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New
Clinical Insights, Emerging Solutions for Health Care and
Health Policy Focus of State of the Science Congress, Sept.
26-28
WASHINGTON,
DC -- Important new insights into the alleviation of an array
of clinical disorders, plus emerging discoveries for improving
health promotion, disease prevention, and health services
for children, adults, and families, will be presented Sept.
26-28 in Washington, D.C., as leading health researchers and
policy makers assemble for the 2002 State of the Science
Congress.
Top researchers
from the nation’s nursing schools -- representing the
largest health care profession -- will gather over three days
at the J.W. Marriott Hotel during the landmark event hosted
by 23 of the nation’s leading nursing organizations.
More than 200 original research papers will be presented in
symposia and paper and poster sessions that will examine,
among a broad spectrum of health concerns:
Detecting Teen Bullying Before It’s Too Late
Chronic
teasing and bullying seriously affect an estimated 10 percent
of children in the United States. But until they were linked
to outbreaks of school violence, teasing and bullying received
little attention from researchers, clinicians, and school
staff. Moreover, despite the negative psychological toll,
no valid tool has existed to identify children who are adversely
affected by nasty teasing and bullying. Working with middle
school students in three regions of the U.S. to learn their
common experiences, nurse researchers at Boston College and
the University of New Mexico have developed a scale of warning
signs to help educators, parents, and clinicians identify
at-risk youth and intervene before serious psychosocial problems
develop. (Fri, Sept. 27, 9:45 a.m.)
A second
study by nurse scientists at Boston College looks at how recent
news clippings can be used to identify links between teasing/bullying
and youth suicide that previously were not revealed through
standard evaluation measures. (Fri, Sept. 27,3 p.m.)
Bed
Rest May Not Be Best Remedy for Pregnancy Complications
Approximately
700,000 women per year are prescribed bed rest treatment at
home or in the hospital to treat complications of pregnancy
and preterm birth. However, a new study by nurse researchers
at Case Western Reserve University and the University of Alabama
at Birmingham suggests that the practice of bed rest for pregnant
women should be reassessed because it often produces negative
outcomes for mothers and infants.
Studies
of bed rest date to the 1950s, when NASA and other aerospace
scientists began examining its effects as a way of estimating
the impact on the body of weightlessness in space. They found
that bed rest causes numerous changes in every system in the
body, including muscle and bone loss, cardiovascular deconditioning,
and weight loss. Though this knowledge was applied to most
medical care, many women continued to be prescribed bed rest
for pregnancy complications because doctors often believed
the practice was effective and that pregnant women are young
and healthy and therefore not prone to the negative side effects
of bed rest.
But new investigations reveal that such beliefs are not supported
by fact. Researchers will discuss their recent analyses that
have either not been able to locate quality research to document
that bed rest is effective in treating pregnancy complications
or have found evidence to the contrary, including adverse
effects of bed rest treatment on mothers’ weight gain
and infants’ birth weight. (Fri, Sept. 27, 9:45 a.m.)
How
Fast Would You Seek Heart Attack Treatment: Do Sex and Race
Play a Role?
Treatments
to re-establish blood flow to a damaged heart can succeed
when patients arrive in the emergency room quickly. However,
studies document that the average patient waits two to four
hours before seeking treatment for heart attack symptoms.
New work by nurse researchers at the University of Illinois
at Chicago reveals how one’s gender and race can influence
delays in seeking emergency treatment for a heart attack,
and the importance of targeting interventions to reduce delays
based on the individual groups at risk. (Fri, Sept. 27,
9:45 a.m.)
Differing
Definitions of “Quality” in Long-Term Care
Recent
concerns over the quality of care in some nursing and other
long-term care facilities has revealed that what residents
and regulators define as “quality” often doesn’t
agree, according to new research at the College of Nursing
and Allied Health Professions at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.
Researchers will present findings on a study of older adult
residents in a sampling of nursing facilities in south Louisiana
that reveal the frequent gaps in incorporating residents’
and families’ perceptions of quality of life and quality
of care into evaluation standards for a facility. (Fri,
Sept. 27, 1:15 p.m.)
Herbal
Supplements: Benefit or Risk for Older Adults?
Older
women frequently use non-prescription medications and home
remedies as part of their health promotion regimens. The widespread
use of herbal supplements, for example, has been spurred by
the popular belief that these products are natural and safe
to use without harmful side effects. A new investigation at
the College of Nursing at the University of Florida has tracked
the use of herbal supplements and home remedies over time
by a sample of older women who live independently in north
central Florida. While proper use of herbal products may often
be beneficial, such as by lessening the side effects of some
conventional drugs, the complications from possible drug and
herbal interactions remain largely unknown. Researchers will
present their findings on the women’s reasons for using
herbal products and home remedies, the wide variations found
in dosing and in the types of supplements used, and how often
users and health care providers fully communicate about the
intake of such substances. (Sat, Sept. 28, 9 a.m.)
