Investigating factors associate to nurses' attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care

Aim. The purpose of this study was to explore nurses’ attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care and to identify factors associate with such attitudes. Background. Caring for and supporting parents whose infant has died is extremely demanding, difficult and stressful. It is likely that the attitude of nursing staff can influence recovery from a pregnancy loss and nurses with positive attitude to bereavement care can help bereaved parents to cope during their grieving period. Method. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire; 334 nurses were recruited (63% response rate) from the Obstetrics and Gynaecology unit in five hospitals in Hong Kong during May–August 2006. Outcome measures including attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care, importance on hospital policy and training support for bereavement care. Results. Majority of nurses in this study held a positive attitude towards bereavement care. Results showed that only 39·3% (n = 130) of nurses had bereavement related training. By contrast, about 89·8% of nurses (n = 300) showed they need to be equipped with relevant knowledge, skills and understanding in the care and support of bereaved parents and more than 88·0% (n = 296) would share experiences with colleagues and seek support when feeling under stress. Regression model showed that age, past experience in handling grieving parents and nurses’ perceived attitudes to hospital policy and training provided for bereavement cares were factors associate with nurses’ attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care. Conclusions. Hong Kong nurses emphasized their need for increased knowledge and experience, improved communication skills and greater support from team members and the hospital for perinatal bereavement care. Relevance to clinical practice. These findings may be used for health policy makers and nursing educators to ensure delivery of sensitive bereavement care in perinatal settings and to enhance nursing school curricula respectively.     

Nurses’ attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care

Title. Nurses’ attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care. Aim. This paper is a report of a study conducted to explore the factors associated with nurses and midwives’ attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care. Background. Caring for and supporting parents whose infant has died is extremely demanding, difficult and stressful. In some situations nurses may experience personal failure, feel helpless, and need to distance themselves from bereaved parents because they feel unable to deal with the enormity of the parental feelings of loss. Method. A correlational questionnaire study using convenience sampling was carried out in Singapore in 2007 with 185 nurses/midwives in one obstetrics and gynaecology unit. Results. Regression models showed that nurses/midwives with religious beliefs and those with more positive attitudes to the importance of hospital policy and training for bereavement care were statistically significantly more likely to have a positive attitude towards perinatal bereavement care. Nurses emphasized their need for increased knowledge and training on how to cope with bereaved parents and requested greater support from team members and the hospital. Conclusion. Bereavement counselling education and preceptorship supervision are recommended to reduce this stressful experience, increase the confidence and expertise of novices, and lead to increased quality of care for bereaved parents.     

Retracted: Investigating factors associated with nurses’ attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care: a study in Shandong and Hong Kong

Aims. To explore nurses’ attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care and to identify factors associated with these attitudes. Background. It is likely that the attitude of nursing staff can influence recovery from a pregnancy loss and that nurses with positive attitudes to bereavement care can help bereaved parents to cope during their grieving period. Design. Survey. Method. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire; 657 nurses were recruited from Obstetrics and Gynaecology units in Hong Kong and Shandong during 2006. Outcome measures included attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care, importance of hospital policy and training support for bereavement care. Results. The majority of nurses in this study had a positive attitude to bereavement care. Results show that only 21·6% (n = 141) of the nurses surveyed had bereavement‐related training. In contrast, about 89·8% (n = 300) believed they needed to be equipped with relevant knowledge, skills and understanding in the care and support of bereaved parents and more than 88·5% (n = 592) would share their experiences with their colleagues and seek support when feeling under stress. A regression model showed that age, past experience in handling grieving parents, recent ranking and nurses’ perceived attitudes to hospital policy and training provided for bereavement care were the factors associated with nurses’ attitudes to perinatal bereavement care. Conclusions. Nurses in both cities emphasised their need for increased knowledge and experience, improved communication skills and greater support from team members and the hospital for perinatal bereavement care. Relevance to clinical practice. These findings may be used by nursing educators to educate their students on issues related to delivery of sensitive bereavement care in perinatal settings and to enhance nursing school curricula.     

