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When concepts and the `paper and pencil' tests used to measure these concepts are developed in fields other than nursing and subsequently arc used for nursing purposes. the perspective mismatch heralds a validity issue. This paper presents a case for clinical construct validity as one method of evaluating whether the substantive meaning of a test captures the nursing meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the place, position and potential of what is characterized as the `Learning Resources Movement' in nurse education. It is based on experiences drawn from 10 years viewing resource use in general and nursing education, and, more recently, on observations arising from a research project looking at the growth within the school of nursing, of organizational structures for their development. It dims that the true potential of the movement has nowhere been fully realized It sees the present position as indeterminate and misconceived It claims that further development of such resources as are and will be available is intricately tied up with the professional development of nursing in a `chicken-and-egg' situation. It argues that the stage has now been reached where the successful development of the one cannot proceed without the successful development of the other. Drawing on a fairy-tale analogy the paper views the Learning Resources Movement as a powerful tool for seeing through the shining surfaces of what to many are new curricular clothes and dealing with the basic truths of the situation underneath. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents information related to nursing. At a reception given by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother at St James's Palace, London to mark the thirtieth birthday of The British Commonwealth Nurses War Memorial Fund, future plans were announced. The Council of the Royal College of Nursing of Great Britain has decided to create fellows from amongst its members of at least five years' standing who have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of the science and art of nursing. Fellows will be expected to have completed a course in post-basic nursing education where appropriate, and to present a paper or thesis and/or demonstrate innovation or exceptional competence in advancing nursing.

Special issue Nursing science: knowledge development for the good of persons and society Guest editors: Pamela J Grace and Danny G Willis [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIM: This paper is a report of a study to illuminate the meaning of caring for people with malodorous exuding ulcers. BACKGROUND: Managing ulcers is complicated and consensus on assessment and treatment difficult to reach. Nurses need knowledge and skills to provide good care. They must stay close and be exposed to contamination and suffering. They must provide care without violating patients and we need to further explore this challenge. METHOD: A convenience sample of ten participants was recruited. Participants had experience of caring for people with malodorous exuding ulcers and were employed in primary health or hospital care in Sweden. Narrative interviews were conducted during late 2002 to early 2005 and interpreted using a phenomenological-hermeneutic method. FINDINGS: Themes were formulated: 'Facing the wound' when nurses reveal what is meant to be concealed and perceive patients' vulnerability; 'Facing one's own defencelessness' when feeling invaded, helpless and ashamed; 'Struggling to shield one's own defencelessness' was achieved by striving to be in control, striving to endure and seeking a way out. 'Struggling to shield patients' vulnerability' was about alleviating patients' additional suffering by striving to spare patients, pushing boundaries, making uncomfortable decisions and sharing togetherness. When failing to shield their own defencelessness and patients' vulnerability, nurses run the risk of experiencing desolation. CONCLUSION: Physical proximity and bodily suffering affect nurses. Caring for people with ulcers calls for improved interprofessional cooperation in order to provide the best treatments and care. Further education for these nurses is needed, as well as support from managements and organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family carers of people with a severe mental illness play a vital, yet often unrecognized and undervalued role in Australian society. Respite care services can assist these family carers in their role; however, little is known about their access to these services. The paper addresses this knowledge gap. An exploratory field study was conducted throughout the eastern suburbs of Sydney, Australia, to identify and examine the factors influencing the use and provision of respite services for older carers of people with a mental illness. Semistructured, in-depth interviews, and structured self-completed questionnaires were conducted with older family carers, mental health care professionals, and respite care service providers. Additionally, relevant documents (local policies, strategic plans and reports on respite care) were reviewed. It was found that current respite services are problematic for older family carers of Australians with a mental illness, signalling the need for concerted efforts by carers, health professionals, and service providers to improve access. Changes to respite provision and utilization are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I explore the possibilities of nursing as safeguarding through a phenomenological description of a small sculpture by the German artist Käthe Kollwitz. My discussion will be grounded in Heidegger's understanding of technicity as a pervasive systematizing and aggressive challenging-out. The method is grounded in Merleau-Ponty's and Heidegger's contention that strong artworks are truth-disclosing and show up our precognitive contact with the world. Bringing nursing concerns to an encounter with single strong artworks can help us cultivate a more receptive openness to our patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Heart disease is a severe long-term illness, which often requires lifestyle changes and self-care and affects the life of the whole family. Perceived family health is highly complex. It combines people's values and everyday experiences, such as knowledge about their own health, what they do to promote their health, how their life progresses, and how they feel physically and emotionally. AIM: The aim of this paper is to report a study to describe the perceived health of families of patients with heart disease and to ascertain factors related to family health. METHODS: Data were collected by questionnaire with a convenience sample of 161 family members of patients receiving treatment on two medical wards of a university hospital in southern Finland. Data were analysed using means and medians and tested by parametric and non-parametric tests. A stepwise regression analysis was also used. RESULTS: The most important predictors of family health were family structural factors, effect of illness symptoms on daily life, and family relationships. The strongest predictor was family structural factors. It was found that the better the family structure and relationships, the better the family health. Similarly, the greater the effect of the illness on the patient's daily life, the worse the family health. