Experiences and learning during a graduate nurse program: an examination using a focus group approach

The graduate nurse year requires individuals to make a huge transition from university student to registered nurse as part of the health care workforce. New graduates experience steep learning curves throughout the first year of professional practice. This study sought to explore experiences and learning occurring throughout the graduate nurse program for a group of seven new nurse graduates. Focus group interviews were conducted at six months and 12 months into the program using the same set of guiding questions. The first interview highlighted that graduates early in the graduate year were internalised, concentrating on their own survival in managing workloads, facing practice realities and coming to terms with themselves as nurses. Learning was primarily about survival strategies and performing tasks. By the second interview, graduates were much less focussed on themselves. They understood their place in the health care team, had gained confidence in their relationships, and were showing concern for the next graduates arriving. Learning at this stage involved more higher order skills, including critical thinking.     

Effects of angle and laminectomy on triangulated pedicle screws

We aimed to demonstrate the effect of angle and laminectomy on paired pedicle screws to determine whether a 90 degrees screw angle is optimal as has been previously suggested. According to the angle between right and left screws, 28 calf vertebrae were divided into three groups and instrumented as follows: Group I: 60 degrees screw angle; Group II: 90 degrees angle; Group III: 60 degrees angle with laminectomy. The screws were connected using rods and cross-fixators and tested to peak pullout force. Triangulated pedicle screws provided 76.5% more pullout strength than single screws. Most of the specimens failed through loss of convergence angle (toggling of screws on the rods) and subsequent uni- or bilateral screw pullout. Mean+/-SD peak loads were: Group I: 2071+/-622 N; Group II: 1753+/-497 N; Group III: 2186+/-587 N. The differences were not significant (p>0.05). 90 degrees triangulation was not associated with a superior pullout performance versus conventional 60 degrees triangulation, suggesting that achieving additional triangulation angle is not necessary to obtain increased pullout strength. Laminectomy did not alter the effect of triangulation on fixation strength.     

Gene expression profiles of serous, endometrioid, and clear cell subtypes of ovarian and endometrial cancer.

PURPOSE: The presence of similar histologic subtypes of epithelial ovarian and endometrial cancers has long been noted, although the relevance of this finding to pathogenesis and clinical management is unclear. Despite similar clinical characteristics, histologic subtypes of cancers of the ovary and endometrium are treated according to organ of origin. This study compares the gene expression profiles of analogous histologic subtypes of cancers of the ovary and endometrium using the same genomic platform to determine the similarities and differences between these tumors. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Gene expression profiles of 75 cancers (endometrioid, serous, and clear cell) of the ovary and endometrium, five renal clear cell cancers, and seven normal epithelial brushings were determined using a 11,000-element cDNA array. All images were analyzed using BRB ArrayTools. Validation was done using real-time PCR on select genes and immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: Comparison across endometrial and ovarian cancers and serous and endometrioid tumors showed expression patterns reflecting their organ of origin. Clear cell tumors, however, showed remarkably similar expression patterns regardless of their origin, even when compared with renal clear cell samples. A set of 43 genes was common to comparisons of each of the three histologic subtypes of ovarian cancer with normal ovarian surface epithelium. CONCLUSIONS: The comparison of the gene expression profiles of endometrioid and serous subtypes of ovarian and endometrial cancer are largely unique to the combination of a particular subtype in a specific organ. In contrast, clear cell cancers show a remarkable similarity in gene expression profiles across organs (including kidney) and could not be statistically distinguished.     

Circulating levels of inflammatory markers and cancer risk in the health aging and body composition cohort.

BACKGROUND: Chronic inflammation is associated with processes that contribute to the onset or progression of cancer. This study examined the relationships between circulating levels of the inflammatory markers interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and total as well as site-specific cancer incidence. METHODS: Study subjects (n = 2,438) were older adults (ages 70-79 years) participating in the Health Aging and Body Composition study, who did not report a previous cancer diagnosis (except for nonmelanoma skin cancer) at baseline. Incident cancer events (n = 296) were ascertained during an average follow-up of 5.5 years. Inflammatory markers were measured in stored baseline fasting blood samples. RESULTS: The adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for incident cancer associated with a 1-unit increase on the natural log-scale were 1.13 (0.94-1.37), 1.25 (1.09-1.43), and 1.28 (0.96-1.70) for IL-6, CRP, and TNF-alpha, respectively. Markers were more strongly associated with cancer death: hazard ratios were 1.63 (1.19-2.23) for IL-6, 1.64 (1.20-2.24) for CRP, and 1.82 (1.14-2.92) for TNF-alpha. Although precision was low for site-specific analyses, our results suggest that all three markers were associated with lung cancer, that IL-6 and CRP were associated with colorectal cancer, and that CRP was associated with breast cancer. Prostate cancer was not associated with any of these markers. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that (a) the associations between IL-6, CRP, and TNF-alpha and the risk of cancer may be site specific and (b) increased levels of inflammatory markers are more strongly associated with the risk of cancer death than cancer incidence.     

Salivary gland malignancy with divergent differentiation: is it a teratocarcinosarcoma?

Four poorly differentiated malignant lesions occurred in a 60-year-old Chinese male in the nasal cavity, submandibular gland, a lymph node in the neck, and the mandible. These malignant lesions developed within an 8-year period and each showed distinctive histological features. Among these malignant lesions, the neoplasm in the submandibular gland presented variegated histological and immunohistochemical (IHC) features and posed a diagnostic challenge in interpretation. Based on microscopic and IHC findings, we believe the diagnosis of teratocarcinosarcoma is justified for the submandibular neoplasm and the metastasis in the lymph node. The pathological features and diagnoses of these malignant lesions are discussed.     

Pituitary volume in teenagers with first-presentation borderline personality disorder

This study used magnetic resonance imaging to examine pituitary gland volume (PGV) in teenage patients with a first presentation of borderline personality disorder (BPD). No difference in PGV was observed between healthy controls (n = 20) and the total BPD cohort (n = 20). However, within the BPD cohort, those exposed to childhood trauma (n = 9) tended to have smaller pituitaries (− 18%) than those with no history of childhood trauma (n = 10). These preliminary findings suggest that exposure to childhood trauma, rather than BPD, per se, might be associated with reduced PGV, possibly reflecting hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis dysfunction.     

Principle-based ethics and nurses' attitudes towards artificial feeding

Nurses often institute artificial feeding for patients who would otherwise starve Recently, the courts in the United States have favoured withholding or withdrawing feedings from patients who currently refuse or previously gave some indication they would refuse artificial nutrition and hydration This paper investigates under what circumstances nurses feel justified in withholding artificial nutrition and hydration Structured interviews were conducted with 40 cancer care nurses from two sites, and 40 dementia care nurses from two sites The interviews were based on two vignettes, one involving an alert patient with terminal cancer, the other a patient suffering end-stage Alzheimer's dementia, and were analysed for themes coinciding with principles of deontological ethics Investigators found that autonomy, beneficence and non-maleficence most often guided nurses' decisions to withhold or implement artificial feeding