Background: Each year, nearly 800,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke. To assess changes in neurological status during hospitalization, nurses are required to complete the 15-item National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), which is time consuming and therefore, may not be completed as thoroughly as it should. To ensure these patients are being effectively and adequately assessed, there is a need for an abbreviated NIHSS, which can be completed in a shorter time frame. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the merits of an abbreviated NIHSS using seven items considered to be key to determining changes in neurological status. Methods: Over a six month period, 100 scores from the 15-item NIHSS were collected on a sample of 92 acute care stroke patients who had a mean age of 64.2; 52% were female. Seven items were calculated, which included level of consciousness, left and right arm motor movement, left and right leg motor movement, speech fluency, and speech clarity. To assess internal consistency reliability of the 7-item NIHSS, Cronbach's α was computed. To assess criterion validity, the 7-item NIHSS and 15-item NIHSS were correlated using Pearson's r . Results: The 15-item NIHSS ranged from 1 to 37, with a mean of 8.6. The 7-item NIHSS ranged from 0 to 24, with a mean of 4.9. For the 7-item NIHSS, Cronbach's α was .82 and Pearson's r was .96 (p<.001), when correlated with the 15-item NIHSS. Conclusions: Assessment of the acute stroke patient using the 15-item NIHSS is time-consuming, and therefore, may be underutilized. An abbreviated 7-item NIHSS demonstrated satisfactory evidence of internal consistency reliability and criterion validity, when correlated with the 15-item NIHSS, suggesting the 7-item version may be a suitable alternative to the longer version. More psychometric testing is warranted to fully evaluate reliability and validity of the 7-item NIHSS.
The 2009 NACNS National Conference will be held in St Louis, Missouri, on March 5 to 7. More than 350 clinical nurse specialists (CNSs), graduate faculty, nurse administrators, nurse researchers, and graduate students are registered. This year's theme, ''Clinical Nurse Specialists: Vision, Value, Voice,'' demonstrates the essential leadership skills of the CNS as well as the CNS role in implementing evidence-based practice.Seventy abstracts were selected for either podium or poster presentations. Again, this year, there is a CNS student poster session. The abstracts addressed CNS practice in 3 practice domains (spheres of influence), emphasizing patient safety and quality care outcomes, leadership, evidence-based practice, and new ways to shape CNS practice. Topics include CNS work activities incorporated into 3 spheres of influence-patients, nursing practice, organization/system-including the development of clinical inquiry skills among staff nurses, use of simulation technology, strategies to maintain clinical excellence, CNS practice in end-of-life care decisions, and many new and thoughtful ideas to support CNS education, practice, and research. Collectively, the abstracts represent the breadth, depth, and richness of the CNSs' contribution to the well-being of individuals, families, communities, as well as to the advancement of the nursing profession.The conference abstracts were published here to facilitate sharing this emerging new knowledge with those who were unable to attend the conference. As you read each abstract, appreciate the intellectual talent and clinical scholarship of your CNS colleagues who are advancing the practice of nursing and contributing to the health of society through improved outcomes for patients and healthcare organizations. We encourage you to contact individual presenters to network, collaborate, consult, or share your thoughts and ideas on the conference topics. Watch out for next year's call for abstracts and consider submitting for presentation at NACNS' next annual conference in PortlandPurpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to define spirituality and to investigate the acute care registered nurses' use of spirituality in the clinical setting. An additional purpose was to further explore acute care registered nurses' perceptions of behaviors that represent spirituality in the clinical setting by asking the following research questions: (1) how is spirituality defined by acute care registered nurses? (2) Are practices to promote spiritual well-being used by acute care nurses employed in hospital settings when caring for patients? If so, how? If not, why? (3) What examples of spiritual practice can acute care registered nurses provide from their clinical practice?Significance: On a daily basis, acute care nurses interact with patients and families of patients who may experience stress, loss, illness, or trauma during their hospitalization. Little research has been done related to investigating acute care nurses' definitions of spirituality and to whether or not nur...
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