Spirituality and child development: a concept analysis

BACKGROUND: If children are to be given the opportunity to develop to their full potential, fostering spiritual growth must be part of the process of caring for them. However, the meaningful application of spiritual care in everyday practice is fraught with difficulties. In addition to a lack of understanding of the term itself and of the expression of spirituality, in child health these difficulties are further compounded by the stage of a child's development. AIM: The aims of this paper are to explore spiritual awareness in children by providing examples of the expression of spiritual beliefs in relation to the developmental stage of the child, and to identify the implications of the findings for clinical practice. METHOD: A model of concept development, using the cyclical process of 'significance', 'use' and 'application' was applied, and formed the philosophical underpinnings for the paper. This framework is particularly relevant to child health, as there is little evidence to draw on, particularly in relation to a child's spiritual needs. FINDINGS: Five primary research papers which met the inclusion criteria were reviewed, and provided examples of spiritual beliefs and their manifestations in children. The examples highlighted the diversity and complexity of children's thinking. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Health care professionals working with children should receive education about the spiritual needs of children. Assessment tools should be developed to facilitate detailed assessment of children's spiritual needs. Professionals need to listen to and communicate with children at different stages of development if spiritual distress is to be identified. Families' health care beliefs should be respected and considered when planning care.     

The experiences and perceived changes of Chinese ex-mental patients attending a holistic psychiatric rehabilitation programme: a qualitative study

The paper reports a study on the subjective experiences and perceived personal changes of Chinese ex-mental patients attending a psychiatric holistic rehabilitation programme. The programme adopted a self-help group approach in which holistic aspects of physical, psycho-social and spiritual needs are emphasized. There are different rehabilitation programmes for chronic mental patients. However, spiritual element is not consciously included in most of these programmes. Furthermore, few studies document the changes of participants attending psychiatric rehabilitation adopting self-help and holistic care principles. A qualitative approach using an in-depth interview was adopted. A total of 20 members from the programme, which was about one-sixth of all the regular group members were recruited. All interviews were audiotaped and transcribed. Data were coded, categorized and developed to different themes using content analysis. Totally, there were 52 themes developed from the data. However, only 13 themes on experiences in the group and nine themes on the perceived personal changes were reported. By attending the programme, participants had positive feelings and gained many positive learning opportunities when interacting with peers. Interacting with group counsellors was also very beneficial to them. Though there were only some improvements physically, there were clear perceived positive changes in the psychological, social and spiritual dimensions. These findings are consistent with those found in the quantitative measures reported previously. The subjective experiences of the participants were positive and they perceived positive personal changes after joining the group. The findings support the effectiveness of the long-term nature of self-help group. Furthermore, the holistic programme helps members rediscover meaning and purpose of life and the religious practices in the group can be regarded to be a protective factor to stress not only to those believers but also to the non-believers.     

The impact of management of change projects on practice: a description of the contribution that one educational programme made to the quality of health care

This paper is based on the authors' experience of teaching and supervising the first intake of the management unit of the diploma for charge nurses offered by the Department of Professional Development and Training, Glasgow College of Nursing and Midwifery, Glasgow, Scotland. The students on this course undertake a project comprising of a documented research-based action plan aimed at the achievement of a selected topic for change directly linked with their practice. All the students except one were G grade charge nurses from a wide variety of clinical backgrounds. This paper will briefly consider the work of Barriball et al. who suggest categories of outcomes of continuing professional education. This is contrasted with Scheller, who highlights three problems when attempting to measure the impact of continuing education on practice. Despite these problems, it is beneficial to attempt to consider the impact of continuing professional education on practice. The work of Francke et al. will be featured in which they ascertain the determinants of changes in nurses' behaviour after continuing professional education. The authors believe that the management of change project, undertaken by the students, enhances the possibility that knowledge gained from the management unit will impact on their practice. Two examples of students' projects will be used to support the paper. The first concerns changing to a 12-hour shift pattern in an intensive care setting and the second relates to the implementation of the named nurse system.     

