Health literacy has been associated with health-related knowledge and patient comprehension. This systematic review updates a 2004 review and found 96 eligible studies that suggest that low health ...

Low Health Literacy and Health Outcomes: An Updated Systematic Review

Aim. To outline the key concepts and principles of the Delphi technique.

Methods. Reference is made to a selection of studies that illustrate a variety of methodological interpretations. Drawing on Heshusius's concept of ‘goodness criteria’, particular emphasis is given to the question of scientific merit and means of evaluation.

Conclusion. Although the technique should be used with caution, it appears to be an established method of harnessing the opinions of an often diverse group of experts on practice-related problems.

https://rachel.org/files/document/The_Delphi_Technique_Myths_and_Realities.pdf

The Delphi technique: myths and realities.

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

Management of postoperative pain: A clinical practice guideline from the american pain society, the american society of regional anesthesia and pain medicine, and the american society of anesthesiologists' committee on regional anesthesia, executive committee, and administrative council.

Conventional reviews of research on the efficacy of psychological, educational, and behavioral treatments often find considerable variation in outcome among studies and, as a consequence, fail to reach firm conclusions about the overall effectiveness of the interventions in question. In contrast meta-analytic reviews show a strong, dramatic pattern of positive overall effects that cannot readily be explained as artifacts of meta-analytic technique or generalized placebo effects. Moreover, the effects are not so small that they can be dismissed as lacking practical or clinical significance. Although meta-analysis has limitations, there are good reasons to believe that its results are more credible than those of conventional reviews and to conclude that well-developed psychological, educational, and behavioral treatment is generally efficacious.

The efficacy of psychological, educational, and behavioral treatment. Confirmation from meta-analysis.

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between work satisfaction, stress, age, cohesion, work schedule, and anticipated turnover in an academic medical center.Background DataNurse turnover is a costly problem that will continue as healthcare faces the impending nursing

Factors influencing satisfaction and anticipated turnover for nurses in an academic medical center.

Background High levels of stress and the challenges of meeting the complex needs of critically ill children and their families can threaten job satisfaction and cause turnover in nurses. Objective To explore the influences of nurses' attributes, unit characteristics, and elements of the work environment on the job satisfaction of nurses in pediatric critical care units and to determine stressors that are unique to nurses working in pediatric critical care. Method A cross-sectional survey design was used. The sample consisted of 1973 staff nurses in pediatric critical care units in 65 institutions in the United States and Canada. The following variables were measured: nurses' perceptions of group cohesion, job stress, nurse-physician collaboration, nursing leadership, professional job satisfaction, and organizational work satisfaction. Results Significant associations (r = -0.37 to r = -0.56) were found between job stress and group cohesion, professional job satisfaction, nurse-physician collaboration, nursing leadership behaviors, and organizational work satisfaction. Organizational work satisfaction was positively correlated (r = 0.35 to r = 0.56) with group cohesion, professional job satisfaction, nurse-physician collaboration, and nursing leadership behaviors. Job stress, group cohesion, job satisfaction, nurse-physician collaboration, and nursing leadership behaviors explained 52% of the variance in organizational work satisfaction. Dealing with patients' families was the most frequently cited job stressor. Conclusions Job stress and nursing leadership are the most influential variables in the explanation of job satisfaction. Retention efforts targeted toward management strategies that empower staff to provide quality care along with focal interventions related to the diminishment of stress caused by nurse-family interactions are warranted.

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Influence of stress and nursing leadership on job satisfaction of pediatric intensive care unit nurses

This un-blinded experimental study investigated the effectiveness of imagery, in addition to routine analgesics, in reducing tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy pain and anxiety after ambulatory surgery (AS) and at home. Seventy-three children, aged 7–12, were recruited from five AS settings. Thirty-six children randomly assigned to the treatment group watched a professionally developed videotape on the use of imagery and then listened to a 30-min audio tape of imagery approximately 1 week prior to surgery (T1). They listened to only the audio tape 1–4 h after surgery (T2), and 22–27 h after discharge from AS (T3). The 37 children in the attention-control group received standard care. Pain and anxiety were measured at each time-point in both groups. Measures of sensory pain were the Oucher and amount of analgesics used in AS and home; affective pain was measured with the Facial Affective Scale (FAS). Anxiety was measured using the State Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC). When controlling for trait anxiety and opioid and non-opioid intake 1–4 h before the pain measures, MANCOVA showed significantly lower pain and anxiety in the treatment group at T2, but not at T3. When controlling for trait anxiety, a two-way RM MANCOVA indicated no significant group differences in combined opioid and non-opioid use between the groups, or between times. Appropriately trained health care providers should use imagery to reduce post-operative pain following tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy in AS. Teaching parents about adequate home administration of analgesics may increase the effectiveness of imagery at home.

Imagery reduces children's post-operative pain.

Effective Weight Loss for Overweight Children: A Meta-Analysis of Intervention Studies

Purpose: To identify and discuss retention strategies and their effectiveness in communitybased clinical trials in the last decade.



Methods: Online and hand searches for reports for the period 1990–1999. A total of 87 reports on 64 different trials were found; 21 of these published reports included a description of both retention strategies and outcomes. These studies, rank-ordered on participant retention, were compared.



Findings: Despite differences in study populations, interventions, and endpoints, community-based trials with the highest retention rates included a combination of retention strategies.



Conclusions: As more funding agencies emphasize clinical trials, more investigators will be held accountable for credible and generalizable findings based on retaining the projected number of study participants. The small number of published reports for the decade that identified both retention strategies and outcomes substantiates the need to better document these factors in future research reports.

Marion E. Broome

Papers

Factors influencing satisfaction and anticipated turnover for nurses in an academic medical center.

Influence of stress and nursing leadership on job satisfaction of pediatric intensive care unit nurses

Imagery reduces children's post-operative pain.

Effective Weight Loss for Overweight Children: A Meta-Analysis of Intervention Studies

Maximizing retention in community-based clinical trials.