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Antecedents to engrossment in Noddings' theory of care.

BACKGROUND: Nel Noddings theorized caring as a universal social process comprised of three phases: engrossment or mental attentiveness, affective engagement or empathy and a mental imperative to act on behalf of another. If Noddings' theory is correct, caring is a learned process. AIM: The goal of this research was to understand the process, particularly engrossment, and to facilitate students' development of caring relationships. DESIGN: This qualitative study of 13 baccalaureate nursing students uncovered six antecedents that facilitated student's engrossment and extends Noddings' theory. CONCLUSION: Further research, to deepen and synthesize understanding of antecedents and their influence on facilitating or inhibiting the caring process, is advocated.

Adult↗

Being overwhelmed by the feeling of having a home and family. One aspect of the meaning of being dependent on care: a study of one patient and two of his nurses.

RATIONALE: This article is part of an ongoing study which aims at disclosing the meaning of being dependent on care. From a larger body of data, interviews with one patient and two of his nurses were selected to study. AIM: The aim was to deepen understanding of the meaning of being dependent on care when this appears desirable for the patient. METHODS: A phenomenological-hermeneutic approach was used to interpret the material. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: The interpretation discloses the meaning of being dependent on care as an overwhelming, unfamiliar feeling of having a home and family. The patient is beguiled into believing he is the ruler in an established relationship and his dependency on care gives him an opportunity to be surrounded by loving, altruistic, helpful people. Being dependent on care is overwhelming and irresistible, i.e. coveted, but simultaneously it is like walking on thin ice, i.e. treacherous. The irresistible desire concerns being unconditionally cared about. The danger is that this 'family membership' will not last. It is brought to the patient because of his dependency on care and it is based on his terms. There is reflection about the patient being unprepared for dealing with his own world of loneliness.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Empirical validation of a teaching course on spiritual care in Taiwan.

UNLABELLED: AIM(S) OF STUDY: The aims of this study were threefold: (a) to develop the first spiritual care program for master of science in nursing degree students (MSNDS) in Taiwan, since most of these students are or will be nursing leaders in clinical practice, education, administration, or research; (b) to facilitate the MSNDS in applying the contents of this program to care of their clients; and (c) to understand the MSNDS' appraisals of the usefulness of the program in helping them provide spiritual care in clinical settings. BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) (1998) proclaimed that health needs should include spiritual well-being in addition to physical, mental, and social domains. Nevertheless, many dominant medical educational systems have not yet encompassed spiritual care as part of their comprehensive or core curricula. DESIGN/METHODS: The methodological triangulation research design used in this project included various strategies of developing a novice course entitled 'Spirituality in Nursing Practice' which was given to the subjects over 18 weeks from September 1998 to February 1999. The course included classroom lectures, field trips, clinical implications, and presentation-appraisal. A convenience sample of 22 female MSNDS who were or had the potential to be nursing leaders from two schools of nursing in northern Taiwan was obtained. RESULTS: Four types of help were identified: (a) help in clarifying the theoretical concepts of spiritual care (100%); (b) help in providing a culturally bonded spiritual care plan (100%); (c) help in self-disclosure of the nurse's personal value systems and spiritual needs (91%); and (d) help in clarifying the symbolic meaning and the impact of religious rituals (86%). The explicit spiritual care plans and an empirical example of spiritual care were provided. CONCLUSIONS: This study presented the first spiritual care program for MSNDS in Taiwan. All subjects considered the course helpful in providing spiritual care for their clients in various clinical settings. The concept of spirituality is arousing great interest in the world, and this is evident in the spiritual care courses appearing in nursing curricula for nursing leaders in Taiwan.

Adult↗

Disability, facilitated sex and the role of the nurse.

