Health Behavior Correlates of Depression in a Sample of High School Students

Frequency of symptoms of depression and selected health-related practices and events were measured in a sample of 219 high school students. Students reported numerous symptoms of depression. Relative proportions of boys and girls reporting symptoms of depression were not significantly different. However, girls reported experiencing more severe depression than their male counterparts. Depression correlated significantly with several of the 22 health practices and states of affect examined. Both the determinants and manifestations of depression in adolescent cohorts require in-depth investigation. Possible implications for school health personnel are discussed.     

Suffering: a relatively unexplored phenomenon among family caregivers of non-institutionalized patients with cancer

Suffering is a phenomenon with physical and emotional components. Although several studies have drawn attention to the needs of, and demands placed on families who provide care for patients with a diagnosis of cancer at home, few have discussed the suffering which many of these caregivers experience. This paper will illustrate the phenomenon of suffering as seen in the responses made by family caregivers of patients with cancer. Eighty-three family caregivers drawn from a probability sample of patients with a diagnosis of cancer were interviewed in their homes to determine needs they encountered in their caregiving roles. The caregivers consisted of 43 males and 40 females, with mean ages of 53 and 54 years respectively. Families not only identified their needs, they also indicated several areas which were for them sources of suffering. The findings revealed that family suffering often stemmed from fear of loneliness; uncertainty about the future (their own and that of the patients); lifestyle disruption; communication breakdown; lack of support; and their sense of helplessness. These findings suggest that health professionals, particularly nurses, who work with families in their homes, must be alert and sensitive to cues and circumstances which could indicate suffering, and in so doing, take the necessary steps to ameliorate their situation.     

Alcohol Use among Subcritically Injured Emergency Department Patients

Objectives: To determine the incidence of alcohol use in subcritically injured patients presenting to the ED, by using a saliva alcohol test (SAT) at ED triage during the ED initial assessment; to compare the incidence of alcohol use revealed by the SAT with documentation of alcohol use by ED nurses and emergency physicians (EPs) blinded to the SAT results; and to describe the demographics of the SAT-positive, subcritically injured population.
Methods: A blinded, prospective, observational evaluation of ED patients presenting with subcritical injuries was performed. The patients were tested for alcohol use with an SAT, and a subsequent record review was conducted for extraction of demographic data and evidence of documentation of alcohol use by ED nurses and EPs blinded to the SAT results.
Results: During the study. 791 subcritically injured patients had SATs performed. Twenty-one percent of these patients were found to be alcohol-positive by SAT. Either the ED nurse or the EP documented a clinical impression of alcohol use for 52% of the SAT-positive patients. There were higher SAT-positive rates among men (24%), victims of assault (47%), and patients arriving at night (41%).
Conclusions: While the SAT identified 21% of the subcritically injured patient population as alcohol-positive, ED nurse and EP documentation did not identify half of these alcohol-positive patients. Many of these patients may be at risk for additional injuries related to their drinking behavior.     

Analysing managerial responses in face-to-face contacts

Executive nurse managers, as well as other nurse managers, spend much time responding verbally to people. Whether or not their responses are effective in these situations remains an unexplored area in nursing administration. The author describes a research-based framework to analyse managerial actions. Five types of actions, three non-exploratory and two exploratory, were identified through previous research using Orlando's theory as the framework. Subsequent research suggests nurses prefer that their managers use exploratory action. The article contains discussion on how specific types of actions facilitate or thwart problem identification.