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Notes that there is little consistency among review processes of nursing journals. Recommends a standardized peer review system, establishment of guidelines for referees, and introduction of open rather than anonymous reviewing. (SK)

Nursing students (n=162) were asked to identify personal qualities of counselors. Although the literature identifies listening as a skill, not a quality, 73% named being a good listener a counselor quality. Results may imply that change is needed in the teaching of counseling skills. (SK)

Background: Research into stress among psychiatrists has attempted to identify stressors, which can lead to physical illness and psychological distress. Aims: The aim of the study was systematically to review the current evidence for the effectiveness of stress management interventions for those working in the psychiatric profession. Method: A systematic review of the current literature was conducted into stress and stress management within the profession of psychiatry. Results: Twenty-three international studies were included in the psychiatry section of the review. Psychiatrists report a range of stressors in their work, including stress associated with their work and personal stresses. One personal stress, which psychiatrists find very difficult to cope with is patient suicide. Coping strategies include support from colleagues and outside interests. No studies evaluated the use of stress-management interventions for psychiatrists. Conclusions: Psychiatry is a stressful profession. Psychiatrists identified several stressors in their professional and personal lives.

Interviews are probably the most frequently used means of gathering data in qualitative studies. There is a continuum, from the structured to the unstructured interview, via the semi structured. Structured [...]

The author discusses three aspects of the theory of knowledge: propositional knowledge, practical knowledge, and experiential knowledge. He also discusses problems of research in the field. (JOW)

A study focuses on establishing the levels of stress, burnout, coping and more importantly, the factors that ameliorate stress in the workplace for a group of UK mental health professionals. The evidence suggests that social workers experience relatively high levels of both work-related anxiety and trait depression when compared with normative populations and workers in other professions.

Constructing Grounded Theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis Author: Kathy Charmaz Publisher: Sage Pages: 224 Price 19.99 £ ISBN: 0761973532 The grounded theory approach to doing qualitative research in [...]

Summary: Introduction: It is well recognised that nurse education/training can be a stressful experience and that self-esteem is an important predictor of stress. Background/literature: While there are a significant number of studies showing levels and contributors to stress among students. There is little evidence of how these levels change over time. The aim of the study was to investigate nursing students’ experiences of stress and levels of self-esteem during three years of their undergraduate nursing programme. Methods: Participants completed the stress in nurse education questionnaire and the culture free self-esteem inventory at various time points in the study, and a demographic questionnaire at baseline. The students who took part in the study commenced their nurse training in September 2002. Data/results: This study has demonstrated that levels of self reported stress and “general” self-esteem are significantly different at different stages the nurse training process. Self reported stress were at the highest at the beginning of the third year and these were significantly higher when compared to stress reported at any other time point. Self-esteem levels were lowest at the end of training. Conclusions: Trying to obtain data only at single time point during nurse education/training is inadequate as this research has shown that there is indeed variation in student psychological well being across the academic year. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Many nurses in the United Kingdom are now undertaking PhDs; however, the process is both complex and time consuming. Research has shown that effective supervision can significantly influence the quality of the PhD and its eventual success or failure. Consequently, many common problems experienced during a Phd often relate to difficulties in the supervisory process. PhD students and supervisors often have different expectations, needs and ways of thinking and working. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to provide an overview of the key elements of research supervision. The paper is aimed at students, prospective students and supervisors involved in the PhD process and explores the perspectives of a student and a supervisor and discusses what each can and should reasonably expect from supervision, how to identify and address potential supervisory problems and how to maintain an effective working relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes the psychological problems of heart transplant recipients. Using a qualitative research approach, interviews were conducted with 42 patients (35 men and 7 women). Analysis of the data revealed concerns about the donor's heart and how receiving somebody else's heart might affect the recipient's own personality; feelings of guilt for the donor's death and feelings of gratitude towards the donor's family; and concerns about the recipient's own heart. These findings provide health care professionals with pointers that may aid improved information provision and maximise the use of existing coping strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Occupational stress is a major problem for individuals and organizations. Stress can cause burnout, ill-health, high workforce turnover, absenteeism, lowered morale and reduced efficiency and performance. Aims: To identify factors that contribute to stress, burnout and job satisfaction for qualified UK clinical psychologists; to identify the various coping strategies that are employed; to identify stress management interventions that have been used by members of the clinical psychology profession in the UK. Method: Systematic review, focusing on stressors, moderators and stress outcomes and on stress management interventions. Results: Seven studies were included in the review. Just one reported an evaluation of a stress management intervention. Reported sources of stress for clinical psychologists included client characteristics, excessive workloads, professional self-doubt and poor management. Coping strategies included talking with colleagues, and other "active" approaches to personal stress management. Up to 40% of UK clinical psychologists participating in studies were found to be experiencing "caseness" levels of distress. Conclusions: Mental health work is stress-provoking. However, organizational and professional factors may militate against psychologists seeking and receiving support at work. Declaration of interest: This study was undertaken with the support of the Wales Office of Research and Development for Health and Social Care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. To assess whether risk-communication interventions are associated with changes in patient knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, and to identify aspects of these interventions that modify these effects. Design. Systematic review. Data sources. 96 studies from the period 1985-1996 retrieved by electronic searching of eight databases, hand searching of four journals, contacting key authors, and reference list searching. Main outcome measures. The effect size of the principal outcome was identified from each study. Outcomes measuring behavioral change were preferred; if these were not available, knowledge, anxiety, or risk perceptions were used, according to the focus of the study. Data were available to calculate the principal effect sizes for 82 of the studies. Analysis. Meta-regression. Results. The methodologic qualities of the studies varied. Nevertheless, risk-communication interventions generally had positive (beneficial) effects. Interventions addressing treatment choices were associated with larger effects than were those in other contexts, such as prevention or screening. Interventions using individual risk estimates were associated with larger effects than were those using more general risk information. Two design variables were identified as effect modifiers: randomized controlled trials were associated with smaller effects than other designs, and dichotomous outcomes were associated with larger effects than continuous outcomes. Conclusions. Risk communication interventions may be most productive if they include individual risk estimates in the discussion between professional and patient. Patient decisions about treatment appear more amenable to change by these interventions than attendance for screening or modification of risky behavior. Key words: risk communication; prevention interventions; patient behavioral changes; systematic review. (Med Decis Making 2000;20:290-297) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