AIM: The aim of this paper is to explore the role that nurses can play in acknowledging and facilitating the sexual needs of disabled patients within an holistic framework of nursing care. BACKGROUND: Contemporary nursing claims to offer patient care within an holistic framework; this framework should encompass the biopsychosocial needs of patients, as defined by patients themselves. In spite of the importance of sexuality and sexual expression to the psychosocial welfare of patients, sexuality is often excluded from nursing practice. METHOD: Literature is reviewed from nursing, disability studies, and a variety of social science disciplines. FINDINGS: The paper begins with a discussion of the concept of 'holistic care' and the ways in which this has been interpreted in the nursing literature. The biopsychosocial approach and the notion of 'whole person' holism seem particularly significant, although the lack of attention to patient sexuality is identified. Literature from the social sciences is used to explore the significance of sexuality to individual self-identity and psychosocial welfare. This literature also highlights the way in which the denial of sexual identity is a significant feature of power relations. The disability studies literature catalogues the way in which disabled people are generally infantilized by society and perceived as asexual. This literature also highlights the professional neglect of disabled sexual identities. Using a variety of literature, the concept of facilitated sex is explored as a continuum of activities and the role of nursing, within a holistic framework, is examined. CONCLUSION: The paper concludes by arguing that an holistic approach to nursing care should include an appreciation of patient sexuality. In particular, it suggests that nurses can play an important role along the continuum of facilitated sex.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Synergy towards health: a nursing intervention model for women living with fibromyalgia, and their spouses.

AIM: The purpose of this study was to develop a consensus-based nursing intervention model for women living with fibromyalgia, their spouses and nurses working in a community health centre in Québec, Canada. BACKGROUND: Fibromyalgia syndrome, a rheumatic disorder associated with severe chronic pain and fatigue, has a major impact on the lives of individuals and their family. To date, research results on effective interventions are somewhat limited and inconclusive. Few studies take into account the perspective of those who live with this health problem on a day-to-day basis. METHODS: Data were collected mainly in 1999, through in-depth interviews and through group meetings using a qualitative research design, along the lines of the constructivist paradigm. The analysis plan aims for movement between the global and the specific: synthesis and thematic analysis. Analysed data were submitted to all participants throughout the data-collection process, thus allowing for shared constructions. FINDINGS: Results present the general consensus stemming from shared construction in all three groups. The nature of the intervention involves two major elements, support and teaching along with the fundamental importance of believing in the person. The timing of the intervention and the health and social context in which the intervention occurs also emerge as integral parts of the model. Synergy towards health in fibromyalgia emerges as the constitutive pattern composed of the following three elements: personal growth, spousal and professional support. The discussion addresses the model's components and uses an ecological perspective, in order to consider all the contexts that greatly influence the intervention. Empowerment is embedded in this intervention model. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that research based on partnership allows the integration of perspectives and skills of various actors so as to develop meaningful interventions for both those seeking care and health professionals.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Living with newly diagnosed breast cancer: a qualitative study of 10 women with newly diagnosed breast cancer.

AIM: The aim of this qualitative study was to describe from the perspective of 10 women (aged 39-69 years), their experience of living with breast cancer. BACKGROUND: Although there is increasing research into a variety of aspects associated with breast cancer, there is a continuing need for research to increase nurses' understanding of how women experience living with newly diagnosed breast cancer. DESIGN/METHODS: Following ethical approval, open-ended interviews were analysed, using methods influenced by Grounded Theory. Verifiability and empirical grounding of the theory was established through use of the constant comparative method. FINDINGS: Existential issues arose as an important aspect of living with newly diagnosed breast cancer. The will to live emerged as the central theme. All energy was channelled into a tenacious fight for life. Furthermore, results revealed other aspects in the women's awareness of living with breast cancer, such as their experiences in relation to emotional reactions, bodily physical changes, their female identity, meaningful activities and their social network. CONCLUSIONS: An understanding of how women experience their new and changed life situation is important to the support nurses give in the process of healing. Nurses need this knowledge to be better able to assist women and their families in their development of coping strategies.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Help in times of crying: nurses' approach to parents with colicky infants.

