Mertie L. Potter

Spirituality, Resourcefulness, and Arthritis Impact on Health Perception of Elders with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Arthritis is the leading chronic condition for older adults and the leading cause of disability in the United States. Providing holistic care to promote positive health perception and support healthy lifestyle decisions with these individuals is critical in attaining and maintaining quality of life. This study examined variables reflecting reactions to stress, lines of defense and resistance, and the basic core of humans in the context of the Neuman Systems Model in a convenience sample of 47 adults with a mean age of 70.4 years. The combined effects of the social, emotional, and physical impact of arthritis and additive or mediating effects of learned resourcefulness and spirituality on general health perception in older adults were investigated. Social, emotional, and physical impact together predicted health perception. The social impact of arthritis was a significant independent predictor for spirituality. Furthermore, spirituality and health perception were significantly correlated.

The Silence of Suffering Breaking the Sound Barriers

Suffering is an inevitable reality that student nurses may be unprepared to witness. The 14-week college course, Understanding Suffering, was developed to help students better understand the suffering experience. Content for the course was drawn from nursing, sociological, and theological perspectives. Students scored significantly higher on a post-course evaluation of empathy and stated they felt better prepared to intervene in difficult clinical situations involving suffering. Course development, assignments, and evaluation are described in the article.

Implementation of Safety Agreements in an Acute Psychiatric Facility

BACKGROUND Registered nurses (RNs) frequently contract for safety with patients who are at risk for self-harm. It is important to determine if contracting for safety is an effective intervention. OBJECTIVE This study explores results of implementing a safety agreement tool, a form of contracting, in an acute psychiatric facility. STUDY DESIGN Two surveys were given to RNs after implementation of the safety agreement tool. The rate of self-harming incidents pre- and postimplementation was compared. RESULTS RNs were evenly divided in reporting if nurse-patient interactions were enhanced with safety agreements. However, RNs perceived increased patient responsibility, nurse contact, safety guidance, safety discussions, and time guidelines with the safety agreement use. The mean rate of self-harming incidents before was not significantly different from the mean rate after implementation of safety agreements. CONCLUSION Although implementation of the safety agreement tool did not result in statistically significant decreased levels of self-harm, RNs perceived numerous positive effects.

Using Nursing Theory and a Structured Psychoeducational Curriculum With Inpatient Groups

Involving patients in groups has been identified as one way of optimizing patient treatment options while maximizing staff resources and containing costs. In this article, literature on the use of groups by nurses in an inpatient setting is reviewed, and the development of a program involving a psychoeducational group curriculum incorporating Orlando’s nursing theory is described. The program was found to be very helpful in (a) providing structured content; (b) promoting greater comfort, active involvement, and learning by registered nurses and patients; and (c) demonstrating improved patient response.