Barbara S. Thomas

The Role of Selected Risk Factors in Predicting Adolescent Drug Use and Its Adverse Consequences

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of selected risk factors in predicting alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and adverse consequences of use. Three regression analyses were performed on four categories of risk factors: individual, family related, school related, and social related. The sample size was 887 (99%). Significant predictors for AOD use were grade level, participation in religious services, GPA, frequency of dating and driving, trouble at school, mastery, and family management index. Predictors for adverse consequences were GPA, frequency of dating, trouble at school, family management index, risk taking, alienation, susceptibility to peer pressure, and living arrangements.

Nursing care of the dying: its relationship to selected nurse characteristics.

This study examined the relationship between the quality of nursing care given to terminally-ill patients and their families, and selected characteristics of 210 nurses caring for terminally-ill patients. Mailed questionnaires received 90% response from nurses in a two-stage, stratified, proportionate, random sampling plan. Independent variables studied were: death anxiety, educational experience, personal experience and professional experience. Dependent variables studied were three measures of the quality of nursing care: communication, continuity of care and family care. Kendalls tau and parametric partial correlation coefficients were used for data analysis. The study results show that 13 of the 18 statistical tests were significant at 0.05.

The Affective Outcomes of Course Work on Computer Technology in Nursing

At the University of Iowa, nursing students are introduced to computer technology as one unit in a course designed to explore nursing as a profession. A single group, pretest/posttest design was used to evaluate changes in attitudes associated with the course work. Relationships of attitudes scores and eight background variables were studied. Posttest attitudes scores were significantly higher than pretest scores. The attitudes scores were positively related to skills scores at a statistically significant level of .05, with no significant relationship between attitudes scores and knowledge base scores. Four of the eight background factors were related to the attitudes scores at a statistically significant level of .05.

Direct and Indirect Effects of Selected Risk Factors in Producing Adverse Consequences of Drug Use

A path analysis was performed to examine the usefulness of multiple pathway risk factors in explaining and predicting youthful alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) misuse and its adverse consequences. The risk factors alienation, trait anger, interaction anxiety, and cognitive motivation for drinking were used as exogenous variables with earliness of onset, ATOD use, and adverse consequences of ATOD use serving as endogenous variables. Firm support emerged for both direct and indirect effects of the risk factors on both use and adverse consequences of use.

Instructional computing in American nursing programs

This paper summarizes more than a decade of progress on computing in nursing education and reports the results of a two-phase study of instructional computing in American nursing programs. The study reveals an enormous range of activity in nursing education, the importance of various barriers to growth and use of computers and the perceptions of deans and directors of potential remedies and the feasibility of each.

Computer-assisted decision making: A strategy for primary prevention of substance abuse

A series of six computer-assisted instruction (CAI) programs were developed for primary prevention of substance abuse. The target population, objectives, content, and strategies for the programs were determined from three sources: a literature review of prevention research, theories of learning, and principles of instructional design regarding use of computer technology. Because the focus of the programs is on helping children make responsible choices, the central theme of the programs is on improving decision making.

Using computers in employee assistance programmes

Discusses recent developments in employee assistance programmes, which have led to their being both proactive and reactive. Since the US Department of Labor decided that programmes should begin with education and prevention, the use of computer‐assisted instruction (CAIs) programmes has increased. Discusses the development of these programmes covering both advantages and disadvantages. Concludes that they are not a panacea, but are useful when used with other tools.

Developing Software for Nursing Education

ABSTRACT With support from a Division of Nursing Grant (DHHS Grant # D10 NU27075), more than 20 computer-assisted-instruction (CAI) programs and an information retrieval system were developed for basic and continuing nursing education. Authors and programmers worked as a team, which sometimes included an instructional designer. The first step was review of existing programs to familiarize authors with the capabilities of computers and to plan how the computer could be used best with the chosen topic. Next, the author developed the content in outline form and then in text plus graphics form, consulting with programmers about types of interaction, graphics, color or animation which could be used. At this point, the editorial associate entered the text into our PRIME word processing system and produced hardcopies for review by the author, programmer, instructional designer and an evaluator. The text was edited based on these reviews, and the actual coding, using a pseudo-BASIC language began. After coding, the programs were downloaded to microcomputers where machine-specific routines such as graphics were added. Following extensive on-site evaluation, programs were field-tested. Feedback from these evaluations was considered in making refinements of the programs. Various strategies were used in the programs, but all contain objectives, help options (user directions), menus, tutorials, and self-tests, A Level III videodisc, “Lamaze: The Nurses Role” was produced. It consist of five sections, each containing a preview, objectives, a tutorial, test questions and a summary. Except for a few slides, all of the filming was done locally. Eight births including a Ceasarean birth were videotaped. A system, “An Annotated Bibliography: Computers in Nursing, 1979-1984”, which uses Zylndex for rapid searches, displays and printouts of its 477 entries, was also produced. Updates for the cuurent bibliograpgy and modifications to these programs for other applications are easy to make. Additional annotated bibliographies can be created, using the same format to produce an ASCII file. All products will be demonstrated.