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This study aimed to understand what post-operative patients perceived was important about the nursing care they had experienced. The participants were nine women recovering from total hip replacement surgery which had been performed in a large public, acute care hospital in south Australia. Participants volunteered to be involved in the study and were interviewed pre- and post-operatively and interviews continued in their home environment following discharge. The study took place during 1995 within a 10-month time frame. Methodological guidance was sought from the phenomenology literature, with the ideas from Husserl and Heideggar providing shape for the interpretive framework. The analysis of data utilized Colaizzi’s (1978) seven procedural steps. For the purposes of this paper the authors have selected to focus only on the findings of this study. Two major themes emerged from the conversations with women. Patients described nurses as being engaged or detached with their nursing care. These themes will be explicated in this paper. In the light of these dominant themes the nursing literature around engagement and detachment are examined. The implications for nursing practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this very critical evaluation of the value and effectiveness of nursing audits, the author shares information about the state of nursing in Australia, gleaned from a recent study. Some myths about nursing practice are debunked. The stark reality is discussed and analysed and a direction for the future is suggested. Although the paper relates exclusively to Australia, its contents will undoubtedly ring true in many other countries. The dichotomy between nursing education and nursing service is considered at length. As are the resulting conflicts of nursing students, clinical instructors and nurse tutors. Teachers of nursing appear to decry the need for them to be clinically involved, as a result nursing education is less meaningful. A particularly strong plea is made for adequate inservice education programmes and a more flexible and thorough approach to change, free from undue commitment to the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]