Paternity:
Risk for Intimate Partner Femicide
With concerns
increasing over the incidence and consequences of domestic
abuse, a new investigation also reveals the potential harmful
influence of the presence of stepchildren in the home on couple
conflict. Led by a team of researchers at the Johns Hopkins
University School of Nursing, investigators have analyzed
cases of women who were the victim of an actual or attempted
homicide by their intimate partner in 12 cities across the
U.S. The team will report their preliminary data on the risks
of intimate partner violence, femicide, or attempted femicide
related to paternity of children. In surveys and interviews,
the researchers gathered information on the severity and frequency
of intimate partner violence, harassing, emotionally abusive
and controlling behaviors, and risk factors for femicide associated
with the presence of stepchildren in the home who are not
the abusive partner’s biological child. Researchers will
report their findings and recommendations for screenings for
intimate partner violence in women in maternal and child health
settings so that appropriate interventions can be implemented.
(Thu, Sept. 26, 2:45 p.m)
Gaining
New Understanding of “Unattended Wandering”
Approximately
4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease
or other illnesses leading to dementia. Of the 60 percent
of cognitively impaired individuals who wander away from their
caregivers each year, many will become lost in the community
because of their inability to find their way home and may
experience serious injury or death. New research at the University
of Florida College of Nursing has yielded important understanding
through the first empirical analysis of the phenomenon of
“unattended wandering,” with data on its incidence,
situations in which it occurs, and patterns of wanderers’
movements throughout a community, and recommendations for
law enforcement, caregivers, and the public in devising effective
search plans to realize these individuals’ safe return.
(Sat, Sept. 28, 9 a.m.)
Teen
Drunk Driving: Some Solutions from Youth
Although
much research with adolescents is descriptive, focusing on
the incidence and consequences of illnesses and health-related
behavior, new work aims at listening to “adolescent voice”
to promote health in teen populations. Prompted by data on
the rates which high school students in their rural state
either drove while drinking or rode with a driver who had
been drinking, researchers at West Virginia University have
examined the common themes in drinking/driving situations
described by youth. They will present their findings on what
teens say works -- the concepts, words, and motivations --
when attempting to stop a drunken person from driving. (Fri,Sept.
27, 3 p.m.)
Bone-Density
Testing: Is Knowing the Results Enough?
Is providing someone information about her health sufficient
to motivate that person to take preventive action? A new study
on bone-density screening in older women suggests that test
results alone are not enough to assure that many women at
risk for osteoporosis receive proper treatment. Researchers
from the College of Nursing at Villanova University will present
their findings on the incidence of bone-density testing and
how adequately health care providers and women tested use
the results. (Fri, Sept. 27, 3 p.m.)
Special
Recognition
On Thursday,
September 26 at 1:00 p.m., a special recognition will be given
to U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) for his outstanding support
of military nursing research. Chiefs from the Army, Navy,
and Air Force Nurse Corps will present the award to Senator
Inouye in a videotaped ceremony honoring him for his support
of the creation a decade ago of the TriService Nursing Research
Program, a joint scientific program of the three agencies.
State
of the Science Congress Sponsoring Organizations:
American Association of Colleges of Nursing · Sigma
Theta Tau International · Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality · American Academy of Nursing ·
American Association of Critical-Care Nurses · American
Nephrology Nurses Association · American Nurses Foundation
· American Organization of Nurse Executives ·
American Psychiatric Nurses Association · Association
of Academic Health Centers · Association of Rehabilitation
Nursing · Association of Women's Health, Obstetrics
and Neonatal Nursing · Eastern Nursing Research Society
· Emergency Nurses Association · Friends of
the National Institute of Nursing Research · Midwest
Nursing Research Society · National Institute of Nursing
Research · National League for Nursing · Oncology
Nursing Society · Southern Nursing Research Society
· TriService Nursing Research Program · Western
Institute of Nursing · Wound, Ostomy, and Continence
Nurses Society
The American Association of
Colleges of Nursing is the national voice for university and
four-year-college education programs in nursing. Representing
more than 580 member schools of nursing at public and private
institutions nationwide, AACN's educational, research, governmental
advocacy, data collection, publications, and other programs
work to establish quality standards for bachelor's- and graduate-degree
nursing education, assist deans and directors to implement
those standards, influence the nursing profession to improve
health care, and promote public support of baccalaureate and
graduate nursing education, research, and practice. Web site:
http://www.aacn.nche.edu.
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Click
here to view the previous news release.
Click
here to view a subject index to conference presentations in
PDF format
CONTACT:
Robert Rosseter
(202) 463-6930, x231
rrosseter@aacn.nche.edu
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