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In an effort to reduce attrition among new graduate nurses, mentorship relationship opportunities were infused into the nurse residency orientation program. Specifically trained volunteer mentors were paired with new graduate nurses upon successful completion of their orientation. Activities were focused on transitioning to a professional nurse rather than the clinical skills needed to provide care. This program enhanced retention among new graduate nurses and increased professional activities among mentees.

Perceived nature disconnection lies at the heart of the world’s socio-ecological crisis. Finding ways to reconnect with nature is fundamental towards reducing the adverse psychological–social–ecological consequences of this disconnection. Understanding the psychological and social benefits of nature-based experiences is important towards actualising reconnection. This article discusses such benefits for child and adult participants from the Eastern Cape, South Africa. This work stems from Ecopsychology research with an outdoor education centre, Mystic Mountain. The experiences of two groups of children (n= 25, aged 10–14 years) and adult instructors (n= 12, aged 18–50 years) were explored using interpretive case-study methodology. Through semi-structured interviews and focus groups, participant observation, and reflexive journaling, data were collected and analysed thematically. This article centralises participants’ perceived psychological and social benefits of nature-based experiences as mediators of deeper self and nature connectedness. Integrating these benefits into nature-based pedagogy-design processes could contribute towards more effective enhancements of nature connectedness, and in turn, foster Earth’s larger flourishment.

This descriptive study obtained survey data that explored the perception of staff nurses regarding their clinical competency, self-efficacy, and job satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to identify nursing professional development issues, data that can then be used to develop evidence-based educational programs.

The national nursing shortage is projected to increase over the next decade. The need exists to identify effective evidence-based strategies to retain new nurses in the profession. Findings from a systematic review of the literature revealed 6 articles that discussed effective retention strategies. There was consistency among the strategies, indicating that longer interventions increase retention and satisfaction.

The US population is aging. Young people may have ageist views that may deter them from careers working with older adults. Intergenerational teaching strategies in college courses offer opportunities for young and older people to interact. In a nursing course, 7 semi-structured interviews, discussion board content, and a synthesis project provide the framework for a sharing relationship to develop. The COVID-19 required alterations in the interview format, and understanding these changes from the elders' viewpoints were added to the interviews. This data identified 4 themes with positive and negative reactions.

Little is known about the long-term impact of surviving childhood cancer. Most children diagnosed with cancer now survive into adulthood due to advances in medical treatment. Although the number of survivors of childhood cancer has increased, a review of the literature revealed a paucity of studies that explores survivorship of childhood cancer from the perspective of the adult survivor. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the lived experience of 12 adults who survived childhood cancer. This research methodology allows the meaning or essences of experiences that occurred to be uncovered. Four themes emerged from these data: (1) ongoing consequences for having had cancer, (2) living with uncertainty, (3) the cancer experience is embodied into one's present sense of self, and (4) support is valued. The results of this study demonstrate that a childhood cancer experience affects the life of each survivor, which results in specific health care needs. This knowledge is important as the number of survivors increases. Knowledge of their concerns is imperative prior to providing appropriate health care.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the mother's experience of having a child diagnosed with cancer. Semistructured interview questions, focused specifically on values, provided the foundation for the study. Each of the 9 participants was a mother of a child diagnosed with cancer 30 days prior to participation. Subsequent data were collected from each participant 6 months after the original interview. Using a phenomenological approach for data collection and analyses, themes were uncovered from each interview data set. The initial interviews identified 3 themes: (1) problems accessing the health care system, (2) challenges of family dynamics, and (3) support structures. Each theme persisted in the second interview, with an additional theme, (4) future plans, uncovered. Data from this study may provide guidance for health care professionals who provide care to these children and their families. The importance of maintaining communication and keeping promises cannot be overstated.

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This chapter reviews research on alcohol misuse, abuse, and addiction in young and middle adulthood. Young adulthood is defined as ages 21 to 35 and middle adulthood as ages 36 to 65.The authors searched the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and other databases for the years 1992 through 2004 using the termsalcohol abuse, alcoholism, and alcohol dependence, then hand-searched for the inclusion of age as a variable. The search was limited to research and English-language publications. Unpublished dissertation studies were excluded, as were topics that were reviewed in other chapters of this volume. When possible, articles for review were limited to alcohol only, as compared with other drugs of abuse. Research articles were selected for review if they contained the variables alcohol misuse, abuse, or alcohol addiction or dependence and age. The review included both nurse- and non-nurse-investigators and was comprised of 50 studies.The results are in four content areas across the global area of alcohol misuse, abuse, and dependence in young and middle adulthood: incidence and prevalence, developmental changes, the work setting, and the family setting. Few articles used a developmental framework, although in some studies, the framework was implicit. Nurse-investigators were more likely to produce qualitative studies, although the studies varied dramatically in size of sample, research design, and variables. Overall, there was greater breadth than depth.The use of adult developmental theory was limited despite its potential explanatory potential in this field. There is a need for more nurse-researchers to explore adult developmental theory and pay increased attention to age and developmental stage as explanatory variables.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic disorder that is most prevalent among those of African American and Mediterranean descent. Hemoglobin SS is the most severe form of SCD and carries an increased risk for stroke. Although the initial treatment for stroke is an exchange transfusion, the use of routine, chronic transfusion therapy (CTT) has been shown to help prevent this neurological injury. The treatment plan is rigorous and time consuming, both of which impact one’s quality of life (QoL). The purpose of this study was to explore QoL, from the child’s perspective, as it is affected by CTT. Semistructured interviews were performed on 10 children undergoing CTT. Five themes emerged from the data: (a) pain, (b) school issues, (c) disease knowledge, (d) transfusion therapy, and (e) having a stroke. Data from this study reveal that CTT does have an impact on QoL. This information is important to share with those making CTT treatment decisions.

