The stress of marriage to an alcoholic.

1. Historically, wives of alcoholics have been described as having disturbed, pathological personalities that were instrumental in causing and maintaining their husbands' drinking. More recently, researchers have tended to support the view that the behavior of these women reflects their stressful circumstances. 2. The women in the study reported interpersonal, extrapersonal, and intrapersonal stressors. The most frequently reported and highest ranked stressor was their relationships with their husbands. 3. Sobriety does not necessarily mean that stressors disappear. 4. More research is needed for nurses to have the knowledge necessary to help wives of alcoholics to cope with their stressors.     

Sexual decision making and safer sex behavior among young female injection drug users and female partners of IDUs

Data from interviews with 94 young women who were injection drug users (IDUs) or partners of IDUs were analyzed to examine associations between self-reported sexual decision making and condom use, contraceptive use, and relationship characteristics. Most women (73-85%) reported participating in decisions about condom use, contraception, and when to have sex. Adjusting for potential covariates, respondents who reported participating in decisions about condom use and when to have sex were 7 and 19 times, respectively, more likely than others to report recently using condoms. Respondents who reported participating in decisions about contraception were 20 times more likely than others to report recently using contraceptives. Longer sexual relationships were associated with decreased likelihood of condom or contraceptive use.     

What every nurse needs to know about nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder

This article provides information about a bizarre pattern of eating while asleep called nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder. People with this disorder, which has begun to be studied only recently, demonstrate features of both a sleep disorder and an eating disorder. Many clients are reluctant to initiate discussions regarding this condition because of feelings of powerlessness and shame. Other clients do not discuss their symptoms because nurses and other clinicians fail to gather accurate assessment data due to lack of knowledge within the professional community regarding the disorder. This review includes the historical background, definition of terms, and clinical manifestations of nocturnal sleep-related eating. In addition, emphasis on assessment and clinical management are included. Safety issues, the need to educate health care providers, and the role of the nurse in advocating for appropriate diagnosis, treatment, and referral are addressed.     

Contaminated consignment simulation to support risk-based inspection design

Invasive nonnative plant pests can cause extensive environmental and economic damage and are very difficult to eradicate once established. Phytosanitary inspections that aim to prevent biological invasions by limiting movement of nonnative plant pests across borders are a critical component of the biosecurity continuum. Inspections can also provide valuable information about when and where plant pests are crossing national boundaries. However, only a limited portion of the massive volume of goods imported daily can be inspected, necessitating a highly targeted, risk-based strategy. Furthermore, since inspections must prioritize detection and efficiency, their outcomes generally cannot be used to make inferences about risk for cargo pathways as a whole. Phytosanitary agencies need better tools for quantifying pests going undetected and designing risk-based inspection strategies appropriate for changing operational conditions. In this research, we present PoPS (Pest or Pathogen Spread) Border, an open-source consignment inspection simulator for measuring inspection outcomes under various cargo contamination scenarios to support recommendations for inspection protocols and estimate pest slippage rates. We used the tool to estimate contamination rates of historical interception data, quantify tradeoffs in effectiveness and workload for inspection strategies, and identify vulnerabilities in sampling protocols as changes in cargo configurations and contamination occur. These use cases demonstrate how this simulation approach permits testing inspection strategies and measuring quantities that would otherwise be impossible in a field-based setting. This work represents the first steps toward a decision support tool for creating dynamic inspection protocols that respond to changes in available resources, workload, and commerce trends.