A comparative study of the spiritual perspectives and interventions of mental health and parish nurses

Spirituality is an integral part of holistic nursing practice. Limited research has been done that explores nurses' spirituality and the spiritual interventions they have made with patients in their practice. Much of the extant research has been done on nurses involved in terminal care such as oncology and hospice nursing. This study explores spiritual perspectives and spiritual nursing interventions in two other nursing specialties that require holistic nursing care as well: mental health and parish nurses. The findings indicate that both groups report high spiritual perspective scores and provide a variety of interventions to patients in their practices.     

A guideline for incorporating holistic nursing interventions into perianesthesia practice.

As alternative or holistic interventions become more popular, perianesthesia nurses will be exposed to more opportunities for providing some of these interventions in their daily practice. This article shares the experience of 1 perianesthesia nurse in developing a holistic interventions program and changing practice to meet patient needs.     

Neurobiological bases for Alzheimer's disease.

The ever-increasing number of persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) will create a greater demand for neuroscience nurses in the 21st century. There are approximately 4 million Americans with AD, and this number is expected to increase to approximately 15 million by the year 2050. As neuroscience nurses encounter more patients with AD in their daily practice, a better understanding of this neurodegenerative disease is important in order to provide high-quality nursing care. An insight into the neurologic bases for cognitive and behavioral manifestations of AD enables nurses to implement effective nursing interventions.     

Nursing staff perspectives on oral care for neuroscience patients.

Neuroscience patients frequently experience poor oral health and related complications because of motor and cognitive dysfunction and the side effects of treatments. Inadequate oral care increases plaque deposits, which can lead to inflammation, pain, and infection. These patients often depend on nurses for oral hygiene. In practice, nurses frequently delegate the delivery of oral care to unlicensed personnel, including nursing assistants, technicians, and student nurses. Few studies have addressed oral care interventions for neuroscience patients. This article identifies oral care interventions practiced by nurses and unlicensed personnel caring for neuroscience patients with self-care deficits. An investigator-designed survey instrument was used to obtain data from nurses and unlicensed personnel working with neuroscience patients in a large hospital. Participants responded to questions about products and agents used in care, frequency of care, documentation of care, patient risk factors, and system support issues such as availability of supplies. Data were analyzed using frequency distributions. Findings demonstrated that selection of products and agents used for oral care is not always evidence based, that provider preference leads to variations in type and frequency of care, and that system issues affect care. These findings suggest the need for increased attention to oral care for neuroscience patients. Research is needed to further examine the relationship between oral care interventions and patient outcomes.     

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVES AND INTERVENTIONS OF MENTAL HEALTH AND PARISH NURSES

Spirituality is an integral part of holistic nursing practice. Limited research has been done that explores nurses' spirituality and the spiritual interventions they have made with patients in their practice. Much of the extant research has been done on nurses involved in terminal care such as oncology and hospice nursing. This study explores spiritual perspectives and spiritual nursing interventions in two other nursing specialties that require holistic nursing care as well: mental health and parish nurses. The findings indicate that both groups report high spiritual perspective scores and provide a variety of interventions to patients in their practices.     

刍议老年病房整体护理质量滑坡原因及分析

老年内科综合病房开展整体护理近五年,对照平时质量考评结果和病员满意度调查,深感整体护理质量提高缓慢,理论水平停滞于初级阶段。分析其原因,大致有以下几个方面:护士缺编,直接影响整体护理深入开展;理论基础薄弱,内涵质量提高缓慢;疏于指导,重于检查,护士积极性消减。建议采取以下措施:充实护理人员编制,为开展整体护理创造条件;进行岗前培训,建立考核上岗制;提高护理人员综合素质;提高检查者自身学术和实践水平,便于临床干预和规范;定期举办文件书写学习班,提高整体理论水平。     

