Pamela B. DeGuzman

Changing Health Outcomes of Vulnerable Populations through Nursing's Influence on Neighborhood Built Environment: A Framework for Nursing Research

PURPOSE The purpose of this article is to present a framework for nurses to study the impact of built environment on health, particularly in vulnerable populations. ORGANIZING CONSTRUCT The framework is adapted from Social Determinants of Health and Environmental Health Promotion, a framework describing how physical and social environments interact to influence individual and population health and health disparities via macro, community-level, and interpersonal factors. METHODS The original framework was modified for public health nursing using nursing research evaluating built environment and health, and supplemented with Nightingales theory of nursing and health. FINDINGS The built environment affects health through regional-, neighborhood-, and individual-level factors. Nursing can affect the health of patients by evaluating the neighborhood built environment where patients reside, and by advocating for changes to the built environment. CONCLUSIONS Through development of built environment research, nurses can provide valuable insight into the pathways linking built environment to health of vulnerable populations, providing evidence for public health nurses to advocate for these changes on a neighborhood, state, and federal level. CLINICAL RELEVANCE This framework can be used by public health clinicians to understand the pathways by which the built environment may be affecting the health of their patients, and by researchers to investigate the pathways, and to design and test community interventions.

Sub-optimal achievement of guideline-derived lipid goals in management of diabetes patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, despite high use of evidence-based therapies.

Guidelines recommend aggressive goals for lipid and blood pressure reduction for high risk patients with diabetes mellitus and atherosclerotic coronary disease. However, it remains unclear how many patients achieve treatment goals versus the number of people merely placed on treatment. We conducted an observational study in an academic cardiology clinic. A total of 926 patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and concomitant diabetes mellitus met criteria. Mean age was 68.4 ± 10.2, 65.6% were male, and 86.8% were Caucasian. By the last visit a high percentage of patients were receiving recommended medications. Mean LDL-cholesterol achieved was 80.4 mg/dl with 40.9% reaching ≤ 70 mg/dl, and 61.7% reaching SBP ≤ 130 mmHg. Many patients with diabetes mellitus and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease are prescribed recommended medications; however, few achieve guidelines-specified therapeutic goals for LDL-cholesterol and blood pressure. Studies evaluating performance improvement should include percentage of patients reaching treatment goals. Mechanisms underlying the treatment gap need to be identified and addressed.

Legislative activity related to the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in the United States (2006–2015): a need for evidence-based policy

State-based policies to mandate HPV vaccination are politically challenging and have received broad criticisms. There is a critical need to understand the legislative activities that underpin subsequent policy implementation. The objective of this policy analysis was to analyze state legislation that focused on HPV vaccination from 2006–2015. A content analysis was conducted among primary sources of legislative data from HPV vaccine-related bills, including using the National Conference of State Legislatures as a search-source. Findings reveal that much of the legislative activity occurred early after the HPV vaccination was introduced, and focused on increased information for parents, public financing, awareness campaigns, etc. Far fewer states focused on voluntary or mandatory vaccination. Understanding the barriers to achieving mandatory vaccination policy and implementation of such policies for HPV vaccines remains a public health priority.

Density and Proximity of Licensed Tobacco Retailers and Adolescent Smoking A Narrative Review

Adolescent smoking prevention is an important issue in health care. This literature review describes the theoretical concept of ecological model for adolescent smoking and tobacco retailers and summarizes previous studies on the association between the density and proximity of tobacco retailers and adolescent smoking. We reviewed nine studies on tobacco retailer density and proximity in relation to adolescent smoking, published in peer-reviewed journals between 2004 and 2014. The tobacco retailer density and proximity were correlated with adolescent lifetime smoking, past 12-month smoking, past 30-day smoking, and susceptibility to smoking. School nurses or other school health professionals may need to include the density and proximity of tobacco retailer factors around schools in school-based tobacco-use prevention programs. Health policy makers may need to consider zoning or licensing restrictions of tobacco retailers around schools for adolescent smoking prevention.

Nurses' Self-Efficacy and Academic Degree Advancement

The last decade has brought about a synergy of influences for registered nurses to advance their academic preparation. Literature indicates that there is correlation between self-efficacy and goal establishment and success. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the relationship between self-efficacy and advancing academic aspirations of registered nurses. Findings indicated that there was a trend toward a difference in the self-efficacy of nurses who began their career with a diploma or associate degree and went on for academic advancement and those who did not.

