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Work-related musculoskeletal disorder is a major occupational health problem worldwide. The ecological model by Sauter and Swanson proposes a way in which psychosocial factors can influence musculoskeletal disorders. Employing Chinn and Kramer's framework, we evaluated the ecological model and found it had a specific scope for the working populations and clear concepts. This model also demonstrated high clarity, consistency, generalizability, and accessibility aligning with a nursing metaparadigm. Empirical evidence supports the applicability of the ecological model in nursing research and practices, but more research is needed for nursing-specific application.

Introduction Hospitalized older adults experience more safety-related complications than younger patients, including increased falls and injurious falls, pressure ulcers, and adverse outcomes associated with restraint use. These clinical areas are [...]

Seat height that is too high (> 120% of lower leg length [LLL]) or too low (< 80% of LLL) can impede safe transfer and result in falls. This study examines the difference between LLL of frail nursing home residents and the height of their toilets and beds in the lowest position, compares the patient or environmental characteristics of those able to transfer from the bed or toilet to those who cannot, and determines the relationship of patient or environmental characteristics to bed-related falls. A retrospective observational design using secondary data from 263 nursing home residents finds that bed height of three fourths of participants was greater than 140% of LLL, whereas toilet height of more than half was 100% to 120% of LLL. Increased fall risk is associated with increased age, shorter length of stay, normal lower extremity range of motion, less cognitive impairment, more behavioral symptoms, and no complaints of pain during exam. Keywords: patient safety; accidental fall; nursing home; bed, mattress; body height

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2007.01082.x Byline: Elizabeth Capezuti (*), Laura M. Wagner ([dagger]), Barbara L. Brush ([double dagger]), Marie Boltz (*), Susan Renz (s.), Karen A. Talerico ([parallel]) Keywords: treatment implementation; side rail; advanced practice nurse; nursing homes; physical restraint Abstract: OBJECTIVES: To examine the effect of an advanced practice nurse (APN) intervention on restrictive side rail usage in four nursing homes and with a sample of 251 residents. A secondary question explored the association between restrictive side rail reduction and bed-related falls. DESIGN: Pre- and posttest design. SETTING: Four urban nursing homes. PARTICIPANTS: All nursing home residents present in the nursing home at three time points (n=710, 719, and 707) and a subset of residents (n=251) with restrictive side rail use at baseline. INTERVENTION: APN consultation with individual residents and facility-wide education and consultation. MEASUREMENTS: Direct observation of side rail status, resident and nurse interview for functional status, mobility, cognition, behavioral symptoms, medical record review for demographics and treatment information, and incident reports for fall data. RESULTS: At the institutional level, one of the four nursing homes significantly reduced restrictive side rail use (P=.01). At the individual participant level, 51.4% (n=130) reduced restrictive side rail use. For the group that reduced restrictive side rails, there was a significantly (P CONCLUSION: An APN consultation model can safely reduce side rail use. Restrictive side rail reduction does not lead to an increase in bed-related falls. Although side rails serve many purposes, routine use of these devices to restrict voluntary movement and prevent falls is not supported. Author Affiliation: (*)John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing, New York University College of Nursing, New York, New York ([dagger])Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research Unit at Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ([double dagger])University of Michigan School of Nursing, Ann Arbor, Michigan (s.)RS Connection, Inc., West Chester, Pennsylvania ([parallel])Amann Talerico Consulting, Portland, Oregon Article note: Address correspondence to Elizabeth Capezuti, PhD, RN, FAAN, Associate Professor, Co-Director, John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing, New York University College of Nursing, 246 Greene Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10003. E-mail: ec65@nyu.edu

This article investigates medical personnel's compliance with nursing home patients' advance directives and plans for terminal care. An analysis of patients' hospitalization frequency, use of hospice care and palliative treatment is presented.

The binary Ta–N chemical system includes several compounds with notable prospects in microelectronics, solar energy harvesting, and catalysis. Among these, metallic TaN and semiconducting Ta3N5have garnered significant interest, in part due to their synthetic accessibility. However, tantalum sesquinitride (Ta2N3) possesses an intermediate composition and largely unknown physical properties owing to its metastable nature. Herein, Ta2N3is directly deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering and its optoelectronic properties are characterized. Combining these results with density functional theory provides insights into the critical role of oxygen in both synthesis and electronic structure. While the inclusion of oxygen in the process gas is critical to Ta2N3formation, the resulting oxygen incorporation in structural vacancies drastically modifies the free electron concentration in the as-grown material, thus leading to a semiconducting character with a 1.9 eV bandgap. Reducing the oxygen impurity concentration viapost-synthetic ammonia annealing increases the conductivity by seven orders of magnitude and yields the metallic characteristics of a degenerate semiconductor, consistent with theoretical predictions. Thus, this inverse oxygen doping approach – by which the carrier concentration is reduced by the oxygen impurity – offers a unique opportunity to tailor the optoelectronic properties of Ta2N3for applications ranging from photochemical energy conversion to advanced photonics.

Patient safety is a global concern, yet little is known about how and whether perceptions of patient safety culture (PSC) vary by nurses’ countries of origin and preparation. This is particularly important in American nursing homes (NHs), which are increasingly hiring non-US born and prepared nurses to fill staffing needs.

