Seafood poisoning.

ABSTRACT: Seafood poisoning is common worldwide but is relatively unknown by clinicians and the general public and can be confused with other causes. This article discusses two common seafood poisoning cases-ciguatera and scombroid poisoning-and offers recommended nursing considerations.

Tick-borne diseases in the US.

ABSTRACT: Cases of tick-borne diseases have been increasing, largely due to greater suburban development, which leads to more encounters with ticks, and changing climate patterns. This article reviews the most common tick-borne illnesses in the US. An overview of etiology, assessment findings, and treatment is provided for each illness reviewed. Emphasis is placed on early recognition and treatment to prevent significant morbidity and mortality.

Walt Whitman and the Art of Nursing.

ABSTRACT: Walt Whitman is commonly known as a noted American poet of the 19th century, but he also had experience providing nursing care during the American Civil War. He wrote about his experiences and was an early proponent of holistic nursing care. This article reviews the life of Walt Whitman and his legacy related to nursing.

Nurse leaders' strategies to foster nurse resilience.

AIM: To identify nurse leaders' strategies to cultivate nurse resilience. BACKGROUND: High nursing turnover rates and nursing shortages are prominent phenomena in health care. Finding ways to promote nurse resilience and reduce nurse burnout is imperative for nursing leaders. METHODS: This is a qualitative descriptive study that occurred from November 2017 to June 2018. This study explored strategies to foster nurse resilience from nurse leaders who in this study were defined as charge nurses, nurse managers and nurse executives of a tertiary hospital in the United States. A purposive sampling method was used to have recruited 20 nurse leaders. RESULTS: Seven strategies are identified to cultivate nurse resilience: facilitating social connections, promoting positivity, capitalizing on nurses' strengths, nurturing nurses' growth, encouraging nurses' self-care, fostering mindfulness practice and conveying altruism. CONCLUSIONS: Fostering nurse resilience is an ongoing effort. Nurse leaders are instrumental in building a resilient nursing workforce. The strategies identified to foster nurse resilience will not only impact the nursing staff but also improve patient outcomes. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: The strategies presented are simple and can be easily implemented in any settings. Nurse leaders have an obligation to model and enable evidence-based strategies to promote nurses' resilience.

Comparison of emergency department crowding scores: a discrete-event simulation approach.

According to American College of Emergency Physicians, emergency department (ED) crowding occurs when the identified need for emergency services exceeds available resources for patient care in the ED, hospital, or both. ED crowding is a widely reported problem and several crowding scores are proposed to quantify crowding using hospital and patient data as inputs for assisting healthcare professionals in anticipating imminent crowding problems. Using data from a large academic hospital in North Carolina, we evaluate three crowding scores, namely, EDWIN, NEDOCS, and READI by assessing strengths and weaknesses of each score, particularly their predictive power. We perform these evaluations by first building a discrete-event simulation model of the ED, validating the results of the simulation model against observations at the ED under consideration, and utilizing the model results to investigate each of the three ED crowding scores under normal operating conditions and under two simulated outbreak scenarios in the ED. We conclude that, for this hospital, both EDWIN and NEDOCS prove to be helpful measures of current ED crowdedness, and both scores demonstrate the ability to anticipate impending crowdedness. Utilizing both EDWIN and NEDOCS scores in combination with the threshold values proposed in this work could provide a real-time alert for clinicians to anticipate impending crowding, which could lead to better preparation and eventually better patient care outcomes.

Translating caring theory across the continuum from inpatient to ambulatory care.

While theory-based practice is a Magnet® characteristic, translating theories to practice remains challenging. As a result, theory-guided practice remains an ideal rather than a realized goal in many organizations. This article provides an overview of a research-derived caring theory, a translational model for theory-driven practice, implementation of a delivery model designed to translate theory across the acute and ambulatory care continuum, and resulting outcomes in oncology clinics and the emergency department.

University of North Carolina's experience with state medical assistance teams.

Events in the last several years have shown a clear need for better preparation regarding disaster management. In an effort to improve this preparation, North Carolina implemented state medical assistant teams to provide alternative care facilities, decontamination facilities, and shelter assistance during times of disaster. This article explores these teams from the perspective of the University of North Carolina, which serves as a lead agency for one of these teams. Key components of the team, training provided, and lessons learned will be discussed.