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This article focuses on Midwest Nursing Research Society (MNRS). The organization has been extremely active with many new initiatives and advances within the organization. The 2004 MNRS Annual Conference was a success in St. Louis with many outstanding scientific presentations and numerous networking opportunities provided in the program. The organization is financially stable with long-term planning that should move us well into the future. A large number of the members have been recognized by MNRS as highlighted in previous columns, and activity within the 27 Research Sections is strong.

The article provides information on ultrasound organizations, literature and other resources. The organizations include the British Medical Ultrasound Society (BMUS), the United Kingdom Association of Sonographers (UKAS), and World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology(WFUMB). The journals include "European Journal of Ultrasound," and "Journal of Clinical Ultrasound." In addition the article also lists the websites and books which are based on ultrasonic imaging.

Public health projects carried out by non-government organisations (NGOs) are considered a critical contributor in the provision of health services to rural population in India. But there is clear lack of documented evidence that describes the capacity and competency of the NGO project managers to successfully design and implement a new project. This article presents findings of an exploratory case study using outreach model of family planning service delivery as an example to understand the steps and actions taken by senior managers throughout the project's life cycle and competencies required by them to execute the project. Focus group discussion followed by paper-based survey using sections of Management Competency Assessment Tool was conducted with senior managers of the chosen NGO. The results indicate that the strategies developed by the NGO managers are consistent with the existing literature on project management. However, not all managers have the same level of confidence in demonstrating the competencies of (a) knowledge of healthcare environment; (b) evidence informed decision making; and (c) interpersonal, communication qualities and relationship management. The organisation needs to invest in human resource development using mixed approach of providing training, team building activities, mentoring, and support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New information technologies place data on integrated information systems, and provide access via pervasive computing technologies. Pervasive computing puts computing power in the hands of all employees, available wherever it is needed. Integrated systems offer seamless data and process integration over diverse information systems. In this paper we look at the impact of these technologies on healthcare organizations in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The present paper aims to: (i) describe how the Mental Health Commission in New Zealand works and has contributed to the substantial enhancement of mental health resources and services; (ii) determine whether mental health reform policies will ever be implemented properly without an independent monitor with official influence at the highest levels of government; and (iii) demonstrate how variants on this model work in other Western countries and how it can be adapted to the Federated system in Australia.Conclusions: It is recommended that the Australian National Mental Health Plan 2003-2008 should be complemented by a long-standing national mental health commission (or similarly constituted body), which is also able to report independently from and to the government, with direct access to the Prime Minister, Premiers and Australian Health Ministers. Its aims would be to monitor service effectiveness and identify gaps in service provision, training and performance of the work force, management and government. It would be informed by consumer, carer and provider experience, and by reviews of evidence-based research regarding health needs and cost-effective services. It should accurately cost such service gaps, and advise government on a strategy for implementing them. It could also promote and advise formally on enhancing community awareness, decreasing stigma and discrimination and improving workforce recruitment and retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the factors that influence a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) to shift risk to doctors through an incentive arrangement called capitation, where physicians are paid a fixed amount per patient for a period of time for any and all medical services required by the patient. Multispecialty-medical-group (Group) HMOs are more likely to shift risk than Independent Physician Associations (IPA) HMOs. Within IPA HMOs, larger enrollment per physician is positively associated with more risk shifting. We find that institutional factors signaling legitimacy play an important role in determining risk shifting. For-profit HMOs are less likely to shift risk, which we interpret as reflecting consumer distrust of for-profit HMOs. However, for-profit HMOs that are federally qualified, which we interpret as a signal of legitimacy, are more likely to shift risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a revision of the address given upon receipt of the Leo G. Reeder Award for distinguished Scholarship in Medical Sociology. It was presented on August 19, 1987 to the Medical Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association during its annual meeting held in Chicago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports developments of several special events related to nursing in the U.S. The 30th annual conference held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin highlights the past contributions of the Midwest Nursing Research Society to developing and sustaining nursing science. The Gala Reception was participated by hundreds of attendees and member schools purchased 20 Gala Honor Tables honoring their graduate students and researchers. Hundreds of papers and posters were presented during the event.

