Sigma Theta Research Articles

Innovative Ways to Promote Recruitment, Retention, Collegiality, and Professionalism Using Continuing Education Plans

Technological advances in health care, coupled with the crisis of a nursing shortage, make recruitment and retention of well-educated nurses a key factor for the viability and growth of any healthcare organization. In the past, symbiotic alliances have been formed solely between healthcare organizations and nurses. Professional nursing organizations were rarely involved in the alliance. Using the Magnet Recognition Program, one local chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International has found a way to unite nurses, healthcare organizations, and professional nursing organizations to encourage nursing education, promote positive patient outcomes, and help find a solution to the problem.

Policy Perspectives of Major Nursing Organizations, Part II

Understanding the roles of interest groups is an important element of examining policy change. There are a number of interest groups that affect the policy environment for nursing and that shape the profession's impact on health policy. This article, the second of a two-part series, presents interviews with executive directors and chief executive officers of major nursing organizations about their organizations' policy priorities and policy-related activities. Included in this article are the American Organization of Nurse Executives, the National League for Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International, and the National Black Nurses Association.

We Need to Talk. Where Is the Mental Health in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing?

We have created a new column that will focus on the state of psychiatric nursing around the world and on the increasingly important need for all of us, the family of psychiatric nurses, to begin to explore more deeply, and strengthen in more focused ways, the ties that bind all of us. We begin with an article that presents an international perspective on psychiatric illness and mental health promotion and ends by identifying common concerns often shared by the world's psychiatric nurses. Susan McCabe has a unique ability to blend the hard-core facts with a compassionate and intelligent point of view that is compelling and understandable. She is currently an associate professor at the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing, University of Wyoming. She is an international speaker who presented at many international venues including the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Research Conference in the Virgin Islands in 2003 and the International Conference for Mental Health Nurses in Malta in 2002, a gathering that explored and discussed global issues of mental illness and psychiatric nursing. She is also frequently a keynote speaker or presenter at numerous psychiatric nursing conferences and has published extensively in several refereed journals and book chapters. She has expressed a deep desire for other psychiatric nurses to add their voices to hers and to comment and dialogue about our practice lives via the journal.

Comparison of some sigma schemes for estimation of air pollutant dispersion in moderate and low winds

AbstractOne of the most important parameters in plume dispersion modeling is the plume growth (dispersion coefficients σ). Different models for estimating dispersion parameters are discussed to establish the relative importance of one over the others. Comparisons were made between power law functions, standard, split sigma and split sigma theta methods. We use the double Gaussian expression for calculating concentration in this comparison. The results show that, with low wind speed (<2 m/s), split sigma and split sigma theta methods give much better results than other methods, while, with wind speed greater than 2 m/s, the power law function methods give more plausible results. Copyright © 2005 Royal Meteorological Society

We Need to Talk. Uniting the Family of Psychiatric Nurses: Commonalities and Divergences in the Nursing Lives We Lead

We have created a new column that will focus on the state of psychiatric nursing around the world and on the increasingly important need for all of us, the family of psychiatric nurses, to begin to explore more deeply, and strengthen in more focused ways, the ties that bind all of us. We begin with an article that presents an international perspective on psychiatric illness and mental health promotion and ends by identifying common concerns often shared by the world's psychiatric nurses. Susan McCabe has a unique ability to blend the hard-core facts with a compassionate and intelligent point of view that is compelling and understandable. She is currently an associate professor at the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing, University of Wyoming. She is an international speaker who presented at many international venues including the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Research Conference in the Virgin Islands in 2003 and the International Conference for Mental Health Nurses in Malta in 2002, a gathering that explored and discussed global issues of mental illness and psychiatric nursing. She is also frequently a keynote speaker or presenter at numerous psychiatric nursing conferences and has published extensively in several refereed journals and book chapters. She has expressed a deep desire for other psychiatric nurses to add their voices to hers and to comment and dialogue about our practice lives via the journal.

Evidence-based quality improvement project for determining appropriate discontinuation of peripheral intravenous cannulas

In 2003, the Honour Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International and Nursing Spectrum sponsored an “Innovations in Clinical Excellence” contest to recognise exemplars of evidence-based nursing practice. The following...

