Mary Berg

Pain trajectory following spinal fusion for idiopathic scoliosis

Charmaine Kleiber et al. — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:08:49 PDT

Incidence of constipation and abdominal pain following spinal fusion for idiopathic scoliosis

Mary Berg et al. — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:08:47 PDT

A national survey of the primary and acute care pediatric nurse practitioner educational preparation

E. Hawkins-Walsh et al. — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:08:46 PDT

INTRODUCTION: The past decade has been marked by a gradual expansion of the traditional primary care role of the pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) into practice arenas that call for more acute and critical care of children. The purpose of the study was to explore the educational programming needs of dual (combined) track PNP programs that prepare graduates to provide care to children and adolescents across the continuum of health and illness. METHOD: A two-phase, exploratory, mixed method design was utilized. An electronic survey was completed by 65% of PNP program directors in the country. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with hospital-based PNPs who were practicing in roles that met a range of health care needs across the primary and acute care continuum. RESULTS: Primary care and acute care programs have more common than unique elements, and the vast majority of clinical competencies are common to both types of program. Only three competencies appear to be unique to acute care programs. DISCUSSION: The Association of Faculties of Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Programs should utilize existing evidence and develop guidelines for dual PNP programs that focus on the provision of care to children across a wide continuum of health and illness.

University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics: Outcomes management

Mary Berg et al. — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:08:43 PDT

Delivery of quality patient care and management of patient outcomes is critical to the success of academic medical centers in the ever-changing health care market. The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) promotes quality care through the provision of organizational structures and processes that are described in this article. In addition, quality of care and outcomes management are described by members in various roles within the UIHC health care system. It is the authors' belief that understanding quality from these various perspectives helps UIHC work across departments to achieve excellence in patient care.

Guidelines for dual certification in acute-care and primary-care pediatric nurse practitioner programs

E. Hawkins-Walsh et al. — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:08:41 PDT

Emerging issues regarding pediatric nurse practitioner education in acute and primary care

Mary Berg et al. — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:08:40 PDT

Pain-sensitive temperament and postoperative pain

Charmaine Kleiber et al. — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:08:38 PDT

PURPOSE: To describe the relationship between pain-sensitive temperament and self-report of pain intensity following surgery. DESIGN AND METHODS: Fifty-nine adolescents and young adults (average age 14 years) undergoing spinal fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis completed the Sensitivity Temperament Inventory for Pain-Child version (STIP-C). The Pearson correlation between STIP-C scores and the highest pain intensity for each of the first three postoperative days was investigated. RESULTS: There was a small but significant correlation between the Perceptual Sensitivity and Symptom Reporting subscales of the STIP-C and pain intensity measured on the third postoperative day. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Aspects of the pain-sensitive temperament may be important in understanding the variability in postoperative pain. This is the first investigation of the relationship between pain-sensitive temperament and surgical pain. More research is needed in this area.

Young Nurse Clinician Programs: geriatric, pediatric, and community health

Mary Berg et al. — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:08:34 PDT

In most nursing programs, limited options exist beyond the required nursing curricula for students to continue career growth in a nursing specialty area at the undergraduate level. The authors describe the Young Nurse Clinician Programs, an innovative approach that provides individualized educational opportunities to select nursing students to promote leadership and foster interest in geriatric, pediatric, and community health nursing.