Pain and Sleep Biomarkers in Participants Undergoing Orthopedic Surgeries.

The bidirectional relationship between chronic pain and poor sleep are well reported. Disrupted sleep and chronic pain, either alone or in conjunction, are often associated with poor post-surgical outcomes. However, the relationship between peripheral blood biomarkers and chronic pain and sleep disturbances after orthopedic surgery has not been extensively studied.

Sleep hygiene linked to patient-reported outcomes & objective sleep measures prior to upper extremity orthopaedic surgery.

Background: Sleep hygiene is a modifiable factor that influences sleep quality, which is vital to the body's healing process and pain response. However, poor sleep hygiene, characterized by irregular sleep schedules, inappropriate sleep environments, or the use of stimulants before bedtime, can exacerbate sleep disturbances and impairment, thus diminishing sleep quality, exacerbating pain hypersensitivity, and protracting postoperative recovery. Despite being modifiable, sleep hygiene is rarely assessed preoperatively and may be a driver of the relationship between poor sleep quality and pain response in surgical patient populations.

Effects of a Workplace Well-Being Program on Professional Quality of Life Among Health Care Personnel.

Background: A healthy, competent, and compassionate health care workforce is critical to ensure that health systems can deliver high-quality, safe patient care. Therefore, health care personnel need access to scalable, recurring, evidence-based training opportunities to bolster compassion, mitigate burnout, and enhance resiliency, ultimately improving their professional quality of life. This evaluation examined the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance of workplace-based well-being training opportunities offered by Atlanta's Resiliency Resource for frontline Workers (ARROW) program across two health systems.

Do Must-Access Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) Affect Pain and Physical Impairment Outcomes in Older Adults?

Background: State policies requiring clinicians to review prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) databases have proliferated. Patient advocates warn that such policies may reduce quality of life for some patients.

Objectives: To quantify the relationship between must-access PDMPs and pain and physical impairment outcomes.

An Evidence-Based Safe Sleep Program Is Associated With Less Infant Sleep-Related Deaths.

Background: Sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) is a leading cause of infant mortality in the United States. Hospitals have implemented infant safe sleep programs with varying measures and degrees of success, but few have demonstrated improvements in hospital-based and home safe sleep practices with nurse subject matter experts (SMEs) and community SUID prevention campaigns.

Aims: This project evaluated the impact of a state-wide, evidence-based infant safe sleep program for birthing hospitals using nurse SMEs and a community awareness campaign on nurse knowledge, safe sleep environments, and trends in infant sleep-related deaths.

Nurses Perception of the Health of the Work Environment in Hospitals With Nursing Workplace Environment and Staffing Councils: A Statewide Study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the differences in nurse-reported health of their work environment, job enjoyment, and intent to leave among those employed at New Jersey hospitals with Nursing Workplace Environment and Staffing Councils (NWESC).

Background: As an alternative to staffing ratio legislation, NWESC provides clinical nurses a structured venue to influence human resource allocation decisions and improve the health of the work environment.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional statewide study was conducted.

Opioid Education and Naloxone Distribution by Occupation: A Scoping Review.

Background: In the U.S., opioid-involved overdose deaths rose dramatically from 21,089 in 2010 to 108,000 in 2022.

Optimizing Assessment of and Education About Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy Among Breast Cancer Survivors.

Breast cancer survivors often face numerous challenges during and after treatment, including chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) from neurotoxic antineoplastic treatments. Delayed or underreported CIPN may resul.

Integrating Artificial Intelligence Technology Into Simulation for Pre- and Postlicensure Nursing Students.

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have not been widely integrated into simulation education. This work examines the process of designing and implementing AI-enabled opioid-involved overdose simulation scenarios to aid pre- and postlicensure nursing students in learning how to assess, respond to, and manage opioid-involved overdoses. Thirty students provided feedback on their engagement with the AI-enabled manikin immediately following the simulation experience.

Perceptions and attitudes of medical students toward opioid education: A qualitative study.

Objective: Explore the perceptions and attitudes of medical students regarding their education in opioid prescribing for pain management.

Design: Three focus group discussions elicited open-ended, information-rich responses from medical students attending multiple institutions. Thematic analysis identified common themes from focus group transcript data.

Evaluating Stigma Toward Individuals With Substance Use Disorder Among Prelicensure Nursing Students.

Background: Seventeen percent of individuals in the United States live with substance use disorder (SUD). Nursing curricula may not adequately address SUD, and stigma can impact care.

Purpose: This project aimed to measure stigma toward people with SUD among nursing students.

A Hospital Resource for Nurses Navigating Doctoral Education and Beyond.

Advancing nursing practice to improve care and system outcomes requires doctoral-prepared nurses to conduct programs of research and translate science to practice. The authors describe a Doctoral support group (DSG) at one hospital designed to support nurses considering and navigating doctoral education while continuing as hospital employees. Strategies from 18 years' experience are provided for others to develop and sustain a DSG as part of an environment to support and retain nurses with doctoral degrees.

