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Aims This study aimed to compare the findings of the quality of nursing doctoral education survey across seven countries and discuss the strategic directions for improving quality. Background No comparative evaluation of global quality of nursing doctoral education has been reported to date despite the rapid increase in the number of nursing doctoral programmes. Design A descriptive, cross-country, comparative design was employed. Methods Data were collected from 2007-2010 from nursing schools in seven countries: Australia, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Thailand, UK and USA. An online questionnaire was used to evaluate quality of nursing doctoral education except for Japan, where a paper version was used. Korea and South Africa used e-mails quality of nursing doctoral education was evaluated using four domains: Programme, Faculty (referring to academic staff), Resource and Evaluation. Descriptive statistics, correlational and ordinal logistic regression were employed. Results A total of 105 deans/schools, 414 faculty and 1149 students/graduates participated. The perceptions of faculty and students/graduates about the quality of nursing doctoral education across the seven countries were mostly favourable on all four domains. The faculty domain score had the largest estimated coefficient for relative importance. As the overall quality level of doctoral education rose from fair to good, the resource domain showed an increased effect. Conclusions Both faculty and students/graduates groups rated the overall quality of nursing doctoral education favourably. The faculty domain had the greatest importance for quality, followed by the programme domain. However, the importance of the resource domain gained significance as the overall quality of nursing doctoral education increased, indicating the needs for more attention to resources if the quality of nursing doctoral education is to improve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A kuma A .O . & J ordan S . (2012) Pain management in neonates: a survey of nurses and doctors. Journal of Advanced Nursing 68(6), 1288-1301. Abstract Aim. This paper is a report of a descriptive survey of nurses' and doctors' knowledge and reported practice regarding procedural pain assessment and management in neonatal intensive care units. Background. There are concerns that pain is often unrecognized and under-treated in neonates. Current guidelines advocate administration of analgesia and comfort measures, but may be vulnerable to inter-professional differences in guideline implementation. Methods. All nurses and doctors working in all seven neonatal intensive care units in one area of the United Kingdom were surveyed between January to August 2007. Lead clinicians distributed and collected anonymous questionnaires. Findings. Response rate was 44% (62 doctors, 137 nurses). Internal consistency was high, overall Cronbach's alpha 0·976. Respondents were knowledgeable, mean score 82% (SD13·3%). They agreed that neonates feel pain and need analgesia. Chest drain insertion was perceived to be the most painful procedure, heel-prick the least. Respondents reported that analgesia and comfort measures were not usually administered for most procedures: nurses were more likely than doctors to report adhering to guidelines advocating administration of analgesia and comfort measures. Statistically significant differences between current and optimal practice were acknowledged. Few (21% and 37%) had received training on neonatal pain and fewer (2·5%) employed recognized pain assessment instruments. Pain management guidelines were available to 29(47%) doctors and 85(62%) nurses; 20(18%) reported that these had been audited. Conclusion. Clinicians were knowledgeable about neonatal pain, but gaps between knowledge and practice remain. This hiatus could be bridged by providing research evidence for the efficacy of guidelines incorporating validated pain assessment instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To develop and validate a bronchiolitis severity scoring instrument for use by nurses and other healthcare professions. Background Bronchiolitis is a viral lower respiratory tract infection of infancy. In industrialized countries, admission rates have increased over the last decade with up to 3% of all infants born being admitted to hospital. A small number of these hospitalized infants will require admission to critical care for either invasive or non-invasive ventilation. During the seasonal epidemic, the number of unplanned admissions to critical care with bronchiolitis substantially increases. Design We will use a mixed methods study design. Methods We will use scale development and psychometric methods to develop a scoring instrument and to test the instrument for content, construct and criterion validity and reliability in several different clinical locations. This study protocol has been reviewed and approved by the NHS National Research Ethics Service, January 2011. Discussion There is an urgent need to develop a valid and reliable severity scoring instrument sensitive to clinical changes in the infant, to facilitate clinical decision-making and help standardize patient care. Furthermore, a valid and reliable scoring instrument could also be used as a proxy patient-reported outcome measure to evaluate the efficacy of clinical interventions in randomized controlled trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To explore associations among breastfeeding duration, maternal personality and maternal attitudes and experiences of breastfeeding. Background Understanding influences on breastfeeding initiation and duration is critical to increasing breastfeeding rates and supporting new mothers. Maternal characteristics such as self-efficacy, knowledge and confidence are known to enable women to breastfeed, but little is known about the influence of maternal trait personality on breastfeeding. Design An exploratory cross-sectional survey. Method A total of 602 mothers with an infant aged 6-12 months old completed a self-report questionnaire examining maternal trait personality, breastfeeding duration and attitudes and experiences of breastfeeding. Data were collected between March-June 2009. Results Mothers who reported high levels of extraversion, emotional stability and conscientiousness were significantly more likely to initiate and continue breastfeeding for a longer duration. Attitudes and experiences significantly associated with these personality traits such as perceived difficulties and lack of support may explain these patterns. For example, characteristics associated with introversion and anxiety may prevent women from seeking support or challenging negative attitudes of others at this critical time. Conclusion Understanding the influence of maternal personality may thus be a useful tool in antenatal support to recognize women who may need extra, directed support while facilitating discussion of potential barriers to breastfeeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]