Death as seen in books for young children

This paper summarizes and evaluates 22 children's books dealing with death in terms of their usefulness in helping 3-to 9-year-old children understand and cope with the concept of death. Included in the analysis are 12 books dealing with the death of an animal and 10 books dealing with the death of a person. Some of the books contain confusing references to abstract concepts such as linear time; living and nonliving; animate and inanimate; the finality, irreversibility, and universality of death; and religious ideas. Yet, except for one book on the death of a dog, all of the books treat the topic of death in a generally acceptable way by using direct and concrete words and avoiding euphemisms, involving the main characters in the funeral and at the cemetery, showing respect and acceptance of feelings, understanding the child's grieving process, explaining death in a positive way, and ending on a hopeful note with the main characters getting on with life.     

Early abortion as narrated by young Swedish women

Aim:  The aim of the study was to illuminate meanings of having had an induced abortion among young Swedish women.
Methods:  Narrative interviews were conducted with ten 18–20-year-old women 2–6 weeks after a medical or surgical abortion in the sixth to twelfth week of pregnancy. Data were analysed according to a phenomenological hermeneutic method.
Results:  The study disclosed a multitude of complex meanings in the young women's lived experiences of induced abortion. Four themes were revealed: having cared for and protected the unimagined pregnancy, taking the life of my child-to-be with pain, being sensitive to the approval of others and imagining the taken away child-to-be. The results are discussed in light of Nussbaum's theory of development ethics. The young women's ability to be responsible for their choices regarding their own welfare and others' well-being in a life cycle perspective was disclosed, despite the pain inherent in the responsibility of taking the life of their own child-to-be.
Conclusions:  The young women's narratives were replete with ethical reasoning regarding existential matters related to their responsibility of choosing between induced abortion and parenthood and how to live their lives with this experience. Health-care professionals could promote young women's capability to be responsible, as well as the development of trust in their own fertility and constructive relationships with significant others. In the development of the prevention of unintended pregnancies and the sexual education of young people in Sweden existential dimensions of undergoing an abortion should be given attention.     

Health education as prevention of alcoholism in young people

The close correlation between road accidents and excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, as well as the lowering of the minimal age for alcohol drinking, prompted the Authors to examine the acute and chronic effects of alcohol on the human organism; therefore, they analyze the metabolic effects of alcohol and, after having described it's few beneficial effects, they furnish some suggestions to avoid above all "the havoc of Saturday evening", outlining in detail the causes and progressive states of alcoholic intoxication. The Authors, in agreement with the current views of prevention, professed by the scientific community, emphasize information and health education as the main tools that guarantee primary prevention in young people who, as it is well-known, belong to the most vulnerable segments of the population. To such purpose they created a poster, to which a CD will follow, that could be distributed and discussed in schools with the purpose to encourage social debate and constructive involvement of students, teachers and their parents.     

Career desirability: young people''s perceptions of nursing as a career

The majority of young people make a career choice without regard for salary, and base their decision on interest and enjoyment or a desire to help people. This paper examines students' perceptions of nursing as a career at a number of key stages in their education decision-making, and how this information influences their subsequent career decision either to choose or to reject nursing. Factors relating to image and status are also explored and some comparisons are made between nursing and young people's own choice of career, to highlight a number of significant issues. The findings indicate that although young people expressed admiration for the work of nurses, this was rarely matched by an envy of nurses, or a desire to become a nurse themselves.     

Pericarditis as initial manifestation of proximal aortic dissection in young patients

Pericarditis was the primary manifestation of aortic dissection in these 2 young men. Both patients had no phenotypic characteristics of Marfan or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. These patients had pleuritic chest pain and characteristic electrocardiographic changes consistent with pericarditis. However, timely performed transthoracic echocardiograms revealed proximal aortic dissection with hemopericardium noted at surgery in both cases. Although the sensitivity of transthoracic echocardiogram for proximal aortic dissection is approximately 60%, certain findings can alert the physician to the possibility of aortic dissection. Therefore, in young patients with suspected pericarditis, a timely performed transthoracic echocardiogram should include a careful evaluation of the ascending aorta and arch to rule out this lethal diagnosis.     

Pelvic tumor presenting as chronic back pain in a young adult

A large proportion of Emergency Department visits are for chronic pain, specifically for chronic back pain. Often this entity requires minimal diagnostics. However, certain populations and presentations require a higher vigilance and a more detailed evaluation. This report describes the clinical presentation of a young adult with chronic back pain who exhibited new symptoms and subtle examination findings that expedited the ultimate diagnosis of pelvic chondrosarcoma.     

Psychological problems reported by young adults who were burned as children

This study assessed long-term psychosocial sequelae of young adult pediatric burn survivors. Subjects were 101 young adults (43 females and 58 males) between the ages of 18 and 28 years who were at least 2 years (average, 14 years) postburn at least 30% TBSA (mean = 54 +/- 20%). Educational status was 25% high school dropouts, 28% high school graduation only, 32% some college, and 5% completed college. Seventy-seven percent either worked or attended school; 28% had had a long-term partner. When assessed by Achenbach's Young Adult Self-Report (YASR) scale and compared with its published reference group, the males reported differences only in the somatic complaints, but the females endorsed significantly more externalizing and total problems, specifically withdrawn behaviors, somatic complaints, thought problems, aggressive behavior, and delinquent behavior. Despite these problems suffered by some female pediatric burn survivors, the overall outcome revealed that most pediatric burn survivors are making the transition into adulthood with minimal unexpected difficulty.     

