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Biomedical subjects

A Norberg

Publications and source records attributed to A Norberg.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Parenthood as talked about in Swedish ante- and postnatal midwifery consultations. A qualitative study of 58 video-recorded consultations.

In order to explore the manner in which parenthood was discussed in midwifery consultations, 58 video-recorded consultations were analysed. A content analysis revealed a variety of topics concerning conversation on parenthood--topics of an intimate nature and discussions from a societal perspective. Parenthood was not of primary importance in visits, which were mostly directed by the midwives. A phenomenological hermeneutic analysis of the meaning of being a mother revealed a complex and difficult situation of being both needed and dependent. The meaning of being a father revealed a struggle between distancing from and closeness to the child. The mate relationship was indicated as important and under strain. The metaphor of the 'spiders web', where the mother is the spider with the child mostly on her back, the father entering the web on her terms, summarizes the understanding. The results from this study could provide a basis for reflection on the status of the topic of parenthood, on the meaning of being a mother and a father disclosed in the consultations, and ultimately on the organization of ante- and postnatal midwifery care.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Skilled carers' ways of understanding people with Alzheimer's disease.

Five carers in a group dwelling for people with dementia were observed and interviewed concerning their interactions with five residents with Alzheimer's disease. The tape-recorded and transcribed data were analyzed as text. The carers' personal ways of achieving understanding were defined as: affect attunement; affect attunement and completing a puzzle through explanatory connections of observation, knowledge about the residents' life histories and behavior at the group dwelling; and affect attunement within the context of caring as an intrinsic end. Personal experience from childhood and motherhood, knowledge about the residents' life history and the nature of the disease, and personal talent seemed to form these carers' ways of achieving understanding.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

The view of caring among patients and personnel.

All patients in hospital care and primary health care in the country of Västerbotten, Sweden (n = 5158) were asked to express their level of satisfaction with the quality of care. The study was carried out on one specific day. All personnel on duty that day (n = 2824) were also included and asked to give their interpretations of their patients' experiences. A questionnaire containing positive and negative statements concerning both the relationship and the task aspects of care was used. The results showed that the youngest and oldest patients expressed the highest degree of satisfaction, while young and middle-aged patients expressed a more restrained view. The least satisfactory aspects concerned the opportunities to express criticism and the possibilities of receiving information about access to help outside the health care organization. The personnel's responses agreed with those of the patients, but fewer personnel thought that their patients were satisfied than was in fact the case.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Ethical issues in dental management of patients with severe dementia: ethical reasoning by hospital dentists. A narrative study.

Dementia alters the patient's ability to accept conventional dental treatment and conflict situations arise involving moral dilemmans in judgements and actions. The aim of the study is to disclose how the dentists think, feel and act in such conflict situations and their ethical reasoning. Qualitative methods are used in interpretation of 21 tape-recorded narratives from hospital dentists. In all narratives, the problem emerged from uncertainty about what comprise an appropriate treatment. The ethical dilemma could either be narrated as internal, within the dentist or external between the dentist's opinion and opinions to the contrary from co-actors in the story. In a climate of restraints in public spending in health care a discourse from the perspectives of ethics is essential to ensure respect for human integrity in society, fundamental for all caring, including dental care of patient with dementia.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1997

Full-length and N-terminally truncated chicken intestinal diazepam-binding inhibitor. Purification, structural characterization and influence on insulin release.

Two forms of diazepam-binding inhibitor (DBI) have been purified from chicken intestine and identified as the intact avian polypeptide (residues 1-86) and a truncated variant (residues 35-86). At 10 nM concentration, both the intact and the truncated peptide suppress in vitro-monitored glucose-induced insulin release by 50 (p < 0.02) and 64% (p < 0.01) respectively. The truncation starts at a segment. -Thr-Val-Gly-Asp-, that is strictly conserved between characterized DBI species, indicating special restrictions on the structure. However, overall DBI conservation appears to be complex. A number of differently bioactive fragments with separate processings and tissue distributions have been observed, suggesting multiple functions of DBI and its sub-segments.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Living with fibromyalgia: sense of coherence, perception of well-being, and stress in daily life.

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain syndrome that has a considerable impact on the ill person's daily life. The purpose of this study was to describe levels of sense of coherence (SOC), perceptions of well-being, and stress in daily life in women with FM in comparison with healthy women, and to determine whether SOC is related to perceived levels of stress and well-being. Thirty women with FM were compared with 30 healthy women matched for Type A behavior. The results revealed a complex picture of the women with FM. On the one hand, they reported many symptoms but, on the other, they rated themselves as feeling quite well and experiencing an SOC in life, despite severe problems. The FM women with a stronger SOC perceived greater well-being than those with a weaker SOC. They felt more hopeful, more free, more valuable, and more like others. Results suggest that women with a weaker SOC may need extra support. More research is needed to investigate the experience of living with FM in order to discover what it is that makes life worthwhile despite high symptom levels.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1997

Dignity in situations of ethical difficulty in intensive care.