BACKGROUND: Colic, a condition that is well known to parents and nurses working in child health centres, is characterized by excessive crying. However, the criteria for defining colic are vague, there is no agreed definition and no effective treatment exists. Even though there is no cure for colic, nurses in child health centres have to deal with the condition as parents bring their crying infants to them. AIM: To develop an understanding of how nurses deal with infant colic/excessive crying, how the parents perceive nurses' contribution, and whether nursing makes a difference to the situation or not. ETHICAL ISSUES AND APPROVAL: The project was reviewed and approved by the Research Ethics Committee in Norway where the study was carried out. METHODS: The design is explorative, and data were collected through qualitative in-depth interviews with nurses and parents of crying infants. The analysis follows the guidelines of Kvale, which imply a phenomenological/hermeneutical mode of understanding. FINDINGS: The primary aim of nursing is to assist parents in their efforts to cope with the challenges of infant colic. Nurses and parents differ to some extent in how they define the problems and the needs of the families. In addition, both parents and nurses question the nurses' knowledge and ability to help in this situation. A relationship with the parents based on trust is fundamental to enable the nurses to achieve their goals, but such a relationship is not always developed. CONCLUSIONS: Even though nursing interventions do not cure infant colic, the amount of crying may be reduced and life made easier for the families if the parents are offered help in coping with the situation. Consequently, this should be the primary aim of nursing when approaching families with a colicky infant.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Health promotion in palliative care: the patients' perception of therapeutic interaction with the palliative nurse in the primary care setting.

AIMS: To identify and describe palliative patients' perception of factors within the interaction with the community palliative care nurse that enhance feelings of health and well-being, and to begin to define health promotion in relation to palliative nursing in the primary care setting. BACKGROUND: Health promotion may seem to be of little relevance in palliative care and for patients within its remit, and there is no definition of health promotion in relation to palliative care, yet therapeutic 'new' nursing, and its core elements of holism, egalitarianism and a humanistic approach accord with the philosophy of palliative care and are recognised as health promoting nursing practice. DESIGN/METHODS: A qualitative methodology was used. Information was obtained from 12 patients by a qualitative semi-structured interview. Data were organised and analysed using recognised guidelines for phenomenological analysis. FINDINGS: The patients identified two types of therapeutic interaction with the nurse, which enhanced feelings of health and well-being in different ways. Psychological well-being was enhanced by the humanistic and egalitarian personal interaction with the nurse, and the professional interaction focused on the disease and addressed physical problems. Although recognizing the nurses' role in the relief of physical symptoms, the patients' perception of 'feeling better' generally focussed on enhancement of psychological health and well-being. CONCLUSION: For the patients, a combination of 'new' (therapeutic) nursing and a more traditional expert-led approach resulted in the promotion of an enhanced sense of physical and psychological health and well-being, and was an integral part of community palliative care nursing. Based on the study findings, the researcher offers a definition of health promotion relevant to palliative nursing in the primary care setting, which identifies that for the patients (but with caveats related to generalizability), the practice of holistically therapeutic palliative nursing is the ideal.

Adult↗

Titmuss and the gift relationship: altruism revisited.

RATIONALE: This paper revisits Richard Titmuss' 1970s blood donation model in the light of its 1997 reprint in order to consider whether we are justified in continuing to accept that the main reason for blood donation (and other donation types) is an altruistic desire to help others. AIM: This paper explores how others have examined the notion of altruism, before concentrating on two major elements of Titmuss' work: blood donors' motives to donate and the social implications of gift-giving in relation to the uniqueness of blood donation. DESIGN: Donor motivation is discussed in detail with particular reference to questions 4 and 5 of Titmuss' blood donor survey and through a critical appraisal approach to his work. FINDINGS: Methodological inconsistencies are revealed in the design and implementation of the survey, as well as in Titmuss' list of blood donation's unique attributes, bringing into question the rigour of his findings. It may be that blood donors are altruistically motivated, but such conclusions cannot be drawn from this work. It is also unclear if 'altruism' can be shown in the example of blood donation or other donation types. RECOMMENDATIONS: We should reconsider the motivation behind gifting in health care in the light of these findings and ensure that evidence-based practice is consistent with methodological rigour. Nurses and other health professionals need to have a clearer understanding of concepts such as altruism in order to appreciate why people seek to donate.

