Search

Introduction Organ and tissue transplantation are increasingly presented as a solution for a number of serious and life-threatening health conditions. Advances in tissue typing, new generations of immunosuppressant drugs, and [...]

The wars in Southeast Asia displaced thousands of families from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. The upheavals led to a number of waves of immigration to the United States. Current research supports hypotheses of post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses in refugees from the wars in Vietnam but omits pertinent cultural factors. This phenomenological study of 19 women from Southeast Asia examines the meanings of their refugee experiences. Open-ended interviews with these women reveal themes of survival, despair, and isolation. Health care providers may notice cultural bereavement as opposed to post-traumatic stress disorder, reflecting a psychological resilience not extensively explored previously. Developing empathetic interactions and including important ethnic identity factors in caring for refugee women appear essential in providing appropriate health care.

People with mental illness are subjected to stigma and discrimination and constantly face restrictions in the exercise of their political, civil and social rights. Considering this scenario, mental health, ethics and human rights are key approaches to advance the well-being of persons with mental illnesses. The study was conducted to review the scope of the empirical literature available to answer the research question: What evidence is available regarding human rights and ethical issues regarding nursing care to persons with mental illnesses? A scoping review methodology guided by Arksey and O'Malley was used. Studies were identified by conducting electronic searches on CINAHL, PubMed, SCOPUS and Hein databases. Of 312 citations, 26 articles matched the inclusion criteria. The central theme which emerged from the literature was "Ethics and Human Rights Boundaries to Mental Health Nursing practice". Mental health nurses play a key and valuable role in ensuring that their interventions are based on ethical and human rights principles. Mental health nurses seem to have difficulty engaging with the ethical issues in mental health, and generally are dealing with acts of paternalism and with the common justification for those acts. It is important to open a debate regarding possible solutions for this ethical dilemma, with the purpose to enable nurses to function in a way that is morally acceptable to the profession, patients and members of the public. This review may serve as an instrument for healthcare professionals, especially nurses, to reflect about how to fulfil their ethical responsibilities towards persons with mental illnesses, protecting them from discrimination and safeguarding their human rights, respecting their autonomy, and as a value, keeping the individual at the centre of ethical discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The good health and well-being of health care professionals is increasingly an important issue and one that is under threat due to dominant neo-liberal economic factors. These factors influence health care service delivery which in turn focuses less on employee workplace satisfaction and more on profit-making corporate business models. More work with less pay/benefits, less time to work with clients and the focus on outcomes has created workplaces in which employees are experiencing negative organisational cultures that, in turn, affects their health and well-being. One negative effect is compassion fatigue (CF). In Canada, a national inter-disciplinary research project was conducted for health professionals (n  = 52) who self-identified as experiencing CF. From this research, an analysis of a sub-sample of the data of fourteen social workers was conducted identifying specific institutional factors that participants described as creating conditions for their CF. These factors are presented including: (i) cost-effective services within time constraints and political climates; (ii) erosion of relationship building; (iii) lack of communication between managers and front line workers; (iv) cutbacks in services; (v) climate of fear; and (vi) outcome measurement requirements. These concerns related to workplace environments and the health and well-being of health professionals are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Limited knowledge of the experiences of conflicts of conscience found in nursing literature. Objectives: To explore the individual experiences of a conflict of conscience for neonatal nurses in Alberta. Research design: Interpretive description was selected to help situate the findings in a meaningful clinical context. Participants and research context: Five interviews with neonatal nurses working in Neonatal Intensive Care Units throughout Alberta. Ethical consideration: Ethics approval from the Health Research Ethics Board at the University of Alberta. Findings: Three common themes emerged from the interviews: the unforgettable conflict with pain and suffering, finding the nurse's voice, and the unique proximity of nurses. Discussion and conclusion: The nurses described a conflict of conscience when the neonate in their care experienced undermanaged pain and unnecessary suffering. During these experiences, they felt guilty, sad, hopeless, and powerless when they were unable to follow their conscience. Informal ways to follow their conscience were employed before declaration of conscientious objection was considered. This study highlights the vital importance of respecting a conflict of conscience to maintain the moral integrity of neonatal nurses and exposes the complexities of conscientious objection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]