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Aim This paper is a report of a qualitative study conducted as part of a randomized controlled trial comparing a lay-facilitated angina management programme with usual care. Its aim was to explore participants' beliefs, experiences, and attitudes to the care they had received during the trial, particularly those who had received the angina management intervention. Background Angina affects over 50 million people worldwide. Over half of these people have symptoms that restrict their daily life and would benefit from knowing how to manage their condition. Design A nested qualitative study within a randomized controlled trial of lay-facilitated angina management. Method We conducted four participant focus groups during 2008; three were with people randomized to the intervention and one with those randomized to control. We recruited a total of 14 participants to the focus groups, 10 intervention, and 4 control. Findings Although recruitment to the focus groups was relatively low by comparison to conventional standards, each generated lively discussions and a rich data set. Data analysis demonstrated both similarities and differences between control and intervention groups. Similarities included low levels of prior knowledge about angina, whereas differences included a perception among intervention participants that lifestyle changes were more easily facilitated with the help and support of a lay-worker. Conclusion Lay facilitation with the Angina Plan is perceived by the participants to be beneficial in supporting self-management. However, clinical expertise is still required to meet the more complex information and care needs of people with stable angina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objectives: To conduct an in‐depth exploration of oral hydration care provided to people living with dementia in acute hospital wards, using a person‐centred care framework. Background: Oral hydration care is an important, yet rarely explored aspect of fundamental care for people with dementia admitted to acute hospitals. Using person‐centred care as a conceptual framework we investigated how oral hydration care is delivered for people living with dementia in acute hospital wards. Design: A qualitative, multiple‐case study. The cases were three acute wards in one hospital. Methods: Direct observation of care for 13 people with dementia (132 h), semistructured interviews with ward staff (n = 28), ward leaders (n = 4), organisational leaders (n = 5), people with dementia (n = 6), their relatives (n = 5), documentary analysis of clinical inpatient records (n = 26) and relevant hospital policies. Data were analysed using framework analysis. Results: Four themes were identified: (1) The acute hospital: oral hydration is obscured and not prioritised (2) Overshadowing of oral hydration at ward level (3) Siloed nature of hydration roles (4) Strategies for, and barriers to, delivering person‐centred oral hydration care. Conclusions: This study combines the concept of person‐centred care and oral hydration care for people living with dementia admitted to acute hospital wards, demonstrating that person‐centred hydration care was complex and not prioritised. Relevance to Clinical Practice: Nurses should consider means of improving prioritisation and cohesive delivery of person‐centred hydration care in acute hospital wards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To explore stakeholder perspectives on the benefits and/or disadvantages of the delegation of insulin injections to healthcare support workers in community nursing services. Design: Qualitative case study. Methods: Interviews with stakeholders purposively sampled from three case sites in England. Data collection took place between October 2020 and July 2021. A reflexive thematic approach to analysis was adopted. Results: A total of 34 interviews were completed: patients and relatives (n = 7), healthcare support workers (n = 8), registered nurses (n = 10) and senior managers/clinicians (n = 9). Analysis resulted in three themes: (i) Acceptance and confidence, (ii) benefits and (iii) concerns and coping strategies. Delegation was accepted by stakeholders on condition that appropriate training, supervision and governance was in place. Continuing contact between patients and registered nurses, and regular contact between registered nurses and healthcare support workers was deemed essential for clinical safety. Services were reliant on the contribution of healthcare support workers providing insulin injections, particularly during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Benefits for service and registered nurses included: flexible team working, increased service capacity and care continuity. Job satisfaction and career development was reported for healthcare support workers. Patients benefit from timely administration, and enhanced relationships with the nursing team. Concerns raised by all stakeholders included potential missed care, remuneration and task shifting. Conclusion: Delegation of insulin injections is acceptable to stakeholders and has many benefits when managed effectively. Impact: Demand for community nursing is increasing. Findings of this study suggest that delegation of insulin administration contributes to improving service capacity. Findings highlight the essential role played by key factors such as appropriate training, competency assessment and teamwork, in developing confidence in delegation among stakeholders. Understanding and supporting these factors can help ensure that practice develops in an acceptable, safe and beneficial way, and informs future development of delegation practice in community settings. Patient or Public Contribution: A service user group was consulted during the