An Educator's Journal: Spring and Summer 2004

This is the inaugural piece in a three-part series that will chronicle the service learning aspects of a teaching experiment. It not originally conceived as a service-learning or public scholarship project. I am a service learning novice. By sharing my interest in attempting teaching methods that are new to me and opening my thinking and my experiences to the public, I hope that this series will provide insight into the nuts and bolts issues of conceiving and delivering an experientially based educational project that serves learners and the communities they are a part of. I backed into this. In the interest of full disclosure, I should note that my motives were not completely altruistic. I didn't know a lot about service learning when I began. That is changing. I suppose I should begin at the beginning. I settling in to my new position at the University of Arkansas and began to hunt for ways to connect my interests to school and college initiatives. I in video production prior to earning a doctorate in mass communication. It something that I had always enjoyed. Several colleagues in the College of Professional Studies, my academic home, have interests in health communication and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) had just opened its new School of Public Health. My dean and the director of our school were eager to forge an alliance with Public Health, sensing an opportunity to collaborate in interdisciplinary research, grant-writing, and teaching. The new chancellor and the new provost were interested in strengthening ties to the community through community engagement. To encourage this, the provost provides financial incentives under the heading of the Community-University Partnership (CUP) Grants program. I had thought about, but never begun, a project to deliver health and wellness information to teenagers via television and the Web. Now, the School of Mass Communication interested in strengthening ties to local high schools and already had other outreach efforts underway. The puzzle pieces seemed to be in place. Finally, and serendipitously, my wife employed by the high school housing the multi-media magnet program for our school district. The convergence of these factors led me to apply for a CUP Grant. I proposed a partnership among the School of Mass Communication, the UAMS School of Public Health, and McClellan High School to produce three public service announcements to promote good nutrition and wellness habits to the youth of Little Rock. We would use the students at the Multi-media Magnet Program at McClellan as creative consultants and production crew to produce the PSAs. The logic behind this was that these students would be close to the target audience and therefore speak their language in ways that would lend credibility. The longterm goal would be to foster an on-going relationship among the UALR School of Mass Communication, the UAMS School of Public Health, and McClellan High School that could provide a steady stream of health-related PSAs aimed at Arkansas youth. After several pitches to various entities, including colleagues within the School of Mass Communication, members of the African-American service sorority Delta Sigma Theta, UMAS School of Public Health, and my wife's colleagues at McClellan High School, I able to cobble together a coalition of organizations in support of the proposal. We received $5,000 in July of 2004 to support the project. I began next to communicate with the lead teacher at McClellan, Ms. Nancy Settle. I had met Ms. Settle several months earlier and eager to work with her. Her motives for becoming involved were as mixed as mine, but at the very forefront the care she had for her students. Ms. Settle had been a facilitator for EAST, Environmental and Spatial Technology, an organization that provides an exponentially based educational program and computer technology for middle and high schools nationwide. …

An evidence-based approach to reducing bed rest in the invasive cardiology patient population

In 2003, the Honour Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International and Nursing Spectrum sponsored an “Innovations in Clinical Excellence” contest to recognise exemplars of evidence-based nursing practice. The following...

Side Steps to Publication

After you have prepared an inservice presentation, a term paper, or a project, you often have the building blocks for a publishable paper. You have organized the content and done the research--now you need to translate your paper or oral presentation into the journal format. This experienced author offers tips for successfully building your article on this foundation.

The influence of hemodynamics and wall biomechanics on the thrombogenicity of vein segments perfused in vitro1

This study addresses the hypothesis that exposure to peripheral arterial (ART) or coronary (COR) hemodynamics and wall biomechanics affect platelet deposition on vein segments. Intact human saphenous vein (HSV) and porcine internal jugular vein (PIJV) segments were studied under venous (VEN), ART, and COR environments using in vitro perfusion systems. Wall shear stress (tau) and circumferential wall stress (sigma(theta)) were calculated for PIJV segments. Platelet deposition was measured using a radioactive assay. PIJV ART segments exhibited a 14% increase in inner diameter over time (P < 0.05). tau, acting on PIJV ART specimens, was less at 6 h compared with time 0 (P < 0.05). sigma(theta) was lower in the VEN specimens compared with ART and COR groups (P < 0.01). Platelet deposition decreased by 40% on PIJV ART segments (P < 0.05) but increased 3.2-fold on PIJV COR segments (P < 0.05) versus VEN control segments. Platelet deposition was increased 1.75-fold in COR HSV cases versus VEN segments. These data indicate that short-term exposure to COR conditions lead to enhanced platelet deposition, whereas ART conditions decrease platelet deposition.

