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Biomedical subjects

V E Coates

Publications and source records attributed to V E Coates.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Measuring constructs accurately: a prerequisite to theory testing.

Accurate identification and measurement of constructs is particularly relevant to mental health nurses, who often have to work with clients that have intangible needs and problems. In this paper, the measurement of constructs, the relevance of construct validity to nursing research and, in particular, to theory testing will be discussed. Constructs within the health belief model are used to illustrate the discussion and procedure of factor analysis. Analysis of data based on a survey of health beliefs of 276 adults with the chronic condition of insulin-dependent diabetes is presented, interpreted and discussed. Whilst the paper focuses upon specific constructs and study population in order to provide a worked example, the issues raised and principles outlined relate to an analytical model that can be applied to other research problems and settings.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Monitoring diabetic control.

Recent research from America has confirmed that the quality of metabolic control achieved by people with insulin-dependent diabetes does influence the onset and progression of diabetic complications. More than ever before diabetic individuals now have good reasons for striving to attain as good a standard of diabetic control as is possible. Regular monitoring of diabetic status is essential if good control is to be achieved. This article will focus upon the concept of control and consider aspects of diabetic monitoring which may be undertaken either by patients or through professional services. Both direct and indirect monitoring methods will be discussed and strengths and weaknesses considered.

Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring↗
PubMed1992

Evaluation of tools to assess clinical competence.

Assessment of student nurses' clinical skills is an important issue in nurse education. However suitable instruments are difficult to locate, and also to design. In the course of this article the need for scientifically designed and tested assessment instruments is discussed. The thoroughness with which 11 clinical assessment documents were developed was evaluated using specific criteria. It was found that in the majority of cases use of a systematic research process to guide development was not evident. However it must be noted that the assessment documents were only evaluated via their presentation in journal articles. Full details of the entire project had perhaps not been published. The implications of the results, some of the difficulties inherent in instrument design and the limitations of this small review are considered.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1990

Computer training in nurse education: a bird's eye view across the UK.

This paper is borne of the increasing interest and relevance of computers in nursing. It describes the method, and results obtained from a postal questionnaire survey distributed across the United Kingdom to gain information about the developments in computing in nursing education. The results indicate that considerable developments have been made, but that they are more piecemeal than co-ordinated. A selection of the results are presented and discussed, and one or two points concerning future proceedings are raised.

Computer Systems↗
PubMed1989

Teaching microcomputing to student nurses: an evaluation.

This paper describes an introductory computer course designed for student nurses facing a career in nursing in which computers will play a major part. Questionnaires were given before and after the course. The purpose of the questionnaires were (a) initially to gain information about the students' previous computing experience, motivation and expectations of the course, and (b) to enable an evaluation to be undertaken. The course content, structure and results of the questionnaires are presented; modifications made to the course following the evaluation are mentioned and finally some of the issues which need to be considered when developing a computer course for nurses are raised.

Computer User Training↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Developing a system of student nurse profiling through action research.

This article concerns the early stages of a research study which attempted to improve the assessment of student nurses' clinical competence by means of profiling. During the course of the paper the reasons for undertaking assessment will be considered, the existing assessment approach will be briefly reviewed, the use of action research as the method of inquiry will be addressed, and the initial findings from the study described.

Clinical Competence↗