Using an organizational framework to drive change in nursing education: An action plan for nurse leaders.

Background: Organizational change within nursing schools that supports growth of students, faculty, and staff from underrepresented groups occurs through purposeful strategies and commitments to building capacity for the spectra and richness of diverse perspectives.

Purpose: To evaluate framework-guided initiatives, our organization implemented to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion to achieve inclusive excellence in nursing education and leadership.

Methods: Framework-guided initiatives include a standardized diversity education model, hiring bias mitigation strategies, equitable spending, partnerships for student and faculty recruitment, and restructuring committees to include diverse perspectives.

ARCHWAy: an innovative educational program advancing the public health workforce.

Background: Community health workers (CHWs) are vital yet often invisible contributors to care coordination, health equity, and public health (PH) in medically underserved areas. The Atlanta Regional Community Health Workforce Advancement (ARCHWAy) Program leverages cross-sector partners to increase the number of CHWs on integrated care teams in metro Atlanta in the United States.

Methods: The ARCHWAy Program provides an innovative educational curriculum guided by United States Department of Labor CHW competencies and cross-walked with the Georgia CHW Initiative competencies.

Psychometric Assessment of Anxiety Measures in a Pilot Study of African American Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

African American patient populations are disproportionately diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) compared to non-Hispanic white adults. Research suggests a link between OSA and anxiety. However, OSA and anxiety symptoms may present differently across minority groups.

Longitudinal Fatigue Symptoms and Inflammatory Markers in African American Adults With Hypertension and Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Background: There is a dearth of research inclusive of African American adults living with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) despite differences in symptom presentations compared to non-Hispanic White patient populations. Less is known regarding the potential effect of comorbidities, including hypertension, on commonly reported symptoms, such as fatigue, and their association with inflammatory biomarkers.

Objective: This longitudinal pilot study aimed to characterize fatigue symptom presentations among African American adults newly diagnosed with OSA and discern peripheral blood analytes linked to symptoms while accounting for co-occurring hypertension.

Early-stage implementation of peer-led interventions for emergency department patients with substance use disorder: Findings from a formative qualitative evaluation.

Introduction: Emergency department (ED)-based peer recovery coach (PRC) programs can improve access to substance use disorder treatment (SUD) for ED patients. As literature on early stages of PRC implementation is limited, we conducted a qualitative assessment of ED PRC program implementation from several US-based PRC programs focusing on barriers and facilitators for implementation and providing recommendations based on the findings.

Methods: We collected qualitative data from 39 key informants (peer recovery coaches, PRC program managers, ED physicians and staff, representatives of community-based organizations) via 6 focus groups and 21 interviews in February-December 2023.

Opioid-Induced Constipation and Associated Symptoms After Orthopedic Trauma.

Purpose: Opioid-induced constipation is an adverse effect often experienced among patients taking prescription opioid medication. Despite frequent opioid prescribing after orthopedic injury, there is a dearth of research examining opioid-induced constipation presentations in this population. This analysis examines the frequency of opioid-induced constipation manifestations and association with patient-reported outcomes among participants prescribed opioid medication following orthopedic injury.

Emergency department encounters and opioid prescribing following orthopaedic trauma among Black and White patients with substance use disorders.

Introduction: Patients living with substance use disorder (SUD) have complex pain management needs, which may be mismanaged during hospital admission. Ineffectively managed pain following orthopaedic trauma, influenced by clinician biases related to race or SUD diagnosis, may subject patients to worse pain outcomes and subsequent emergency department (ED) encounters. This study examined ED encounters and opioid prescribing for pain-related complaints following orthopaedic trauma, among patients with SUD who identify as Black or African American relative to White patients.

The nurse-led equitable learning framework for training programs: A framework to grow, bolster and diversify the nursing and public health workforce.

Background: Addressing threats to the nursing and public health workforce, while also strengthening the skills of current and future workers, requires programmatic solutions. Training programs should be guided by frameworks, which leverage nursing expertise and leadership, partnerships, and integrate ongoing evaluation.

Purpose Statement: This article provides a replicable framework to grow, bolster, and diversify the nursing and public health workforces, known as the Nurse-led Equitable Learning (NEL) Framework for Training Programs.

Reliability and Validity of Measures Commonly Utilized to Assess Nurse Well-Being.

Background: A healthy nursing workforce is vital to ensuring that patients are provided quality care. Assessing nurses' well-being and related factors requires routine evaluations from health system leaders that leverage brief psychometrically sound measures. To date, measures used to assess nurses' well-being have primarily been psychometrically tested among other clinicians or nurses working in specific clinical practice settings rather than in large, representative, heterogeneous samples of nurses.