Search for ${\rm\Theta}(1540)^ + $ in the exclusive proton-induced reaction ${\rm p + {C(N)\to \Theta^ + \bar{K}^0 + {C}(N)}}$ at the energy of 70 GeV

A search for narrow Theta(1540)^+, a candidate for pentaquark baryon with positive strangeness, has been performed in an exclusive proton-induced reaction p+C(N) \to Theta^+ \bar{K}^0 + C(N) on carbon nuclei or quasifree nucleons at E_{beam}=70 GeV (sqrt{s} = 11.5 GeV) studying nK^+, pK_S and pK_L decay channels of Theta(1540)^+ in four different final states of the Theta^+ \bar{K}^0 system. In order to assess the quality of the identification of the final states with neutron or K_L we reconstructed Lambda(1520)\to nK_S and phi\to K_LK_S decays in the calibration reactions p+C(N)\to Lambda(1520)K^+ + C(N) and p+C(N)\to p\phi + C(N). We found no evidence for narrow pentaquark peak in any of the studied final states and decay channels. Assuming that the production characteristics of the Theta^+ \bar{K^0} system are not drastically different from those of the Lambda(1520)K^+ and p\phi systems, we established upper limits on the cross section ratios sigma(Theta^+\bar{K}^0)/sigma(Lambda(1520)K^+) < 0.02 and sigma(Theta^+\bar{K}^0)/sigma(p\phi) < 0.15 at 90% CL and a preliminary upper limit for the forward hemisphere cross section sigma(Theta^+\bar{K}^0) < 30 nb/nucleon.

Editorial

Editorial

Working paper on grand challenges in improving global health.

In the Fourth Quarter 2003 issue I asked readers to send contributions for the international nurses list of grand challenges in improving global health. Although responses were few the list below is informative and revealing both in its content and in comparison to the list of grand challenges identified in an extensive effort sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Cancer Institute (available at http://www.grandchallengesgh.org/). Differences in these lists do not constitute contradictions nor do they imply that any items are wrong. Instead the two sets of grand challenges indicate the vast and complex needs in improving global health and the necessity of focusing efforts on a multitude of conditions underlying health and illness. This list is focused only on health and health care needs not on challenges pertaining to nurses other personnel or resources. Global challenges for nursing were identified in an extensive effort sponsored by Sigma Theta Tau International (Dickenson-Hazard 2004). The list below includes additional information that can be used in conjunction with other reports to focus energies toward improving health. (excerpt)

Global health issues and challenges.

To describe issues, challenges and potential strategies in achieving nursing's global preferred future, focused on promoting healthy communities worldwide. Three sets of Arista conferences, a total of 7 conferences, were sponsored by Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. Arista2 and Arista3--the focus of this report--were held in different world regions. A total of 109 invited multi-disciplinary participants identified conditions that affect nursing and health care, strategic actions to address those conditions, and recommendations for the nursing profession. Reports from each conference are synthesized in this executive summary. Both common and unique themes were identified in various world regions. Key components of the preferred future were professional restructuring and the delivery of holistic, human, and culturally appropriate care. Participants in all regional conferences recommended strategic actions regarding: student-centered educational systems, environments in which nurses practice, the way nurses lead, the knowledge nurses need, the settings in which nurses work, the conditions under which the profession operates, the influence of nurses, and the ways nurses learn.

Spiritual perspectives of nurses in the United States relevant for education and practice.

The purpose of the current study was to describe nurses' spiritual perspectives as they relate to education and practice. A multiple triangulation research design encompassing a questionnaire and a descriptive qualitative content analysis were used with the purpose of capturing a more complete, holistic, and contextual description of nurses' spiritual perspectives. Multiple triangulation included two data sources, two methodological approaches, and nine investigators. Using survey methods, Reed's Spiritual Perspective Scale (SPS) was sent to 1,000 members of Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society (STTI). Results support Reed's premise that spirituality permeates one's life. Regardless of gender, participants with a religious affiliation had significantly higher SPS scores than those without one. Nurses having a spiritual base use it in practice. Six themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: Nurses perceive spirituality as strength, guidance, connectedness, a belief system, as promoting health, and supporting practice. The integration of spirituality in nursing curriculums can facilitate spiritual care.

Thomas M. Smith on Virginia Commonwealth University's Patient Safety Fellowship. Interview by Michelle Horvath and Pamela Scarrow.

Following his clinical nursing career that included adult and pediatric intensive care, cardio-thoracic surgical, education, teaching, consulting, and management, Thomas M. Smith moved into the utilization management and quality improvement field. Currently, he is director of operations and education for The American Health Quality Association (AHQA), based in Washington, DC. AHQA represents Quality Improvement Organizations and professions working to improve healthcare quality and patient safety. At the time of this interview, he was director of Virginia operations for the West Virginia Medical Institute (WVMI), Inc., Richmond, VA. Smith is the immediate past president of the Virginia Association for Healthcare Quality, serving on the board of directors for 6 years. His other appointments include a seat on the School Health Advisory Board for Hanover County and Virginia's Improving Patient Care & Safety, as well as his appointment to the Governor's Task Force for the Evaluation and Monitoring of the Comprehensive Services Act by the Commonwealth of Virginia Secretary for Health and Human Services. He also currently serves as the cochair for the NAHQ Conference Planning Team. Smith received his MA degree in administration/education from West Virginia University, Morgantown, and his BSN in nursing/biology from West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon. A member of Sigma Theta Tau and Omicron Delta Kappa, he is a certified professional in healthcare quality. He completed his executive fellowship in patient safety from Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, in May 2003.