The article discusses the civic health symposium held in 2016 in the U.S. sponsored by the Nonprofit Policy, Practice, and Partnership (NP3) Section of the American Society for Public Administration. It mentions role of Civic health in supporting the individual's material circumstances and physical environment. It also mentions individual's behaviors, biological factors, psychosocial factors and their access to health care identified as intermediary factors in the conceptual model.

Editorial. Reports on the 25th anniversary celebration of the Western Interstate Conference for Higher Education in Nursing. Information on the research papers presented in the conferences of the organization.

The degree and scope of criminal justice surveillance increased dramatically in the United States over the past four decades. Recent qualitative research suggests the rise in surveillance may be met with a concomitant increase in efforts to evade it. To date, however, there has been no quantitative empirical test of this theory. In this article, I introduce the concept of “system avoidance,” whereby individuals who have had contact with the criminal justice system avoid surveilling institutions that keep formal records. Using data from Add Health (n = 15,170) and the NLSY97 (n = 8,894), I find that individuals who have been stopped by police, arrested, convicted, or incarcerated are less likely to interact with surveilling institutions, including medical, financial, labor market, and educational institutions, than their counterparts who have not had criminal justice contact. By contrast, individuals with criminal justice contact are no less likely to participate in civic or religious institutions. Because criminal justice contact is disproportionately distributed, this study suggests system avoidance is a potential mechanism through which the criminal justice system contributes to social stratification: it severs an already marginalized subpopulation from institutions that are pivotal to desistance from crime and their own integration into broader society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses a pilot project in Washington state that used two theoretical models, the chronic care model (CCM) and the model for improvement, to address tobacco use in health care delivery organizations. Topics include an overview of the purpose of the study, which was the promotion of tobacco cessation-related changes within a health care system, and effectiveness of both models.

The combined use of case study and systems theory is not often seen in the literature. The use of both approaches enables the specifics of the case to consider the influence of broader systems and external environments, offering in-depth exploration as well as comparative analysis between cases in the context of the system. Health care has obvious systems operating that may have developed from organizational hierarchies, funding mechanisms, or traditional service delivery of health care. Systems theory is ideally suited to examine health care and health promotion sites, such as hospitals or universities. Sites can use the principles of systems theory to explore innovation, change, and complexity of service delivery in the context of a case study approach. This article discusses how the combination of the two can act as a heuristic model, offering its application to emergency department physiotherapy as an example, to further bolster the evidence base for using such a methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a speech by John P. Cooke, president of the Society for Vascular Medicine and Biology, delivered at the 18th Annual Meeting of the Society for Vascular Medicine in the U.S. He discusses the developments driving the emergence of vascular medicine, which will fund five new training programs in vascular medicine in the country. He believes that radical changes in training are necessary to reduce the excessive prolongation of training.

Many studies of innovation adoption in health care organizations focus either on organizational characteristics or the institutional environment, but not both. Furthermore, these perspectives are rarely employed simultaneously in both public and private health care organizations. This research considers the public-private distinction, organizational compatibility, and interorganizational referral relationships in the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) by substance abuse treatment organizations. Using data from nationally representative samples of 363 publicly funded and 403 privately funded substance abuse treatment centers, a four-category typology of public and private organizations initially predicted variation in SSRI use. However some differences were no longer significant once organizational and environmental characteristics were added to the statistical model. These data support hypotheses about the associations between organizational characteristics and SSRI use as well as hypotheses regarding the external environment. Future research should continue to integrate both internal and external factors in theoretical explanations of innovation adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the use of research by managers and professionals in Canadian health service organizations (ministries, regional authorities, and hospitals). The results of the analysis of the 928 responses underlined the important role that the absorption, learning, culture, and linkage mechanism variables played in determining utilization. General linear regression and regression by organizational type confirmed the importance of the linkage mechanisms, research experience, unit size, and research relevance for the users. The emphasis could thus be put, according to the organization type, on research experience. linkage mechanisms, unit size, research culture, research relevance for the users, and research activities, The article also underscores the individual and organizational contextual factors' high degree of significance by expressing these contextual factors us organizational variables and by adopting a more organizational perspective of knowledge utilization analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the typology of power suggested by French and Raven, this study identified five types of power PR practitioners believe they have. Survey results suggest that PR practitioners working for health organizations believe they have Expert Power in media relations, especially those who work for non-profit organizations, have frequent contact with reporters, and develop close relationships with reporters. In general, they do not believe they exert Information Coercive and Advertising Coercive power. This research also examined the effect of three internal contingent factors on the perceived power of PR in media relations. Only Organizational Stability was a significant predictor of Expert Power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing recently adopted a position statement which gave approval for the development of a doctorate of nursing practice. What are possible ethics related to meaning and scholarship in providing this form of terminal degree in nursing? What are some questions that members of the discipline ought to be thinking about when pondering beginning such programs? When viewed from a nursing theoretical perspective, what are potential implications for initiating this degree? This column shall begin the discussion regarding the ethics and possible meanings for doing what is best for the discipline of nursing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article outlines the medical history of the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) in Great Britain since 1907. It could be noted that RSM's transformation from the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society loosely designated specialist. This transformation could be attributed to the merger of 17 societies with the federal structure. This is considered to be the first acceptance made by a national institution assessing that the practice of medicine is becoming specialized.