design phase prior to grant application and provided comments on draft findings. Two people with diabetes were members of the project advisory group and contributed to the study design, development of interview questions, monitoring study progress and provided feedback on study findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Aims and objectives: To report the findings from an evaluation of the impact of the Compassion in Practice Vision and Strategy (National Health Service England (NHSE), 2012) on nursing, midwifery and care staff. Background: The Compassion in Practice Vision and Strategy was a programme of work to highlight the importance of compassionate care following the Francis Report in 2013 into the deficits in care in an NHS Hospital Trust. It was launched by NHS England in 2012 at a time when fiscal cuts were introduced by the Department of Health in England. Design and setting: Mixed methods. Results: Inferential statistics were used to test whether there were significant differences between staff at different levels of seniority with regard to awareness and involvement in Compassion in Practice Vision and Strategy and their attitudes to it. Awareness and involvement of staff in Compassion in Practice Vision and Strategy were high amongst middle and senior management but limited at ward level. Staff involvement in Compassion in Practice Vision and Strategy was limited due to a lack of awareness. Ward level staff who were aware and involved, perceived a lack of support and communication from senior leadership to deliver the Compassion in Practice Vision and Strategy. Discussion: Results reveal professional anger, distress and resistance to the Compassion in Practice Vision and Strategy and a view of the programme as a top‐down initiative which did not sufficiently recognise structural constraints on nurses’ ability to deliver compassionate care. We discuss the implications of our findings for global nursing. Conclusion: Participants emphasised that compassion for patients is only sustainable where there is compassion for staff and many participants felt that they were not being treated with compassion. Relevance for clinical practice: National Health Service England should strongly affirm that nurses and midwives in general provide compassionate care. Trust leadership should provide support for ward level staff who deliver compassionate care in difficult circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives The aim of this research was to explore women's emotional and affective responses following an incident of intimate partner violence experienced during emergency department attendances. Background A growing body of research has explored women's experiences of emergency departments following intimate partner violence still little remains known about the experience and impact of emotional and affective responses during these attendances. Design A descriptive qualitative design was used, underpinned theoretically by critical realism and postmodern complexity theory to attend to multiple, intersecting mechanisms that lie behind events and experiences. Methods Semistructured interviews with six women who had attended an emergency department directly following an incident of intimate partner violence. Interview data were transcribed and thematically analysed in nvivo9 using a coding framework. Results There were three interconnected key findings. First, was the commonality of acute stress experiences among women attending an emergency department following partner violence, second was that these acute stress reactions negatively impacted women's consultations, and third was the need for specialist domestic violence services at the point of first contact to assist service users navigate an effective consultation. Conclusions Acute stress reactions were an important feature of women's experiences of emergency department consultations following intimate partner violence. Attending to psychological first aid; providing a safe and quiet space; and affording access to specialist violence advocacy services at the point of first contact will limit harm and improve health consultation outcomes for this population. Relevance to clinical practice This research provides an account of emotional and affective responses experienced by women attending emergency departments following intimate partner violence and explicates how these acute stress reactions impacted their consultation. This research has relevance for practitioners in many first contact health services, such as urgent and emergency care, general practice, community public health and mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims The aim of this study was to explore the support worker functions in community mental health teams for older adults in relation to roles, boundaries, supervision and training. Background Support workers in community mental health teams provide important help to older people with complex mental and physical health needs in their own homes. Their numbers have grown substantially in recent years, but without professional registration there is concern that boundaries with qualified practitioners are insufficiently clear and that they do not receive the support they require. Design Qualitative research using interview data and thematic framework analysis investigated support workers' and registered practitioners' perspectives on roles, boundaries, supervision and training. Methods Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were undertaken in 2011, with 42 members of nine teams spread across England, including support workers and community mental health nurses. Coding of transcribed audio-recordings and subsequent analysis was undertaken by four researchers. Results Support workers undertook diverse roles and had