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that supporting family functioning in the families of people with heart disease is an important challenge for family nursing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Research Unit was established in 1968 and one of its primary functions since then has been an attempt to evaluate experimental schemes of nurse training. Two of the explicit objectives of the research were to establish whether students could be attracted to such schemes of training and, if so, whether they could be successfully prepared by them to pass State finals examinations. The author is concerned that courses are 'evaluated' too readily in terms of single criterion measures such as pass rates, which may in fact be misleading. The paper argues that evaluation of a training course should involve the question 'Is it worth it?' and this implies a need for the use of multiple criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper develops the theme that cues for appropriate changes in nursing care and organization can be detected from the immediate socio-political environment. Taking an historical perspective, changes in nursing care and organization are traced and the split between technology and care is discussed. A return to the model of hippocratic medicine is suggested by the introduction of a new role, that of the nurse practitioner. This model is considered in the light of nursing redefining its role vis-à-vise-present day social needs of health care delivery systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The claim by many occupations to professional status has resulted from lack of precision of definition. The characteristics discussed are those which most writers agree are possessed by professionals and include knowledge, authority for action, community sanction, control and the development of a sub-culture. Nursing as an occupation is viewed in the light of these characteristics and found wanting. However, one equally important measurement may be that of the attitudes displayed by the members of an occupation and, if these are considered, nursing may be seen to be nearer to the ideal type. The main problem may be that the term 'nurse' in the United Kingdom includes a wide range of practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Nursing Terminologies & Classifications is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Historically, research about young carers has focused on defining the tasks and responsibilities undertaken by children caring for ill or disabled family members and the impacts of such care, without reference to the domestic and caring work undertaken by children and young people in families where there are only non-disabled or well members. This study presents new evidence of what children and young people generally do to assist in the home and examines how the lives of young carers differ from children and young people who are not carers. It concludes by examining the implications of these research findings for evidence-informed policy and practice. Copyright © 2006 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2006 National Children's Bureau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to uncover the meaning of the lived experience of mutual suffering in relation to the care of a dying patient. The study took place within an acute medical ward in a district general hospital on the south coast of England as part of a reflective practice development programme. Parse's human becoming theory provided a framework for the study and Parse's research methodology was adopted. Understanding the nature of human relationships within nursing practice is central to nursing work, enabling patients and their health-professional carers to live and work healthily in the context of human becoming. Illuminating mutual suffering through reflection enables nursing and health-care professionals to acknowledge the paradoxes of practice and, thus, create new strategies for the provision of care and the improvement of practice, so that quality of life is maximized for the patient and for themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scand J Caring Sci; 2005; 19; 128–139Applicability of the Nursing Interventions Classification to describe nursingThe aim of this survey was to test the applicability of the Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) system for use in a future nursing information system for documenting nursing in an electronic patient record in Iceland. Also, the aim was to test the translation of NIC into Icelandic. In order to be applicable to nursing NIC needs to be sensitive enough to describe the work nurses do, differentiate between specialities in nursing, and be understandable to nurses. A sample of 198 nurses was asked to identify how often they used each of 433 NIC nursing interventions. Of the 36 most frequently used interventions half are within the physiological domain. Core nursing interventions were different between specialities, e.g. Analgesic Administration had a high mean score in surgical nursing, and Health Education in primary health care.anovafor the 27 classes in NIC showed significant differences (p < 0.01) by all nursing specialities except one, Crisis Management. A Tukeypost hoctest showed how nursing specialities were reflected differently in the NIC domains, e.g. medical/surgical nursing in the Physiological: Basic Domain, but psychiatric nursing in the Behavioural Domain. Factor analysis of classes in NIC show good resemblance with the domains in NIC and the structure of the classification is strongly supported, except the Safety Domain. The results from this study indicate that nurses in the sample consider NIC to be