Use of Shackles on Incarcerated Pregnant Women.

The United States has the largest population of prisoners worldwide, and profound racial and structural inequities exist within this population. Qualitative and quantitative data suggest that shackling incarcerated pregnant women occurs in the United States despite anti-shackling legislation and recommendations from professional organizations against shackling. Incarcerated women are vulnerable to adverse health outcomes when shackled during labor, birth, and the postpartum period. Because anti-shackling legislation is often nonexistent or not comprehensive, nurses play a critical patient advocacy role. The purpose of this article is to increase awareness of state anti-shackling legislation and deficiencies. We also aim to promote effective state advocacy and meaningful change in clinical practice to improve patient safety and health care quality for incarcerated pregnant women.

A Concept Development for the Symptom Science Model 2.0.

BACKGROUND: The National Institute of Nursing Research developed the National Institutes of Health symptom science model (SSM) in 2015 as a parsimonious conceptual model to guide symptom science research. OBJECTIVES: This concept development paper synthesizes justifications to strengthen the original model. METHODS: A literature review was performed, discussions with symptom science content expert stakeholders were held, and opportunities for expanding the current model were identified. Concept elements for a revised conceptual model-the SSM 2.0-were developed. RESULTS: In addition to the four original concept elements (complex symptom presentation, phenotypic characterization, biobehavioral factors [previously biomarker discovery], and clinical applications), three new concept elements are proposed, including social determinants of health, patient-centered experience, and policy/population health. DISCUSSION: There have been several calls to revise the original SSM from the nursing scientific community to expand its utility to other healthcare settings. Incorporating three additional concept elements can facilitate a broader variety of translational nursing research symptom science collaborations and applications, support additional scientific domains for symptom science activities, and produce more translatable symptom science to a wider audience of nursing research scholars and stakeholders during recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The revised SSM 2.0 with newly incorporated social determinants of health, patient-centered experience, and policy/population health components now empowers nursing scientists and scholars to address specific symptom science public health challenges particularly faced by vulnerable and underserved populations.

Frailty and Determinants of Health Among Older Adults in the United States 2011-2016.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize frailty phenotype in a representative cohort of older Americans and examine determinants of health factors. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of data from 5,553 adults ≥60 years old in the 2011-2016 cross-sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). World Health Organization "Determinants of Health" conceptual model was used to prioritize variables for multinomial logistic regression for the outcome of modified Fried frailty phenotype. RESULTS: 482 participants (9%) were frail and 2432 (44%) prefrail. Four factors were highly associated with frailty: difficulty with ≥1 activity of daily living (77%; OR 24.81 p < 0.01), ≥2 hospitalizations in the previous year (17%, OR 3.94 p < 0.01), having >2 comorbidities (27%; OR 3.33 p < 0.01), and polypharmacy (66%; OR 2.38 p < 0.01). DISCUSSION: A modified Fried frailty assessment incorporating five self-reported criteria may be useful as a rapid nursing screen in low-resource settings. These assessments can streamline nursing care coordination and case management activities, thereby facilitating targeted frailty interventions to support healthy aging in vulnerable populations.

Current status and future directions of U.S. genomic nursing health care policy.

BACKGROUND: As genomic science moves beyond government-academic collaborations into routine healthcare operations, nursing's holistic philosophy and evidence-based practice approach positions nurses as leaders to advance genomics and precision health care in routine patient care. PURPOSE: To examine the status of and identify gaps for U.S. genomic nursing health care policy and precision health clinical practice implementation. METHODS: We conducted a scoping review and policy priorities analysis to clarify key genomic policy concepts and definitions, and to examine trends and utilization of health care quality benchmarking used in precision health. FINDINGS: Genomic nursing health care policy is an emerging area. Educating and training the nursing workforce to achieve full dissemination and integration of precision health into clinical practice remains an ongoing challenge. Use of health care quality measurement principles and federal benchmarking performance evaluation criteria for precision health implementation are not developed. DISCUSSION: Nine recommendations were formed with calls to action across nursing practice workforce and education, nursing research, and health care policy arenas. CONCLUSIONS: To advance genomic nursing health care policy, it is imperative to develop genomic performance measurement tools for clinicians, purchasers, regulators and policymakers and to adequately prepare the nursing workforce.

