Intimacy boundaries: between mental health nurses & psychiatric patients

This was the first research study in Canada to explore intimacy boundary violations and sexual misconduct between nurses (both RNs and registered psychiatric nurses) and patients. Using a researcher-generated survey, a total of 923 mental health nurses commented on their sexual attraction to patients, and dating and sexual intercourse patterns with patients. The findings indicated that very few nurses had dated or engaged in sexual intercourse with discharged patients, and the few nurses who had done so tended to be younger men prepared at the registered psychiatric nursing diploma level. A small number of nurses believed it was permissible to have a sexual relationship with a patient while the patient was hospitalized, but none reported having a current relationship. Given the severity of this intimacy boundary violation, nurses need to be educated regarding the serious and dangerous psychiatric effects that can result for patients from engaging in a sexual relationship with nurses. The Code of Ethics of the Canadian Nurses Association and nurses' obligation to follow it needs to be reinforced. Nurses engaging in intimacy boundary violations are vulnerable to patient-initiated lawsuits.     

The Bayview Hunters Point Foundation for Community Improvement: a pioneering multi-ethnic human service organization (1971-2008)

The Bayview Hunters Point Foundation for Community Improvement is a nonprofit organization established in 1971 to defend the legal rights of African-Americans living in its community. Over the years, the agency diversified its services to include mental health and substance abuse treatment, violence prevention, youth programming, and HIV services. The organization has overcome multiple challenges during its 37-year history in relation to social, political, and economic changes that have influenced the way the organization has financed and delivered its services. The history of the organization presents a collaborative approach to community problem-solving and exemplifies the important role that external relationships play in relationship to nonprofit growth and survival.     

Asian Community Mental Health Services at 35: a pioneering ethnic organization (1973-2008)

Asian Community Mental Health Services is a nonprofit organization that delivers mental health services to primarily Asian and Pacific Islander communities. From its early beginnings and over its 35-year history, the agency has had to overcome numerous challenges, including gaining legitimacy as a culturally specific nonprofit, combating stigma surrounding mental health issues within the Asian Pacific Islander community, building resources to fund service delivery, and developing an educated and culturally sensitive workforce. The history of the organization highlights the multiple challenges and rewards of developing a culturally specific nonprofit in an urban area as well as the important role that internal operations play in relation to nonprofit expansion and growth.     

Growth and resilience of pioneering nonprofit human service organizations: a cross-case analysis of organizational histories

Knowledge of organizational history is important for recognizing patterns in effective management and understanding how organizations respond to internal and external challenges. This cross-case analysis of 12 histories of pioneering nonprofit human service organizations contributes an important longitudinal perspective on organizational history, complementing the cross-sectional case studies that dominate the existing research on nonprofit organizations. The literature on organizational growth, including lifecycle models and growth management, is reviewed, along with the literature on organizational resilience. Based on analysis of the 12 organizational histories, a conceptual model is presented that synthesizes key factors in the areas of leadership, internal operations, and external relations that influence organizational growth and resilience to enable nonprofit organizations to survive and thrive over time. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal examples from the organizational histories illustrate the conceptual map. The paper concludes with a discussion of directions for future research on nonprofit organizational history.     

How publics respond to crisis communication strategies: The interplay of information form and source

Through an experiment with 162 college students this study empirically evaluates an emerging communication model: the social-mediated crisis communication model (SMCC). As part of a series of studies testing the SMCC model, this study focuses on two of the SMCC model's components: the effects of crisis information form (traditional media, social media, and word-of-mouth) and source (third party and organization) on publics’ acceptance of crisis response strategies and publics’ crisis emotions. The findings clearly indicate the importance of strategically matching crisis information form and source when organizations respond to crises. In addition, the selection of crisis information form and source affects publics’ attribution independent and dependent emotions.     

