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Aims and objectives: To identify and consolidate the available evidence about nursing‐related competencies for home‐based care. Background: Over recent years, the demand for home‐based nursing care has increased because of the need to meet the increasing need for chronic disease care to be delivered in patients' homes. However, knowledge is lacking about the expected competencies for home‐based care nurses. Design: A scoping review was conducted in accordance with Arksey and O'Malley's six‐step scoping review framework and the PRISMA‐ScR guidelines. The review identified literature using five electronic databases (CINAHL, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane and Scopus) and a hand search for grey literature in relevant home‐based care journals and online searches. Key search terms and inclusion and exclusion criteria were used as strategies to identify relevant articles. Results: Sixty‐four articles were eligible for inclusion. Mapping and narrative synthesis of 116 elements related to home‐based nursing care competencies identified the following 10 competencies: (1) care assessments; (2) performance of nursing procedures; (3) management of health conditions; (4) critical thinking and problem‐solving skills; (5) interpersonal relationships and communication; (6) interdisciplinary collaboration; (7) leadership and resource management; (8) professional development; (9) technological literacy; (10) quality and safety. Conclusion and relevance to clinical practice: This review provides insight into current knowledge about home‐based nursing care competencies. These competencies could be used to evaluate nurses' competence level for home‐based care or for development of appropriate professional education. The review also outlines the scope of nursing practice in home‐based care, which provides support for some form of standardisation of home‐based nursing care expectations across various stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite high rates of domestic violence and increased rates of honor killing (HK) over the past decade, there is a paucity of empirical data about how HK affects family members. This study used grounded theory to explore the emotional and social effects of HK on 23 family members of murdered women and found that HK failed to achieve the restoration of honor. Following HK, families subsequently entered a protracted process of grief compounded by negative social interactions, which led to a form of "social death." The road to social death was a painful and continuous social process, which, for many, never abated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9566.2006.00511.x Byline: Shaun Speed (1), Karen A. Luker (1) Keywords: postmodernism; doctor-nurse relationships; power; resistance Abstract: Abstract This paper examines the ways in which district nurses and general practitioners interacted and influenced each other's work within primary care services. The data presented here examine how the developments in the organisation of primary care affected the work of district nurses during a time of turbulent change. Qualitative data from 300 hours of participant observation and 40 semi-structured interviews with 33 district nurses were analysed using grounded theory, after which a literature review was undertaken. The findings from this study were interpreted using a Foucauldian notion of power and Fox's (1995) analysis of 'organisation'. The shift in power to general practitioners (GPs) has meant that they can exercise ever-increasing authority over nurses in their employ. Strict rules governed the process of inter-professional work and nurses and doctors used creative strategies to overcome the problems that existed between them. The data show that nurses could and did resist the power of GPs but this resistance generally elicited other more punishing forms of authority. Direct and indirect threats were commonplace. The data suggest that district nurses were moving into a closer, more business-like and tightly-controlled working relationship with general practitioners, through which competing discourses interplayed and circulated between GPs and district nurses in the organisation of primary care services. Author Affiliation: Article note: Address for correspondence: Shaun Speed, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, University of Manchester, Coupland III, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, e-mail: shaun.speed@manchester.ac.uk

Excess weight at breast cancer diagnosis and weight gain during treatment are linked to increased breast cancer specific and all-cause mortality. The Breast—Activity and Healthy Eating After Diagnosis (B-AHEAD) trial tested 2 weight loss diet and exercise programmes versus a control receiving standard written advice during adjuvant treatment. This article identifies differences in characteristics between patients recruited from the main trial site to those of the whole population from that site during the recruitment period and identifies barriers to recruitment. A total of 409 patients with operable breast cancer were recruited within 12 weeks of surgery. We compared demographic and treatment factors between women recruited from the main trial coordinating site (n = 300) to the whole breast cancer population in the center (n = 532). Uptake at the coordinating site was 42%, comparable to treatment trials in the unit (47%). Women recruited were younger (55.9 vs 61.2 years, P < .001), more likely to live in least deprived postcode areas (41.7% vs 31.6%, P = .004), and more likely to have screen-detected cancers (55.3% vs 48.7%, P = .026) than the whole breast cancer population. The good uptake highlights the interest in lifestyle change around the time of diagnosis, a challenging time in the patient pathway, and shows that recruitment at this time is feasible. Barriers to uptake among older women and women with a lower socioeconomic status should be understood and overcome in order to improve recruitment to future lifestyle intervention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper represents a case study analysis of a Primary Health Care / GP-led Community Drug and Health Care Service based on Wirral, Merseyside. A chronological description of the service is presented followed by a description of the major components of the case. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 11 staff members and were recorded and transcribed. Salient descriptive elements of the services they provide were extracted and descriptions of the treatment approaches have been included in the text of this analysis. Vignettes of real cases are also included to highlight the criteria used to measure effectiveness. This case study details biographical and service-specific data from a major provider of services to illicit drug users in the North-West of England. The study systematically examines five main areas of work: making contact, assessing and treating health care problems, maintaining contact and promoting change, caring for vulnerable groups of users and reintegrating users into primary care. The findings of this case study describe how a GP (Primary Care) led unit, working in conjunction with other specialized services, provides effective care to a group of heterogeneous illicit drug users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the study "Where East Fails to Meet West: The Consequences for Chinese Elders in the North West of England Who Seek Help for Cardio-Vascular Disease" by Zhenmi Liu and Shaun Speed is presented.

Objectives: The Chinese ethnic population are among the UK's largest visible minority but there is limited evidence about this population, their views about their interactions with General Practitioners (GPs) and how this impacts on their health. This study aimed to explore Chinese Elders' experiences of and attitudes towards the provision of health services in primary care., Design: The method of investigation was a Grounded Theory study using open-ended in-depth interviews. Purposive and theoretical sampling was used to recruit thirty-three Chinese Elders from Chinese communities in the North West of England. Face-to-face interviews were conducted and audio-recorded; transcripts were translated, back translated, analysed and coded by all members of the research team to identify concepts following the Grounded Theory approach. Themes were generated from the data and were used to guide the study into the theoretical sampling phase of the investigation., Results: Chinese Elders were inclined to present to GPs only when health concerns were perceived as serious. This was defined as being beyond their ability to self-manage. Elders tended to adopt self-management strategies rather than follow professional advice. This was mainly due to communication difficulties, poor understanding of the advice doctors gave, and the way that Chinese patients interpreted and used the advice they were given. Chinese Elders reported that the purpose of contacting doctors was to obtain medicines. They presumed that once medication had been prescribed their symptoms would be cured, and then they believed that they could self-manage their health, usually without further GP or other medical follow up., Conclusion: These data suggest that significant misunderstandings between Chinese Elders and GPs exist. The findings highlight the dissatisfaction expressed by Elders regarding their interactions with UK health professionals. Chinese Elders' perceptions are influenced by the way Chinese people think about health and illness, and also by their GPs' assumptions. These findings are of value to UK GPs and family doctors worldwide who are concerned with improving the quality of health services provided to an increasingly ageing migrant Chinese population.