Chinese husbands' presence during labour: a preliminary study in Hong Kong

This study compares the childbirth outcomes of women whose husbands were present during labour with those whose husbands were absent. A retrospective comparative design was used. Sixty-three Hong Kong Chinese primigravid mothers recruited from childbirth education classes were allocated to one of two groups: those whose husband attended labour (n = 45) and those whose husband was not in attendance (n = 18). Details of demographic characteristics, maternal history and antenatal attendance were obtained along with obstetric measures of maternal anxiety, pain perception, dosage of analgesia used, and length of labour. The results indicated that women whose husbands were present during labour used significantly higher dosage of analgesia than those whose husbands were absent. No significant differences were found between groups in other outcome measures. The researcher concluded that nurse-midwives in Hong Kong need to find ways to help husbands provide the type of support that may help their partners during labour.     

Beliefs and attitudes towards complementary medicine among registered nurses in Hong Kong

Background

The personal use of and professional recommendation for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been found to be related to nurses’ knowledge and type of training background. Little, however, is known about CAM usage among nurses from Hong Kong who while of Chinese origin, are educated in western medical principles while exhibiting both folk knowledge and lay use of CAM in their daily lives.

Objective

The purpose of this study was to investigate the beliefs and attitudes towards CAM in a population of Hong Kong registered nurses. A particular focus was the sources of CAM information and the nurse's professional communication exchanges about CAM usage.

Design

Cross-sectional survey.

Setting and participants

The survey was conducted from March to June 2006 with registered nurses (N = 187) drawn form the Hong Kong College of Nursing.

Results

Nearly three quarters (71.9%) of the nurses agreed that CAM should be integrated into mainstream Western medicine. The majority (89.8%) of participants did not agree that CAM should not be taken when using Western medicine. The most common sources for the nurses surveyed to obtain CAM information were, in order of frequency, newspapers and magazines (64.2%), friends (57.2%) and books (43.9%). Approximately one in three (28.0-35.3%) participants had either sometimes or frequently initiated a discussion about CAM or a discussion about the interaction between CAM and Western medicine with nursing colleague. Consistently, nurses who had previously received training on CAM (48.9%) were also more likely to initiate CAM discussions than those who had not received such training (30.7%, p < 0.05).

Conclusion

More knowledge of CAM was in general, welcomed among nurses, with 93.6% of the nurses surveyed reporting an interest in further learning. A major recommendation is that HK registered nurses receive professional CAM training as a means to enhance patient care.     

Retraction statement: Investigating factors associated with nurses' attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care: a study in Shandong and Hong Kong

The above article from Journal of Clinical Nursing, ‘Investigating factors associated with nurses’ attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care: a study in Shandong and Hong Kong' by Chan, M. F., Lou, F.‐l., Cao, F.‐l., Li, P., Liu, L. and Wu, L. H. published online on 6 July 2009 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ) and in Volume 18, pp. 2344–2354, has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editor in Chief and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed following an investigation carried out by the National University of Singapore due to major overlap with a previously published article: Chan MF, Lou F‐l, Arthur DG, Cao F‐l, Wu LH, Li P, Sagara‐Rosemeyer M, Chung LYF & Lui L (2008) Investigating factors associate to nurses' attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care. Journal of Clinical Nursing 17: 509–518. doi:  10.1111/j.1365‐2702.2007.02007.x . Reference Chan MF, Lou F‐l, Cao F‐l, Li P, Liu L & Wu LH (2009) Investigating factors associated with nurses' attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care: a study in Shandong and Hong Kong. Journal of Clinical Nursing 18, 2344–2354. doi: 10.1111/j.1365‐2702.2008.02689.x .     

A pilot study on nurses' attitudes toward perinatal bereavement support: a cluster analysis