Educational and Ethical Considerations for Genetic Test Implementation Within Health Care Systems.

Introduction: The precision medicine (PM) era presents unprecedented proliferation of genetic/genomic initiatives, information, and bioinformatic tools to enhance targeted molecular diagnosis and therapeutic treatments. As of February 29, 2020, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Genetic Testing Registry contained 64,860 genetic tests for 12,268 conditions and 18,686 genes from 560 laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration had 404 entries for pharmacogeneomic biomarkers used in drug labeling. Population-based research initiatives including NIH's All of Us and Veterans Affairs' Million Veteran Program, and the UK Biobank, combine use of genomic biorepositories with electronic medical records (i.e., National Human Genome Research Institute's [NHGRI's] electronic Medical Records and Genomics [eMERGE] Network). Learning health care systems are implementing clinical genomics screening programs and precision oncology programs. However, there are insufficient medical geneticists, nurse geneticists, and genetics counselors to implement expanding number of clinical genetic tests that are required for PM implementation. Methods: A scoping review of current (2014-2019) trends in U.S. genomic medicine translation, PM health care provider workforce education and training resources, and genomic clinical decision support (CDS) implementation tools was conducted. Results: Health care delivery institutions and systems are beginning to implement genetic tests that are driving PM, particularly in the areas of oncology, pharmacogenetics, obstetrics, and prenatal diagnostics. To ensure safe adoption and clinical translation of PM, health care systems have an ethical responsibility to ensure their providers and front-line staff are adequately prepared to order, use, and interpret genetic test information. Conclusion: There are a number of high-quality evidenced-based educational resources and CDS tools available. Strong partnerships between health care system leaders, front-line providers and staff coupled with reasonable goal setting can help drive PM translation interests.

Recent Advances in Systems and Network Medicine: Meeting Report from the First International Conference in Systems and Network Medicine.

The First International Conference in Systems and Network Medicine gathered together 200 global thought leaders, scientists, clinicians, academicians, industry and government experts, medical and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and policymakers. Held at Georgetown University Conference Center in Washington D.C. on September 11-13, 2019, the event featured a day of pre-conference lectures and hands-on bioinformatic computational workshops followed by two days of deep and diverse scientific talks, panel discussions with eminent thought leaders, and scientific poster presentations. Topics ranged from: Systems and Network Medicine in Clinical Practice; the role of -omics technologies in Health Care; the role of Education and Ethics in Clinical Practice, Systems Thinking, and Rare Diseases; and the role of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine. The conference served as a unique nexus for interdisciplinary discovery and dialogue and fostered formation of new insights and possibilities for health care systems advances.

Precision health: A nursing perspective.

Precision health refers to personalized healthcare based on a person's unique genetic, genomic, or omic composition within the context of lifestyle, social, economic, cultural and environmental influences to help individuals achieve well-being and optimal health. Precision health utilizes big data sets that combine omics (i.e. genomic sequence, protein, metabolite, and microbiome information) with clinical information and health outcomes to optimize disease diagnosis, treatment and prevention specific to each patient. Successful implementation of precision health requires interprofessional collaboration, community outreach efforts, and coordination of care, a mission that nurses are well-positioned to lead. Despite the surge of interest and attention to precision health, most nurses are not well-versed in precision health or its implications for the nursing profession. Based on a critical analysis of literature and expert opinions, this paper provides an overview of precision health and the importance of engaging the nursing profession for its implementation. Other topics reviewed in this paper include big data and omics, information science, integration of family health history in precision health, and nursing omics research in symptom science. The paper concludes with recommendations for nurse leaders in research, education, clinical practice, nursing administration and policy settings for which to develop strategic plans to implement precision health.

Nurses' health promoting lifestyle behaviors in a community hospital.

