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Biomedical subjects

M Grant

Publications and source records attributed to M Grant.

280 records · Page 16Linked to original sources
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Pain as a metaphor for illness. Part I: Impact of cancer pain on family caregivers.

While previous research has focused on patients' or professional caregivers' perspective of pain, this study describes cancer pain from the family caregivers' perspective. Chronic pain, which is associated with malignant disease, produces an intense burden on the patient as well as on the entire family. This qualitative study included 85 family caregivers of patients with cancer pain. Data were collected using an interview guide, and verbatim responses were analyzed for themes. The results identified four themes surrounding family descriptions of pain (anatomic descriptions, hidden pain, family fear and suffering, and overwhelming/unendurable pain) and three themes surrounding family experience of pain (helplessness, coping by denying feelings, and a wish for death). This study documents the important role that family members play in cancer treatment. If the number of patients receiving care in the home from family members continues to grow, this role will become even more important. Part I of this two-part paper focuses on the impact that cancer pain has on family caregivers and concludes that pain does have a tremendous impact on the family because it is perceived as a metaphor of progressive illness and death.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
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Uncertainty in illness theory: a replication of the mediating effects of mastery and coping.

The purpose of this investigation was to replicate a test of the mediating functions of mastery and coping and to determine whether the relationships found in the initial test of the model would hold with a sample more heterogenous than the original sample. One hundred women receiving treatment for gynecological cancer participated in the investigation. Of the 14 relationships in the model, only 5 replicated significant paths and had overlapping confidence intervals. Two moderators were proposed to explain the differences between the initial and replication tests of the model and to improve the specificity of the theory.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
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The effect of nursing consultation on anxiety, side effects, and self-care of patients receiving radiation therapy.

This study examined the effect of nursing consultation sessions on anxiety, side effects experienced, and helpfulness of self-care strategies used by patients receiving radiation therapy. Based on Orem's self-care model, it was expected that subjects in the nursing consultation group would engage in more helpful self-care strategies, have fewer and less severe side effects, and be less anxious than subjects in the other groups. Using an experimental design, 56 subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups: control, health education, and nursing consultation. The Side Effects Profile (SEP) and Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were used to collect data. Although the study findings demonstrate no significant differences among groups on all variables, an important finding was that mean state-anxiety scores were consistently lower for the nursing consultation group. This finding suggests that nurses can have a positive impact on patient anxiety at a time when anxiety is often known to interfere with patients' well-being.

Anxiety↗
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The effects on children and adolescents of parents' excessive drinking: an international review.

The effects during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood of having a parent with a drinking problem has interested researchers in several countries. The greatest number of reports related to this subject have appeared in the U.S. literature and in the literature from countries of Eastern Europe. This review encompasses the findings of researchers in these countries as well as workers in Western Europe, Latin America, and Japan. This review does not include biological, physiological, or neurological data. The epidemiologic evidence from several countries shows significant points of agreement. Problem drinking by a parent markedly increases health risks to children and adolescents. Such risks include diminished intellectual capacity and development, increased neuroticism, and a wide range of psychological and behavioral disorders. Parents who drink excessively are also likely to have children who experience long-term adverse consequences. These include heavy and problem-causing psychoactive substance use, criminality, suicide, depression, personality disorders, and psychological and behavioral disturbances. Parents who drink heavily are also especially likely to produce children who subsequently abstain from alcohol or drink only lightly.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Collaborative nursing research: anatomy of a successful consortium.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the collaborative efforts of one successful research group. The Tube Feed Consortium Group was composed of seven investigators who lived in four different geographic locations. One of the members served as principal investigator and chairman of the group; the others as coinvestigators. A coinvestigator served as principal investigator in each location, managing subcontracted budgets and scientific concerns. This structure promoted efficiency in budget management, conflict management, and division of labor. Major advantages to this approach to the conduct of research included (a) a large number of subjects studied in a relatively short time period; (b) a data collection structure, which permitted wider generalization than data collected in one institution by one investigator; (c) a mechanism for direct replication and replication with expansion; (d) maximum usage and distribution of resources between investigators. Mechanisms established early in the history of the group helped to achieve maximum communication, resolve potential conflicts, ensure reliability of data, ensure publication and presentation rights of collaborators, and manage the overall budget and subcontracts. The group remained intact for eight years, completed all the proposed studies plus other related studies, presented numerous papers, and continues to publish findings of these endeavors.

