Autism researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing have found a link between low birthweight and children diagnosed with autism, reporting premature infants are five times more likely to have autism than children born at normal weights.
Matthew D. McHugh of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, is one of a selective group to win a competitive grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study the relationships among where people live, where they receive hospital care, and the outcomes of that care.
Penn Nursing research finds that prenatal health factors, such as nutritional deficiency and lead exposure, may create a predisposition to violence in later life.
A simple eight-question survey administered soon after injury can help predict which of the 30 million Americans seeking hospital treatment for injuries each year may develop depression or post-traumatic stress, report Therese S. Richmond, PhD, CRNP, associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and her colleagues in "General Hospital Psychiatry."
In a comprehensive analysis comparing nurse staffing in California hospitals to similar hospitals in the U.S. over nearly a decade, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing have found that controversial legislation setting nurse-to-patient ratios added more registered nurses to the hospital staffing mix, not fewer as feared.
Healthcare providers have been dispensing advice to heart failure patients about diet and exercise and for the first time researchers have found that it really works. While self-care is believed to improve heart failure outcomes, a highlight of the recent American Heart Association scientific statement on promoting heart failure self-care was the need to establish the mechanisms by which self-care may influence neurohormonal, inflammatory, and hemodynamic function.
In a four-year study, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found that assigning adults with serious mental illness who are HIV positive to the care of advanced practice nurses (APRN) to help navigate the health care system and maintain adherence to drug regimens reduced depression and improved their overall physical health, indicating that healthcare policy should be revamped to provide this support.
An estimated 18 American military veterans take their own lives every day - thousands each year - and those numbers are steadily increasing. Even after weathering the stresses of military life and the terrors of combat, these soldiers find themselves overwhelmed by the transition back into civilian life. Many have already survived one suicide attempt, but never received the extra help and support they needed, with tragic results. A team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and colleagues discovered that veterans who have attempted suicide not only have an elevated risk of further suicide attempts, but face mortality risks from all causes at a rate three times greater than the general population. Their research was recently published in Biomed Central Public Health.
Lisa Lewis, PhD, RN, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, is conducting research on how spiritual vignettes might increase medication adherence among hypertensive black church members."
The lack of breastfeeding in the United States is a public health crisis, according to U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina M. Benjamin. The World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics are among the professional organizations to recommend that infants be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life. In some parts of the world, breastfeeding infants can me the difference between life and death.
A University of Pennsylvania study will determine if public transit can convey more than people going from point A to point B. Video displays on public buses in Los Angeles will be used to help determine the efficacy of an innovative soap opera-like video program designed to increase HIV testing among low-income African Americans 14 to 24 years of age.
Currently, one in five elderly patients discharged from a hospital is readmitted within a month. Seeking to address the human and substantial financial burden of revolving door hospital readmissions, the Affordable Care Act proposes a number of initiatives to improve care and health outcomes and reduce costs for the growing population of chronically ill people in the U.S. While transitional care is a central theme in these provisions, there is little information available to guide those responsible for implementing these important opportunities.
With three million nurses in the United States, nursing professionals “hold the power and influence to make those numbers speak” in the new era of health care, said Donna Shalala, president of the University of Miami and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, at the 124th commencement of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing on Monday May 16, 2011.
The benefits of breastfeeding for all babies, especially at-risk newborns, have received new national attention from the U.S. Surgeon General with the expertise of Diane L. Spatz, PhD, RN, of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.