PURPOSE: To examine nurses' health-promoting lifestyle behaviors, describe their self-reported engagement in employee wellness program benefit options, and explore relationships between nurse demographic factors, health characteristics and lifestyle behaviors. BACKGROUND: Nurses adopting unhealthy lifestyle behaviors are at significantly higher risk for developing a number of chronic diseases and are at increased susceptibility to exhaustion, job dissatisfaction and turnover. Strengthening professional nurses' abilities to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviors could serve as a valuable tool in combating negative workplace stress, promote improved work-life balance and personal well-being, and help retain qualified health-care providers. METHODS: In a 187-bed community hospital in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, we conducted an IRB-approved exploratory descriptive study. We examined 127 nurses' demographic characteristics, self-reported employer wellness program use, and measured their healthy lifestyle behaviors using the 52-item Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II (HPLP-II) survey instrument. Nurse demographic and HPLP-II scores were analyzed in SPSS v20.0. Inferential univariate statistical testing examined relationships between nurse demographic factors, health and job characteristics, and HPLP-II score outcomes. RESULTS: Nurses over 40years old were more likely to report participation in hospital wellness program options. Statistically significant age differences were identified in total HPLP-II score (p=0.005), and two subscale scores-spiritual growth (p=0.002) and interpersonal relations (p=0.000). Post-hoc testing identified nurse participants 40-49years old and ≥50years old experienced slightly lower total HPLP-II score, subscale scores in comparison to younger colleagues. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses ≥40years old may benefit from additional employer support and guidance to promote and maintain healthy lifestyles, personal well-being, and positive interpersonal relationships.

A Community Hospital's Evaluation of Alarm Management Safety Factors.

BACKGROUND: The Joint Commission's 2014 National Patient Safety Goals required hospitals to evaluate alarm safety in 2014-2015 and implement alarm safety policies. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess common alarm management safety factors in our 187-bed community hospital. METHODS: Two weeks' worth of IV pump report data was evaluated to characterize 33 IV pump alarm types. Hospital and IV pump noise was measured, and an alarm management nurse survey was conducted. RESULTS: There were 8731 total IV pump alarms/alerts (24-hour mean, 623.6) across 6 units. The 2-minute idle alarm accounted for 32.4% of all total IV alarms/alerts, suggestive of high levels of nurse multitasking and nurse work interruptions. IV pump volumes contributed to overall hospital noise. Survey data identified patient units and alarm safety practices needing additional support. CONCLUSIONS: Characterization of IV pump alarms/alerts is an emerging area of scientific inquiry. Findings indicate the need for organizations to evaluate alarm burden and alarm management safety practices to reduce alarm fatigue risks.

Perioperative Heat Loss Prevention-A Feasibility Trial.

Preventing unplanned perioperative hypothermia is crucial. Thermal reflective blankets may reduce heat loss, promote normothermia, increase patient comfort, and decrease cotton blanket expenses. Our purpose was to determine whether a thermal reflective blanket plus one warmed cotton blanket provides better temperature control and thermal comfort than warmed cotton blankets only. We compared two groups of perioperative patients who received a thermal reflective blanket plus one warmed cotton blanket (n = 110) or warmed cotton blankets only (n = 114) for temperature control and comfort, and we evaluated outcomes in the preoperative holding area, the OR, and the postanesthesia care unit. There were no significant differences in patient temperature or comfort between groups. Use of thermal reflective blankets led to significantly reduced use of warmed cotton blankets (t209 = -10.51, P < .001), and a cost threshold for clinical adoption was identified. The hospital opted not to purchase thermal reflective blankets because of equivalent performance and minimal cost savings.

Evaluation of proton-coupled folate transporter (SLC46A1) polymorphisms as risk factors for neural tube defects and oral clefts.

Many folate-related genes have been investigated for possible causal roles in neural tube defects (NTDs) and oral clefts. However, no previous reports have examined the major gene responsible for folate uptake, the proton-coupled folate transporter (SLC46A1). We tested for association between these birth defects and single nucleotide polymorphisms in the SLC46A1 gene. The NTD study population included 549 complete and incomplete case-family triads, and 999 controls from Ireland. The oral clefts study population comprised a sample from Utah (495 complete and incomplete case-family triads and 551 controls) and 221 Filipino multiplex cleft families. There was suggestive evidence of increased NTD case risk with the rs17719944 minor allele (odds ratio (OR): 1.29; 95% confidence intervals (CI): [1.00-1.67]), and decreased maternal risk of an NTD pregnancy with the rs4795436 minor allele (OR: 0.62; [0.39-0.99]). In the Utah sample, the rs739439 minor allele was associated with decreased case risk for cleft lip with cleft palate (genotype relative risk (GRR): 0.56 [0.32-0.98]). Additionally, the rs2239907 minor allele was associated with decreased case risk for cleft lip with cleft palate in several models, and with cleft palate only in a recessive model (OR: 0.41; [0.20-0.85]). These associations did not remain statistically significant after correcting for multiple hypothesis testing. Nominal associations between SLC46A1 polymorphisms and both Irish NTDs and oral clefts in the Utah population suggest some role in the etiology of these birth defects, but further investigation in other populations is needed.