Altruism↗

Looking out for the patient and ourselves--the process of family integration into the ICU.

As more intensive care units (ICU) are adopting the policy of unrestricted family visiting, families are playing an increasing role in the unit. This role may be restricted to being involved in discussions and decisions related to the patient or may entail a caregiving role. This study examined how families and nurses interact to increase or decrease the family's involvement in the ICU, how nurses maintain control, how families remain on guard, endure and find their niche in the ICU. The techniques of grounded theory were used to develop a model of the process of family integration into the ICU. This model was developed around the core variable of 'looking out for the patient-looking out for ourselves'. The perspectives of ICU nurses, families and ICU patients in the process of looking out for the patient while they look out for themselves are discussed, as well as nurses maintaining the position of power and families remaining on guard and enduring the ICU experience.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Cancer nursing practice development: understanding breathlessness.

This paper considers methodological and philosophical issues that arose during a multi-centre, randomized controlled trial of a new nursing intervention to manage breathlessness with patients with primary lung cancer. Despite including a diverse range of instruments to measure the effects of the intervention, the uniqueness of individuals' experiences of breathlessness were often hidden by a requirement to frame the study within a reductionist research approach. Evidence from the study suggests that breathlessness is only partly defined when understood and explored within a bio-medical framework, and that effective therapy can only be achieved once the nature and impact of breathlessness have been understood from the perspective of the individual experiencing it. We conclude that to work therapeutically we need to know how patients interpret their illness and its resultant problems and that this demands methodological creativity.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Clinical nurses as teachers: insights from students of nursing in their first semester of study.

This paper reports the findings of a study which sought to gain insights about the role of clinical nursing staff in the planned clinical experience of undergraduate nursing students. This study differs from others in that the perspectives of students of nursing in their first year of the undergraduate programme are sought, and the role of clinical nurses rather than clinical teachers is of particular interest. Using a story-telling approach, an exploration of students' perspectives on the role of clinical nursing staff in their clinical learning was undertaken. Analysis allowed findings to be grouped into helpful and unhelpful behaviours, Helpful behaviours included understanding and being friendly, showing interest and explaining. Behaviours that students found unhelpful to their learning were often passive rather than active, but they made students feel acutely aware of being unwelcome in the clinical area. Several students described feeling intrusive, uncomfortable and even unwelcome in clinical areas because o the attitudes and behaviour of clinicians. Findings of this study highlight the importance of clinicians and academic nurses working together to ensure that students of nursing, who represent the future of the profession, are provided with the best possible opportunities for clinical learning.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Supporting students in practice.

This article reports a project aiming to assess the effectiveness of clinical nurses employed in support roles for students in clinical practice in one UK higher education institution and its linked NHS Trusts. Focus groups and telephone interviews were used to collect data from the clinical support nurses themselves, senior nurse managers and pre- and post-registration students. Findings show that personal commitment to the role was high and that these support staff made a valuable contribution to up-to-date clinical input into classroom teaching. Managers also valued the university-clinical link role fulfilled by these staff. Students had mixed opinions, pre-registration students having had little exposure to this kind of support and post-registration students often not regarding clinical support as necessary because of their own existing clinical experience and expertise. For clinical support staff themselves, the role was a busy one and they often experienced conflict and role overload in balancing the education and clinical sides of their work. Necessary improvements for functioning of the roles were identified, including having regular meetings between university and NHS managers and support teachers for liaison purposes, joint appraisal, and formal support mechanisms for role occupants. The overall conclusion drawn is that the roles were successful in bridging the theory-practice gap for the University and NHS Trust managers, but less so for students, and that they did this at some personal cost for role holders.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

A phenomenological study of pain following fractured shaft of femur.