considerable autonomy over their duties. Participants agreed about what tasks support workers should not undertake, yet there was evidence of 'negotiated' boundaries and examples of these being breached. Lines of authority were complex, yet support workers were supported through open communication with the wider team. Training was problematic, with few courses tailored for support workers and efforts towards formal qualification hindered by low pay and time pressures. Conclusion Local and national attention is needed to prevent 'drift' into activities that both support workers and registered practitioners consider outside their remit. Barriers to training and further qualification need to be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives To explore whether and how spatial aspects of children's hospital wards (single and shared rooms) impact upon family-centred care. Background Family-centred care has been widely adopted in paediatric hospitals internationally. Recent hospital building programmes in many countries have prioritised the provision of single rooms over shared rooms. Limited attention has, however, been paid to the potential impact of spatial aspects of paediatric wards on family-centred care. Design Qualitative, ethnographic. Methods Phase 1; observation within four wards of a specialist children's hospital. Phase 2; interviews with 17 children aged 5-16 years and 60 parents/carers. Sixty nursing and support staff also took part in interviews and focus group discussions. All data were subjected to thematic analysis. Results Two themes emerged from the data analysis: 'role expectations' and 'family-nurse interactions'. The latter theme comprised three subthemes: 'family support needs', 'monitoring children's well-being' and 'survey-assess-interact within spatial contexts'. Conclusion Spatial configurations within hospital wards significantly impacted upon the relationships and interactions between children, parents and nurses, which played out differently in single and shared rooms. Increasing the provision of single rooms within wards is therefore likely to directly affect how family-centred care manifests in practice. Relevance to clinical practice Nurses need to be sensitive to the impact of spatial characteristics, and particularly of single and shared rooms, on families' experiences of children's hospital wards. Nurses' contribution to and experience of family-centred care can be expected to change significantly when spatial characteristics of wards change and, as is currently the vogue, hospitals maximise the provision of single rather than shared rooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To explore the challenges of conducting research on sexuality and intimacy among older care home residents. Background Sexuality and intimacy are neglected in care policies and practices. Design Qualitative analytical study drawing on poststructuralist theorizing. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with residents and spouses ( n = 6) and care staff ( n = 16) in two care homes in Northwest England in 2014. The sample was obtained through a network of 'research-ready' care homes. Thematic analysis was used to make sense of narratives with the aid of NVivo10. Results Participant responses highlight the workings of ageist erotophobic discourse that undergirds the assumption of residents (and old people generally) as postsexual. This materialized in reservations about the research ranging from opposition on moral grounds to doubts about its feasibility given the age-group concerned. However, residents and care home staff can also draw on counter-discourses that resist/challenge ageist erotophobic thinking, which materialized in methodological and ethical recommendations. Conclusion Participants generally agreed with the principle of the research and made recommendations that could counter/resist ageist erotophobic governance and guide researchers on sampling, style of questioning and communicating with (prospective) study participants on a sensitive subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims To understand issues around carer roles that affect carer involvement for people with intellectual disabilities in acute hospitals. Background There is evidence that a lack of effective carer involvement can lead to poorer health outcomes for people with intellectual disabilities, but there is a lack of insight into the reasons for poor carer involvement in acute hospitals. Design Mixed methods in six acute hospital trusts in England (2011-2013). Methods Electronic hospital staff survey ( n = 990), carer questionnaires ( n = 88), semi-structured interviews with hospital staff ( n = 68) and carers ( n = 37). Data were triangulated and analysed using a conceptual framework. Results There was strong support for carer involvement among hospital staff, and most carers indicated that they felt welcomed and supported. However, an investigation of negative experiences showed that there were discrepancies in the perspectives of hospital staff and carers on the scope of 'carer involvement'. An important contributory factor to the effectiveness of carer involvement was the degree to which staff understood the importance of carer expertise (rather than simply carer work) and welcomed it. Carers' contributions to basic nursing care tasks could be taken for granted by hospital staff, sometimes erroneously. Conclusion The roles and contributions of carers should be clarified on an individual basis by hospital staff. The authors propose a new model to support this clarification. Further research is needed to assess the suitability of the model for patients with intellectual disabilities and other vulnerable patient groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To report on the development