La importancia de la longitudinalidad,integralidad, coordinación y continuidad de los cuidados domiciliarios efectuados por enfermería

Home care is essential for dependent persons, in order to support the high levels of morbidity, for the elderly as well as their caregivers, as it enables patients to remain in their familiar environment as long as possible, fulfilling the wish expressed by most of the population. Home care is the activity that best represents the essential attributes (longitudinality, comprehensiveness, continuity, coordination) of the primary, and that suffers most when these attributes are not included in the activities undertaken by primary care teams, or due to cuts in health-care.Home care requires highly skilled, versatile and committed nursing staff, with whom the population identifies as a source of care, and where they are assessed for their relevance and effectiveness. Nurses with wide clinical care skills, with a balanced content of treatment and prevention, and the freedom to develop their work, are needed in order to continuously monitor the health problems of their acute and chronic patients, in the family and community.     

Professional identity and nursing: contemporary theoretical developments and future research challenges

JOHNSON M., COWIN L.S., WILSON I. & YOUNG H. (2012) Professional identity and nursing: contemporary theoretical developments and future research challenges. International Nursing Review Aim: We propose that the conceptual orientation of professional identity is a logical consequence of self‐concept development by focusing on career and its meaning and presents a measurable set of concepts that can be manipulated to improve retention of student and registered nurses within health service. Background: Although professional identity is a term that is commonly written of in nursing literature, its theoretical origins remain unclear, and available empirical evidence of its presence or ability to change is omitted from nursing research. Sources of evidence: We present a professional identity pathway and explore the factors that influence professional identity throughout a career in nursing. Discussion: Nurses' professional identities develop throughout their lifetimes, from before entering nursing education, throughout their years of study and clinical experience, and continue to evolve during their careers. Education is, however, a key period as it is during this time students gain the knowledge and skills that separate nurses as professional healthcare workers from lay people. Conclusion: Finally, a call for longitudinal studies of students to graduates, using conceptually derived and psychometrically proven instruments capable of detecting the subtle changes in the construct over time, is recommended. Further empirical research into the theoretical concepts that underline professional identity, and the factors that influence changes in this important construct in nursing, is required. Ultimately, the practical relevance of such research will lie in the potential it provides for enhanced nursing career support and improved workforce policies.     

The Seventh Door

An oncologist reflects on the personal toll physicians experience while taking care of the very sick and the journey they must take, facing real and perceived failures when patients suffer poor outcomes, to find the renewed energy to go on with their chosen mission.     

职业卫生技术服务机构专业人员职称评定工作的思考

针对职业卫生技术服务机构专业人员职称评定工作不清晰、政策不确定的问题,在现有专业技术职称评审相关规定指引下,梳理并提出了职业卫生技术服务机构专业人员职称晋升的两种通道,便于专业人员准确合理地进行职业规划。     

Psychiatric patients: Views on psychiatrists’ dress and address

Dress styles and forms of address vary among psychiatrists according to personal preferences. Gledhill et al. (Br J Psychiatry 1997;171;228–32) asked the patients in a London psychiatric hospital about their views on their psychiatrists’ dress and address. To survey the preferences of our patients and reproduce the study of Gledhill et al., we interviewed Norwegian psychiatric inpatients and outpatients to identify preferences for dress styles and terms of address. Our patients preferred fairly smart attire. Most patients wanted to be called by their first name; about half wanted to address their doctors by their first name and half by surname. Results were somewhat different from the London survey, but the conclusion is similar: paying more attention to the way psychiatrists interact and present themselves may facilitate the therapeutic alliance with their patients.     

Best practice in clinical facilitation of undergraduate nursing students

Clinical facilitation is critical to successful student clinical experience. The research reported in this paper used an interpretive case study to explore perspectives of clinical facilitators on what constitutes best practice in clinical facilitation of undergraduate nursing students.Eleven clinical facilitators from South East Queensland, Australia, participated in focus groups, interviews and a concept mapping exercise to gather their perspectives on best practice. The data gathered information regarding their prior and current experiences as registered nurses and facilitators, considering reasons they became clinical facilitators, their educational background and self-perceived adequacy of their knowledge for clinical facilitation. Analysis was through constant comparison.Findings of the study provided in-depth insight into the role of clinical facilitators, with best practice conceptualised via three main themes; ‘assessing’, ‘learning to facilitate’ and ‘facilitating effectively’. While they felt there was some autonomy in the role, the clinical facilitators sought a closer liaison with academic staff and feedback about their performance, in particular their assessment of the students. Key strategies identified for improving best practice included educational support for the clinical facilitators, networking, and mentoring from more experienced clinical facilitators. When implemented, these strategies will help develop the clinical facilitators' skills and ensure quality clinical experiences for undergraduate nursing students.     

Simulated learning activities as part replacement of clinical placements in osteopathy: A case study

Simulation has played an important role in health professional education for over 50 years but is relatively new to osteopathy. Simulation provides an opportunity to control some of the variables in clinical education such as adequate patient numbers and case mix exposure and provide a meaningful contribution to the students' clinical education. Simulation learning (SL) is a process where the learner practices a procedure or routine in a simulated learning environment. SL has recently been investigated as a valid part replacement of traditional clinical placements in physiotherapy. This case study endeavours to provide osteopathy educators with a framework to develop, implement and evaluate simulated learning in osteopathic education.This case study outlines simulated learning activities that part replaced clinical placements in osteopathy education and provides an overview of costs and resources required. Student feedback obtained throughout the project suggests structured simulated learning activities may build critical practice skills and be used as an acceptable clinical learning tool.