Nursing

Introduction: The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) lowers Medicare payments to hospitals with excess readmissions for certain conditions. We analyzed FY2020 HRRP data for Brigham and Women’s Hospital (July 2015 to June 2018). We conducted an analysis to identify patients with a discrepant expected vs observed readmission status for AMI, HF and CABG, followed by a chart review to explain this discrepancy. Methods: We calculated the risk of readmission for each patient, which was a summed value of the weights associated with all recorded comorbidities in the CMS data. A negative risk score indicated a patient was unlikely to be readmitted and a positive score indicated the opposite. We then performed a chart review focused on patients who had a high risk of readmission but were not readmitted, and those who had a low risk of readmission but were readmitted. Results: For AMI, 18% (108/596) of patients were readmitted within 30 days, CABG 14% (50/357) of patients, and HF 2...

NASN has found a lack of research-based evidence to support the caseload ratio model of school nurse staffing. In keeping with the practices of school administrators, other school support personnel, and community health care providers, NASN is transitioning to the workload model to guide safe school nurse staffing. The workload model considers more than ratio and acuity; instead, it provides a full description of school nurse activities and other influences on student health.

Prior to 1990 lesbians were "invisible" in health care research. Researchers who asked questions specifically about lesbian health concerns were rare, and the burgeoning research on women's health seldom included variables that measured sexual orientation or behavior. In the last decade, however, lesbian health has emerged as a major area of study. A 1999 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on Lesbian Health has outlined the challenges and gaps in this area of research and has called for focus and funding on specific areas of need. In this article I review research on lesbian health, discuss methodological issues specific to this area of research, and summarize the recommendations of the IOM report.

Among unidentified gamma-ray sources in the galactic plane, there are some that present significant variability and have been proposed to be high-mass microquasars. To deepen the study of the possible association between variable low galactic latitude gamma-ray sources and microquasars, we have applied a leptonic jet model based on the microquasar scenario that reproduces the gamma-ray spectrum of three unidentified

An ecological framework provides the underpinnings for the examination of factors associated with the health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors of African American adolescent females (N=137). Findings indicate that more positive family, peer, and neighborhood factors were associated with less engagement in health-compromising behaviors and increased engagement in health-promoting behaviors. Also, more positive family interactions buffered the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and adolescents' engagement in health-compromising behaviors. Overall, the findings suggest that the health-related behaviors of African American adolescent females are best understood in the context of their social relationships and environmental contexts.