AIM: Nurses' attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care are explored by identifying profiles of nurses working in a Hong Kong Obstetrics and Gynaecology (OAG) unit. Relationships between nurses' attitudes towards bereavement support, need for bereavement training and hospital policy are explored. RESEARCH METHOD: 110 nurses recruited from the OAG unit of a large Hong Kong public hospital completed a structured questionnaire. OUTCOME MEASURES: Attitudes towards perinatal bereavement support; required support and training needs for nurses on bereavement care. RESULTS: Two-step cluster analysis yielded two clusters. Cluster A consisted of 55.5% (n = 49) and cluster B consisted of 44.5% (n = 61) of nurses. Cluster A nurses were younger, had less OAG experience, more junior ranking and less education than cluster B nurses. Cluster B nurses had additional midwifery and bereavement care training, personal grieving experiences and experience handling grieving clients. The majority held positive bereavement care attitudes. Significant differences towards perinatal bereavement support were found. Only 25.5% (n = 28) had bereavement related training. Attitudes towards bereavement care were positively correlated with training needs (rs = 0.59) and hospital policy support (rs = 0.60). CONCLUSION: Hong Kong nurses emphasized need for increased bereavement care knowledge and experience, improved communication skills, and greater hospital and team members' support. Findings may be used to improve support of nurses, to ensure sensitive bereavement care in perinatal settings, and to enhance nursing curricula.     

EMS systems in Hong Kong

Emergency medical services (EMS) in Hong Kong, now a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, have a distinguished history spanning more than 50 years. This paper outlines the history and the development of the Hong Kong EMS, with a particular focus on the ambulance service, the design of the system and the training of its staff.     

Stuttering attitudes in Hong Kong and adjacent Mainland China

Abstract

The present study aims at studying the public attitudes towards stuttering in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Translated Chinese versions of the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes–Stuttering (POSHA–S) were distributed to convenience samples in Hong Kong and Mainland China, with a total number of 175 completed questionnaires returned in each sampling region (n 5 350). Mean ratings of respondents from Hong Kong and Mainland China were similar in most comparisons; yet, a few differences were noted. Larger but idiosyncratic differences characterized the Chinese respondents compared to more than 4000 respondents from numerous countries and languages around the world in the POSHA–S database archive. Overall, they documented aspects of stereotypes and potential stigma with respect to people who stutter. While premature to provide unambiguous conclusions, results suggest that Chinese respondents have unique stuttering attitudes.     

Caring for dying infants: experiences of neonatal intensive care nurses in Hong Kong

Ten registered nurses working in a neonatal intensive care unit in Hong Kong were interviewed to explore their experiences of caring for infants whose disease is not responsive to curative treatment, their perceptions of palliative care, and factors influencing their care. Eight categories emerged from the content analysis of the interviews: disbelieving; feeling ambivalent and helpless; protecting emotional self; providing optimal physical care to the infant; providing emotional support to the family; expressing empathy; lack of knowledge and counselling skills; and conflicting values in care. The subtle cultural upbringing and socialization in nurse training and workplace environment also contributed to their moral distress. Hospital and nurse administrators should consider different ways of facilitating palliative care in their acute care settings. For example, by culture-specific death education, peer support groups, bereavement teams, modification of departmental policies, and a supportive work environment. Future research could include the identification of family needs and coping as well as ethical decision-making among nurses.     

Postpartum depression and related psychosocial variables in Hong Kong Chinese women: findings from a prospective study

Research on predictors of postpartum depression (PPD) in Hong Kong (HK) Chinese women is scant. A prospective study with 385 HK Chinese postpartum women was conducted to identify correlations between PPD and demographic variables, and antenatal depression and psychosocial variables, and to determine which of these variables were predictors of PPD. Using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), we classified 19.8% of participants as postnatally depressed. Fifty-six percent of the variance in PPD was explained by social support and stress factors. However, social support factors accounted for only a small percentage of that variance. The major predictors were antenatal depression, postnatal perceived stress, and childcare stress. HK women may benefit from a culturally appropriate intervention focused on reducing stress in the postpartum period.     

Attitudes towards mental illness: testing the contact hypothesis among Chinese student nurses in Hong Kong

This study investigated whether previous contact with mental illness affected the attitudes to mental illness (AMI) of general student nurses in Hong Kong — the contact hypothesis. We employed a quasi-experimental design. We compared the attitudes to mental illness of students who had previous contact with mental illness through having taken a psychiatric secondment with those who had not taken a psychiatric secondment. Also, we compared the AMI of: students who had taken other courses related to mental illness with those who had not; those who had a family history of mental illness with those who had not; and those who lived with a mentally ill relative with those who did not. We found that previous contact with mental illness had no significant effect on the attitudes to mental illness of the students. In other words our findings do not support the contact hypothesis. Our sample expressed positive general attitudes to mental illness when presented with general issues about mental illness. However, their attitudes were less positive when presented with specific issues about mental illness that might impinge upon their daily lives. We discuss the implications of these findings for mental health nursing practice, education and research.     

