Review of worksite weight management programs.

This article explores worksite weight management programs by reviewing the literature and providing recommendations to address obesity, a major public health challenge. Ten full-text articles published between 2005 and 2013 were reviewed. The literature supports a combination of physical activity, education, and diet to either maintain weight or result in modest weight loss.

Current guidelines for cervical cancer screening.

PURPOSE: To provide evidence-based information that will guide nurse practitioners in instituting the most current cervical cancer screening recommendations. DATA SOURCES: A literature search covering the years 2006 to the present conducted through Medline, CINAHL, and OVID. CONCLUSIONS: Human papillomavirus (HPV) cervical infections are highly prevalent among females under 21 years, yet this age group has a low incidence of cervical cancer. For young women, 90% of HPV infections regress in 24 months, and, in longitudinal studies, no invasive cervical cancer was detected. HPV co-testing is effective for women age 30 and over. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Current scientific evidence supports initiating cervical cancer screening for immunocompetent women at age 21, biennial screening between ages 21 and 29, and HPV DNA co-testing for women over 30. Nurse practitioners play an important role in integrating the newest guidelines into practice and improving the quality of healthcare regarding women's cervical health and cancer prevention.

Developing and testing a web-based survey to assess educational needs of palliative and end-of-life health care professionals in Connecticut.

Institute of Medicine reports have identified gaps in health care professionals' knowledge of palliative and end-of-life care, recommending improved education. Our purpose was to develop and administer a Web-based survey to identify the educational needs of multidisciplinary health care professionals who provide this care in Connecticut to inform educational initiatives. We developed an 80-item survey and recruited participants through the Internet and in person. Descriptive and correlational statistics were calculated on 602 surveys. Disciplines reported greater agreement on items related to their routine tasks. Reported needs included dealing with cultural and spiritual matters and having supportive resources at work. Focus groups confirmed results that are consistent with National Consensus Project guidelines for quality palliative care and indicate the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium modules for education.

The influence of end-of-life education on attitudes of nursing students.

Palliative care is an important aspect of nursing when comfort and quality of life are the patient goals. The End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) developed a comprehensive program of teaching care of the dying to nurses and nursing students. This pretest-posttest study evaluated the influence of the integration of the ELNEC curriculum into a baccalaureate nursing program on students' attitudes toward care of the dying. The Frommelt Attitudes toward Care of the Dying Scale for nurses (FATCOD) was administered to traditional and accelerated baccalaureate students before and after exposure to a nursing curriculum that integrated essential ELNEC elements. Multiple regression analyses indicated that no previous experience with death and an age of 18-22 accounted for the most variance in attitude change. The findings suggest that integrating the ELNEC curriculum throughout a baccalaureate program positively affects the attitudes of nursing students toward the care of patients who are dying.

Breast cancer Internet information and support (BCIIS): How are older persons different?

The Breast Cancer Internet Information and Support study (BCIIS) is an online needs assessment that asks persons with breast cancer what types of informational and support features they would most prefer in Internet-based programming related to breast cancer. Preliminary analyses indicate significant differences in characteristics of older respondents related to physical and mental health as well as online support needs.

Cancer patients' self-reported attitudes about the Internet.

BACKGROUND: Increasing numbers of cancer patients are using the Internet, but little is known about their attitudes toward online health care. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this substudy was to analyze cancer patients' attitudes toward online health care. METHODS: This was a substudy of 41 persons with cancer who used the Internet for health care information and support and who completed the Attitudes Toward Online Health Care (ATOHC) survey. RESULTS: The majority of study participants were married, held graduate degrees, and had high incomes. Using a five-point Likert scale, means for the five dimensions of the ATOHC survey were as follows: community and news 3.22 (SD = 1.01), outcomes 3.20 (SD = 1.08), trusted information and advice 2.73 (SD = 0.66), self-efficacy in evaluating information and intention 3.46 (SD = 0.65), and disclosure 3.15 (SD = 1.06). The average response fell between "About half the time" and "Usually." Favorite websites for content were Medscape and WebMD, while favorite sites for support were WebMD and Mediconsult. CONCLUSIONS: Respondents were generally eager to obtain and offer cancer information and support online, but they were skeptical of unknown sources. They were comfortable both giving and receiving information and support. Respondents were interested in the experiences of other patients and benefited by their direct and indirect interactions with them. Respondents felt that they coped better with their illness and experienced less uncertainty and anxiety as a result of their online experiences. They reported a certain level of trust, primarily for established reputable sources of information, and they were confident in their ability to evaluate the information, including research reports. In addition, cancer patients displayed a healthy skepticism when presented with the option of divulging their personal health information; however, they were willing to provide personal details if, as a result, a website provided them with individualized information.

Communication and information needs and barriers: an international collaboration model.

This future vision paper describes the emerging issue of multicultural medical informatics teams. In an increasingly networked healthcare environment, the rise of global teams has come to the forefront, calling for an increased understanding of various cultural norms. Team members may reside in other countries and be known to others only virtually. Concomitantly, the team dynamics of physically present members may be impacted by international factors such as culture of origin.

Research methodology for the Internet: external validity (generalizability).

The burgeoning use of the Internet for nursing research calls for a need to examine characteristics of electronic populations, and how they can be conceptualized relative to their physically based counterparts. The 1963 work of Campbell and Stanley, now 40 years old, is revisited in relation to external validity, and its applicability to today's world of quantitative and qualitative research. Internal and external differences in Internet populations are outlined, and a new threat to external validity is proposed: the threat of Networked Effects, which is composed of 4 subfactors: Co-occurring Interferences to Testing, Self-selection Mechanisms, Electronic Group Environments, and Cultural Differences. These Internet threats must be well understood when formulating research methodology.

Health care implications and space allocation of research published in nursing journals.

PURPOSE: To examine how research is disseminated through nursing journals and to examine characteristics of published research. DESIGN: A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted with manuscripts from 78 nursing journals that publish research. METHOD: The final issue for 1999 was examined. Pairs of independent raters content-analyzed all research manuscripts. DISCUSSION: Research studies comprised 241 (42.9%) of the manuscripts and 51.4% of the journal space. Many empirical studies omitted validity and reliability. Few manuscripts reported the date for completion of data collection, and fewer than one third contained the length of time from acceptance to publication. CONCLUSIONS: Enhanced instrumentation reporting, shorter time from data collection to publication, and an increase in journal space devoted to research might enable nurses to make more cutting-edge clinical decisions.