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to allow childhood leukemia patients to describe their quality of life (QoL) in their own words. These personal accounts provide an opportunity for health care personnel to understand the impact that leukemia has on these children. A total of 13 children in three focus group interviews participated. They ranged in age from 5 to 9 years and were either off therapy or had completed at least 6 months of treatment. Four semistructured interview questions were used to guide the interviews. Each question related to a domain identified in previous research as having an effect on QoL. Thus, the areas explored in this study were (a) physical well-being and symptoms, (b) psychological well-being, (c) social well-being, and (d) spiritual well-being. Five themes were identified: (a) fatigue, (b) the effect on activities, (c) medication and treatment effects, (d) relationship changes, and (e) hair loss.

The pressure distribution corresponding to potential flow in a diffuser has been evaluated using the theorem of Schwarz and Christoffel. The results have application in the field of interactions between diffusers and other components. A paper on this topic is cited.

The use of a five-hole Pitot tube in conjunction with a microcomputer for the experimental investigation of air-flow patterns is described. The paper discusses the use of the equipment for the measurement of local velocity, static pressure and flow direction in non-uniform three-dimensional flow fields.

For any cyclic group G of odd order and any field F whose characteristic does not divide the order of G it is possible to find a polynomial which parametrizes all extensions of F with group G. In this paper such a polynomial is explicitly constructed for each such group G which is valid for all such fields F.

A new analysis of long jump performance is presented, in which mathematical models of both the approach and aerial phases are considered. Equations describing each phase have been set down and solved by numerical integration. It is demonstrated that both wind and altitude have important effects on long jump performance, and some representative calculations have been made. Increased jump lengths, resulting from wind assistance or altitude, are shown to be primarily attributable to the increased sprinting speed attained during the approach phase. The present work indicates that previous calculations of the increment in jump length due to altitude which Beamon enjoyed when he established his world record at the Mexico Olympics of 1968 may have been underestimated by a wide margin.

The aerial phase of the long jump is calculated by numerical integration of the equations of motion. Consideration is given to the effects on performance of the horizontal and vertical components of velocity at takeoff, aerodynamic drag, wind assistance and the vertical displacement of the center of mass which occurs during the course of the jump. For still air conditions it is shown that an analytical solution due to Lamb [6] compares very favorably with the numerical solution, providing an excellent description of the trajectory. Calculations neglecting the effect of aerodynamic drag are shown to overestimate the jump distance of world-class athletes by from 9 to 11 cm under still air conditions.

An analysis of long jump performance, including both the approach and aerial phases, is applied to Bob Beamon's legendary leap at the Mexico City Olympic Games of 1968. It is shown that the combined effects of altitude and wind assistance yielded an increment in the length of the jump of about 31 cm, compared to a corresponding jump at sea level under still air conditions. The main factor is shown to be the increased sprinting speed attained under favourable conditions of wind and altitude.

Modern methods of biomechanics are applied to examine some of the outstanding feats of jumping that have been reported in the literature from classical times. It is concluded that these feats could not have been achieved using the current long-jump prescription, with the take-off and landing areas in the same horizontal plane. A possible explanation is that the landing area was some 5.5 m or more below the take-off area. Alternatively, and more plausibly, the jump could have been similar to the modern triple jump.

A method of analysis developed and applied to male athletes is used to determine physiological data for female athletes. The analytical method rests on the construction of an energy balance incorporating a mathematical representation of each of the major terms in the balance. By recasting the energy balance, a relationship between race distance and running time is derived. Excellent agreement with results for female athletes from recent Olympic Games for distances from 100 to 10,000 m is established. From the analysis, representative values of the maximum anaerobic power, the maximum aerobic power and the rate of degradation of mechanical energy into heat are derived for elite female athletes.

The equations of motion governing the inrun and free-flight phases of a ski-jump have been set down. These equations have been used as the basis for a numerical scheme from which the in-flight trajectory and jump length have been calculated. The influence of such factors as the friction between the skis and snow, the jump technique at take-off, the angle of incidence of the airborne jumper and variations in air density have been investigated. Jump lengths consistent with those measured on the 90 m Sapporo ski-slope have been computed. Deductions are made concerning critical aspects of ski-jump technique.

WARD-SMITH, A. J. Aerobic and anaerobic energy conversion during high-intensity exercise. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc.,Vol. 31, No. 12, pp. 1855–1860, 1999.