BUILDING THE FOUNDATION OF EXCELLENCE IN HEART FAILURE NURSING

This column contains the presidential address presented during the Third Annual Meeting of the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses on June 28, 2007, in San Diego, California, titled "Building the Foundation of Excellence in Heart Failure Nursing."     

Natural killer cell activity and autologous mixed lymphocyte response of splenic,mesenteric lymph node,and colonic lymphocytes during DMH-induced colon carcinogenesis in the rat

Twoin vitro models of immune surveillance were used to examine the immune status of the gut-associated lymphoid tissue, mesenteric lymph nodes, and spleen during the early stages of 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMN)-induced colon tumorigenesis. DMH-and vehicletreated Fischer rats were sacrificed at one of three time points; one week, two months, or five months after cessation of treatment. Colonic, lymph node, and splenic natural killer cell cytolytic activity toward YAC-1 tumor targets and T-cell response to autologous la-induced balstogenesis were measured at each time point. We found little change in natural killer cell activity or T-cell proliferation induced by autologous Ia gene products at these time periods.This investigation was supported in part by grant CA26917 from the National Cancer Institute, Department of Health and Human Services.     

An examination of depression through the lens of spinal cord injury: Comparative prevalence rates and severity in women and men

PURPOSE: This study describes the prevalence of probable major depressive disorder (MDD) as well as other depressive disorders (ODD) and severity of depressive symptoms in a national sample of women with spinal cord injury (SCI) and compares them with a case-matched sample of men with SCI. METHODS: A sample of 585 women was drawn and case-matched with men from the SCI Model System National SCI Database according to level/completeness of injury, follow-up year, and age. The outcome measure of depression was the Patient Health Questionnaire. MAIN FINDINGS: Prevalence rates for women were 7.9% for probable MDD and 9.7% for ODD; rates for men were 9.9% and 10.3%, respectively. Logistic regression revealed that women who were divorced or at year 1 follow-up had a higher odds of having probable MDD (odds ratio [OR], 3.4 and 2.9, respectively). Employed women and men had significantly lower odds of probable MDD (OR, 0.274 and 0.358, respectively). Statistically significant differences were not found in gender comparisons for either probable MDD or symptom severity, which also were not associated with injury characteristics. CONCLUSION: The most significant, and unexpected, research finding is the absence of gender differences in probable MDD and symptom severity. Results challenge notions that depression will necessarily follow SCI; that injury characteristics determine the development and severity of depression; and that women experience a greater burden of depression than men. The main clinical implication is that depression screening and referral should be a routine feature of health care for women living with SCI, as well as for their male counterparts. Furthermore, nearly one fourth of women and men reported experiencing some or greater difficulty in daily life and relationships in the absence of probable depressive disorder, warranting monitoring of subsyndromal depression as well.     

Citizen minds,citizen bodies: the citizenship experience and the government of mentally ill persons

The concept of citizenship is becoming more and more prominent in specific fields, such as psychiatry/mental health, where it is constituted as a solution to the issues of exclusion, discrimination, and poverty often endured by the mentally ill. We argue that such discourse of citizenship represents a break in the history of psychiatry and constitutes a powerful strategy to counter the effects of equally powerful psychiatric labelling. However, we call into question the emancipatory promise of a citizenship agenda. Foucault's concept of governmentality is helpful in understanding the production of the citizen subject, its location within the ‘art of government’, as well as the ethical and political implications of citizenship in the context of mental health.