Background: Workers’ reporting of work-related injuries or illnesses is important for treatment and prevention, yet research often focuses on reporting barriers. This study aimed to identify factors related to work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WRMSD) reporting attitudes and their connection to reporting intention and behavior.Methods: We analyzed data from 377 direct care workers employed in 19 long-term care facilities in South Korea. A self-administered questionnaire collected demographics, job characteristics, physical and psychosocial factors, musculoskeletal symptoms, reporting attitudes, and WRMSD reporting intentions and behavior between May and August 2022. We used a generalized linear mixed model with a random intercept by employers to identify factors influencing reporting attitudes. To explore the relationship between reporting attitude and reporting intention and behavior, simple logistic regression was also conducted.Results: We achieved an 86% response rate. The majority of the study participants were female (87.2%), married (95.9%), and non-immigrant (72.8%). Of the study participants, 48.9% had no intention to report WRMSDs, and 44.3% held negative reporting attitudes. Among 200 workers with WRMSDs, 86.5% did not report them. Attitudes were associated with work duration, safety training, management safety priority, WRMSD experience, and symptom severity and frequency. Management safety priority did not moderate this relationship. Significant links existed between attitudes and reporting intention and behavior.Conclusions/Applications to Practice: This study highlights the vital influence of workers' attitudes on reporting work-related injuries and illnesses. Occupational health providers should employ strategies, such as tailored safety training and management commitment, with a focus on addressing the unique needs of long-tenured and musculoskeletal-exposed workers. Fostering a safety culture that promotes open and timely reporting is crucial, and implementing these strategies can significantly enhance workplace safety and health.

Gallium–zinc oxynitride (GZNO) is a promising material system for solar-driven overall water splitting, as it exhibits a tunable band gap in the visible range, beneficial positions of valence and conduction band edges, and promising long-term stability. Fabrication of GZNO is traditionally accomplished via a solid state reaction pathway. This limits the growth of thin films or large single crystals and the precise control of the composition, which complicates investigations about fundamental properties of the material, including, for example, the influence of the single constituent ratios on the band gap. In this work, we present the growth of GZNO thin films on sapphire by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The thin films exhibit a crystallite size of up to 50 nm and a wurtzite crystal structure with distinct short-range disorder. Variations of Ga/Zn and N/O flux ratios are found to influence the optical absorption edge of the alloy without major impact on the Urbach energy. Controlled change of the composition of the alloy reveals that the band gap reduction is caused by both an increased valence band energy, which is correlated with the N content, and a decrease of the conduction band energy which is induced by increasing Zn content. Based on these findings, GZNO thin films with band gaps of down to 2.0 eV were fabricated and their photoelectrical properties assessed. Using MBE, we overcome compositional restrictions typically associated with stoichiometric GaN:ZnO solid solutions and provide unprecedented access to new compounds within this materials class. In doing so, we elucidate the specific role of individual elements on band edge energetics and demonstrate new routes to band gap engineering for future photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical applications.

Presents letters to the editor referencing articles and topics discussed in previous issues. "Surprise! It's the President," which focused on the surprise visit by President George W. Bush to Iraq on Thanksgiving; "Mourning in America," which focused on President George W. Bush not attending the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq; "Creating New Enemies," which focused on how policies by President George W. Bush have turned Iraqis, Muslims and others who had bad sentiment in the past against the United States into even more strongly dedicated enemies.

Although communication is an essential part of the nursing process, nurses have little to no formal education in how to best communicate patient safety event (PSE) information to nursing home (NH) residents and their family members. The current mixed-methods study tested an intervention aimed at educating nurses on how to communicate a PSE to residents/family members using a structured communication tool. Nurse participants improved their knowledge of PSE communication, especially about the cause of the event, what they would say to the resident/family member, and future prevention of the PSE. Through qualitative subgroup analysis, an increased number of empathic statements were noted post-intervention. The tool tested in this study provides structure to an important care process that is necessary for improving the culture of safety in NH settings. [Although communication is an essential part of the nursing process, nurses have little to no formal education in how to best communicate patient safety event (PSE) information to nursing home (NH) residents and their family members. The current mixed-methods study tested an intervention aimed at educating nurses on how to communicate a PSE to residents/family members using a structured communication tool. Nurse participants improved their knowledge of PSE communication, especially about the cause of the event, what they would say to the resident/family member, and future prevention of the PSE. Through qualitative subgroup analysis, an increased number of empathic statements were noted post-intervention. The tool tested in this study provides structure to an important care process that is necessary for improving the culture of safety in NH settings. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 44(2), 25–32.]

An obituary for actor and singer Bobby Breen is presented.

The article offers information on senior film and television actors and actresses along with a list of them and those such as singers and dancers who contributed to the entertainment industry including Barbara Bain, Joanna Barnes, and Barry Coe.

A biography is presented on the actress Virginia Brown Faire, who had played the character Tinker Bell in the movie "Peter Pan", and discusses her married life with actor Jack Dougherty, and furniture manufacturer William Bayer.

The author talks about American film actor Kane Richmond, it mentions of views of actor Roy Barcroff on his working with Richmond and also mentions of some of the films he has worked in such as "Stepping Out" in 1930 and "Cavalier of the West" in 1931.

The author discusses challenges faced in reviewing books, mentions the comedy series "The Chase and Sanborn Program" and the film "Captain Blood", and also talks about the play "The Milky Way" by Harry Clork.

An excerpt from the book "Anne Francis: The Life and Career" by Laura Wagner is presented.