Caring in nursing: perceptions of Hong Kong nurses

Ten registered nurses in Hong Kong were interviewed on their perceptions of caring behaviours in their clinical settings, barriers to these behaviours, and possible ways to overcome those barriers. Findings showed that respondents valued the importance of expressive behaviours and interpersonal communication skills in providing holistic patient care. They felt constrained by social, economic, cultural, and personal variables such as staff shortages, the traditional task-orientated approach of nursing, the dominance of medicine in the healthcare system, the influence of Chinese culture on work attitudes, and their limited skills and lack of education. The situation could be improved through better staff education, colleague support, effective human resources allocation, and promotion of a democratic working environment. A creative approach is necessary to integrate these strategies into a healthcare system dominated by technology and economic constraints.     

The role of the district nurse in bereavement support

BACKGROUND: District nurses are frequently involved in the care of patients immediately prior to death and could therefore provide support to bereaved relatives. However, little is known about nurses' views on bereavement support or their actual involvement. AIMS OF THE STUDY: To survey a representative sample of district nurses to ascertain their current practice and perceived role in supporting bereaved people and to identify factors that influence their practice. DESIGN AND METHOD: A self-completed postal questionnaire was distributed anonymously to 522 district nurses in the central southern coastal area of Britain. It comprised five sections: interest in and education about bereavement; a Likert scale to measure nurses' views about bereavement care; information about the practice with which the nurse had links; bereavement care provided by the practice; and demographics. RESULTS: A 62% response rate was achieved following two reminders. Sixty-nine per cent reported having an interest in bereavement support. Logistic regression modelling identified older age of the nurse and district of employment as the best predictors of interest in bereavement, and older age of the nurse, district of employment and higher level of academic qualification (having a diploma or degree) as the best predictors of active follow-up bereavement visiting. Ninety five percent of district nurses believed their role should involve visiting bereaved relatives/carers of patients they have nursed, but only 19% believed they should visit bereaved people when the deceased was not their patient. CONCLUSIONS: Older age, higher qualifications and district of employment among district nurses were associated with greater interest in bereavement and more proactive care of bereaved people. The findings of this survey have important implications for the training, continued education and the extended role of the nurse in bereavement support.     

A qualitative study of cough medicine abuse among Chinese young people in Hong Kong

Drug abuse has been a social problem for many years and is often complicated by the emergence of new types of abused drugs or new forms of abuse. Abuse of cough medicine has been a focus of concern in Hong Kong since the late 1980s. This paper describes the findings of a qualitative study of the phenomenon of cough medicine abuse in Hong Kong. Focus group interviews were conducted to explore the perceived causes and effects of cough medicine abuse among Chinese young people in Hong Kong. The results from focus group interviews with cough medicine abusers, their family members, and service providers reveal that the primary factors accounting for adolescent cough medicine abuse are social pressure (peer and environmental influences), personal problems (evasion and avoidance), family (difficult relationships or harmful incidents), availability (ease of access), and ignorance. The research participants reported that their cough medicine dependence had serious side effects that threatened their physical and psychological wellbeing, as well as their interpersonal and family relationships. Based on the findings, several recommendations for the prevention of cough medicine abuse are proposed.     

香港医院手术室人性化护理见闻

香港医院手术室护理处处体现以人为本的护理理念。手术室环境布置体现以病人为本；家人进入手术室陪伴手术患儿；手术后病人疼痛处理及时到位；重视术中病人的保温、预防压疮及下肢静脉血栓形成等手术中护理。“日间手术室”的特色服务，体现了人性化服务。     

中国香港地区患者资源中心访学的启示

主要介绍中国香港地区部分医院设立患者资源中心的情况.该中心以医用资源分析、评估、合理配置为前提,建立起全过程、多层次的医院服务,本着“关怀与分享”和“以患者为中心”的思想,以物质、技术和精神三种资源为手段,以患者及家属为服务对象,为患者提供治疗、康复和保健所需要的物质帮助、心理支持和技术支持,以供国内同行学习和借鉴.