Parish nursing: holistic nursing care in faith communities

Modern-day parish nursing is a specialized practice in professional nursing that addresses the spiritual, physical, and emotional health needs of clients within a faith community. Parish nursing care has been described as holistic care; however, few studies have focused on the holistic nature of parish nursing care. A qualitative study was conducted with the clients of parish nurses. Seventeen clients utilizing the services of 3 parish nurses in Christian faith communities participated in the study. Following the institutional review board approval, the clients were recruited with the assistance of the parish nurses. The clients completed a 7-item demographic questionnaire, followed by a face-to-face interview with the author who used a semistructured interview tool. The interview questions encompassed 6 aspects of parish nursing: education, personal counseling, health screenings, spiritual support, referrals, and health advocacy. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed by the author. The results of the study indicated that the clients in all 3 churches received holistic care from their parish nurses. The care they received addressed their spiritual, physical, and emotional health needs. Recommendations for future research and implications for the clinical practice of parish nursing, using a holistic approach, are included. The findings of future research and the holistic interventions of parish nurses could influence the funding and positions for parish nurses in the future.     

Effective nursing interventions for the management of Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes severe deterioration of functional and cognitive abilities. As the leading cause of dementia in adults, it affects one in every 10 people who are more than 65 years of age. There is a vital need for neuroscience nurses with knowledge of AD to provide high-quality care for the growing number of patients. The use of effective nursing interventions for the management of AD can help nurses promote independence and quality of life for AD patients. Nursing care must include interventions that focus on maintaining AD patients' functional and cognitive abilities as well as on preventing further disability and decline. Nurses can implement these measures in acute, long-term, and home healthcare settings.     

责任制整体护理模式下护士对药理知识的需求与干预措施

目的 了解责任制整体护理模式下护士对药理知识的掌握及需求情况,采取有效的干预方法,以适应责任制整体护理的需要.方法 采用问卷调查的方法对113名病房护士(其中责任制整体护理病房护士55名,功能制护理病房护士58名)进行药理知识的需求情况调查、比较,针对需求实施相应的干预措施,5个月后对干预效果进行评估,并与干预前进行比...     

Exploring nurses' perceived benefits of utilizing holistic modalities for self and clients

The purpose of this study was to describe the experience that holistic nurses have in incorporating complementary and alternative modalities in the care of their clients, as well as gain a deeper understanding of holistic nurses and the perceived benefit of utilizing a holistic modality with their clients and themselves concurrently as providers of these modalities. Purposeful samplings of holistic nurses' who include modalities in their healing process were the participants in this exploratory research, which entailed data collection through the use of critical incident reports and open-ended interviews.     

An Experiment with Personal-Space Invasion in the Nurse-Patient Relationship and its Effect on Anxiety

Historically, nursing has differentiated its Junctions from those of medicine by talcing the position that nursing's primary function is to care for clients while physicians focus on curing them. One might speculate therefore, that nurses should be more effective than other members of the team in caring for the chronically mentally ill especially in terms of the needs of these specific clients. Supportive or care interventions vis-à-vis change or cure interventions are essential. This is not to say that change and cure are impossible. Effective care and support interventions can and do lead to change. This paper supports the position that psychiatric nurses have greater potential for contacting and helping the chronically mentally ill client than other mental health professionals and challenges them to assume the responsibility. The philosophic (holistic) and conceptual (eclectic) bases of nursing preparation are explored. The profile of the client, their needs, and strategies of nursing care are discussed. Nursing competencies are compared to the needs of the client to demonstrate their congruence. Nurses should use the power of their practice to empower chronically mentally ill clients to participate in their recovery.     

Holistic self care: strategies for initiating a personal assessment.

To be fully present for clients, occupational health nurses must assume responsibility for meeting their own self care needs. To promote holistic health care, occupational health nurses must assess personal values, priorities, and responsibilities. This can be accomplished by completing a personal assessment focusing on current use of holistic modalities. To implement a plan for holistic self care, nurses can write goals, set intentions, be open to holistic modalities, begin with small changes, recognize feelings, pay attention to breathing and self talk, simplify their lives, build support systems, and apply self care at work.     

Validation of defining characteristics: retrospective design

The American Association of Neuroscience Nurses (AANN) has accepted the concept of nursing diagnosis as one component of a general nursing framework which is designed to direct and evaluate the care of individuals with neuroscience dysfunction. Continuing development of nursing diagnosis as a conceptual basis for neuroscience practice is dependent upon several factors, one of which is research-based identification and validation of defining characteristics associated with nursing diagnoses commonly used in the care of patients with neurologic dysfunction. Defining characteristics are observable signs and symptoms present in the person with the problem. Identification and validation of defining characteristics are essential to the continued development and use of nursing diagnosis in nursing practice. Without clear, specific defining characteristics, neuroscience nurses are unable to effectively assess patients for the signs and symptoms necessary to formulate nursing diagnoses, monitor patient status or evaluate nursing interventions. One way to validate defining characteristics is the use of retrospective design.     

