I currently work at a skilled nursing facility (SNF) in North Carolina, so I chose a peer-reviewed journal article related to SNFs for this assignment. The Walden University Library (n.d.) provides 15 nursing-related databases, making it quick and easy to find relevant articles. I opted to use the CINAHL Plus with Full Text database, which directed me to an EBSCOhost page. I entered “skilled nursing facility” in the first search box and “dementia” in the second. I refined my search to peer-reviewed, full-text scholarly journals and discovered the article “Outcomes of Post‐acute Care in Skilled Nursing Facilities in Medicare Beneficiaries with and without a Diagnosis of Dementia” by Burke, Xu, and Ritter (2021), published in October 2021. Since many of my patients have dementia, I was particularly interested in whether dementia affects hospital readmission rates, mortality, or discharge to home.
Surprisingly, Burke et al. (2021) found that dementia itself wasn’t a predictor for hospital readmission, community discharge, or mortality. Instead, cognitive impairment at admission was a more significant factor. I encountered no issues while using the CINAHL Plus database, which I found straightforward and user-friendly, even as a beginner.
This database is not only helpful to me but would also benefit my colleagues. It offers a wide range of nursing publications, making it a valuable resource for literature reviews or coursework. One of the key features I found useful is the ability to refine searches using filters like publication date, full text, peer-reviewed journals, and more. You can also tailor your search by subject, publication, language, and other criteria.
I would recommend this database for several reasons: it provides access to many full-text articles, is free for Walden students, and offers various options to narrow search results. Moreover, articles can be downloaded as PDFs for easy access.
Evidence from research is essential for scholarly writing (Laureate Education, n.d.), and the Walden Library provides access to many databases with evidence-based research and publications. In my experience with CINAHL Plus, the platform is intuitive and efficient, making it an excellent resource for my work and one I’d recommend to others.
References
Burke, R. E., Xu, Y., & Ritter, A. Z. (2021). Outcomes of post‐acute care in skilled nursing facilities in Medicare beneficiaries with and without a diagnosis of dementia. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 69(10), 2899–2907. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.17321
Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Introduction to scholarly writing: Purpose, audience, and evidence [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Walden University Library. (n.d.). Databases A–Z: Nursing. Retrieved December 22, 2021, from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/az.php?s=19981
NURS 6003 Week 4 Discussion: Using the Walden Library
RE: Discussion – Week 4
The scholarly peer-reviewed article I found discusses trends in emergency room visits related to mental health disorders and substance abuse. I currently work for a company that focuses on reducing ER utilization for a specific population of patients. We do this by evaluating the causes of these visits, finding alternatives, helping coordinate care when patients face obstacles, and finding creative ways to change ingrained behavioral patterns. Through this work, I’ve noticed a significant trend of high ER utilizers with mental health conditions.
The article I found through Medline with Full Text supports this observation. According to Ayangbayi et al. (2017), ER visits for mental or substance use disorders increased from 27.9 per 1,000 in 2005 to 35.1 in 2011. Homeless persons and nursing home residents had the highest rates at 173.7 and 95.2 per 1,000 ER visits, respectively, in 2011.
When conducting my search on Medline, I entered “emergency room visits” and “mental health” or similar terms in the search fields. I also selected peer-reviewed articles and filtered for results from 2017 to 2022, which generated 106 articles.
Medline with Full Text is a vast database focused on biomedicine (Walden University Library, n.d.). I have used it many times for previous writing assignments, and I find it easy to navigate. However, narrowing the search with specific keywords and date ranges is crucial to avoid overwhelming results. Medline is an excellent resource for finding relevant articles that aid in synthesizing research—bringing together various sources to form original ideas (Shellenbarger, 2016). I highly recommend it for peers searching for specific nursing or medical topics.
References
Ayangbayi, T., Okunade, A., Karakus, M., & Nianogo, T. (2017). Characteristics of hospital emergency room visits for mental and substance use disorders. Psychiatric Services, 68(4), 408–410. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201600125
Shellenbarger, T. (2016). Simplifying synthesis. Nurse Author & Editor, 26(3). https://naepub.com/reporting-research/2016-26-3-3
Walden University Library. (n.d.). Databases A-Z: Nursing. https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/az.php?s=19981
NURS 6003 Week 4 Discussion: Using the Walden Library
RE: Discussion – Week 4 Main Post
The peer-reviewed article I selected focuses on the use of peanut balls to reduce the length of labor. As a Labor and Delivery nurse, this is particularly relevant to my work. When I first started in this role two years ago, I wasn’t familiar with peanut balls, but I’ve since used them frequently. Their use, along with repositioning, has positively impacted labor progression through cervical changes and fetal descent. The meta-analysis I referenced measured the total length of labor using peanut balls versus without them. The study also explored secondary outcomes like the first and second stages of labor, delivery mode, and neonatal outcomes (Grenvik et al., 2019). Though more research is needed, I found the study compelling.
I searched for this article in the CINAHL Plus with Full Text database, which was recommended by colleagues. I used Boolean phrases like “labor and delivery AND peanut ball use” and limited my search to peer-reviewed articles. CINAHL Plus made it easy to find relevant articles, but I only found one research article on my topic, even after searching in Medline. Both databases were straightforward to navigate, and I would recommend them to colleagues. These databases, along with others listed in Walden University’s library, provide reputable, peer-reviewed resources for scholarly research.
References
Grenvik, J. M., et al. (2019). Peanut ball for decreasing the length of labor: A systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, 242, 159–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejogrb.2019.09.018
Walden University Library. (n.d.). Databases A-Z: Nursing. https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/az.php?s+19981
Walden University Library. (n.d.). Evaluating resources: Journals. https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/library/evaluating/resource-types/journals
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