Concept analysis of nurse retention

Nurse retention is widely acknowledged as a crucial international workforce issue, yet the concept remains ambiguous. This study focuses on a concept analysis in an effort to clarify the attributes of nurse retention, including its antecedents and consequences. The Walker and Avant approach was applied to analyze the concept of nurse retention. Four key attributes of nurse retention were identified in the analysis, specifically motivation, intention, and individual decision; strategy and intervention; geographic context; and attachment to work. Antecedents of nurse retention included the healthcare system at the macro level, the health care facility, health personnel, and living conditions. Retention has consequences for individual nurses, the healthcare organization, and the overall health system. Our concept analysis provides clarification to better understand nurse retention along with its implications for the healthcare workforce. The analysis further emphasizes the importance of retention as a comprehensive priority issue for human resources when recruiting and maintaining the nursing workforce internationally.     

Personal access to health care: a concept analysis

The objective of this concept analysis was to formulate an operational definition, so that those seeking, providing, and legislating health care policy would share a common interpretation of the concept. A concept analysis following the strategy suggested by Walker and Avant was used to identify antecedents, attributes, and empirical referents of access to health care. Furthermore, model, borderline, contrary, and invented cases were described. A theoretical definition was derived, which will lead to a better understanding of the concept and bring the concept closer to measurability and readiness for an operational definition. Access to health care has been addressed in political campaigns, studied by numerous legislative committees, and purported to be in an emergency state of despair. However, a measurable definition of access to health care continues to elude providers and legislators of health care; in as much, the meaning of the concept varies with the user.     

Concept analysis of nursing activism

Nursing history is firmly rooted in social and political activism; however, both the word activism and its defined actions have been minimized in modern nursing practice. This paper seeks to define activism, its uses, and importance to the nursing discipline. A concept analysis using the Walker and Avant (2019) method was conducted. Literature sources were identified through a search of PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycINFO along with hand searches of reference lists. Nursing activism is a concept that extends from within the discipline's ethical responsibilities and social contract with humanity. Activism differs from advocacy or engagement as it requires the expenditure of energy including personal, social, and/or political capital. Nursing activism is a necessary response to health inequities, social accountability, and advancement of the nursing profession.     

Family-centred care: a concept analysis

Family-centred care would seem to be a central element of children's nursing, but there is no consensus about its meaning. This paper uses a combination of Rodgers' evolutionary model of concept analysis and Schwartz-Barcott and Kim's hybrid model of concept development to facilitate a dispositional approach to analysing this concept. Data from a qualitative survey undertaken during 1994/1995 was used in conjunction with data obtained through a questionnaire, to provide the field-work element for the process of analysis. The process resulted in the identification of the antecedents and attributes of family-centred care, and the identification of a lack of clarity related to the consequences of family-centred care. Two alternative models of family-centred care emerged, both of which demonstrate strong associations with the concepts of partnership with parents, parental participation and care by parents. The paper does not conclude with any definition of family-centred care, but rather explores its usefulness in practice and considers how the concept might be operationalized. The tentative proposals for a hierarchy of family-centred care will require exploration, testing and evaluation by practitioners in the real world of children's nursing.     

Conceptual Analysis of Rights Using a Philosophic Inquiry Approach

A philosophic approach to analysis reveals that the concept of right(s), with 10 identified attributes, is subject to ambiguous and inconsistent interpretation. This lack of clarity in interpretation contributes to controversy when rights are used for resolution of ethical conflict. Characteristics of rights contributing to their misinterpretation include their origins and the diverse ranges of their intended scope. Rights may be self-evident or derived from a contract. Although they are inalienable, they may not be operational. Furthermore, having a right does not entail having the power to attain it. This philosophic analysis yields a theoretic definition intended to guide nurses in rational interpretation and use of rights in their practices.