and psychometric testing of the Adolescent Diabetes Needs Assessment Tool. Background The UK has the fifth largest paediatric diabetes population in the world, but one of the poorest levels of diabetes control, highlighting the need for intervention development. Design Mixed methods following recommendations for questionnaire design and validation. Methods A total of 171 young people (12-18 years) participated between 2008- 2011. Methods included item selection using secondary framework analysis, item review, pre-testing, piloting and online transfer. Statistical tests assessed reliability using item-total correlations, interitem consistency and test-retest reliability; and validity using blood glucose (HbA1c) levels and the Self-Management of type 1 Diabetes in Adolescence questionnaire. Results The Adolescent Diabetes Needs Assessment Tool consists of 117 questions divided between six domains of educational and psychosocial support needs. It combines reflective questioning with needs assessment to raise self-awareness to support adolescent decision-making in relation to diabetes self-care. Thirty-six of the questions provide self-care and psychosocial health assessment scores. Face and content validity of the scoring items were all positively evaluated in terms of appropriateness and readability and tests for validity found significant correlations with Self-Management of type 1 Diabetes in Adolescence and weak correlation with HbA1c, which compared favourably with Self-Management of type 1 Diabetes in Adolescence, the only comparable ( USA) tool. Item response analysis validated the use of simple additive scores. Conclusions The Adolescent Diabetes Needs Assessment Tool combines reflective learning with needs assessment to support patient-centred clinical consultations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives To explore body image matters amongst patients following massive weight loss. Background In contemporary health care, a growing number of morbidly obese patients are seeking surgical solutions such as bariatric surgery or in other cases engaging with radical lifestyle changes. Massive weight loss can leave patients with a huge excess of lax overstretched skin that in some cases can trigger major body image dissatisfaction or depression. There is a scarcity of research about the needs of this group of patients and this is important for nursing practice. Design A qualitative design using in-depth interviews was employed. Methods Twenty white adults (18 women and two men) were recruited retrospectively amongst patients who had massive weight loss by undergoing bariatric surgery or radical lifestyle changes, aged 29-63 years. All of the participants gave signed informed consent. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted and transcribed verbatim. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results One core theme focusing on body image ugliness and three associated subthemes were identified: the subthemes included feeling socially marginalised, feeling depressed and sexual and intimacy difficulties. Conclusion Body image matters are hugely significant and appear to have a lasting effect on emotional well-being and function, contributing to psychological distress and social isolation. Greater sensitivity is required in enabling patients to work through emotional isolation and shame that has been a part of their childhood. Furthermore more, treatments need to be accessible to this growing patient population such as reconstructive surgery. Relevance to clinical practice Nurses who care for massive weight loss patients need to be mindful of their psychodynamic needs and be non-judgemental and accepting. Moreover, nurses need to be aware of treatment options and be able to assess body image matters and implement quality care for this particular patient group including body image acceptance programmes and support groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

tutton e., seers k., langstaff d. & westwood m. (2012) Staff and patient views of the concept of hope on a stroke unit: a qualitative study. Journal of Advanced Nursing 68(9), 2061-2069. Abstract Aim. This study explores the experience of hope for patients and staff in the context of a British stroke unit. Background. Hope is identified as a useful concept for exploring how people find meaning in recovery from illness. Uncovering the experience of hope in acute stroke care has provided evidence that can be used to facilitate rehabilitation. Methods. The methodology drew on the principles of ethnography, undertaking unstructured qualitative interviews with ten patients, ten multidisciplinary staff and 21 hours of participant observation including informal discussions with staff and patients. Data collection took place between November 2007 and November 2008. Findings. Four themes were identified: suffering, struggling with no hope and despair, hope for recovery and realistic hopefulness. Hope was experienced in the context of suffering a stroke demonstrated as loss of function, loss of mental capacity and dependency. Patients struggled to maintain a sense of hopefulness while feeling close to a slippery slope towards despair and death. Hope was expressed as a strong desire to recover, get back to normal and a time to reflect on their lives so far. Staff identified realistic hopefulness as focused on keeping things real while balancing giving hope and avoiding false hope. Conclusion. Hope is placed within the emotional challenges of suffering and struggle inherent in recovery from stroke. The staff work with patients' hopes but offer realistic hopefulness as a practical strategy for recovery. Further interventions are required for working with feelings of despair or no hope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]