Citation analysis of faculty publication: beyond Science Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index.

When evaluated for promotion or tenure, faculty members are increasingly judged more on the quality than on the quantity of their scholarly publications. As a result, they want help from librarians in locating all citations to their published works for documentation in their curriculum vitae. Citation analysis using Science Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index provides a logical starting point in measuring quality, but the limitations of these sources leave a void in coverage of citations to an author's work. This article discusses alternative and additional methods of locating citations to published works.

Survey of shift and work tolerance of City of Houston emergency medical service personnel

This study of ambulance workers for the emergency medical services of the City of Houston studied the factors related to shiftwork tolerance and intolerance. The EMS personnel work a 24-hour shift with rotating days of the week. Workers are assigned to A, B, C, D shift, each of which rotate 24-hours on, 24-hours off, 24-hours on and 4 days off. One-hundred and seventy-six male EMTs, paramedics and chauffeurs from stations of varying levels of activity were surveyed. The sample group ranged in age from 20 to 45. The average tenure on the job was 8.2 years. Over 68% of the workers held a second job, the majority of which worked over 20 hours a week at the second position.^ The survey instrument was a 20-page questionnaire modeled after the Folkard Standardized Shiftwork Index. In addition to demographic data, the survey tool provided measurements of general job satisfaction, sleep quality, general health complaints, morningness/eveningness, cognitive and somatic anxiety, depression, and circadian types. The survey questionnaire included an EMS-specific scaler of stress.^ A conceptual model of Shiftwork Tolerance was presented to identify the key factors examined in the study. An extensive list of 265 variables was reduced to 36 key variables that related to: (1) shift schedule and demographic/lifestyle factors, (2) individual differences related to traits and characteristics, and (3) tolerance/intolerance effects. Using the general job satisfaction scaler as the key measurement of shift tolerance/intolerance, it was shown that a significant relationship existed between this dependent variable and stress, number of years working a 24-hour shift, sleep quality, languidness/vigorousness. The usual amount of sleep received during the shift, general health complaints and flexibility/rigidity (R$\sp2$ =.5073).^ The sample consisted of a majority of morningness-types or extreme-morningness types, few evening-types and no extreme-evening types, duplicating the findings of Motohashi's previous study of ambulance workers. The level of activity by station was not significant on any of the dependent variables examined. However, the shift worked had a relationship with sleep quality, despite the fact that all shifts work the same hours and participate in the same rotation schedule. ^

The role of a nursing home administrator's education in influencing quality of care in US nursing homes

Nursing home literature links poor management practices to poor quality of care and resident outcomes. Since Nursing Home Administrators (NHAs) require an array of skills to perform their role, it is important to explore what makes a NHA effective. This research fills a gap in the literature and provides a possible option to improve the quality of care in nursing homes. Purpose of the study. The study examines whether NHAs with advanced education (defined as a Masters degree or more) are associated with better quality of care in licensed nursing homes (NHs). Design and Methods. Data was derived from the CDC’s 2004 National Nursing Home Survey, which is a representative sample of NHs across the US. A Donabedian- inspired structure-process-outcomes study model was created to explain how education relates to quality of care. Quality of care was defined as onsite oral care, employee influenza vaccination rates and staff recognition programs. Statistical analyses included multivariate logistic regression; covariates included facility-level variables used in similar peer-reviewed research but also included select measures from the Area Resource File to control for county-level factors. Results. Descriptive and analytical analyses confirm that NHAs with a Bachelor’s degree, Associate degree or high school diploma perform less well than NHAs with a Masters degree or more. NHAs with advanced education are more likely to have onsite dental care and recognition programs for staff than NHAs with a Bachelor’s degree (or less). Also NHAs with less than graduate education are more likely to provide off-site dental care. Employee vaccination rates are not impacted by education. Adding certification, tenure or years of experience to a NHA with advanced education gives them an advantage. In fact, certification and experience alone do not have a positive relationship to care indicators; however adding these to advanced education produces a significant result. Implications. This research provides preliminary evidence that advanced education for the NHA is associated with better quality of care. If future research can confirm these findings, there is merit in revisiting the qualifications. Education can be a legitimate option to support quality improvement efforts in US nursing homes. ^

Cost -effectiveness of services and treatments for ambulatory dually diagnosed CMHC clients: Implications for managed care

This paper reports a cost-effectiveness analysis of standard therapeutic interventions received by ambulatory dually diagnosed clients of a Community Mental Health Center (CMHC). For the purposes of this study dually diagnosed was defined as a DSM-III-R or IV diagnosis of a major mental disorder and a concomitant substance abuse disorder. The prevalence of dually diagnosed people among the mentally ill and their unique and problematic nature continues to challenge and encumber CMHCs and poses grave public health risks. An absence of research on these clients in community-based settings and the cost-effectiveness of their standard CMHC care has hindered the development of effective community-based intervention strategies. This exploratory and descriptive effort is a first step toward providing information on which to base programmatic management decisions.^ Data for this study were derived from electronic client records of a CMHC located in a large Southwestern, Sun-belt metropolitan area. A total of 220 records were collected on clients consecutively admitted during a two-and-one-half year period. Information was gathered profiling the clients' background characteristics, receipt of standard services and treatments, costs of the care they received, and length of CMHC enrollment and subsequent psychiatric hospitalizations. The services and treatments were compared with regard to their costs and predicted contributions toward maintaining clients in the community and out of public psychiatric hospitals.^ This study investigated: (1) the study groups' background, mental illness, and substance abuse characteristics; (2) types, extent, and patterns of their receipt of standard services and treatments; (3) associations between the receipt of services and treatments, community tenure, and risk of psychiatric hospitalization; and, (4) comparisons of average costs for services and treatments in terms of their contributions toward maintaining the clients in the community.^ The results suggest that substance abuse and other lifestyle factors were related to the dually diagnosed clients' admissions to the CMHC. The dually diagnosed clients' receipt of care was associated strongly with their insurability and global functioning. Medication Services were the most expensive yet effective service or treatment. Supported Education was the third most expensive and second most effective. Psychosocial Services, the second most expensive, were only effective in terms of maintaining clients in the community. Group Counseling, the fourth most expensive, had no effect on community maintenance and increased the risk of hospitalization when accompanied by Medication Services. Individual Counseling, the least expensive, had no effect on community maintenance. But it reduced the risk of hospitalization when accompanied by Medication Services. Networking/Referral, the fifth most expensive service or treatment, was ineffective.^ The study compared the results with findings in the literature. Implications are discussed regarding further research, study limitations, practical applications and benefits, and improvements to theoretical understandings, in particular, concepts underscoring Managed Care. ^