Complementary, integrative, and holistic care in emergency nursing

Nearly half of all patients who present to the Emergency Department (ED) daily are using some form of complementary, alternative, or integrative medicine (CAIM). Emergency nurses will increasingly encounter clients who use CAIM or want holistic care. The integration of CAIM and holistic nursing principles into current emergency nursing practice can reenergize nursing and give ED nurses additional care methods to use with their clients. CAIM and holistic care can also provide ED clients with the kind of health care that they are currently seeking outside of the mainstream medical world.     

Enhancing the nursing role: why nurses want to cannulate

This small qualitative study explored nurses' reasons for undertaking a traditional medical task, that of peripheral intravenous cannulation, and their perceptions as to how this task contributes to their nursing skills. The findings suggest that it benefits the continuity and quality of patient care and provides nurses with personal and professional satisfaction, promoting the delivery of holistic care and the opportunity to initiate autonomous clinical interventions. It is argued that the development of such nursing skills may require professional and organizational support in the form of practice guidelines, protocols and vicarious liability boundaries to enable nurses to practise effectively and efficiently.     

A concept analysis of holistic nursing care in paediatric nursing

Holistic nursing care is widely advocated and is espoused in the philosophy of the South African Nursing Council. This concept is unclear, variously interpreted and poorly understood in paediatric nursing. This study was undertaken to examine the meaning of holistic nursing care and to develop a framework for holistic nursing care, which can be utilised in nurse education settings and in clinical nursing practice in the context of paediatric nursing. A qualitative, interpretive, explorative and contextual research design was used. An evolutionary concept analysis was undertaken to clarify the concept "holistic nursing care" in paediatric nursing in three Johannesburg hospitals. Rodgers' (1989, 2000) evolutionary method was utilised to analyse the concept. The study objectives were formulated in two phases to: --Conduct an analysis of the concept "holistic nursing care" --Obtain an emic viewpoint of holistic nursing care from paediatric nurses working in the academic hospitals. --Identify the characteristics and dimensions of "holistic nursing care" and develop a framework of holistic nursing care for paediatric nurses working in the academic hospitals. Attributes of holistic nursing care yielded two dimensions; whole person and mind-body-Spirit dimension. The decriptors of whole-person include physical, mental, emotional, spirit and spitual being. Spirituality is the predominant antecedent. Holistic nursing care is initiated by the recognition of the individual as a spiritual being with a mind-body-spirit dimension. Spirituality is an ever-present force pervading all human experience. Complimentary alternative medicine (CAM) was identified as a surrogate term. The connection of CAM with holistic nursing care is the focus of therapeutic interventions that are directed to the mind-body-spirit dimension. Therapeutic interventions are designed to meet the needs of the whole-person. Caution is advocated in the use of CAM therapies in child nursing, as CAM efficacy has not been sufficiently investigated in child health care.     

Promoting behavior change: making healthy choices in wellness and healing choices in illness - use of self-determination theory in nursing practice

This article explores more efficacious strategies for holistic nurses to promote healthy behavior choices in their clients. It presents an overview of self-determination theory (SDT) and describes research evidence that supports the application of SDT to promoting healthy behavior change in clients. When nurses act in ways that support clients' innate needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, clients may be more successful at internalizing self-regulation and more inclined to adopt and maintain lifelong behavioral changes. Some examples of nursing interventions to motivate behavior change are outlined in this article.     

Alternative and complementary therapies for labor and birth: an application of Kolcaba's theory of holistic comfort

Although nursing has always used nonpharmacologic interventions for the relief of the discomforts of childbirth, alternative and complementary therapies are becoming more acceptable. Alternative and complementary therapies are based on a balance of body, mind, and spirit. Kolcaba's theory of holistic comfort is proposed as a framework for guiding nurses to use alternative and complementary therapies in the comfort care of laboring women.