Association of Transcobalamin II (TCN2) and Transcobalamin II-Receptor (TCblR) Genetic Variations With Cobalamin Deficiency Parameters in Elderly Women.

Cobalamin (vitamin B12) deficiency is a subtle progressive clinical disorder, affecting nearly 1 in 5 individuals > 60 years old. This deficiency is produced by age-related decreases in nutrient absorption, medications that interfere with vitamin B12 absorption, and other comorbidities. Clinical heterogeneity confounds symptom detection for elderly adults, as deficiency sequelae range from mild fatigue and weakness to debilitating megaloblastic anemia and permanent neuropathic injury. A better understanding of genetic factors that contribute to cobalamin deficiency in the elderly would allow for targeted nursing care and preventive interventions. We tested for associations of common variants in genes involved in cobalamin transport and homeostasis with metabolic indicators of cobalamin deficiency (homocysteine and methylmalonic acid) as well as hematologic, neurologic, and functional performance features of cobalamin deficiency in 789 participants of the Women's Health and Aging Studies. Although not significant when corrected for multiple testing, eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in two genes, transcobalamin II (TCN2) and the transcobalamin II-receptor (TCblR), were found to influence several clinical traits of cobalamin deficiency. The three most significant findings were the identified associations involving missense coding SNPs, namely, TCblR G220R (rs2336573) with serum cobalamin, TCN2 S348F (rs9621049) with homocysteine, and TCN2 P259R (rs1801198) with red blood cell mean corpuscular volume. These SNPs may modify the phenotype in older adults who are more likely to develop symptoms of vitamin B12 malabsorption.

Genetics and genomics: the scientific drivers of personalized medicine.

Scientific advances in genetics and genomics will be incorporated into health care soon. The tailoring of treatment to an individual's genetic make up has been termed personalized medicine. These advances are promising and are receiving significant attention; however, many nurses are caught in the gap between technologic advances and clinical diffusion and uptake. Aiming to reduce this gap, this chapter provides an overview of the science driving personalized medicine, outlines areas of research and clinical translation where nurses may expect to see its fruits, and briefly identifies obstacles preventing its full realization. Four scientific elements of personalized medicine are described: (1) discovery of novel biology that guides clinical translation mechanisms, (2) genetic risk assessment, (3) molecular diagnostic technology, and (4) pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics. Successful design and implementation of Personalized Medicine will hinge on the roles of nurses conducting or participating in collaborative initiatives that are furthering genetic/genomic applications within these contexts.

Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (Lynch syndrome): molecular pathogenesis and clinical approaches to diagnosis and management for nurses.

Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), also referred to as Lynch syndrome, is the most common form of hereditary colorectal cancer and is responsible for 2% to 4% of all colorectal cancers in the Western hemisphere. Generally characterized by early-onset colorectal carcinoma with a mean age of presentation of 40 to 45 years, it can also manifest with extracolonic adenocarcinomas and cancers of the endometrium, ovaries, stomach, pancreas, small intestine, hepatobiliary tract, upper uroepithelial tract, brain, and skin. HNPCC is autosomal dominant and carries an 80% lifetime risk of cancer development. This review addresses the molecular underpinnings of HNPCC while providing a concise approach to clinical detection, diagnosis, and management of patients who may or may not test positive for an HNPCC-causing mutation. Although applicable to any patient-care setting in which cancer may be observed, this review specifically addresses the role of nurses in detecting, diagnosing, and clinically managing HNPCC.