AbstractPostmodernism, as an interpretation of the current cultural climate, has been widely discussed. This paper offers a summary of some of the points raised within the postmodern literature and the argument is raised that Carl Rogers, client-centered therapist and advocate of student-centered learning was postmodern in his viewpoint. Various tentative suggestions are offered as to how the postmodern mood may or may not affect counseling and psychotherapy. The analysis is, necessarily, partial given that postmodernism offers no obvious prescriptions and no ‘grand view’. This may be both its strength and its failing. Links are made to nursing and health sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the results of a survey on patient satisfaction in a forensic unit. General satisfaction over services being offered; Identification of deficits; Patients' link of difficulty in negotiating `passes' to leave unit to level of staffing in area.

Explores British nurses' perceptions of their own interpersonal skills using a rating scale which allowed for greater flexibility of response on the part of respondents. Category variables; Smallest space analysis.

Discusses how the use of language in nursing affects nurse educators and students' perception. Classification of language into two categories; Description of both language styles.

Assesses students' and trained nurses' perceptions of their interpersonal skills based on the category analysis. Qualitative comparison with the results of an earlier study on trained nurses' perceptions; Suggestions for future directions on research and training in the field of interpersonal skills in nursing; Implications for the theory of Six Category Intervention Analysis.

Experiential learning methods have been recommended for teaching psychiatric nursing students. What has been lacking to date, however, is a sound theory of knowledge to underpin the concepts involved in this relatively new approach to learning. This paper offers an epistemological theory divided into three domains: propositional knowledge, practical knowledge and experiential knowledge, as a basis for a theory of experiential learning. After a description of the theory, experiential learning is redefined and the practical issues relating to the theory are discussed. The paper closes with some thoughts on the problems of research in the field of experiential knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the social climate of a newly established forensic unit in Wales using the short form of the Correctional Institute Environmental Scale (CIES). Views of patients and nursing staff on hospital social climate; Factors that influence the social climate of a hospital ward; Nine subscales of CIES important in correctional treatment environment.

Highlights some of the tensions which impede the development of an effective and efficient system of service delivery in forensic psychiatry. Factors involved in forensic psychiatric services; Quality forensic psychiatric health cares; Patient satisfaction in the service; Managerial and financial considerations of the service.

The theoretical framework known as ‘Six Category Intervention Analysis’ (Heron 1989) was used as the basis for developing a simple rating scale for assessing nurses interpersonal skills. A convenience sample of nurses (n= 117) were asked to rate themselves on six interpersonal interventions using a five-point rating scale. Trends which have been reported in the literature were also observed in this sample: the nurses perceived themselves to be more interpersonally skilled in the use of supportive, informative and perspective interventions and less skilled in the use of catalytic, cathartic and confronting interventions. Further statistical examination using Smallest Space Analysis (SSA) revealed unexpected patterns in the way the Six Category Intervention items may be interrelated. In Heron's original scheme, the six interventions may be divided up into authoritative and facilitative groups, but we found no empirical support for this division. Our interpretation of the SSA analysis suggested that the interventions could be considered in terms of those that involve the expression of emotion: cathartic, catalytic and confronting interventions; and those that are more dispassionate: prescriptive and informative interventions. The supportive intervention was found to link up with both of these groups. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article offers a report of the findings of a study of nursing care in a medium secure unit. The study involved all of the nursing staff of the unit. Data were collected through the use of questionnaires, interviews and diaries. Frequency counting and content analysis of these revealed a range of views about the care offered in the unit. Those views covered issues ranging from the atmosphere in the unit to management and educational issues. The findings suggested that the workforce was generally positive in its view of care in the unit, that the nursing staff were committed to providing an client-centred, quality service. However, issues which occurred frequently were those of the tension between security and therapy in the unit and the adequacy or otherwise of staffing levels. The article closes with a discussion of the various findings and offers suggestions for future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Presents an overview of culture and explores the notion of culture and how it relates to international differences in interpersonal communication and healthcare. Definition of culture; Approaches to defining culture; Value of the study of culture to nursing; Issues on clarity and misunderstanding in communication; Factors need to be considered in behaviours involved in non-verbal communication.