Juvenile Protective Association

Although positive correlations between nursing professional development (NPD) staffing and organizational outcomes have been demonstrated, no evidence of optimal NPD department structures was found. Using an organizational participatory research method, NPD department structures in acute care hospital systems and their relationships to publicly reported patient outcomes and satisfaction were explored. Hospitals with centralized NPD departments had significantly fewer unplanned readmissions for pneumonia than hospitals with hybrid structures. No other significant differences were found.

Harper, Mary G. PhD, RN, NPDA-BC®, FAANEditor(s): Harper, Mary G. PhD, RN, NPD-BC, NPDA-BC Author Information

In a quantitative study to determine nursing professional development (NPD) practitioners' self-perceived influence, influence was operationally defined as political skill. A sample of 989 NPD practitioners reported high-average overall levels of political skill. For those without formal leadership positions, networking ability, a subscale of political skill, was predicted by NPD certification and a graduate degree or higher. NPD practitioners can enhance their influence competency through education, certification, professional development, mentoring, and coaching.

Bodine, Jennifer L. DNP, FNP-C, NPD-BC, CENEditor(s): Johnson, Carol Susan PhD, RN, NPD-BC, NE-BC, FAAN Author Information

Inhibitory control deficits are common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and associated with more severe repetitive behaviors. Inhibitory control deficits may reflect slower execution of stopping processes, or a reduced ability to delay the onset of behavioral responses in contexts of uncertainty. Previous studies have documented relatively spared stopping processes in ASD, but whether inhibitory control deficits in ASD reflect failures to delay response onset has not been systematically assessed. Further, while improvements in stopping abilities and response slowing are seen through adolescence/early adulthood in health, their development in ASD is less clear. A stop-signal test (SST) was administered to 121 individuals with ASD and 76 age and IQ-matched healthy controls (ages 5-28). This test included 'GO trials' in which participants pressed a button when a peripheral target appeared and interleaved 'STOP trials' in which they were cued to inhibit button-presses when a stop-signal appeared at variable times following the GO cue. STOP trial accuracy, RT of the stopping process (SSRT), and reaction time (RT) slowing during GO trials were examined. Relative to controls, individuals with ASD had reduced accuracy on STOP trials. SSRTs were similar across control and ASD participants, but RT slowing was reduced in patients compared to controls. Age-related increases in stopping ability and RT slowing were attenuated in ASD. Reduced stopping accuracy and RT slowing were associated with more severe repetitive behaviors in ASD. Our findings show that inhibitory control deficits in ASD involve failures to strategically delay behavioral response onset. These results suggest that reduced preparatory behavioral control may underpin inhibitory control deficits as well as repetitive behaviors in ASD. Typical age-related improvements in inhibitory control during late childhood/early adolescence are reduced in ASD, highlighting an important developmental window during which treatments may mitigate cognitive alterations contributing to repetitive behaviors.

Chromosomal abnormalities, such as unbalanced translocations and copy number variants (CNVs), are found in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) [Sanders et al. (2011) Neuron 70: 863-885]. Many chromosomal abnormalities, including sub microscopic genomic deletions and duplications, are missed by G-banded karyotyping or Fragile X screening alone and are picked up by chromosomal microarrays [Shen et al. (2010) Pediatrics 125: e727-735]. Translocations involving chromosomes 4 and 8 are possibly the second most frequent translocation in humans and are often undetected in routine cytogenetics [Giglio et al. (2002) Circulation 102: 432-437]. Deletions of 4p16 have been associated with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome while 4p16 duplications have been associated with an overgrowth syndrome and mild to moderate mental retardation [Partington et al. (1997) Journal of Medical Genetics 34: 719-728]. The 8p23.3 region contains the autism candidate gene DLGAP2, which can contribute to autism when disrupted [Marshall et al. (2008) The American Journal of Human Genetics 82: 477-488] . There has been a case report of a family with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), prominent obsessional behavior, and overgrowth in patients with der (8) t (4;8) p (16;23) [Partington et al. (1997)]. This is an independent report of a male patient with autism, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and an overgrowth syndrome, whose de novo unbalanced translocation der (8) t (4;8) p (16.1→ter; 23.1→ter) was initially missed by routine cytogenetics but detected with SNP microarray, allowing higher resolution of translocation breakpoints.

Author Affiliation: Consumers Advancing Patient Safety, Chicago, Illinois. The author declares no conflicts of interest. Correspondence: Dr Washington, 405 N Wabash Ave, Suite P2W, Chicago, IL 60611 ([email protected]).

The purpose of this research was to examine the factors associated with various levels of engagement with mental health services in a large sample of mothers at high risk of maltreating their children. Data were collected by LONGSCAN (the Consortium for Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect) for 909 mothers of six-year-old children. These women reported on recent use of mental health services, with four levels of engagement: no use of services (76%), consideration of services (8%), use of and dissatisfaction with services (4%), and use of and satisfaction with services (11%). Logistic regression analyses were conducted to predict level of engagement in services. Predictors of considering services included being formerly married, previous receipt of services, physical victimization, psychological intimate partner victimization, and depressive symptoms. Predictors of satisfaction with services were social support and lack of sexual victimization. It is important to take a broad approach to assessing mental health needs, including not only current functioning, but social networks, prior experiences with services, and trauma exposure. Further research is needed on the process of engagement in mental health services, including examination of the factors associated with satisfaction with these services.

In recent years, club drugs such as MDMA, Ketamine, GHB, and Rohypnol have emerged as major drugs of abuse. The national and local Chicago news media have publicized law enforcement actions and adverse health outcomes, including fatalities, related to the abuse of these substances. Media accounts and a limited body of research have identified use of these substances as prevalent in the gay male community. This prevalence coincides with recent increases in HIV seropositive incidence. There is a clear need for a more comprehensive understanding of the prevalence of club drug use in the general population, and particularly in the subgroup of sexually active gay men. Noting these research gaps and their considerable adverse public health implications, this supplemental study was designed to apply an expanded protocol developed from an earlier study conducted (Feasibility and Use of Biological Measurement in Drug Surveys; R01DA12425, SRL Study #860) to a sample of gay men in the city of Chicago (Michael Fendrich, Principal Investigator). This study evaluated whether findings regarding the feasibility and use of drug testing in drug surveys derived from general population samples are generalizable to a probability sample of 216 gay men in the city of Chicago. For this project, a supplemental module was added to the main study survey that asked detailed questions about involvement in the gay community, risky sexual activity and HIV seropositivity. The scope of biological measurement was also expanded to incorporate testing for Rohypnol and Ketamine in hair (MDMA was already being tested as part of the general sample hair screen). The dataset contains 676 variables.