Barbara S. Jacobsen

A randomized trial of early discharge and nurse specialist transitional follow-up care of high-risk childbearing women.

In a randomized clinical trial, quality of health care as reflected in patient outcomes and cost of health care was compared between two groups of high-risk childbearing women: women diagnosed with diabetes or hypertension in pregnancy. The control group (N = 52) was discharged routinely from the hospital. The intervention group (N = 44) was discharged early using a model of clinical nurse specialist transitional follow-up care. During pregnancy, the intervention group had significantly fewer rehospitalizations than the control group. For infants of diabetic women enrolled in the study during their pregnancy, low birth weight (< or = 2,500 g) was three times more prevalent in the control group (29%) than in the intervention group (8.3%). The postpartum hospital charges for the intervention group were also significantly less than for the control group. The mean total hospital charges for the intervention group were 44% less than for the control group. The mean cost of the clinical specialist follow-up care was 2% of the total hospital charges for the control group. A net savings of

The designs and methods of published nursing research: 1956-1983.

13,327 was realized for each mother-infant dyad discharged early from the hospital.

An exploratory investigation of causal thinking of arthritics.

This study describes the relative frequencies over time of designs and methods used in nursing research articles published in three refereed journals. All articles published in 1956, 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, and 1983 were reviewed (N = 434); 83% were research articles. Methodological research comprised 11% and historical research 1% of the 362 research articles. The designs of the remaining 317 research reports were classified as experimental (27%) or observational (73%). Use of experimental designs peaked in the mid-1960s (41%) and appears to be on the decline (20% in 1983). Cross-sectional studies predominated throughout the period (49%). Methods, including types of subjects, sample selection, and data collection instruments, are described and analyzed for time trends. The findings are discussed in light of the designs and methods advocated in nursing texts and literature.

On the prevalence of causal search in illness situations.

Research in academic achievement situations suggests that the causes people give for achievement events are linked to subsequent behaviors, emotions, and expectations. An attributional analysis of the causes arthritics gave for their condition tested the limits of the attributional model in the situation of chronic illness. Results indicated that the assumption that causal thinking occurs needs further testing. Fifteen percent of the subjects did not give causes. Those not giving causes were significantly more anxious, more depressed, and more hostile than those who had constructed causes. In terms of the dimensions of attribution theory, the results suggest that when causes are given, they do not easily fit within the classification scheme currently proposed. Suggestions for testing of the attributional model in clinical situations are offered.

Very low birth-weight infants: parental visiting and telephoning during initial infant hospitalization.

The prevalence of causal search was examined in two samples, one of chronically ill patients, the other of acutely ill patients. In contrast to the assumption that causal search occurs in important or unexpected life events, the results indicated that such a search was reported by only about half of 296 long-term diabetic, hypertensive, and arthritic patients and 83 newly diagnosed myocardial infarction patients. Moreover, in both samples, affect and expectancies for the future were better for those who had not engaged in causal search. Further research to examine the questions used to elicit causal responses and to test the assumption that causal thinking takes place is suggested.

Attributional analysis of chronic illness outcomes.

The purposes of this study were to examine visiting and telephoing patterns of families of very low birth-weight (VLBW) infants during their initial hospitalization and to identify factors related to visiting and telephoning. The sample of 65 VLBW infants (< 1,500 gm) and their families was followed for 6 weeks in the special care nurseries. Mothers were the primary visitors, with the typical mother visiting the nursery twice per week. Fathers and other family members made most of their visits in the first few weeks with minimal involvement thereafter. During a typical week the number of telephone calls to the nursery from mothers ranged from one to three. Fathers and other family members made minimal calls. Significantly fewer visits were made by families in which the mother was unmarried, the mother was younger, Medicaid was the type of insurance, annual income was less than

On the Consequences of Overturning Turnover: A Study of Performance and Turnover

10,000, and private transportation was unavailable. There were no significant relationships between total number of telephone calls made and maternal demographic variables.

Relationship of Locus of Control to Preoperative Anxiety

The Weiner et al. attribution model has generated a great deal of research on attributions for success and failure in academic achievement situations. Studies of success and failure attributions in real-life situations of high personal concern are limited. If the attribution model is to lead to a general theory of motivation, such tests in real-life situations are critical. In this study, causal attributions for success and failure outcomes of chronically ill patients were examined. Results indicated at least partial support for the model. Patients tended to attribute success internally and failure externally, but stability and expectations were not linked in this sample. Moreover, a tendency to respond with no cause to an open-ended measure and to hold little commitment to any causes on a closed-ended measure was characteristic of failure subjects.

Three sides of the same coin : the analysis of paired data from dyads

The possibility that turnover may have a good side has been given increased attention in recent literature. The purpose of this investigation was to study whether turnover, defined as voluntary exit from employment, among newly hired nurses displaces poor performers. Routine performance ratings of 92 leavers and 184 stayers were compared for differences in overall ratings and for ratings on 10 job factor subscales. Results indicated that those who left employment were judged as significantly lower on overall ratings and on 7 of the 10 job factors on which overall ratings were based. The performance factor that best discriminated between leavers and stayers was the variable of interest and motivation, with those leaving being lower on the scale than the stayers. Further study of the performance-turnover relationship and study of other possible consequences of turnover are suggested.

Incidence and pattern of jaundice in healthy breast-fed infants during the first month of life

Scores on Rotters I-E scale and Zuckermans Multiple Affect Adjective Check List, Today Form for 91 presurgical patients (18–85 yr.) were symmetrically distributed. When I-E scores were partitioned Externals were significantly more anxious than Internals, but the actual mean difference was small. About 10% of the variance in anxiety was accounted for by the r of .31 with I-E scores. Time of day of test was not critical.