There is very little work that discusses the pain experience following fractured shaft of femur. Therefore, an exploratory phenomenological study of the individual experience of pain following a traumatic fracture of the shaft of femur was conducted. Two key themes emerged: the injury experience and the pain experience, both linked to the need to maintain physical integrity. The findings underline the highly complex nature of the pain experience and illustrate the range of experiences that individuals with traumatic fractures are exposed to. The findings have implications for the nursing and medical management of patients following long bone fracture.

Accidental Falls↗

Responses of staff towards people with mild to moderate intellectual disability who behave aggressively: a cognitive emotional analysis.

BACKGROUND: Traditionally, research into interactions between staff and adults with an intellectual disability who engage in challenging behaviour has been carried out within a behavioural paradigm. Recent work has begun to examine cognitive factors. The majority of this research has drawn upon Weiner's attributional model of helping behaviour. Moreover, staff responses have usually been investigated in relation to client vignettes of challenging behaviour. METHOD: The present study involved 38 staff who worked with frequently aggressive clients and its aims were twofold: (1) to compare different methods of examining the cognitive and emotional responses of staff to aggression; namely, descriptive vignettes and real incidents of aggression which staff could recall; and (2) to attempt to replicate previous findings supportive of Weiner's model with a new carer group (day centre staff). RESULTS: When staff responses were compared across the hypothetical and real scenarios, using a series of one-way analyses of variance, it was revealed that staff experienced more negative emotions in response to the real incidents of aggression. The present study produced little evidence in support of Weiner's model. However, it was found that staff perceptions of the aggressive clients were linked to their cognitive and emotional responses to the aggression. CONCLUSION: The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are considered, and the possible role played by interpersonal attributions in mediating staff responses to aggression is discussed.

Adult↗

Pain narratives and narrative practitioners: a way of working 'in-relation' with children experiencing pain.

Children's narratives about their pain are often drowned out by the more pervasive, scientific, dominant, academic and professional discourses. The ideas I propose in this paper are drawn from narrative inquiry and from the narrative medicine movement to illustrate how a narrative approach can positively influence nursing (and other) practice. Sharing children's narratives of pain allows to be 'in-relation' with children and their experiences of pain, requiring practitioners to be less distanced and passive. In order to start and to understand their pain we need to be prepared to be hurt by it. Attending to children's stories helps them to articulate their experiences and gives them voice and agency. A narrative approach to practice can help us to be more the sort of professionals we wanted to be, i.e. more generous, more affective, more remembered and more effective. By helping to 'fix' children's broken stories we can help them move towards stories of healing.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

A model for analysis of the nurse-patient interactive process (MAIP).

A model for analysis of the nurse-patient interactive process (MAIP), based on the analysis of the content of that interaction, is proposed as a method for determining appropriate psychosocial nursing diagnoses for the patient. The model focuses on the qualitative aspects of the phenomenon of interaction. The MAIP permits a systematic analysis of the nurse-patient interaction, and in turn will provide guidance for the professional in their actions in the interactive process.

Communication↗

Empathy: a crucial component of the helping relationship.

The literature reviewed in this paper substantiates the widely held view that empathy is crucial to all forms of helping relationships. While most studies cited are more than a decade old, the relationship between empathy and helping remains unchallenged in the 1990s. Additionally, while there is confusion about whether empathy is a personality dimension, an experienced emotion, or an observable skill, it is shown that empathy involves an ability to communicate an understanding of a client's world. Finally, a definition of empathy considered to be relevant to clinical nursing is introduced, which includes the need to understand client's distress, and to provide supportive interpersonal communication. It is argued that there is a need to revisit the role of empathy in the context of current health care delivery.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