Search

For many events in professional life we are given guidelines, for example how to structure your job application or how to write a report about a patient.

A focus group is usually understood as a group of people brought together by a researcher to interact as a group. Focus group research explicitly uses interaction as part of its methodology. This article summarises the practice of running focus groups, explores the nature of focus group data and provides an example of focus group analysis.

Resilience is one of the attributes nurses need if they are to deliver quality care successfully in an ever more demanding environment. But how does resilience enhance a healthcare setting and the wellbeing of patients, and is it a personal trait or something that can be taught?

The nursing profession is rife with impossible ideals that nurses struggle to reconcile, argues the author. The result is a widespread sense of victimisation and powerlessness.

A day spent watching a fitness for practice panel reinforced what Michael Traynor found in the literature about referrals to the nurse regulator.

Aim: The objective of this study was to investigate nursing research, including topics, funding and publication., Method: A database of published biomedical research set up by the Wellcome Trust was analysed for nursing research., Results: Topics covered in nursing research were found to be diverse, with mental health nursing and nurse education the major areas. Multi-authorship is lower than in biomedical research generally. The most prolific areas of publication are London SE postcodes and Manchester. Only about a third of nursing research appears to be funded., Conclusion: Nursing research was found to be the fastest growing field of biomedical research during the period analysed (1988-1995).

From April to December 1991, nearly 1,000 community-based nurses working in the areas covered by four first-wave community Trusts took part in the first year of a three-year study on job satisfaction. Their comments revealed that a climate of uncertainty, fear and a certain amount of alienation existed, as well as pockets of optimism. The next phase of the study will show how nurses see their role and future as the change to Trust status begins to take effect.

The Daphne Heald Research Unit was set up just over ten years ago to develop the art and science of nursing through research, and to encourage nurses to use research. In the intervening years, four major studies have been published looking at the work of clinical nurse specialists in diabetes and stoma care, nurses' knowledge of sickle cell disorders and management of early discharge after surgery. With three major projects on the way, the Unit is continuing to support the need for rigorous research.