Animals↗
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Oncology nurses' knowledge and misconceptions about suicide.

Nurses' knowledge of suicide has been underinvestigated. This article summarizes a survey of oncology nurses' knowledge and misconceptions about suicide. Nurses' knowledge of risk factors, suicide potential, and management of a suicidal patient were examined after nurses read a vignette about a suicidal patient with cancer. Analysis included descriptive statistics and content analysis. Approximately 20% of nurses underestimated the patient's suicide risk. Nurses correctly identified an average of three of eight risk factors, but 61% misidentified worries and fears as suicide risk factors or indicators of suicide risk. More than 60% of nurses correctly identified saying goodbye, giving away a treasured object, being a widower, and wishing to be dead as risk factors. Few knew that race/ethnicity (3.23%), male gender (23.66%), and age (31.18%) were risk factors. Undiagnosed mental disorders also increase suicide risk. Physicians and nurses often fail to ask oncology patients about depression, and depressed patients often report only physical symptoms and minimize their depression or suicidal ideas. Before committing suicide, 8 of 10 suicidal people had asked for better management of their physical symptoms, but their suicide risk was not detected. After recognizing any indicator of suicide risk, a nurse should assess risk factors, detect clues, and estimate individual lethality. Few (15.12%) nurses asked about a suicide plan as a nursing assessment, and 37% of the nurses used consultation. Less than one-third of nurses recommended providing safety, protecting the patient, or taking suicide precautions. Such evidence indicates the need for education to enhance knowledge and skill building to improve the interviewing and care of suicidal patients.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Quality of life and the cancer experience: the state-of-the-knowledge.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To address the state-of-the-knowledge concerning quality of life (QOL) issues and the cancer experience from theoretical, research, clinical, and educational perspectives. DATA SOURCES: Published books and articles and a panel of experienced QOL experts who convened at the Oncology Nursing Society's State-of-the-knowledge Conference on Quality of Life in February 1995. DATA SYNTHESIS: Despite the evolution and support of QOL in oncology nursing practice, education, and research, there remains gaps in theory, research, and practice related to QOL. This article explores these gaps in knowledge and recommends future directions for QOL theory, research, education, and practice. CONCLUSIONS: Further conceptual work and resolution of QOL methodologic issues to guide clinical practice and education are warranted. The impact of cultural variables and precancer life experiences on patients' perceptions of QOL also must be addressed. NURSING IMPLICATIONS: Oncology nurse clinicians, educators, and researchers must continue to work collaboratively to enhance the knowledge base regarding QOL and to improve the nursing care provided to individuals with cancer.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Quality of life in breast cancer.

PURPOSE: Currently, 1,721,700 women are living with breast cancer in the United States. As the number of survivors of breast cancer continues to rise, so must our knowledge about unique quality-of-life concerns. This article reports the results of a study on quality of life in women with breast cancer and validates the model of quality of life in this population. DESCRIPTION OF STUDY: To explore these concerns and to validate a breast cancer quality-of-life model, 21 survivors of breast cancer, across three age strata (younger than 40 years, 40 to 60 years, and older than 60 years), were interviewed and asked to complete quantitative surveys on pain and quality of life. RESULTS: Across all age groups, unique issues of survivorship include those related to physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being. In the domain of physical well-being, the areas of worst outcome were in menstrual changes and fertility, fatigue, and pain. In the domain of psychological well-being, predominant needs were in the areas of fear of the spread of cancer, distress from surgery, recurrence, fear of second cancer, impact on self-concept, and fear of future tests. The social well-being subscale identified the greatest disruption in the area of family distress. The spiritual well-being subscale showed greatest disruption in the area of uncertainty, although other aspects of this domain were usually rated in a positive direction (e.g., importance of religious activities). CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The data demonstrated the need for further research, assessment, and intervention across each of the quality-of-life domains. There is a significant need to address physical problems; however, the psychological domain demonstrated the greatest area of distress. The multidimensional needs of breast cancer survivors emphasize the need for multidisciplinary collaboration.

Adult↗