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Effective quality indicators are crucial to the work of nursing. Appropriate quality indicators are needed to guide data collection and analysis to improve the quality of care provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a follow-up study comparing nurse anesthesia research in the U.S. in 1995 and 1996 with findings of research from 1985 to 1986. Increase in educational and safety-related research; Studies on at least one indicator of theoretical orientation in the 1990s; Convenience samples of hospitalized patients.

The article discusses the guidelines released by "MEDSURG Nursing" for reporting evidence-based practice (EBP) projects. Topics covered include differences of the EBP, research and continuous quality improvement (CQI) projects and changes in format for articles reporting the implementation of an EBP project, including side bar, search table and manuscript.

The article provides information about intervention fidelity with some key references. Topics covered include the importance of the fidelity of an intervention or treatment in behavioral or educational study, the need for researchers to design a study to include methods to monitor the reliability and validity of the intervention to address fidelity, and the need for researchers to assess the competence of the people implementing the intervention before the study starts.

The article discusses the importance of examining healthcare processes to improve care and patient outcomes. Topics covered include a process needing examination in the context of quality improvement, the fishbone diagram developed by Kaurou Ishikawa, and the Failure Mode Effects Analysis designed by the U.S. military to analyze processes.

The article discusses key factors to make a poster more attractive and more useful to readers. Topics mentioned include percentage of the poster that should be white space, the need for presenters to think about and develop their posters from a visual perspective, and the use of PowerPoint software when developing a poster through templates for scientific posters available online.

The article discusses some of the methodological decisions made in a study on the quality of sleep for hospitalized patients. Study highlights include the use of stickers as reminders that a patient was in the study, the importance of intervention fidelity in the study treatment, and exclusion of patients from the study who were diagnosed with sleep apnea or dementia.

The article discusses various topics related to nonsignificant findings in published research studies. Topics covered include the fundamental definition and criteria of nonsignificant findings, things that account for inconclusive findings in research studies, and the importance of being honest in reporting research findings including the nonsignificant results.

The article explains unobtrusive measures (UM) or the methods of data collection that are based on observing rather than direct gathering of data from research participants. Advantages of UM include the reduction of opportunity for bias and its sustainability for a health promotion program. Disadvantages include the limited control of the type of data and sampling bias.

The author presents trustworthiness in qualitative research. It offers an overview of criteria reportedly accepted by qualitative researchers including credibility, dependability, confirmability, transferability and authenticity. It also considers other one to review other aspects of the research such as ethical consideration, recruiting procedures and conduct of data analysis.

The article discusses the different components of a randomized control trial or randomized clinical trial (RCT). Topics covered include the controlled manipulation of intervention in experimental research, the use of a control or comparison group, and the random assignment to the treatment groups. It also discusses other issues affecting RCTs, including blinding the patients about the RCT, the external validity of the RCT, and explanatory RCTs.

The article discusses references in research and other articles. Topics discussed include the need for references to be accurate, to be updated and essential. The author stresses that references, as general rule, should be from a research or evidence-based publications. Authors are suggested to find a colleague that will assist them with editing their manuscripts and references.

The article focuses on the Fischer's exact test of independence for statistical comparisons in research. It makes reference to the study "Fall risk associated with continuous nerve blocks following knee and hip arthroplasty," by D. M. Finn et al published in the 2016 issue of the journal "MEDSURG Nursing."Topics discussed include categorical data, null or no difference hypothesis and testing of hypotheses.

The article examines the nature of research questions and research hypotheses in establishing the purpose of a study. It defines the use of a research question to outline the phenomena being studied including variables such as population and the problem to be addressed. It cites that a research hypotheses serves as a statement to predict the direction of the results of a study. It emphasizes the importance of a well founded hypothesis and question to produce relevant results in research works.

The article discusses the basic concept and components of focus groups in surgical units. Topics covered include how researchers usually choose focus groups for data collection, the use of focus groups to study various areas of interest to medical-surgical nursing, and the need for standard qualitative procedures to ensure quality data.

The article presents the author's insights on the idea of life-world in the Heideggerian Phenomenology. It mentions the meaning of phenomenology which is a form of philosophy originating from philosophers including Husserl, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty. It adds that a subjective nature of everyday life is indicated by the term life-worlds.

The article discusses research being done on the data analysis technique, u-Chart as one frequently used in health care. It references the study "Hourly Rounding: A Replication Study," by T Olrich and colleagues published in a 2012 issue of "MedSurg Nursing." The authors determined if the rate of call light usage was different in the pre-, initial, or post-implementation time periods of their study using a u-chart.

The article offers information on Cronbach's alpha. It is used to test the reliability of a scale in terms of internal consistency by measuring the correlations between items. While it is used to indicate whether the items are consistent with each other, it cannot be used to determine which attributes are supposed to be measured.

The article offers information on the new and shorter format for continuous quality improvement (CQI) articles. Topics include quality improvement projects and the lack of generalizability and sharing of information about CQI projects, the components of the new CQI manuscript which includes a brief introduction to the project, an outline of the implemented program or project, and Lessons Learned/Nursing Implications section, and the inclusion of value-added tables to CQI articles.

