AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SAFETY CLIMATE AND MEDICATION ERRORS AS WELL AS OTHER NURSE AND PATIENT OUTCOMES

Safety climate has been shown to be associated with a number of important organizational outcomes. In this study, we take a broad view of safety climate—one that includes not only the development and adherence to safety protocols, but also open and constructive responses to errors—and investigate correlates within the health care industry. Drawing on a random, national sample of hospitals, the results revealed that safety climate predicted medication errors, nurse back injuries, urinary tract infections, patient satisfaction, patient perceptions of nurse responsiveness, and nurse satisfaction. As hypothesized, the relationship between safety climate and both medication errors and back injuries was moderated by the complexity of the patient conditions on the unit. Specifically, the effect of the overall safety climate of the unit was accentuated when dealing with more complex patient conditions.     

ROLE CONFLICT AND FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS: THE EFFECTS ON APPLICANT ATTRACTION

This paper challenges a popular assumption that organizations with flexible work arrangements are more attractive to job seekers than those with a standard work arrangement. Drawing on boundary theory, we suggest that the attractiveness of these arrangements depends in part on job seekers' interrole conflict. Subjects were 142 MBA students at a midsized midwestern university. Those with high role conflict were more attracted to an organization when flextime was offered than when it was not. Those with low role conflict, however, were just slightly less attracted to an organization when flextime was offered. Conversely, subjects with low role conflict were more attracted to an organization when telecommuting was offered than when it was not; subjects with high role conflict were indifferent. These results suggest that organizations should understand the needs of their targeted applicant pool and carefully consider recruitment implications of work arrangements when analyzing costs associated with these policies.     

Utilizing Family Strengths and Resilience: Integrative Family and Systems Treatment with Children and Adolescents with Severe Emotional and Behavioral Problems

Community mental health agencies are consistently challenged to provide realistic and effective home-based family-centered treatment that meets local needs and can realistically fit within available budget and resource capabilities. Integrated Family and Systems Treatment (I-FAST) is developed based on existing evidence-based approaches for working with at-risk children, adolescents, and families and a strengths perspective. I-FAST identified 3 evidence-based, core treatment components and integrated them into a coherent treatment protocol; this is done in a way that builds on and is integrated with mental health agencies' existing expertise in home-based treatment. This is an intervention development study in which we conducted an initial feasibility trial of I-FAST for treating families with children at risk of out-of-home placement. The outcomes of the study provide initial empirical evidence that supports the effectiveness of I-FAST. Findings indicate that there were significant improvements in child behavior, significant increases in parental competency, and significant increases in the level of cohesion and adaptability in these families. All observed changes were significant from pre- to posttreatment with the families able to maintain these positive changes at 6-month follow-up. A more rigorous and robust research design, however, will be needed to establish definitive evidence of the effectiveness of I-FAST.     

Sculpting Present and Future: A Systemic Intervention Model Applied to Psychosomatic Families

We present a therapeutic intervention model for use with psychosomatic families. This method, the result of our extensive research on various psychosomatic disorders, uses family sculptures of the "present" and "future": each family member is requested to represent the family as it now "is," and how it "will be" in the future. We discuss the theoretical reasons for our choice of this method: (a) the opportunity to use a therapeutic language that is similar to the nonverbal language of the psychosomatic symptom, and (b) the usefulness of reinserting temporal dimensions into family systems that seem to have lost their evolutionary potential and to be in a sort of "time lock." Two clinical cases are discussed (a child with chronic asthma and an anorexic adolescent); the use of sculptures in both cases revealed the underlying problems and made positive therapeutic interventions possible. Finally, we point out how the use of sculpture as a therapeutic technique enables therapists to deal with multiple systemic levels.     

THE EFFECTS OF FEEDBACK SEQUENCE AND EXPERTISE OF THE RATER ON PERCEIVED FEEDBACK ACCURACY1

Using a 2 × 2 experimental design, the present study examined the main and interactive effects of feedback sequence (negative-positive vs. positive-negative) and expertise of the rater (high vs. low) on perceptions of feedback accuracy. In addition, the study assessed the moderating effects of locus of control and self-esteem on the relationship between feedback sequence and perceived feedback accuracy. Results indicate that the order in which positive or negative feedback is presented affects perceived feedback accuracy. Moreover, results suggest that feedback sequence interacts with the expertise of the rater to affect perceptions of feedback accuracy. In addition, the findings suggest that both locus of control and self-esteem moderate the relationship between feedback sequence and perceived feedback accuracy. Implications of the study's findings for presenting feedback in performance appraisal/feedback sessions are discussed.     

Characteristics of Academically Talented Minority Students

Although there is often fierce competition among schools and universities for the recruitment of academically talented minority students, little is known about their needs, interests, and future plans. This article provides insights into the concerns of talented young minority people by describing the profiles of approximately 3,545 minority students who scored in the top 5% on the American College Test Assessment. The authors examine the relationship of specific minority group membership and gender, postsecondary educational plans, career interests, needs for services, desires for extracurricular activities, and satisfaction with educational experiences. Implications are drawn for counselors, advisers, and administrators striving to improve their ability to serve academically talented minority students.     

Women and Career Competence: A Theoretical and Experiential Model

The authors describe an experiential workshop, developed to help women with career difficulties, that emphasizes freedom and responsibility for choice.