Nursing

Teenaged liver transplant recipients complied more successfully with immunosuppressant medication regimens when clinicians sent them text-message reminders to take their drugs.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has advised that parents not let children under age 2 watch television, due to the reduced parental interaction and word exchange when families watch shows.

Researchers at two Boston-area hospitals found that daily text-message reminders to wear sunscreen boosted compliance rates compared to participants who received no reminders.

The common plastic bath basin in hospital rooms can carry bacteria, including Staph. aureus and vancomycin-resistant enterococci, according to testing reported in the American Journal of Critical Care.

The Journal of the National Cancer Institute reported that carriers of breast-cancer mutations should reverse current, early-mammography practice and wait until age 35 to avoid radiation side effects.

To reduce rates of failure to rescue among postoperative oncology patients, nurses should monitor vital signs and report any GI bleeding, fluid/electrolyte imbalances, or respiratory compromise.

Physicians fail to discuss preventive health behaviors as often as is recommended. Nurses can close this gap by addressing critical health and safety issues during conversations with teenagers.

Financial status and perceived social support were strongly associated with medication adherence, suggesting nurses should concentrate on these areas to improve patient compliance with drug regimens.

Listening to enjoyable music increased flow-mediated cardiac dilation as much as aerobics or statins in a limited sample. Though not conclusive, researchers credited music with lifting depression and boosting post-stroke cognitive recovery.