Effects of Systematic Orienting Stimuli on Comatose Patients : Six Case Studies
type: CreativeWork
description: As a part of a larger, on-going, quasi-experimental research project, this study was an initial clinical trial for the early exploration of a therapeutic regimen of nursing care for the comatose patient. The overall objectives were to elucidate methods to improve the quality of care delivered to the comatose patient and to examine clinical estimates for their potential predictability regarding coma recovery outcome. More specifically, the aim was to investigate the effect of meaningful, systematic orienting stimuli (SOS) provided by professional nurse clinicians and a patient's significant others as evaluated by the criterion variables of Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores to measure the level of arousal and serum thyroxine (T4) levels. Six comatose patients (male and female, ages 16-71) were studied. Criteria for sample selection were developed to exclude patients who demonstrated electrocerebral silence and those who were expected to regain consciousness once their underlying metabolic disorder was corrected . Patients considered for this study had all been comatose at least six hours, and scored below eight on the GCS. After the research staff determined the candidate met the sample criteria, consent was obtained from the patient's physician and next-of kin. Within 72 hours the patient was initiated into the study with baseline assessments of the patient's neurological status recorded. For the next 72-80 hours the patients were provided with individualized, meaningful, systematic orienting stimuli by the nurse researchers for 10-15 minutes during every hour between 0800 and 2200. During the three study days, data collection related to the dependent variables for the study included: (l) hourly GCS scores, and (2) daily serum thyroxine levels, uated by research peers, Muderspach and Swanson (1980) and Sayler (I98l). Serial EEGs were recorded and eval- In addition, data related to the confounding uncontrolled variables which could have influenced the measured outcomes …
abstract: As a part of a larger, on-going, quasi-experimental research project, this study was an initial clinical trial for the early exploration of a therapeutic regimen of nursing care for the comatose patient. The overall objectives were to elucidate methods to improve the quality of care delivered to the comatose patient and to examine clinical estimates for their potential predictability regarding coma recovery outcome. More specifically, the aim was to investigate the effect of meaningful, systematic orienting stimuli (SOS) provided by professional nurse clinicians and a patient's significant others as evaluated by the criterion variables of Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores to measure the level of arousal and serum thyroxine (T4) levels. Six comatose patients (male and female, ages 16-71) were studied. Criteria for sample selection were developed to exclude patients who demonstrated electrocerebral silence and those who were expected to regain consciousness once their underlying metabolic disorder was corrected . Patients considered for this study had all been comatose at least six hours, and scored below eight on the GCS. After the research staff determined the candidate met the sample criteria, consent was obtained from the patient's physician and next-of kin. Within 72 hours the patient was initiated into the study with baseline assessments of the patient's neurological status recorded. For the next 72-80 hours the patients were provided with individualized, meaningful, systematic orienting stimuli by the nurse researchers for 10-15 minutes during every hour between 0800 and 2200. During the three study days, data collection related to the dependent variables for the study included: (l) hourly GCS scores, and (2) daily serum thyroxine levels, uated by research peers, Muderspach and Swanson (1980) and Sayler (I98l). Serial EEGs were recorded and eval- In addition, data related to the confounding uncontrolled variables which could have influenced the measured outcomes …
author: Cook, Carol Ann
language: English
keywords: Nursing, Coma--therapy; Nursing care
date published: 1982-05-01T07:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T02:52:59Z
provider: Loma Linda University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Loma Linda University