applicable to describe nursing. The language is a powerful tool and is central in reflecting nursing practice as well as supporting the construct of knowledge. The translation of NIC to Icelandic is one step in many in preparing nurses to use a standardized language which can also be used in an electronic patient record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Home health nursing care (HHNC) in Korea has taken on an important role under the mandate of the national health care system since 2000. This program was developed to verify the possibility of early discharge of hospitalized patients and cost containment through a research and development project that was conducted with the government from 1994 to 1999. The process of development of HHNC provided an opportunity to realize the advancement and changes in the system into a consumer-focused structure. This is an important turning point for the Korean health care system that suggests certain possibilities for building a foundation for further changes in the service delivery structure. The structure, which had been limited to a supplier-oriented model, is moving to a consumer-oriented structure. Accordingly, the major function and role of nursing policy makers in Korea is to develop an agenda and alternatives for policy-making in a systematic manner and to present implementation strategies clearly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nurses make mistakes in practice despite the culturally based expectation of perfection. Such a disparity between reality and expectation calls members of the profession to question the current attitudes toward mistakes in practice. Two explanatory models of the origin of mistakes are presented. The Perfectibility Model holds that any error or harm is caused by an individual practitioner's lack of knowledge or motivation. The Faulty Systems Model offers a broader explanation of human error. I conclude that a Faulty Systems Model is more comprehensive and more effective for managing mistakes. Integrating the Faulty Systems Model into practice and education can result in more ethically fitting responses to errors and ultimately better outcomes for nurses, institutions and patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scand J Caring Sci; 2004; 18; 410–416Staff's experience of and the management of violent incidents in elderly careViolence towards staff has become an important issue, since it has been reported to be common in various health care settings. This study aimed to describe emotional reactions among staff being exposed to violence in residential community care for the elderly: to investigate consequences from violent incidents and to describe the management of violent incidents. Data were collected by telephone interviews with nursing staff reporting incidents of violence. During the period of investigation, 97 of 848 staff (11.4%) reported that they had been exposed to violence. More than one-third of them reported subsequent wound and bruises from the incident and two of the exposed staff consulted a doctor because of the violent incident. The most frequently reported reactions among the staff were aggression, astonishment, and antipathy against the perpetrating care recipient, as well as insufficiency, powerlessness, insult and fear. A majority of the incidents were judged as intentionally perpetuating from the care recipient. Most of the violent incidents were managed by informal discussions in the working team. A low number of the reported incidents of violence involved formal discussions with nurse managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When aligned to participants' needs, evaluation may be used to enhance practice developers' work. Process evaluation enables practice developers to evaluate as they develop; making evaluation an integral part of practice development rather than an `add on task'. It is contended that beginning practice developers can discharge their need to evaluate their work through the practice development techniques of critical reflection, dialogue and action learning. These form the basis of iterative and formative evaluation activity. However other types of evaluation are important for different audiences in practice development. Consideration of the purpose and utility of evaluation in a range of contexts in which gerontological nursing occurs, brings some clarity regarding the scope of the evaluation required to sustain practice development initiatives. In addition, it helps to clarify the nature of the evaluation required to provide evidence of patient-centred outcomes from developments in the practice of gerontological nursing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory study examines the dynamics of keeping a disabled adult in the home. In interviews with 30 families, major foci emerged which spanned the interaction between family members and one member, the disabled adult. These foci were: the initial weighing process in the decision to keep the disabled at home, the therapeutic process which evolved among members, the interactional system which served the social unit, and the social context and adaptation that the family nude to perceived misfortune. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nursing gerontology is the scientific study of the nursing care of the elderly as individuals, family members and population groups. The author identifies and discusses the ethical issues which must be considered in relation to research in nursing gerontology: respect for persons, adequate knowledge base for decision-making, quality of life, quality of death and distribution of limited resources. Research priorities are then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses Space Age nursing. Need for the nursing profession to develop a vision and pursue it; Goal of space age nursing to prepare, educate and stimulate the nurse to look ahead with awareness, imagination and resourcefulness.

We can foresee the emerging shape of a renewed health system but the part dealing with professional regulation is fuzzy. As it may dramatically affect nursing practice, it is time to take a look at what is going on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on how the International Council of Nurses globally mobilized the nursing profession. Accomplishments achieved by nurses for the public and the profession despite the difficult times; Sharing of nurses in villages where there is no hospital, as applied in a small country in the Pacific; Unity among the nurses in demanding for the long overdue increase in salaries.