Influence of Bright Light Therapy on Postoperative Patients: A Pilot Study
2007
Intensive and Critical Care Nursing
Journal Article
Author(s): Taguchi, T., Yano, M. & Kido, Y.
While the use of light therapy in healthcare settings has been shown to be effective for the adjustment of the sleep-awake rhythm, it has not been applied to postoperative patients. Light is expected to be useful for the postoperative adjustment of the circadian rhythm by increasing the level of awakening during the daytime and inducing sleep during the night-time in patients under postoperative management in the ICU after major anaesthesia and surgery.
Added January 2016
Light Treatment for Neuropsychiatric Behaviors in Alzheimer's Disease
2007
Western Journal of Nursing Research
Journal Article
Issue 8
Volume 29
Pages 961-975
Author(s): Dowling, G. A., Graf, C. L., Hubbard, E. M. & Luxenberg, J. S.
Neuropsychiatric behaviors are common in people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and make both professional and lay caregiving difficult. Light therapy has been somewhat successful in ameliorating disruptive behaviors.
Added January 2016
Centralized and Decentralized Nurse Station Design: An Examination of Caregiver Communication, Work Activities, and Technology
2007
HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal
Journal Article
Issue 1
Volume 1
Pages 44-57
Author(s): Gurascio-Howard, L., Malloch, K.
Patients need to be close to a nurse (RN) for easy access to care and to save travel time. Centralized nurse stations are placed in one location to serve a group of patient rooms.
Added August 2015
Physiological effects of Shinrin-Yoku (taking in the atmosphere of the forest)—using salivary cortisol and cerebral activity as indicators
2007
Journal of Physiological Anthropology
Journal Article
Issue 2
Volume 26
Pages 123-128
Author(s): Park, B.J., Tsunetsugu, Y., Kasetani, T., Hirano, H., Kagawa, T., Sato, M., Miyazaki, Y.
Because humans have lived and adapted to their natural environment for the past 5 million years, it is deduced that humans function most optimally in natural environments such as the forest. It is from this philosophy that the Japanese concept and practice of Shinrin-yoku derived, defined as “making contact with nature and taking in the atmosphere of the forest.”
Added November 2014
Job Satisfaction and Intention to Quit Among Nursing Home Nursing Staff: Do Special Care Units Make a Difference?
2007
Journal of Applied Gerontology
Journal Article
Issue 1
Volume 26
Pages 95-112
Author(s): Robison, J., Pillemer, K.
Research regarding the impact of special care units (SCUs) on the experience of staff provides a somewhat inconsistent picture. Several studies have examined the effect on staff of working in a facility that has an SCU without including a comparison with staff who work on conventional units. These studies have found generally positive results, including lower turnover among nurses. Despite the promise of SCUs, the degree to which they differ in important outcomes from conventional nursing home care has not been firmly established. Some comparative studies have found no clear differences in resident outcomes for SCUs.
Added November 2014
Hospital-Acquired Legionnaires Disease in a University Hospital: Impact of the Copper-Silver Ionization System
2007
Clinical Infectious Diseases
Journal Article
Issue 2
Volume 44
Pages 263
Author(s): Mòdol, J., Sabrià, M., Reynaga, E., Pedro-Botet, M. L.
We evaluated the impact of the copper-silver ionization system in a hospital where hyperendemic nosocomial legionellosis and was present and all previous disinfection measures had failed. After implementation of the copper-silver ionization system, environmental colonization with Legionella species decreased significantly, and the incidence of nosocomial legionellosis decreased dramatically, from...
Added September 2014
Medical Complications of Intra-Hospital Patient Transports: Implications for Architectural Design and Research
2007
HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal
Journal Article
Issue 1
Volume 1
Pages 31-43
Author(s): Ulrich, R., Zhu, X.
The transportation of patients inside a hospital, or intra-hospital transit (IHT), has received little attention in literature relating to hospital design despite having a negative impact. The layout and design can negatively affect travel distance and time, which can be reflected in patient complications and health outcomes.
Added September 2014
Nursing unit design and communication patterns: What is “real” work?
2007
HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal
Journal Article
Issue 1
Volume 1
Pages 58-62
Author(s): Becker, F.
With billions of dollars spent each year on new hospital construction and an ever-growing shortage of nurses, more attention is being paid to the way in which design of new facilities and, more specifically, nursing units might better support nurse recruitment, their work process, and retention. There is growing concern about the quality of hospital environments and the impact on staff, which inherently impacts quality of care.
Added September 2014
Where Active Older Adults Walk: Understanding the Factors Related to Path Choice for Walking Among Active Retirement Community Residents
2007
Environment and Behavior
Journal Article
Issue 1
Volume 39
Pages 75-105
Author(s): Joseph, A., Zimring, C.
There is little evidence about how path-design characteristics at site and building scale may be related to where active older adults choose to walk. This article describes the findings from an empirical study examining the relationship between physical environmental characteristics of path segments and their use for walking for recreation or instrumental reasons by 114 active residents on three...
Added August 2014
Flooring as an intervention to reduce injuries from falls in healthcare settings: an overview
Issue 1
Volume 8
Pages 3-9
Author(s): Drahota, A., Gal, D., Windsor, J.
As the elderly population grows, the risk of falls in healthcare settings and of injuries resulting from falls will increase, as this population exhibits higher risk for falling due to age-related factors. Researchers have long focused on variables that impact fall prevention in healthcare settings; yet, since prevention of all falls is not possible, and about 30% of patient falls result in injury, there is growing interest in understanding strategies for injury prevention, to reduce the more serious cost and health implications of falls.
