The current high level of teenage sexual activity has important consequences for the psychological and social well-being of both individuals and the community. Because social workers often have ...professional contact with teenagers who are in need of contraceptive services, a nationwide survey was conducted to ascertain the attitudes of social work faculty and students toward birth control for teenagers. Both students and faculty were found to have positive attitudes. They are willing to provide service in this area within the bounds suggested by a realistic assessment of their preparation for this field of activity.
Psychiatric comorbidities in the general hospital population have been found to increase the cost of health care. This descriptive study provides an in-depth analysis (including nursing hours), of ...general hospital patients receiving low, medium, and high intensity consultation/liaison (C/L) services from C/L psychiatrists and C/L nurses using computerized databases and the medical record. The results show that there are significant differences among the subgroups receiving varying amounts of C/L services. This study has particular significance for C/L nursing as many C/L nursing interventions are focused on both the patient and the delivery of nursing care by the staff nurse.
The authors, who surveyed 14 Chicago hospitals to learn how discharge planning was planned for and carried out, describe four models for discharge planning. Nursing administrators will find the ...qualitative discussion of study results and their implications useful in structuring discharge planning in their own institutions.
This experimental field study compared knowledge, satisfaction and compliance in 62 nonurgent emergency room (ER) patients based on whether they were cared for by a nurse practitioner (experimental ...group) or a physician (control). Data were collected via structured interviews in the ER, two weeks later by phone and three months later by phone, mail and chart review. No significant differences were found between groups in overall short- and long-term compliance scores, appointment-keeping scores for the three-month study period, number of health recommendations recalled, resolution of health problem or satisfaction ratings of ER care. It was also found that: referrals were the recommendation least complied with; 60 percent of appointments were kept; frequent reasons for noncompliance were inconvenience and lack of perceived need; experimental subjects showed greater comprehension of diagnostic recommendations and therapeutic applications, while controls had better knowledge of medications; 77 percent of experimentals were completely satisfied with NP care, as compared to only 48 percent of the controls with MD care; and reasons for satisfaction centered on the quality of care, while reasons for dissatisfaction focused on unresolved problems and slow care.
