Stitching the fabric back together: child fostering attitudes in the transition to a chronic HIV epidemic

There are an estimated 56 million orphans and vulnerable children across sub-Saharan Africa. Communities typically care for orphan children through informal caring arrangements – either within or outside of kinship networks. Within Kenya, an estimated 250,000 children live on the streets. There is less research related to fostering attitudes of this special population than orphans and vulnerable children generally. Important research over the past decade has illuminated multiple ways in which children are made more vulnerable because of HIV, including parental death and street-migration from HIV-affected households. As HIV transitions from a terminal illness to a chronic, manageable one, research is also required to establish how parents living with HIV can be an asset to children. In this study, we assess whether mothers living with HIV were very willing to foster biologically-related children, and street-involved children, how these fostering attitudes differed from mothers not living with HIV, and whether differences in fostering attitudes by reported HIV status were mediated by social support, family functioning and general self-rated health. Approximately 40% of mothers living with HIV were very willing to provide long-term foster care to biologically-related or street-involved children. This was less than the percentage of mothers not living with HIV, who were very willing to foster biologically-related children (61%) or street-involved children (58%). Significant portions of these differences were explained by social support, family functioning and general self-rated health. Multi-sectoral approaches are suggested by these findings in order to improve the child-fostering capacity of mothers living with HIV. Improving social support, family functioning and general self-rated health among HIV-infected mothers may not only provide protective benefits for the mothers and their children, but also expand the community’s capacity to care for orphan and vulnerable children.     

Fathers of children with autism spectrum disorder: Their perceptions of paternal role a predictor of caregiving satisfaction,self-efficacy and burden

BackgroundThe positive effect of a father’s involvement in children’s upbringing is now recognised. However, research on fathers raising children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are still few. This study examines the relationship between the perception, fathers of children with ASD have of the importance of their role in the development of their children and the feelings (self-efficacy, caregiving burden, satisfaction) they express about their parenting experience.MethodSixty-three Swiss Italian fathers of children with ASD completed The Role of the Father Questionnaire (ROFQ), three sub-scales of the Caregiver Survey, a subtest of the Child Adjustment and Parent Efficacy Scale and a home-made questionnaire measuring Perceived Social Support.ResultsThe results from hierarchical multiple regression analyses show that the importance that fathers attach to the paternal role predicts positively their caregiving satisfaction and their feeling of self-efficacy. The children’s challenging behaviours predict positively the caregiving burden whereas the assessment of social support predicts it negatively.ConclusionsThe perception of the importance of the paternal role needs to be considered in the support offered to families with a child with ASD. A better understanding of the fathers’ feelings could be of value for the programmes.     

Percepciones de las enfermeras sobre el apoyo de los compañeros de trabajo en el lugar de trabajo: investigación cualitativa

ObjectiveAlthough the psychological factors of the work environment affect the quality of employees’ performance more than physical factors, they have not been broadly explained yet. This study is conducted to explore nurses’ perceptions of the co-worker support as psychological resource in the workplace.MethodThe present study is a qualitative research. Fourteen staff nurses who were working in hospitals affiliated to the Khoy University of Medical Sciences, Iran were selected based on purposeful sampling and interviewed using un-structured in-depth interviews. All interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using conventional content analysis approach through constant comparative method.ResultsData analysis revealed four major themes with 11 sub themes. The four major themes include ‘emotional support’, ‘effective working relationship and collaboration’, ‘suitable social relationships’, and ‘guidance and teaching’.ConclusionThe results showed that, nurses had a positive perception of their colleagues’ support in the workplace. Co-worker support is a multidimensional phenomenon and is influenced by various factors. Perceiving support from the colleague and having a sense of support can promote the quality of care and increase dealing with stressful situations in nursing. Therefore, communication and flexibility skills should be taught to both staff and managers in this regard.     

“1+5”式支持教育联合体表感官刺激在住院精神分裂症患者中的应用

目的"1+5"式支持教育即1名辅导员负责5例患者,本研究探讨其联合体表感官刺激在住院精神分裂症患者中的应用效果。方法选择医院2019年1月—2020年3月住院精神分裂症患者80例为研究对象,按照组间年龄、病程、婚姻状况、住院时间、干预前简明精神病评定量表(BPRS)具有可比性的原则分为对照组和观察组,每组40例。对照组采取常规护理,观察组在对照组基础上加以"1+5"式支持教育联合体表感官刺激,比较两组患者的精神症状及社会功能状况。结果观察组患者精神症状严重程度低于对照组,社会功能评定量表(SSPI)各因子评分均高于对照组,差异比较有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论"1+5"式支持教育联合体表感官刺激在住院精神分裂症患者中的应用,能改善其精神症状及社会功能,促进疾病康复。     

我国部分三级综合医院护理质量管理组织架构调查与分析

目的调查我国三级综合医院护理质量管理组织架构。方法对全国85所医院相关护理人员进行问卷调查,并采用半结构式访谈法对其中11所医院护理质量管理专家进行访谈。结果90.6%的医院护理质量管理采用三级管理;85所医院均设有护理质量管理委员会,其中9.4%的委员会中缺少护士长参与,54.1%的护理质量管理委员会由护理队伍独立组成;访谈资料归纳出3个主题为;护理质量管理组织架构和运行方式较成熟,但仍需改进;希望多部门共同参与护理质量管理以及对目前护理质量管理组织架构的建议。结论建议优化护理质量管理三级模式和运行方式,建立多部门合作机制.鼓励护士长参与质量控制,并根据医院自身实际调整护理质量管理架构,以促进护理质量持续改进。