Leading Generation Y Nurses

Demographics can be a powerful force, as we learned in the last 2 US presidential elections. Generation Y came of age in time to vote and made sure that their voices were heard.¹ This generational cohort, born between 1981 and 2000, numbers more than 78 million strong compared with 75 million Baby Boomers and 48 million in Generation X. Although they are still only 15% of the current nursing workforce, the shift is beginning. The number of nurses under the age of 30 is steadily increasing.² With 3 million Baby Boomers turning 65 each year between 2014 and 2034, it is anticipated that Generation Y will be 50% of the nursing workforce by 2020.³     

Leading Nurses to a New Century ICN During the 1990s

MANY of the concerns facing ICN in the 1990s had remained constant throughout the organisation's history. These include professional services issues, economic stability, international relations and global nurse representation. Many ICN activities in the 1990s were devoted to addressing these familiar problems in new ways.
As the century drew to a close, more than 4,500 nurses from every region of the world gathered with joy and pride at the ICN Centennial Conference in London. They celebrated one hundred years of accomplishment and accepted a new vision to lead ICN and nursing into the 21st Century.     

Leading into the future: coaching and mentoring Generation X employees

Managers who recognize that Generation X employees are looking for workplaces that allow them to develop their competencies as well as have a balance in their personal and professional lives, are more successful in attracting and retaining employees in this age group. Savvy managers understand that adapting to meet the needs of Generation X employees also assists the manager in transitioning into the Information Age and the workplace of the future.     

Leading a hospital closure

Hospital closures have become more common. The challenges facing a nursing leader in this situation are complex and difficult. This author suggests that looking for new beginnings rather than focusing on endings created an approach to closing a public hospital. The article includes approaches to employee morale, staffing, and patient care.     

Leading a Recovery-oriented Social Enterprise

Recovery-oriented mental health services promote the principles of recovery, such as hope and optimism, and are characterized by a personalized approach to developing consumer self-determination. Nurse leaders are increasingly developing such services as social enterprises, but there is limited research on the leadership of these programs. Leading a recovery-oriented mental health nurse social enterprise requires visionary leadership, collaboration with consumers and local health providers, financial viability, and commitment to recovery-focused practice. This article describes the framework of an Australian mental health nursing social enterprise, including the service attributes and leadership lessons that have been learned from developing program sustainability.     

冰冻保存血小板新亚群及其新特性体外研究

目的　探讨血小板冰冻保存后血小板新亚群的产生和其获得新特性的分子基础。方法　采用流式细胞术在不同条件下比较分析新鲜血小板和冰冻保存血小板膜表面功能分子表达变化差异。结果　根据表达和再表达CD6 2p能力不同可将冰冻血小板分为三个亚群 ,CD6 2 p再表达率为 5 1 .7%± 7.8% ;新鲜血小板只有一个明显的亚群 ,CD6 2 p再表达率为 98.3%± 0 .6 %。结合磷脂酰丝氨酸 (PS)、CD6 2 p和CD4 2b分子变化可将冰冻血小板分出新的亚群 ,其显著特征包括PS阳性和CD4 2b分子密度显著降低 ;而CD6 2p阴性亚群对钙离子的激活更为敏感。结论　血小板通过冰冻保存后 ,产生了新亚群。新亚群膜表面功能分子的变化及其表达能力改变可能与其体内存活率减低而即刻止血功能增强密切相关     

Freeze-Dried Microfluidic Monodisperse Microbubbles as a New Generation of Ultrasound Contrast Agents

We succeeded in freeze-drying monodisperse microbubbles without degrading their performance, that is, their monodispersity in size and echogenicity. We used microfluidic technology to generate cryoprotected highly monodisperse microbubbles (coefficient of variation [CV] <5%). By using a novel retrieval technique, we were able to freeze-dry the microbubbles and resuspend them without degradation, that is, keeping their size distribution narrow (CV <6%). Acoustic characterization performed in two geometries (a centimetric cell and a millichannel) revealed that the resuspended bubbles conserved the sharpness of the backscattered resonance peak, leading to CVs ranging between 5% and 10%, depending on the geometry. As currently observed with monodisperse bubbles, the peak amplitudes are one order of magnitude higher than those of commercial ultrasound contrast agents. Our work thus solves the question of storage and transportation of highly monodisperse bubbles. This work might open pathways toward novel clinical non-invasive measurements, such as local pressure, impossible to carry out with the existing commercial ultrasound contrast agents.     

Leading and co-ordinating a multi-nurse researcher project

Leading and co-ordinating a research project is a complex undertaking involving management of people, processes, budget and material resources. The task is even more complex when there are nine nurse researchers collecting and analysing data in the midst of their practice. In this paper, Theresa Mitchell and Steve Jones describe the experiences of the project lead and co-ordinator responsible for planning and managing such a project in the Oncology Centre in Gloucestershire, UK. Using examples from the project, the authors share some of the potential problems encountered during research activities, and propose strategies and remedies to address them.