Copyright (c) 2013 All rights reserved. http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley Recent documents in Virginia M. Conley en-us Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:55:54 PDT 3600 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/24 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/24 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:28:58 PST R. B. Epstein et al. http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/23 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/23 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:28:53 PST S. Cumbie et al. http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/22 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/22 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:28:48 PST Little is known about the perceptions of nursing students externing in newly developed hospital-based programs that focus on socialization and transition to the registered nurse (RN) role rather than on institutional recruitment and retention goals. This qualitative study explored student nurse externs' expectations, experiences, and benefits of participation in a student-focused externship program. Externs wanted to gain experience with skills and learn what it was like to be an RN. Goals were met or exceeded by becoming comfortable in the externship role, growing in skill performance and confidence, and becoming members of the healthcare team. The experience fostered growth from the novice to advanced beginner level of nursing practice. Externs saw the program participation as a valuable way to gain experience and learn what it was like to be an RN.

]]> K. Starr et al. http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/21 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/21 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:28:43 PST M. E. Burman et al. http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/20 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/20 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:28:38 PST Virginia M. Conley et al. http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/19 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/19 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:28:33 PST Virginia M. Conley et al. http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/18 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/18 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:28:28 PST C. L. Macnee et al. http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/17 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/17 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:28:23 PST Virginia M. Conley http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/16 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/16 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:28:18 PST A child's death profoundly affects family dynamics, stories, and even other siblings' perceived reasons for being. This influence is often sustained over time to affect not only the lost child's parents and siblings, but also future generations. Health care and mental health care workers frequently encounter such stories, but little is known about the actual phenomenon, which may be a form of disenfranchised grief. This conceptual article explores the construct of transgenerational grief as it pertains to adults' lifelong grief responses to a sibling whom they did not know, but whose "ghost" has been important in the family. The authors consider this construct within its historical family context, proposing that miscarriages and infant losses that a family experienced even a century ago may have resembled unresolved grief, due in part to brief, unresolved mourning. Bereavement theory, Bowenian family theory, and constructionist theory of grief are woven together to create speculative theoretical underpinnings to support transgenerational grief and its impact as uncovered in the authors' study of personal stories of sibling loss.

]]> D. Kempson et al. http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/15 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/15 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:28:12 PST Home care of a terminally ill family member is stressful, especially in rural areas. This qualitative study sought to determine informational needs of rural caregivers and how that information is obtained. Although most caregivers stated satisfaction with available information, mostly obtained from physicians and nurses, their behavior belied their satisfaction. Assertive and self-reliant, they used informal communications rather than written information to meet most of their needs. Approaches home care nurses can use to help caregivers obtain important information are presented.

]]> Virginia M. Conley et al. http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/14 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/14 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:28:07 PST Virginia M. Conley et al. http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/13 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/13 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:28:01 PST Significance of findings include important relationships noted between values, actions, outcomes, and assigned meaning. Providers' awareness and understanding of involved values may clarify perceived erratic or noncompliant behaviors and provide the means for providing caregivers with information that will enable terminal values to be fulfilled, thereby facilitating the assignment of meaning to their experiences and the death of their loved ones.

]]> Virginia M. Conley http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/12 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/12 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:27:57 PST Family caregivers attending to chronically ill family members within the community are vulnerable to psychological and medical health issues. Rural caregivers may be at increased risk because of fewer resources. This pilot study explored whether rural caregivers would learn and provide gentle massage to their chronically ill loved ones, would find study participation burdensome, and would realize benefits from providing the massage. Positive results in each of the three areas suggest that providing caregivers with instruction on gentle massage techniques for their chronically ill loved ones may support and enhance rural caregivers' perceptions of self-efficacy and self-agency and thus possibly decrease caregiver vulnerability. The findings of this study are important in light of increasing numbers of chronically ill persons who rely predominantly on home care by family members within the community.

]]> D. Kempson et al. http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/11 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/11 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:27:52 PST Virginia M. Conley http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/9 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/9 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:27:37 PST Virginia M. Conley http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/8 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/8 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:27:26 PST National health policy regulates the delivery of Medicare home health services. These services have grown exponentially over the past several years. Current challenges to service delivery revolve around attempts to contain costs while ensuring quality of and access to care. To meet these challenges, providers must be aware of the societal and ideological influences on national health policies that impact service delivery. This article uses Wong's model of the progression of health care reform to address past health policy influences on Medicare home health delivery, investigate recent sociological trends for relevance to health policy, and propose changes based on current ideology.

]]> Virginia M. Conley et al. http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/7 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/7 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:27:17 PST Virginia M. Conley http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/6 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/6 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:27:12 PST Individuals with mental retardation and their parents/guardians have long been neglected in health care research. In this study we used a qualitative methodology to describe the experiences adults with mental retardation and their parents/guardians have with the delivery of primary care services. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 adults who had mental retardation and 9 parents/guardians. The grounded theory approach was utilized to guide data collection and analysis. Findings suggest an overall positive experience with primary care services. Unique themes were identified that distinguished parent/guardian experiences from those of adults with mental retardation, who focused on immediate, concrete issues related to service delivery, whereas parents/ guardians focused on more peripheral or abstract issues related to the delivery of primary care.

]]> S. C. Voss Horrell et al. http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/5 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/5 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:27:04 PST Virginia M. Conley et al. http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/4 http://works.bepress.com/virginia_conley/4 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:26:50 PST PURPOSE: The movement to the doctor of nursing practice (DNP) is progressing rapidly with new programs emerging and curricular documents being developed. We argue that the implementation of the DNP is a good move for nursing, provided that we use the opportunity to reconceptualize the core of advanced practice nursing, especially nurse practitioner (NP) practice. DATA SOURCES: Theory and research articles from nursing focused on advanced practice nursing, NPs, and doctoral education. CONCLUSIONS: The foundation of NP education is currently based essentially on borrowed or shared content in assessment, pharmacology, and pathophysiology. We argue that the heart and soul of nursing is in health promotion, both in healthy persons and in those dealing with chronic illness. Current master's programs do not prepare NPs to assume high-level practice focused on health promotion and disease management using the latest theoretical developments in health behavior change, behavioral sciences, exercise physiology, nutrition, and medical anthropology. Although these are touched upon in most NP programs, they do not represent the core science of NP education and need to be a critical part of any DNP program. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Ultimately, our vision is for NP care to be consistently "different," yet just as essential as physician care, leading to positive outcomes in health promotion and disease management.

]]> M. E. Burman et al.