The article presents a calendar of events related to the field of medicine. The World Conference of Lung Health is scheduled to be held in Boston, Massachusetts, from May 20-24, 1990. A meeting of the European Association of Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery will be held from September 10-14, 1990 in Brussels. The American Society for Bariatric Surgery will organize its 7th annual meeting from June 7-9, 1990 in Toronto, Ontario.

This article presents the highlights of the third Annual General Meeting of the Association for Genito-Urinary Medicine which was held at the Edward Lumley Hall of the Royal College of Surgeons in London, England on October 27, 1995. The meeting was combined with discussions of interest to members. This is the third annual report of the Secretary of the Association for Genito-Urinary Medicine.

This article offers information on several research in progress related to human resources in the U.S., as of October 1984. They include a study on the development of human resource management indicators is proceeding in a Cleveland health care organization, a study investigating the effects of technological change, industry trends and national policies on health care employment, a study on the forces underlying the restructuring of the health care system over the next decade, and a study on human resource strategy and planning.

Lists books on health and social behavior received by the American Sociological Association. "Psychosocial and Educational Aspects and Problems of Mental Retardation". "Methodology in Evaluating the Quality of Medical Care". "Science and Morality in Medicine". "Organization Development: Strategies and Models". "Disadvantaged Children: Health, Nutrition and School Failure". "An Introduction to Social Research". "Nursing Home Standards: A Tragic Dilemma in American Health". "American Drinking Practices". "Mechanization of Agriculture in Brazil". "The Case History Method in the Study of Family Process". "Psychotherapy and the Dual Research Tradition". "The Design Within: Psychoanalytic Approaches to Shakespeare". "Depth and Extent of the Geriatric Problem". "The Life and Times of Sir Edwin Chadwick".

The article highlights the symposium that tackled the topic about back pain, which was organized jointly by the Royal Society of Medicine and the British Institute of Musculoskeletal Medicine. Several notable people of the profession discussed important points regarding the matter. Dr. Chris Sharp focused on the costliness of pack pain, Jeremy Fairbank, described the set-up in Oxford, where primary care in the community included multidisciplinary practitioners.

The School for Workers staff working on the safety and health project has developed a series of lesson plans covering a variety of subjects taught in classes and institutes run since October, 1973. They were developed from tape recordings and classroom notes transcribed and edited down to a standard format. Many of the lesson plans are accompanied by slides and can be used for developing other teaching units. Some of them are related to specific industries or were developed for use with California, Washington, and Oregon state plans. All are easily adaptable for use in other teaching situations. The School for Workers is presently engaged in transforming certain lesson plans into slide-tape units and visual aids. A series on material handling is being worked on, and two units are being developed for use in the forest products industry. Other educational institutions may find some lessons can be adapted in a similar manner for use in their programs or used "as is."

The article presents information on some web sites that can help consumers or patients satisfy their queries regarding health care related issues. These web sites provide brief guide to health information on the Internet. The Charities Aid Foundation Web site provides information to clinicians for identifying relevant self-help groups. Some of other Web sites which can provide valuable health information are http://www.cafamily.org.uk./, http://www.hebs.scot.nhs.uk/, and others.

The article reports that the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland was inaugurated at a meeting on March 9, 1990. The meeting was held at the General Hospital of Birmingham, England. The promotion of the interests, standards and training in coloproctology are the objectives of the association. It is hoped that the association will represent the political aspects of coloproctology.