In intensive care, situations of ethical difficulty are common. For the purpose of illuminating the meaning of being in ethically difficult situations, 20 registered nurses (RNs) employed in six intensive care units in Sweden narrated episodes of ethical difficulty. From a phenomenological hermeneutic perspective, the core theme of 'dignity' was identified in 85 stories. Stories with the concept of dignity reveal a threefold meaning; transforming disrespect into respect for the inviolable value of the human being; transforming ugly situations into beautiful ones; transforming discord of death into togetherness. Stories without the concept of dignity were oriented toward skills and physical care without reflection on actions and a 'taken-for-granted attitude' that good will prevail. Comparing and contrasting stories with and without dignity revealed the demands of dignity: attentiveness, awareness, personal responsibility, engagement, fraternity and active defence of dignity. In light of the philosophies of Weil, Marcel and Ricoeur, the demands of dignity correspond to qualities generated when struggling for respecting the dignity of human beings. This study reveals that dignity begets dignity, which opens the RNs to the ethical dimension. This, in turn, counteracts the risk of dehumanizing care in technocratic environments.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1997

To meet with a stroke: patients' experiences and aspects seen through a screen of crises.

The aim of this study was to elucidate the experiences of stroke victims during the course of disease and the first few months after discharge. Ten individuals, recently having suffered their first manifest stroke with lasting neurological symptoms, narrated their experiences and gave their views at two different appointments during the first few months after discharge. A deductive approach was applied, on the basis of the theory of developmental crises. The analyses of the interviews were performed using a phenomenological hermeneutic method inspired by the philosophy of Ricoeur. The analyses disclosed phenomena signifying developmental crises in all the cases, though the crises profiles were marked by the sequelae the individuals suffered after stroke and by the age-specific stages of which they were in the middle. The solution of the crises was from being reached within the period of data collection, as the interviews were performed relatively early after home-coming and the individuals were in the middle of grasping their new situation. The phenomenon "to meet with a stroke' seems to challenge the whole of the individual's being. The study calls attention to the need for awareness of this matter, which should be indicated to a much greater extent in nursing care and education than has been done until to date.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1997

Stories of being a hospice nurse: a journey towards finding one's footing.

This article sheds light on the meaning of the lived experience of being a hospice nurse, as interpreted from in-depth interviews with 18 hospice nurses. The nurses' stories were analyzed using a phenomenologic-hermeneutic approach inspired by the philosophy of Ricoeur. Findings were synthesized into two themes: pursuing meaningful hospice care and pursuing spiritual integrity. Results indicated that it was the nurses' conceptions of "ideal" hospice practice that seemed to be the lens through which the nurses experienced and interpreted "real" practice as being either vitalizing or devitalizing. Results also indicated that being a hospice nurse means being visible as a person, in the sphere between the sacred and the profane and on the border between eternity and the finite. In narrating these experiences, the nurses used metaphors pointing towards "the sacred" and a "consciousness of fault." The tension between "ideal" and "real" hospice practices, and the nurses' vitalizing and devitalizing experiences and their use of metaphors in narrating these experiences are interpreted in the light of Bauman's two "life strategies" of deconstructing mortality and immortality, and Ricoeur's Symbolism of Evil.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Male nurses--reasons for entering and experiences of being in the profession.

In order to illuminate male nurse teachers' and nurse students' reasons for choosing to become nurses, and their experiences and positions within the profession, all 13 males among a total of 184 nurse teachers and students at one nursing school in Norway were interviewed twice with a 10-year interval between the interviews. In a personal interview in 1984 all the interviewees emphasized that their desire to become nurses was connected with a wish to act in a woman's role and expressed feminine values. The interviewees' fathers disapproved while their mothers approved with their choices to become nurses. The subjects thought that female nurses did not accept that they were bedside nurses, and exerted pressure on them to adopt roles within nursing that were perceived to be male; i.e. teachers, or administrators. In a telephone interview in 1994 they were asked about their experiences and positions within the profession. Eight interviewees had worked as nurses within psychiatric care and ten had current senior positions. They stated that the most positive thing in the profession was the contact with the patients and meaning so much to someone. All said they would have made the same choice today and become nurses.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1997

Limitations of the Sense of Coherence Scale in a Swedish Pentecostal population.

