Fay F Warnock | Search PubMed

PubMed2003

Ethological methods to develop nursing knowledge.

Researchers from various fields use ethological methods to systematically observe, describe, and measure animal and human nonverbal behavior. The purpose of this article is to argue that their application in nursing will benefit development of descriptive-level knowledge about complex behavioral phenomena. To advance the argument for applying these methods in nursing, we examine the compatibility of the philosophical assumptions underlying ethology with nursing, assess if ethology can help nursing achieve some of its aims, and determine the benefits of using ethology when observation of a phenomenon is required. Neonatal pain is used to illustrate how ethology can be used to develop descriptive-level nursing knowledge and midrange theory.

Clinical Nursing Research↗

PubMed1998

Pain progression, intensity and outcomes following tonsillectomy.

The objective of this study was to assess outcomes of pediatric day surgery tonsillectomy. A total of 129 children, aged 5-16 years, and their parents were recruited from three urban hospitals which provided pediatric day surgery. Children reported pain on a visual analogue scale (VAS) in day surgery and then daily at home for 7 days. Parents reported outcomes of surgery, including fluid intake, nausea, vomiting and sleep disturbances. They also recorded analgesic administration. Three main results related to extent and duration of pain, quality of management of pain, and effect of pain on utilization of health services. Tonsillectomy caused considerable pain which lasted more than 7 days. Pain followed a trajectory of intense or moderately intense pain for the first 3 days followed by a gradual decline over the next 4 days. In general, post-tonsillectomy pain was poorly managed by health professionals and parents. An unexpected observation was that children who had a bupivacaine infiltration of the tonsil fossa during surgery had significantly more pain in the evening of surgery than children who did not have an infiltration. The increase in postoperative pain experienced by those who had the infiltration was attributed to quality of pain management. Children with persistent pain (those who did not follow the typical trajectory) were likely to be taken to a medical practitioner. One-third of the sample made unscheduled visits to practitioners with most occurring from Day 4 to Day 7 of the follow-up.

Adolescent↗