Addressing Disparities in Access to Care: Lessons From the Kercheval Street Clinic in the 1960s

Health disparities for racial and ethnic minorities have been present in the United States and persist today. NMHCs (Nurse-Managed Health Center), which can serve as “Medical Homes,” are one mechanism by which nurses can attempt to overcome these disparities within communities. In the mid-1960s, Nancy Milio developed and found funding for a NMHC to address disparities in Detroit, Michigan. History shows that the center was so valued by community members that it remained untouched during the Detroit riot of 1967, despite all buildings surrounding it having been burned down or destroyed. This article uses traditional historic methods to describe the establishment of the center in inner-city Detroit in the 1960s in historical context and analyze factors that led to Milio’s success. To address disparities via NMHCs, nurses must be persistent in acquiring funding and should involve a racially and culturally diverse group representative of community members in the development, planning, and ongoing operation of the enterprise.

Influencing Genomic Change and Cancer Disparities through Neighborhood Chronic Toxic Stress Exposure: A Research Framework

Black Americans have disproportionately higher incidence and mortality rates for many cancers. These disparities may be related to genomic changes that occur from exposure to chronic toxic stress and may result from conditions associated with living in racially segregated neighborhoods with high rates of concentrated poverty. The purpose of this article is to present a nursing research framework for developing and testing neighborhood-level interventions that have the potential to mitigate exposure to neighborhood-associated chronic toxic stress, improve individual-level genomic sequelae and cancer outcomes, and reduce cancer health disparities of Black Americans. Public health nursing researchers should collaborate with local officials to determine ways to reduce neighborhood-level stress. Intermediate outcomes can be measured using genomic or other stress biomarkers, and long-term outcomes can be measured by evaluating population-level cancer incidence and mortality.

Total joint replacement discharge brunch: meeting patient education needs and a hospital initiative of discharge by noon.

BACKGROUND: In 2009, our facility established the goal that 70% of patients with discharge orders would be discharged by noon. The orthopaedic unit was not meeting this goal but saw an opportunity to standardize the discharge process for total joint replacement patients. PURPOSE: The purposes of this article were (1) to describe the implementation of a discharge brunch and (2) to determine whether the implementation of this discharge brunch led to an earlier discharge time. METHODS: A discharge brunch with group discharge instruction was implemented on an inpatient orthopaedic unit for patients who had a total joint replacement. Patient data from our electronic medical record, March–December 2012, were used to compare discharge time of patients who attended the brunch with those who did not. RESULTS: A total of 392 joint replacement patients were discharged between March and December 2012. Of those, 234 attended the discharge brunch. Patients who attended the brunch were discharged by 11:20 a.m., compared with a discharge time of 1:10 p.m. for those who did not attend the brunch, and more patients who attended the brunch were likely to be discharged by noon than those who did not attend the brunch (76% vs. 39%, p < .001). CONCLUSION: Nursing units with standardized discharge teaching should consider implementing a discharge brunch for groups of patients to help achieve goals of discharging patients before noon.

Impact of Urban Neighborhood Disadvantage on Late Stage Breast Cancer Diagnosis in Virginia

Research suggests that residents of inner-city urban neighborhoods have higher rates of late stage cancer diagnosis. Identifying urban neighborhoods with high rates of both concentrated disadvantage and late stage cancer diagnosis may assist health care providers to target screening interventions to reduce disparities. The purposes of this study were to (1) create an index to evaluate concentrated disadvantage (CD) using non-racial measures of poverty, (2) determine the impact of neighborhood CD on late stage breast cancer diagnosis in US cities, and (3) to understand the role of obesity on this relationship. We used census block group- (CBG) level poverty indicators from five Virginia cities to develop the index. Breast cancer cases of women aged 18–65 who lived in the five cities were identified from the 2000–2012 Virginia Cancer Registry. A logistic regression model with random intercept was used to evaluate the impact of disadvantage on late stage breast cancer diagnosis. CBG-level maps were developed to geographically identify neighborhoods with both high rates of CD and late breast cancer staging. Over 900 CBGs and 6000 breast cases were included. Global fit of the concentrated disadvantage model was acceptable. The effect of disadvantage on late stage was significant (OR = 1.0083, p = 0.032). Inner-city poverty impacts risk of late stage breast cancer diagnosis. Area-level obesity is highly correlated with neighborhood poverty (ρ = 0.74, p < 0.0001) but the mediating direct and indirect effects are non-significant. Intervening in these high poverty neighborhoods may help combat disparities in late stage diagnosis for urban poor and for minorities living in these underserved neighborhoods, but more study is needed to understanding the complex relationship between concentrated neighborhood poverty, obesity, and late stage diagnosis.

Philanthropic Donor Perspectives on Supporting Nursing Excellence in a Community Hospital.

OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this research is to explore donors’ perspectives on support of nursing excellence in a community hospital. BACKGROUND:Philanthropic support is rapidly becoming critical to support nursing excellence in hospitals, including continuing education, nursing research, and professional development. However, no research has examined the experience of private donors who support nursing programs in community hospitals. METHODS:Structured interviews were conducted with individuals with a history of providing significant financial support (gifts >