The use of finite mixture models to estimate the distribution of the health utilities index in the presence of a ceiling effect

Finite mixture models are flexible parametric models that allow one to describe complex probability distributions as a mixture of a small number of simple probability distributions. Measures of health status are often used to reflect a person's overall health. Such measures may be subject to a ceiling effect, in that the measure is unable to discern gradations in health status above the ceiling. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of finite mixture models to describe the probability distribution of the Health Utilities Index, under the assumption that the HUI is subject to a ceiling effect. Mixture models with two through six components are fit to the HUI. Bayes factors were used to compare the evidence that the Canadian population of non-institutionalized residents is composed of four distinct subpopulations, and that a mixture of six Normal components is required to describe these four subpopulations.     

Attitudes and Values of Scottish Farmers: “Yeoman” and “Entrepreneur” as Factors,Not Distinct Types1

Abstract We investigate the validity of the classification of farmers into two or more distinct types on the basis of attitudes, objectives, and values. Factor analysis of data from a survey of farm pluriactivity in Scotland (N=472) shows that attributes ascribed to “yeoman” and “entrepreneur” types emerge as separate factors rather than as a single bipolar factor. No clustering of the factor scores corresponding to distinct types is found. We also present correlations of the factor scores with attitudes to on- and off-farm pluriactivity and with observables such as age and off-farm employment. The desirability of analyzing survey data by methods which do not make assumptions about typology is discussed.     

The impact of routine assessment of past or current mental health on help-seeking in the perinatal period

BackgroundClinical practice guidelines now recommend that women be asked about their past or current mental health as a routine component of maternity care. However, the value of this line of enquiry in increasing engagement with support services, as required, remains controversial.AimThe current study aimed to examine whether assessment of past or current mental health, received with or without referral for additional support, is associated with help-seeking during pregnancy and the postpartum.MethodsA subsample of women drawn from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (young cohort) who reported experiencing significant emotional distress during pregnancy (N = 398) or in the 12 months following birth (N = 380) participated in the study.ResultsMultivariate analysis showed that women who were not asked about their emotional health were less likely to seek any formal help during both pregnancy (adjOR = 0.09, 95%CI: 0.04–0.24) and the postpartum (adjOR = 0.07, 95%CI: 0.02–0.13), as were women who were asked about these issues but who were not referred for additional support (antenatal: adjOR = 0.26, 95%CI: 0.15–0.45; postnatal: adjOR = 0.14, 95%CI: 0.07–0.27). However, considerable levels of consultation with general practitioners, midwives and child health nurses, even in the absence of referral, were evident.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that enquiry by a health professional about women's past or current mental health is associated with help-seeking throughout the perinatal period. The clinical and resource implications of these findings for the primary health care sector should be considered prior to the implementation of future routine perinatal depression screening or psychosocial assessment programmes.     

Combining Workstation Design and Performance Management to Increase Ergonomically Correct Computer Typing Postures

The effects of workstation changes and a performance management (PM) package on seven typing postures were examined for seven office workers. Workstation adjustments were implemented first. Two participants increased five safe postures by 50% or more. The effects of a PM package on postures that did not improve by 50% were then examined using a multiple baseline design across participants. The PM package included information, feedback, and praise. Composite percent safe scores for postures targeted in the PM package increased for all seven participants, with increases ranging from 54% to 80%. Results suggest that it is beneficial to combine ergonomic design and performance management in office ergonomic programs.     

Structural and Treatment Analyses of Safe and At-Risk Behaviors and Postures Performed by Pharmacy Employees

This study employed structural and treatment analyses to determine factors that contributed to wrist posture safety in a small pharmacy. The pharmacy was located on a university campus and participants were three female pharmacy technicians. These particular employees had experienced various repetitive-motion injuries that resulted in a total of 36 lost days and 161 restricted days. Observers collected observational data on the participants' wrist posture in the presence and absence of an improvised wrist support device that participants placed under the computer keyboard.?Average percentage safe for wrist position with a wrist support was higher for all three participants when compared to wrist position without a wrist support. These results indicated that the participants' wrist posture was considerably safer when the wrist support was present. The structural analysis proved valuable for aiding in the development of an intervention and in identifying variables that were responsible for the participants' wrist posture.