Measuring Health: A Guide to Rating Scales and Questionnaires

Committee for assessing progress on implementing the recommendations of the institute of medicine report the future of nursing: leading change, advancing health

Obesity and the risk of heart failure

This article reviews the growing body of research on clinical judgment in nursing and presents an alternative model of clinical judgment based on these studies. Based on a review of nearly 200 studies, five conclusions can be drawn: (1) Clinical judgments are more influenced by what nurses bring to the situation than the objective data about the situation at hand; (2) Sound clinical judgment rests to some degree on knowing the patient and his or her typical pattern of responses, as well as an engagement with the patient and his or her concerns; (3) Clinical judgments are influenced by the context in which the situation occurs and the culture of the nursing care unit; (4) Nurses use a variety of reasoning patterns alone or in combination; and (5) Reflection on practice is often triggered by a breakdown in clinical judgment and is critical for the development of clinical knowledge and improvement in clinical reasoning. A model based on these general conclusions emphasizes the role of nurses' background, the context of the situation, and nurses' relationship with their patients as central to what nurses notice and how they interpret findings, respond, and reflect on their response.

Thinking like a nurse: a research-based model of clinical judgment in nursing.

Qualitative research may be able to provide an answer as to why adults and children do or do not participate in sport and physical activity. This paper systematically examines published and unpublished qualitative research studies of UK children's and adults' reasons for participation and non-participation in sport and physical activity. The review covers peer reviewed and gray literature from 1990 to 2004. Papers were entered into review if they: aimed to explore the participants' experiences of sport and physical activity and reasons for participation or non-participation in sport and physical activity, collected information on participants who lived in the United Kingdom and presented data collected using qualitative methods. From >1200 papers identified in the initial search, 24 papers met all inclusion criteria. The majority of these reported research with young people based in community settings. Weight management, social interaction and enjoyment were common reasons for participation in sport and physical activity. Concerns about maintaining a slim body shape motivated participation among young girls. Older people identified the importance of sport and physical activity in staving off the effects of aging and providing a social support network. Challenges to identity such as having to show others an unfit body, lacking confidence and competence in core skills or appearing overly masculine were barriers to participation.

Understanding participation in sport and physical activity among children and adults: a review of qualitative studies

As an essential component of nursing practice, clinical reasoning is used to assimilate information, analyze data, and make decisions regarding patient care. Little is known about the reasoning strategies of experienced nurses who are not yet experts. This qualitative descriptive study explored the cognitive strategies used by experienced nurses as they considered assessment findings of assigned patients. To date, few studies of nurses' clinical reasoning have been conducted in a practice setting during actual patient care. A small group research design was employed using the think-aloud (TA) method with protocol analysis. A total of 15 experienced nurses were asked to "think aloud" about patient assessment findings. Data were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using the three steps of protocol analysis. The results suggest that experienced nurses used a conceptual language to reason about assessment findings and used heuristics to reason more quickly and efficiently.

Clinical reasoning in experienced nurses.

Single subject research.

Relationship between soft tissue body composition and bone mass in perimenopausal women.

Our purpose in conducting this study was to examine the relationship between physical activity and symptoms associated with perimenopause. A group of 214 perimenopausal women aged 40-55 years (mean=47 years) completed the Women's Health Assessment Scale (assesses symptoms associated with perimenopause: vasomotor, psychosomatic, menstrual, and sexual symptoms) and the physical activity questionnaire. These women were categorized into three groups based on their levels of physical activity: inactive, relatively active, and active. Analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed significant differences between groups in frequency and distress of overall symp toms associated with (perimenopause F=8.86, p=.00, F=6.25, p=.00, respectively). Further analyses indicated that relatively active and active women had significantly fewer and less distressful (psychosomatic symptoms F=8.05, p=.00, F=5.80, p=.00, respectively), such as irritability, forgetfulness, and headache as well as fewer and less distressful sexual sympto...

Karyn Holm

Papers

Clinical reasoning in experienced nurses.

Single subject research.

Relationship between soft tissue body composition and bone mass in perimenopausal women.

The relationship between physical activity and perimenopause.

The coronary artery bypass experience: gender differences