The Sense of Coherence Scale is used frequently world-wide and is thought to be appropriate to any population. The purpose of this study was to highlight some of the potential limitations of the scale. Fifteen members of the Pentecostal Movement described several difficulties in completing the scale, especially items measuring manageability and comprehensibility. The following three statements indicate the nature of their interpretation of the items and the ambiguity of their answers as they argued that: (1) the concept of 'I' was interpreted as 'I and God', (2) it is not necessary to understand everything in life, because it is enough that God understands, and (3) life is meaningful in itself because of the salvation. According to this interpretation of the items, every proposed answer could be suitable and consequently, the scores can readily be misconstrued. Many of the respondents proposed additions or changes in the wording to make the scale more suitable. The strong ego-centred items seem to be inappropriate for the participants in this study and other populations might also be confronted with similar difficulties.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1997

Retired registered nurses' stories about being in ethically difficult care situations.

Twelve retired nurses were asked to narrate a care situation in which it had been difficult for them as nurses to know what was the right and good thing to do. The transcribed interviews were examined by content analyses. Physicians were the central coactors in the nurses' stories. Colleagues were seldom mentioned. Other ward staff were mainly called "the girls". The patient was central and referred to with respect. All the nurses focused on experiential learning. Guiding ethical principles are listed.

Conflict, Psychological↗
PubMed1997

Outcomes of individualized interventions in patients with severe eating difficulties.

The aim of this case study is to describe the outcomes of individualized interventions for patients with severe eating difficulties. The participants were 15 patients who had severe eating difficulties following a stroke or brain tumor and were receiving oral feeding or tube feeding. Interventions focused on training functions needed for eating, activities in eating, and discussions with the patient. Improvements were especially noted in eating activities, and some improvements were noted in oral movements and nutritional status. Before the interventions, none of the patients ate regular food; afterward, six did, and in four patients, the feeding tube was removed. The patients said eating was easier, and they could eat in a safe way. Furthermore, they appreciated the attention to their experience during meals. Although the impairments were not always alleviated, the patients found means to cope with their eating difficulties.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1997

Concentration-time profiles of ethanol in arterial and venous blood and end-expired breath during and after intravenous infusion.

Ethanol (0.40 g/kg) was administered to 13 healthy men by intravenous (i.v.) infusion at a constant rate for 30 min. The concentrations of ethanol in arterial blood (ABAC), venous blood (VBAC), and end-expired breath (BrAC) were measured at 17 exactly timed intervals. Blood-ethanol was determined by headspace gas chromatography and breath-ethanol was measured with a quantitative infrared analyzer (DataMaster). BrAC was multiplied by 2300 to estimate the concentrations of alcohol in blood. During the infusion of ethanol, ABAC exceeded VBAC by about 10 mg/dL on the average and ABAC was also higher than BrAC x 2300 by about 4 mg/dL on average. When infusion of alcohol ended, ABAC, VBAC, and BrAC were 94.8 +/- 2.06 (+/- SE), 84.7 +/- 1.54, and 89.3 +/- 2.10 mg/dL, respectively. The concentrations of alcohol in blood (ABAC and VBAC) and breath decreased abruptly after the administration of alcohol stopped and by 5 min postinfusion, the A-V differences in concentration of ethanol were small or negligible. The mean apparent half-life of the distribution plunge was 7 to 8 min, being about the same for ABAC, VBAC, and BrAC. The disappearance rate of ethanol was 15.5 +/- 0.55 mg/ dL/h (mean +/- SE) for arterial blood, 15.2 +/- 0.49 mg/dL/h for venous blood, and 16.3 +/- 0.73 mg/230 L/h for breath; no significant differences were noted (p > 0.05). We conclude that A-V differences in the concentration of ethanol exist during the loading phase but are rapidly abolished when the administration of ethanol terminates. In the post-absorptive phase of ethanol kinetics, when alcohol has mixed with the total body water, VBAC exceeds ABAC by about 1-2 mg/100 mL on average.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Meeting tragedy: interviews about situations of ethical difficulty in intensive care.

For the purpose of illuminating the meaning of being in ethically difficult situations, eight enrolled nurses, 12 registered nurses and 10 physicians (n = 30) working in intensive care units in Sweden were asked to narrate care episodes of ethical difficulty. A phenomenological-hermeneutical analysis of the 30 narratives about nine care episodes disclosed that all stories concerned meeting tragedy, which evoked a spirit of compassion that pointed to values. The 'intention of compassion' aimed at respecting these ethical values. Respecting ethical values meant being consoled, which generated confidence in life that helped the person to embrace tragedy. When values were not respected, ethical problems emerged. Communication of values facilitated realisation, while unconscious values were indirectly communicated through emotions. Such communication meant risking vulnerability and meeting oneself. Meeting self and one's vulnerability demanded abilities of being consoled, i.e. in this study giving consolation, providing realistic treatment and being faithful in one's profession. A prerequisite for expressing personal standpoints and cooperating in the struggles of respecting ethical values was holding each other in great respect. When meeting tragedy, the spirit of compassion pointed to ethical problems, to the possibilities of solving the problems, and to the fulfilment of vision through converting feelings of despair into action energy.

Communication↗