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Biomedical subjects

S Antrobus

Publications and source records attributed to S Antrobus.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Nursing leadership: influencing and shaping health policy and nursing practice.

The leadership discourse in the United Kingdom has to date been concerned with professional issues and as a result has focused upon developing nurses and nursing. This paper reports on the findings of a research study which examined the broader socio-political factors impacting upon nursing leadership. The study forms an integral part of the Royal College of Nursing's leadership programme. The principal aim of the research was to examine critically contemporary nursing leadership within the context of health policy. An ethnographic approach was used. Informal semi-structured interviews were undertaken with a purposive sample of 24 leaders who were recognized for their effectiveness in leading nursing. Data were analysed for themes. The main themes are presented and discussed here. The findings of the study question the political success which the internally focused nature of leadership has had for the profession. Nursing and therefore nursing leadership is shaped dramatically by the impact of politics and policy. The research discovered that in recognition of this, contemporary nursing leadership has both an internal and an external focus. That is, effective nursing leadership currently is a vehicle through which both nursing practice and health policy can be influenced and shaped. The research also identified the profile of the effective nurse leader, together with the processes through which leaders interpret and translate between the macro issues of policy and the micro issues of practice. In addition, an understanding of what nursing leadership is, has been proposed. Appropriate recommendations for the future of nursing and nursing leadership are outlined.

Anthropology, Cultural↗
PubMed1997

The impact of the commissioning agenda upon nursing practice: a proactive approach to influencing health policy.

The commissioning aspect of purchasing, in the context of health care, has been heralded as an activity that will effect a shift towards a health service. According to the Department of Health (DoH), England, it will be a key factor in ensuring the ideals of the reforms; i.e. efficiency, equity and effectiveness move from being rhetoric to reality. The importance being placed upon commissioning has implications for the functioning of each professional group. Nursing has historically been identified as relatively naive in matters outside the immediate province of patient care and has suffered from a lack of any real influence in the health policy arena. This paper attempts to describe the impact that the current emphasis on commissioning will have on nursing practice and proposes that unless nurses understand and engage in debate around the purchasing and commissioning function in health care, nursing's capacity to influence the future development of patient services will be severely limited. A framework is outlined for addressing this, thereby ensuring that nursing can proactively inform present and future commissioning agendas.

Budgets↗
PubMed1997

An analysis of nursing in context: the effects of current health policy.

This paper intends to analyse the effects of recent health policy changes in the United Kingdom upon nursing, examining some of the anomalies raised by the rhetoric of the politics and the actualities of the change process and exploring and analysing nursings' presence within that change process. Specific reference will be paid to the philosophy and ideology of the reforms and comparisons made with some of the original factors underpinning the purpose and functioning of the British National Health Service and professional groups within it. In particular, this paper considers the functioning of nursing as an holistic, intuitive, humanistic, and caring act within the context of the scientific, rational, performance and outcomes-orientated new public management ideology presently sweeping the health service. The resultant tensions this apparent dichotomy is causing nursing will be tentatively explored. Lastly, an agenda for change will be proposed which will identify ways in which nursing can respond and, more importantly, be proactive within the contextual changes highlighted.

Health Care Reform↗
PubMed1997

Developing the nurse as a knowledge worker in health--learning the artistry of practice.

Nursing in the future will be a promoter of health and well-being. This paper argues that health has been inadequately conceptualised and the knowledge base required by nurses to practice as 'knowledge workers' in health gain poorly defined. An epistemology for nursing is proposed that considers knowledge to be a construction of empirical, clinical and personal ways of knowing, contextualised within the activity of the nurse as 'knower'. The difficulties nursing has in defining and developing this unique epistemology are discussed. Lastly, the implications this unique epistemology will have for nursing education are explored. The authors draws upon personal experience to explore and purpose the use of clinical supervision as a tool which can be used by lecturers to coach nurses in the artistry of reflection in action, thus developing the therapeutic skills and knowledge base necessary to promote health as a holistic, multi-dimensional, dynamic, evolving and transforming process.

Education, Nursing↗
PubMed1985

Differential regulation of interferon synthesis in lymphoblastoid cells.

We have examined the molecular mechanisms involved in the induction and regulation of expression of alpha and beta 1 human interferons (HuIFN) in Namalva cells. Cloned IFN-alpha and -beta 1 cDNAs, and antisera to purified IFN-alpha and -beta 1 were used as specific probes to determine the expression of HuIFN genes both on the RNA and protein levels. The rates of gene transcription were correlated with the relative levels of HuIFN mRNA present in induced cells and with the amounts of HuIFN peptides synthesized by these cells. The comparative rate of transcription of HuIFN-alpha and -beta 1 genes was measured in nuclei isolated from Namalva cells before and after induction. No transcription of HuIFN-alpha and -beta 1 genes was detected in nuclei isolated from the uninduced cells. The correspondence in the rate of HuIFN-alpha and -beta 1 genes transcription after virus infection with the relative levels of HuIFN mRNA in the induced cells indicates that the stimulation of HuIFN synthesis by viral infection results from the activation of the transcription of HuIFN genes. The relative levels of alpha and beta 1 induced transcripts were the same in spite of the differences in the number of copies of HuIFN-alpha and -beta 1 genes indicating that the beta 1 gene is transcribed more efficiently than the alpha genes. The steady-state levels of HuIFN-alpha and -beta 1 mRNAs in induced Namalva cells are comparable, however, the overall amount of HuIFN-beta 1 synthesized (as determined by radioimmunoassay and biological activity) is approximately 10-fold lower than that of IFN-alpha. No evidence has been found that would indicate that HuIFN-beta 1 mRNA induced in Namalva cells is different from that induced in human fibroblasts. The data indicate, however, that in Namalva cells, the IFN-beta 1 polypeptide has a higher turnover rate and slower rate of release into medium than the HuIFN-alpha polypeptides, indicating that the observed difference in the overall amounts of these two types of interferons present in the medium is due to regulation on posttranslational level.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Local learning.

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Community Networks↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Board and lodgings.

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Contract Services↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Guidelines and protocols: a chance to take the lead.

Protocols and guidelines have been heralded by many as a panacea for the problems associated with the rising costs of health care and variations in clinical practice. These variations occur despite very similar medical conditions and often indicate poor use of research-based evidence to inform patient care. This has resulted in a national push towards greater use of protocols and guidelines as means of informing and indeed improving clinical practice. In order that protocols and guidelines achieve their full potential, it is essential that nurses, who deliver the majority of direct patient care, grasp the opportunity to influence their development. They need to be used as a framework to guide existing practices and as a focus to shape future work on clinical effectiveness. This paper examines definitions of guidelines and protocols and considers their use for the development of nursing practice, improvement of patient care and introduction of greater clarity in the use of health-care resources.

Guidelines as Topic↗