Water exchange between the subpolar and subtropical North Pacific in an OGCM

The water exchange between the subpolar and subtropical gyres of the North Pacific is demonstrated by the simulation of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) using an ocean general circulation model. The simulated CFC concentration in the North Pacific is in good agreement with observations. The water exchange is clearly illustrated by the tongues of CFC concentration. The subpolar waters with high CFC are transported southward into the eastern subtropical gyre, whereas the subtropical waters with low CFC are transported northward into the western subpolar gyre. The simulated exchange transport along 42degreesN in the layer of sigma(theta)< 26.8 indicates that the northward mass transport is about 15 Sv (1 Sv = 10(6) m(3) . s(-1)) west of 165DE, and about 5 Sv between 175DW and 150DW The southward mass transport is about 5 Sv between 165DE and 175DW, and about 2 Sv east of 150DW.

Therapeutic touch for healing acute wounds.

Therapeutic Touch (TT) as a treatment modality has increased in popularity over the past two decades. Its efficacy in relation to the healing of wounds has been expounded in anecdotal publications. To date however there has been no systematic review. To identify and review all relevant data to determine the effectiveness of TT in the promotion of wound healing. The Cochrane Wounds Group Specialised Trials Register and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched in May 2003. The Cochrane Complementary Medicine field database was searched in September 2002. In addition the Sigma Theta Tau International Registry of Nursing Research (1983 to 2002) was also searched in September 2002. Furthermore searches of MEDLINE (1966 to 2003) were conducted in 1997 and May 2003, CINAHL (1982 to 2002) in September 2002 and dissertation abstracts in September 2002. All randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials, which compared the effect of TT with a placebo, another treatment, or no treatment control were considered. Studies which used TT as a stand-alone treatment, or as an adjunct to other therapies, were eligible. One reviewer (DO) determined the eligibility for inclusion of all trials. Both reviewers conducted data extraction and evaluation of each trial's quality independently. Each trial was analysed based on predetermined criteria and a narrative of each trial's main conclusions was produced. Four trials in people with experimental wounds were eligible for inclusion. The effect of TT on wound healing in these studies was variable. Two of the studies (n = 44 & 24) demonstrated a significant effect of TT. However the results of the two other trials favoured the control group (n = 15 & 38), one of these trials demonstrated a significant effect in favour of the control group. There is insufficient evidence that TT promotes healing of acute wounds.

Spiritual care activities of nurses using Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) labels.

To describe the spiritual care activities of nurses as subsequently identified in the Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) labels. Data were taken from a larger study that used a multiple triangulation research design to describe spiritual perspectives, interventions, and attitudes of 1,000 Sigma Theta Tau International members. Data analysis included descriptive and multivariate statistics for quantitative items, and content analysis for responses to questions. 97 respondents reported providing 32 spiritual care activities. Ten NIC labels actually mapped the nurses' spiritual care activities. Spiritual care activities involve a broad spectrum of interventions that may be unique to each patient. The 32 spiritual care activities described by the nurses provide new knowledge regarding core spiritual care activities. The use of NIC labels can facilitate documentation of spiritual care activities in diverse practice settings. This study supports greater specificity in describing spiritual care interventions to a level that allows replication and advancement of knowledge.

Interview with a quality leader. Linda Aiken on the healthcare industry and workplace issues. Interview by Susan V. White and Colleen J. Hewes.

Linda Aiken, PhD MSN, is director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research and The Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor of Nursing and Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Dr. Aiken's other appointments at the University of Pennsylvania include senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics and research associate in the Population Studies Center. Before joining the University of Pennsylvania faculty in 1988, Dr. Aiken served as vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the National Academy of Social Insurance, a former president of the American Academy of Nursing, a distinguished fellow of the Academy for Health Services Research and Health Policy (now AcademyHealth), and a member of the Council on the Economic Impact of Health System Change. Dr. Aiken served on the Medicare Physician Payment Review Commission for 6 years and was a member of the 1982 Social Security Advisory Council and of President Clinton's National Health Reform Task Force. Her recent work, for which she received the Sigma Theta Tau International Clinical Research Award in 1999, has focused on accounting for variation in hospital patient outcomes in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Dr. Aiken received her bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing from the University of Florida, Gainesville, and her doctorate in sociology and demography from the University of Texas at Austin.