: Cost of hospitalization. PROCEDURE: Data obtained from the patient and financial records of patients hospitalized for heart failure in 1992 were analyzed using the ratio of cost-to-charge accounting procedure. RESULTS: The total cost was $2,442,720 for the 207 heart failure-related admissions; the average cost was $12,400 per admission. Approximately half of the cost of the hospitalizations was expended in the 4 cost centers comprising routine and critical care services, which incorporate room charges and nursing care. Another one third of the cost was for supplies, medications, and laboratory tests. Admissions as a result of sodium retention had lower costs than admissions as a result of other factors. CONCLUSION: The cost of hospitalization for heart failure is high. Routine services, supplies, medications, and laboratory tests used by these patients contribute to the high cost of care. Improved outpatient management strategies are necessary to reduce hospital admissions as a result of sodium retention.
Adult↗
Reliability and validity of the compliance belief scales among patients with heart failure.
BACKGROUND: Lack of medication and dietary compliance leads to troublesome symptoms and hospitalization in patients with heart failure. Compliance behaviors are influenced by beliefs about the behavior. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Beliefs about Medication Compliance Scale (BMCS) and the Beliefs about Dietary Compliance Scale (BDCS) among patients with heart failure. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: This study's theoretical framework is the Health Belief Model. METHODS: A convenience sample of 234 patients with heart failure completed the BMCS and the BDCS. Patients completed the scales at baseline by face-to-face interviews and at 8 and 52 weeks after baseline by telephone interview. RESULTS: Construct validity of the scales was supported by confirmatory factor analysis. Both the BMCS and the BDCS had benefits and barriers scales with clear factor loadings. The internal consistency reliability estimates of the scales ranged from.63 to.88, with the BMCS having some estimates lower than.70. The test-retest reliability estimates ranged from.07 to.57. The intraclass correlation coefficient estimates were higher between the 8-week and 52-week scores for all scales. Possible reasons for the varying estimates are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: The BMCS and the BDCS have documented reliability and validity. Future work should be directed at evaluating the responsiveness of the scales to changing patient conditions and testing interventions to improve medication and dietary compliance through changing beliefs.
Adult↗
Quality of life in women with heart failure.
Persons with heart failure (HF) experience impaired quality of life (QOL). However, the majority of research conducted on QOL in persons with HF has been with men. The purpose of this descriptive pilot study was to describe the impact of symptoms of HF and examine the relationships among symptom impact, perceived health status, perceived social support, and overall QOL in 30 women who had recently been hospitalized for HF. The women reported high physical symptom impact, poor perceived physical health status, and impaired QOL. Physical symptom impact, perceived physical health status, and QOL were moderately to highly correlated with one another. Perceived social support was significantly, though not strongly, correlated with physical symptom impact. Emotional symptom impact and mental health status were significantly and negatively correlated with each other but were not significantly correlated with QOL. In this group of 30 chronically ill women, QOL was lower in those women who reported greater physical symptom impact and poorer perceptions of their physical health status.
Adult↗
Development of an instrument to measure threat related to cardiac events.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Cardiac Event Threat Questionnaire (CTQ). The CTQ is a 31-item instrument specific for cardiac events that was developed from a literature review and self-reports of persons who had experienced a recent cardiac event. A convenience sample (N = 270) of persons hospitalized for angina, myocardial infarction, or cardiac surgery completed the CTQ. Satisfactory internal consistency and test-retest reliabilities were found. Results of confirmatory factor analysis and correlation with the Profile of Mood States provide initial support for construct validity of the CTQ.
Activities of Daily Living↗
Self-care strategies for symptom management in patients with chronic heart failure.
BACKGROUND: The troublesome symptoms experienced by patients with chronic heart failure are associated with diminished quality of life, frequent hospitalizations, and mortality. OBJECTIVES: To describe the symptoms experienced by patients with heart failure, to detail the self-care strategies used by these patients in managing their symptoms, and to categorize the self-care strategies. METHODS: Six focus groups were used with 23 patients who had heart failure, along with six focus groups with 18 family members of the patients. Data analysis was performed by transcription of audiotape recordings of the group sessions and review of field notes. RESULTS: The patients reported a large number of troublesome symptoms, many consistent with past empirical findings, but some not reported in previous studies. Self-care strategies to manage the symptoms clustered into 11 categories. CONCLUSIONS: Results from this study provided direction for future studies to (a) identify the prevalence, severity, and etiologies of the commonly reported symptoms, particularly cognitive impairment, loss of balance, and depression; (b) evaluate the emotions reported by women with heart failure; and (c) test the strategies as part of an intervention program to improve symptom management in patients with heart failure.
Chronic Disease↗
Seeking-out behavior: criterion for success in clinical learning experiences.
Seeking-out behavior, defined as a collective group of behaviors practiced by the nursing student when planning and implementing care for clients, is proposed as the successful criterion for clinical learning experiences. The author describes relevant attributes and implications of seeking-out behavior. A model of clinical teaching is proposed in which seeking-out behavior is a key concept. The model is evaluated using Fawcett's criteria of pragmatic adequacy.
Clinical Competence↗
Perceived threats of individuals recovering from myocardial infarction.
Lazarus' phenomenological theory of stress and coping provided the basis for this descriptive study of perceived threats after myocardial infarction (MI). Sixty-four post-MI subjects enrolled in phase II cardiac rehabilitation programs identified threats they had experienced in the past month. Perceived threats were defined as situations that were difficult or troubling to the individual and were described by respondents in narrative form. Degree of threat was then measured by one item on which subjects indicated the degree of concern the threatening event had caused them. Responses to the one item were analyzed and categorized into the following five areas: physical problems; medical therapy/self-care; work/physical activity; interpersonal/family; and financial. The results provide an overview of the multiple concerns individuals deal with after a major life-threatening cardiac event.
Adaptation, Psychological↗
Pericarditis. Nursing care makes the difference.
Nursing care of the patient with pericarditis, a commonly seen syndrome in the clinical setting, is discussed in this article. Pericarditis is particularly prevalent in the patient following myocardial infarction. Astute nursing assessment is described. Goals of nursing care include management of pain, maintenance of adequate cardiac output, and provision of support to manage anxiety and fear. Interventions to meet the goals, as well as outcome criteria, are identified.
Humans↗
Blending the entrepreneurial and faculty roles.
A changing health care system makes this an opportune time for nursing faculty to use their expertise to improve the public's health care. The author explores the benefits to the individual, the profession, the university, and the health care system of merging the entrepreneurial philosophy and role with the traditional nurse faculty role.
Economics, Nursing↗