Browsing by Subject "Neurosciences"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Analysis of Galvanic Skin Response: Potential Relationships to Stimulus Responsivity and Brain Dopamine Signal
    (2014-04-11) Chumin, Evgeny; Albrecht, Daniel; Yoder, Karen
    Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain disorder that presents itself with no apparent medical explanation for the pain. Functional alterations of neurotransmitters such as dopamine (DA) have been implicated in fibromyalgia neuropathology. It is not known how central dopamine function in pain is associated with objective peripheral measurements that are thought to be associated with the presence of pain and stress. Galvanic skin response (GSR), is a physiological measure of nervous system activation. GSR could potentially give insight to novel aspects of DA function. In this study, GSR was recorded from fibromyalgia patients (FM) and healthy controls (HC) while they underwent scanning with [18F]-fallypride (FAL) Positron Emission Tomography (PET). FAL is a D2/D3 DA receptor antagonist that is sensitive to changes in DA levels in the brain. Given the involvement of DA in cognitive processes, FAL PET can be used to examine baseline DA activity as well as changes from baseline during cognitive load tasks. Relationships between GSR and working memory load, acute pain, and DA function were studied and compared between FM and HC.
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    Implementation strategies to improve critical care nurses' knowledge of and adherence to evidence-based guidelines
    (2016-04-01) Reynolds, Staci Sue; Bakas, Tamilyn; McLennon, Susan Margaret; Murray, Laura L.; Ebright, Patricia R.
    Healthcare workers are responsible for providing evidence-based care to patients; however, many patients receive unnecessary or harmful care. Successful implementation of evidence-based guidelines can improve patient outcomes, particularly among vulnerable neuroscience patients. Focused efforts to improve nursing knowledge of and adherence to these guidelines are warranted. The purpose of this dissertation was to determine the most effective strategies for implementing evidence-based guidelines into nursing practice. First, an integrative review of the literature was conducted to explore studies addressing implementation of evidence-based guidelines in nursing. Implications from the review suggested further research to better understand which strategies should be utilized to best implement evidence-based nursing practices. Two pre- and posttest studies were then designed to identify a bundle of implementation strategies to improve neurocritical care nurses' knowledge of and adherence to stroke and spinal cord injury guidelines. The tailored, multi-faceted strategies consisted of local opinion leaders, printed educational materials, and educational outreach. Improvements in nursing knowledge of and adherence to these guidelines were noted. Lastly, program evaluations were conducted using a mixed-methods study to understand neurocritical care nurses' perceptions of the usefulness of the strategies employed during the two studies. Findings from this research provided support for the most effective implementation strategies to enhance knowledge development and guideline adherence among neurocritical care nurses for implementation of stroke and spinal cord guidelines.