The article discusses the statistical test called t-test, also known as Student's t-test. The t-test was created in 1908 by chemist William Sealy Gosset whose pen name was Student. The purpose of t-test is to compare the means of two different groups. To calculate the mean, all the values are summed up and then divided by the number of participants.

The author reflects on nurses' participation in surveys. She suggests that nurses are very busy people and have very little time at work to participate in anything that is not work related. She argues that if nurses are asked to participate in surveys that are related to quality improvement at their facilities they should do so since the survey results may lead to improvements in their work environment.

Coagulation factor testing is commonly performed within haemostasis laboratories, either to assess for bleeding disorders, such as haemophilia, or to investigate unexplained prolongation in routine coagulation assays. The aim of this evaluation was to harmonize procedures and normal reference ranges (NRRs) for investigation of coagulation factors on the ACL TOP 50 family of instruments in a large laboratory network. We employed comparative evaluations using newly installed ACL TOPs 550 and 750 and HemosIL reagents vs. existing 'reference' instrumentation and reagents, predominantly Stago and Siemens, as well as assessment of factor sensitivity in routine coagulation assays, prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT). Also, establishment of coagulation factor NRRs using normal plasma samples. HemosIL factor assays showed good comparability with the existing reference methods ( R > 0.9). Factor sensitivity for PT and APTT assays were acceptable at around 30 U/dl. NRRs were established and harmonized across the laboratory network. This evaluation of factor testing on ACL TOP 50 Family instruments identified overall acceptable performance using Werfen reagents and enabled harmonization of coagulation factor testing in our large network., (Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The platelet function analyzer (PFA) is a popular platelet function screening instrument, highly sensitive to von Willebrand disease (VWD) and to aspirin therapy, with moderate sensitivity to defects in platelet function and/or deficiencies in platelet number. There are two models, the original PFA-100 and the contemporary PFA-200. Normal reference ranges (NRRs) provided by the manufacturer are the same for both models, instead being based on the type of test cartridge, for which there are two main ones: collagen/epinephrine (C/Epi) and collagen/adenosine diphosphate (C/ADP)., Methods: Comparative evaluations of PFA testing and reporting in six different sites of a large pathology network, aiming to harmonize NRRs and test reporting across all network sites. A separate comparative study of testing a range of samples (n > 150) on a PFA-100 versus that on a PFA-200. Review of contemporary literature., Results: Each site was identified to have a different reporting NRR, which after consolidating data permitted establishment of an agreed harmonized NRR for use across the network (C/Epi: 90-160; C/ADP: 70-124; based on n > 180). Similarly, each site reported and interpreted results in different ways, and after discussion and consolidation, a harmonized approach to interpretation and reporting was achieved. The separate comparative study of PFA-100 versus PFA-200 testing confirmed instrument equivalence., Conclusion: We achieved harmonized NRRs and reporting for PFA testing across a large pathology network. Our approach may be useful for other laboratory networks wishing to harmonize PFA testing., (© 2022 The Authors. International Journal of Laboratory Hematology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Introduction: Lupus anticoagulant (LA) testing is commonly performed within hemostasis laboratories, and the ACL TOP 50 family of instruments represent a new "single platform" of hemostasis instrumentation. Our aim was to evaluate these instruments and manufacturer reagents or alternatives for utility in LA testing., Methods: Comparative evaluations of LA testing using newly installed ACL TOPs 550 and 750 as well as comparative assessments with existing "reference," predominantly Stago, instrumentation, and reagents. Evaluations comprised both dilute Russell viper venom time (dRVVT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT)-based assays. Establishment of normal reference ranges (NRR)., Results: The HemosIL dRVVT-based assays showed good comparability with the existing Stago reference method (R > 0.9) and could be considered as verified as fit for purpose. A variety of APTT assays was additionally evaluated for LA utility, and we identified from the assessment good utility of a non-Werfen solution in Hyphen BioMed Cephen reagents. NRR were established based on ≥120 normal individual plasma samples., Conclusion: This evaluation of LA reagents on ACL TOP 50 Family instruments identified overall acceptable performance of both dRVVT (Werfen solution) and APTT (non-Werfen solution) to enable harmonization of LA testing in our large network., (© 2022 The Authors. International Journal of Laboratory Hematology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Felty's syndrome is a triad of rheumatoid arthritis, splenomegaly, and neutropenia. This rare disorder is difficult to diagnose and produces many complications. The purpose of this descriptive qualitative case study was to provide a comprehensive, context-bound understanding of one patient's struggle with the condition.

The primary principle in the care of the patient involved in health care research is that the patient's welfare has priority. The patient's rights to provide informed consent and to withdraw from any study should be upheld and facilitated at all times. Nurses have an important role as patient advocates and direct care providers in ensuring research is conducted in clinical settings in an ethical, scientifically valid manner.

This qualitative study examines the barriers and facilitators to the role of charge nurse at a medical center. The authors interviewed 42 nursing personnel, including charge nurses (12), head nurses (10), staff nurses (11), and supervisory personnel (9). A total of 24 barriers and facilitators in three categories were identified: personal (11), interpersonal (8), and organizational (5). These factors could be used to inform developmental coaching and educational programs for charge nurses.