The mindful nurse leader: Key take-away: Go slow before you go fast.

The first and second articles in this three-part series on mindfulness described the production of the video "In the Moment: Stories of Mindfulness in Nursing" as part of the authors' Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellowship program. In this final installment, we discuss our leadership approaches and lessons learned, both as a team and individuals.

The mindful nurse leader: Advancing executive nurse leadership skills through participation in action learning.

In this second installment of a three-part series on mindfulness, we describe the process of producing video vignettes to illustrate how clinical nurses draw on the power of mindfulness to build their own resiliency while delivering compassionate care.

The mindful nurse leader: Improving processes and outcomes; restoring joy to nursing.

In this first installment of a three-part series on mindfulness, we describe a dynamic project aimed at elevating the importance of mindfulness, compassion, and presence as key competencies for professional nurses across the career span in all healthcare settings.

Allied mental health referral. Trends in the Adelaide Hills Division of General Practice.

BACKGROUND: Referrals to allied health professionals as part of Access To Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) and More Allied Health Services (MAHS) at the Adelaide Hills Division of General Practice were examined to gain insight into the characteristics of referred patients and the characteristics of referring general practitioners. METHODS: Data held by the division for the two allied mental health programs was extracted for the period July 2001 to December 2005. The analysis identified characteristics of patients and GPs that were associated with referrals to each program. RESULTS: One hundred and sixteen GPs made 2451 referrals. Female patients accounted for 72% of referrals. Men were more likely to be referred to MAHS than women, and were more likely to be referred by a male GP. Mean Kessler Psychological Distress Scale scores were 31.3 for ATAPS and 27.7 for MAHS referred patients. DISCUSSION: This study identified significant trends in the use of these programs. Further research is needed to understand factors driving these trends.

Measuring disability with parsimony: evidence for the utility of a single item.

PURPOSE: To provide evidence for the utility of a single item measure designed to quantify disability in the past 30 days. METHOD: Australian data from studies comprising a community-dwelling elderly sample (N = 328) and a sample of chronic osteoarthritis (OA) patients (N = 119) are reported. Degree of disability was classified as 0-30 days, 0 vs. 1 or more days, and 0-9 vs. 10 or more days. Associations between disability and a range of demographic, health-related, and psychological variables were assessed. RESULTS: Participants with OA reported a significantly higher level of disability than participants from the community sample regardless of how disability was classified. Modest levels of association were noted between the number of disability days (0-30) and both health and psychological indices in both samples. The three alternative classifications of disability made little difference to the significance of associations. On balance, the comparison of 0-9 vs. 10 or more days appeared the more predictive classification of disability. CONCLUSIONS: The performance of the single item measure of disability was generally very satisfactory. Future investigations into the clinical application of the item across a range of patient groups are encouraged.

Early intervention screening for family caregivers of older relatives in primary care practices: establishing a community health service alliance in rural America.

The Maine Primary Partners in Caregiving project provides a prime example of how disparate community health, social service, and higher education institutions can build a successful rural service alliance for the purposes of screening for family members experiencing stress during the provision of care to impaired older relatives. Community primary care practices are featured as prime sites for the early identification of elder caregivers experiencing stress and burden. Initial project results and implementation challenges as well as recommended strategies for nurturing such community partnerships are presented.

Risk-mitigating beliefs, risk estimates, and self-reported speeding in a sample of Australian drivers.

PROBLEM: Research suggests that people who engage in risk-taking behaviors often hold specific beliefs that can mitigate or reduce their perceptions of risk associated with those behaviors. METHOD: A scale was developed (Speeding Risk Belief Scale (SRBS)) to assess beliefs about speeding-related risk and predict self-reported speeding in a random-digit telephone survey of 800 South Australian drivers between the ages of 16 and 50. RESULTS: The scale was internally consistent, and path analyses showed it to be associated with self-reported speeding, both directly and indirectly through participants' estimates of speeding-related risk. DISCUSSION: Origins of risk-mitigating beliefs and the extent to which they may be causally linked with speeding are discussed, and recommendations are made for future research. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: This research has strong implications for the conduct of countermeasure campaigns that disseminate information on speeding-related risk.