Added March 2014
The Relationships Between Nurses’ Perceptions of the Hemodialysis Unit Work Environment and Nurse Turnover, Patient Satisfaction, and Hospitalizations
Issue 3
Volume 34
Pages 271-281
Author(s): Gardner, J. K., Fogg, L., Thomas-Hawkins, C., Latham, C. E.
Nephrology nurses’ impressions of their work environments (professional/social, not physical) are related to nurse and patient outcomes, for example, nurses’ employment decisions.
Added March 2014
The design of psychologists’ offices: a qualitative evaluation of environment-function fit
2007
AIA Academy Journal
Journal Article
Author(s): Watkins, N. J., Anthony, K. H.
Psychologists attempt to create office environments that support their therapeutic discussions with patients.
Added March 2014
Computerized mental health assessment in integrative health clinics: A cross-sectional study using structured interview
2007
International Journal of Mental Health Nursing
Journal Article
Issue 6
Volume 16
Pages 441-446
Author(s): Leung, S., French, P., Chui, C., Arthur, D.
People who completed computerized mental health assessments while waiting in integrative health clinics better understood their own mental health after completing the assessment and had positive feelings about using a computer to assess their mental health.
Added February 2014
Performance Obstacles of Intensive Care Nurses
2007
Nursing Research
Journal Article
Issue 3
Volume 56
Pages 185-194
Author(s): Gurses, A. P., Carayon, P.
There is little research about how the work environment of intensive care nurses impacts nursing outcomes and patient safety. Yet performance obstacles hinder intensive care nurses’ ability to perform their jobs.
Added January 2014
Mapping the Nursing Process: A New Approach for Understanding the Work of Nursing
2007
Journal of Nursing Administration
Journal Article
Issue 2
Volume 34
Pages 101-109
Author(s): Potter, P., Grayson, D., Boxerman, S., Sledge, J., Wolf, L., Evanoff, B., Marshall, J.
Over the last 10 years, hospitals have tried to reconcile patients’ demands for high-quality, safe care along with payers’ demands for lower costs. As a result, many hospitals are looking for ways to streamline work processes, gain productivity, reduce costs, and maintain quality. Human factors engineering (HFE) techniques, drawn from the sciences of industrial engineering, ergonomics, and mathematics, have been used to analyze clinical care processes and restructure patient care delivery.
Added January 2014
Resident outcomes in small-house nursing homes: A longitudinal evaluation of the initial green house program
2007
Journal of the American Geriatics Society
Journal Article
Issue 6
Volume 55
Pages 832-839
Author(s): Kane, R. A., Lum, T.Y., Cutler, L.J., Degenholtz, H.B., Yu, T.
Since 1995, there has been a huge emphasis on transforming the culture of long term care facilities as a way to improve the quality of care provided to elderly residents. The focus has shifted from a provider centered model to an individualized resident-centered model where the staffing, policies as well as the physical environment are designed to support the needs of the resident. There has been a movement towards designing physical environments that are smaller scale with more private rooms and baths and household-type neighborhoods for dining and occasional cooking. The Green House puts forth a set of principles to bring about this transformation and envisages a radically reconfigured nursing home.
Added November 2012
Antimicrobial drug use and infection control practices associated with the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in European hospitals
2007
Clinical Microbiology and Infection
Journal Article
Issue 3
Volume 13
Pages 269-276
Author(s): MacKenzie, F. M., Bruce, J., Struelens, M. J., Goossens, H., Mollison, J., Gould, I. M.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a type of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics such as methicillin and cephalosporins. MRSA may cause serious infections to patients with open wounds, invasive devices, and weakened immune systems, which are in some cases extremely difficult to treat. In recent years, the rate of MRSA infections has been increasing globally and causing high morbidity, mortality, and healthcare cost.
Added October 2012
Cost effectiveness of a medical vigilance system to reduce patient falls
2007
Nursing Economic$
Journal Article
Issue 6
Volume 25
Pages 333-338, 352
Author(s): Spetz, J., Jacobs, J., Hatler, C.
Patient falls refer to patients’ unplanned descent to the floor with or without injuries to the patients. Patient falls are a leading cause of injuries and death and contribute to healthcare cost increase. The prevention of patient falls is especially important in certain patients and settings such as post-neurosurgery units where patients are often confused. A variety of fall-prevention programs have been implemented by many hospitals. Some of such programs include environmental modifications in addition to educational and operation al changes.
Added October 2012
Natural Ventilation for the Prevention of Airborne Contagion
2007
PlOS Medicine
Journal Article
Issue 2
Volume 4
Pages e68
Author(s): Escombe, R.R., Oeser, C.I., Gilman, R.H., Navincopa, M., Martinez, C., Chacaltana, J., Rodriguez, R., Moore, D.J., Friedland, J.S., Evans, C.A.
Controlling the break of nosocomial infections is arguably the highest priority in hospitals. Institutional transmission of airborne infections, such as Tubercolosis (TB) are, additionally, a public health concern. This is particularly true for developing countries, or other resource-limited settings where protective measures such as negative-pressure isolation rooms, which have become the norm in more modern settings, are difficult to implement. The global statistics on TB are staggering at 1.8 million dealths a year.
Added October 2012
Decreasing Airborne Contamination Levels in High-Risk Hospital Areas Using a Novel Mobile Air-Treatment Unit
2007
Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
Journal Article
Volume 28
Pages 1181-1186
Author(s): Bergeron, V., Reboux, G., Poirot, J.L., Laudinet, B.S.
To evaluate the performance of a new mobile air-treatment unit that uses nonthermal-plasma reactors for lowering the airborne bioburden in critical hospital environments and reducing the risk of nosocomial infection due to opportunistic airborne pathogens, such as Aspergillus fumigatus. Tests were conducted in 2 different high-risk hospital areas: an operating room under simulated conditions and...
Added October 2012
