Pathophysiology And Care Protocols For Nursing Management An Issue Of Nursing Clinics

Nursing is an evolving profession that requires continued knowledge updates in formulating a foundation for practice. In order to promote patient safety and satisfaction, it is imperative that nurses monitor publications and increase their knowledge base. Each patient is different; each care management situation requires an individualized plan of care. These require the nurse to develop a personal framework for practice that continually develops from this information. This mandates an evolving knowledge base which this edition will supply for nurses who work to deliver care that is research based and protocol driven. This issue of Nursing Clinics will be both timely and relevant as it will combine two clearly important topics for nurses in care management, pathophysiological updates as well as research based protocols that are important to continuity of validated evidence based care delivery. This will give nurses across organizations the opportunity to see care from a perspective of patient wholeness and not truncate care in order to address total components. With care reimbursement dependent on outcomes, it is important for the nurse to see care as a continuum and not finite. This issue will give nurses this perspective.

The Guest Editors have secured top experts in the area of palliative care to write current and clinically relevant articles. Articles in this issue are devoted to: Caring for LGBT Populations; Integrating Palliative Care into Primary Care; Pain Management in the Cognitively Impaired; Pain Management in the Client with Substance Use Disorder; Rituals at End of Life; Death Bed Phenomena; Family Care During End of Life; Palliative Wound Care; Pet-Assisted Therapy in Palliative Care; Palliative Sedation: State of the Science. Readers will come away with the updated information they need to provide state-of-the-art palliative care to their patients.

This issue will address health care issues and clinical implications of rural and other medically underserved priority populations. The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality identified priority populations to include rural residents, racial and ethnic minorities, low income groups, women, children, older adults, and other individuals who may require chronic care. The editors identified a need for articles focusing on priority populations to help further understand health implications of health disparities among specific populations. A main focus is on identifying useful clinically focused strategies to address racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic differences that are relevant and influence overall healthcare, access, and quality of life. The articles will provide clinicians and other consumers of Nursing Clinics of North America with a diverse and unique perspective on an array of clinically relevant and population focused topics. Some example topics included are: Tailoring interactive multimedia to improve diabetes self- management; Addressing mental and physical health among older adults; Using mobile devices to access evidence- based information in a rural setting; Identifying family history and development of risk factors for diabetes among underserved preschool children; Addressing smoking cessation, Cancer screening issues, Cardiovascular health, and Obesity.

Pharmacologic options have exploded in recent years, forcing updates and creation of guidelines for their use in a near-simultaneous manner. While some nurses may encounter these new medications at the bedside, drugs with little or no indications in specific arenas may remain unknown to the nurse practicing in a specialized area. This issue of Nursing Clinics of North America offers a broad review of current pharmacologic therapy. Bedside applications (e.g., electronic apps) offering real-time information and updates for clinicians will be highlighted throughout the issue.

Nurses are challenged to understand the scientific bases of psychiatric disorders and treatment implications that modify behavior and improve functional status and quality of life for clients and their significant others. This challenge extends to integration of scientific knowledge into the biological, functional, and psychosocial distress experienced by persons with mental disorders. The primary strength of this issue is its broad focus and synthesis of scientific knowledge into psychiatric mental health practice. The initial section centers on technological advances and the art of psychiatric mental health nursing and legal considerations when caring for persons with mental disorders. The following section provides discussions of various psychiatric disorders, including anxiety and mood disorders, acute psychosis, attention deficit disorders, substance-related disorders, eating disorders, and borderline personality disorder. The remaining section focuses on special populations and treatment concerning children and adolescents and families in crisis, geriatric emergencies, adverse drug reactions, and suicide. Each article integrates innovative treatment modalities, including pharmacotherapy and psychotherapeutic interventions such as psychoeducation, family involvement, and psychosocial rehabilitation. This issue will provide timely updates in these areas and be a go-to source for mental health and psychiatric nurses.

Nurses are faced with unprecedented challenges and opportunities. Healthcare delivery models are transforming that require adaptive and flexible nurses. The primary role of the frontline nurse is providing patient care. To be successful in this role it requires numerous competencies supported by evidence-based data. Frontline bedside nurses are fundamental to the success of value-based care delivery models. These transformational models rely on robust nursing contributions for success. Most frontline nurses don't understand value-based care models and their role in promoting positive outcomes for reimbursement. This issue is a tool kit to empower our frontline nurses for challenges they are facing with transformations occurring at their bedside practice site. The articles will be a best practice handbook for frontline nurses by providing resources to develop clinical skills to provide safe, quality, and accountable patient care needed for new healthcare delivery models.

How has technology changed the art and science of nursing practice? Many facets of nursing practice have stayed constant over the years such as the way we advocate for our patients and the art of caring for our patients. However, nursing practice has evolved over the years especially in the bedside delivery of state of the art nursing care. Technology at the bedside has forced nurse educators to change the ways in which we always have taught nursing students. Technology has also begun to change the methods used in the actual bedside nursing care. In this issue, you will hear from some of the nursing experts in areas of nursing care that has changed in either the delivery of care or method of assessing care of the patient. Nursing experts will describe some of the historical changes and intrigue you in the changes expected to come to the bedside. Why is this issue important? First, we gain insight from a review of where we have been and nurses tend to reminisce on our past as well as romance our historical roots. Second, technology is ever changing and it is good practice to keep abreast of what is happening in other areas of nursing so that we can apply others successes in our own specific areas of nursing. Third, informatics in nursing is a growing field and nursing must embrace technology and learn to adapt various methods of delivery so that we can appropriately care for and advocate for our patients. With the changes in our national healthcare system, we must encourage nurses to try out new methods of delivery as well as encourage their ideas of how nursing can change. The articles in this issue reflect these changes.

APRNs are essential to deliver healthcare in today’s complex environment. Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists have met that challenge for over 150 years. Nurse Anesthetists have shifted from the intensive care unit as critical care nurses into the operating room arena. The operating room is an environment that is uniquely challenging. A critical care background is essential to meet these challenges, and all Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists share that experience. The topic; "Certified Registered Nurse Anesthesia: Critical Care Nursing in the Operating Room", highlights critical care nursing as it is applied in the operating room setting. Critical care nurses will appreciate the knowledge base that is essential for the anesthetist. As healthcare reform demands greater efficiency, more and more procedures are performed outside the operating room. The line between the Operating Room, ICU and Interventional Radiology will become less defined. Critical care nurses are, and will be more involved in patient care while an anesthetic is administered. It is the goal of this proposed monograph to share knowledge and experience so that ICU nurses will learn more about caring for the anesthetized patient.