As young as you feel: age identification among the elderly

1. Understanding and integrating an individual's perceptions about age and health status is fundamental to making accurate assessments and implementing interventions that are personally acceptable and clinically appropriate. 2. The concept of chronological age has limited validity for the explanation of behavior because it wrongly assumes homogeneity in individual lifestyles among age cohorts. 3. Older adults tend to perceive themselves as mentally and physically younger than their chronological age. 4. Nurses who interact with individuals in a manner based solely on their chronological age may exhibit disrespect and underestimate the potential for the client's involvement in self-care activities.     

Hematological indices as markers of ischemic heart disease in young smokers

This paper evaluates the hematological indices in young smokers compared to non-smokers of similar age, diet, physical exercise, profession and alcohol consumption.     

A young man with a femoral hernia presenting as periumbilical pain

The case of a 21-year-old man presenting with constant periumbilical pain is reported. The patient had a left groin mass which on palpation exacerbated his pain. The patient was taken to surgery where an incarcerated femoral hernia was repaired. A brief and uncomplicated postoperative course followed. The anatomy and clinical manifestations of femoral hernias are presented.     

Attitudes faced by young adults using assistive technology as depicted through photovoice

Abstract

Purpose: To explore how the attitudinal environment influences the participation experiences of young adults with disabilities who use assistive technology.

Methods: In this qualitative study, twenty young adults using assistive technology completed individual interviews before and after engaging in a photovoice process. Ten of the participants then took part in a focus group. Data were analyzed inductively using a thematic analysis approach.

Results: Analysis yielded three primary themes “seen and treated as different, assumptions made and impatience”. A fourth theme emerged through focus group discussion “photos as a means of consciousness-raising”. Findings suggest that young adults with disabilities who use assistive technology regularly encounter negative societal attitudes that hinder participation. The photovoice process promoted consciousness-raising at the individual, interpersonal and societal level for the participants.

Conclusion: Many young adults with disabilities use assistive technology to facilitate participation in everyday activities. However, the usefulness of assistive technology is susceptible to the environment in which it is used. Further actions are needed toward resolving this challenging participation barrier; these actions should draw on the perspectives and creativity of young adult assistive technology users.

• IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION

• Young adults with disabilities who use assistive technology describe how other people’s negative attitudes can make it challenging to participate in their important activities.

• Participants took photographs that represented the negative attitudes they face on a daily basis and saw their photos as a way to raise awareness of the negative attitudes.

• This research highlights the importance of addressing negative attitudes toward people using assistive technology: young adults with disabilities have expertise and creative ideas about how to do this, so their voices should guide future research projects.

     

Ventricular extrasystole as manifestation of viral myocarditis and myopericarditis in young patients

AIM: To investigate relationship between frequent and complicated ventricular extrasystole (VE) in young patients and previous viral myocarditis (VM); to study VE long-term prognosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We examined 75 patients with mild and moderate myocarditis which developed after acute respiratory infections and other viral diseases (Coxsackie infection was serologically confirmed in 49%; flu, paraflu and adenoviral infection--in 8%). Acute myocarditis was diagnosed basing on the data of ECG, activity of cardiospecific enzymes and isoenzymes, x-ray, echocardiography, Holter ECG monitoring, exercise tests. The patients were followed up from 3 to 26 years (mean 14.6 years). RESULTS: Bigeminal polymorphic extrasystoles and bigemia sites persisted for the whole periods of observation. They could disappear at resting ECG but were registered at 24-h ECG monitoring in all the cases. Echocardiography detected fibrous alterations of the pericardium with its thickening in 89% cases. Exercise tolerance test at the end of the study recorded normal physical performance in 89.3% patients. This suggests a favorable disease outcome. Low physical performance, moderate dilation of the left ventricle and ejection fraction lowering to 48% requiring medication were observed only in 4 patients who were capable to work. CONCLUSION: Frequent and complicated VE after viral myocarditis were present at resting ECG for many years in 42.3% patients. Holter 24-h ECG monitoring registered VE in all the examinees. 89% patients had fibrous lesions of the pericardium showing that viral myocarditis in most cases runs as myopericarditis, in some cases being subclinical.     

Deathbed scenes as imagined by the young and experienced by the old

This study compares the deathbed scenes anticipated by students enrolled in university death education courses with the actual deathbed scenes experienced by elderly people with terminal cancer. Most students expected to live into old age and then die (a) at home, (b) with the companionship of loved ones, (c) quickly (usually in a day or less), and (d) without pain or other symptoms, while (e) remaining alert and lucid. Thoughts about an afterlife were seldom introduced. The students' concept of a deathbed scene worse than the expected usually involved the addition of pain or “lingering on.” Respondents found it difficult to improve on their expected deathbed scene because, in effect, they had already substituted “desired” for “most likely to happen.” Location of the deathbed scene in old age is consistent with the probable life expectancy of the respondents, but the easeful death (quick and asymptomatic) is at variance with observations made of terminally ill people. Comparisons are made with data from an ongoing study of deathbed scenes of patients receiving hospice care and from the National Hospice Study. A major purpose of this study is to introduce the deathbed scene as a situation deserving clinical and conceptual attention, and to make available a set of primary coding categories useful in developing a basic data base.     

Health Fairs as a forum to pique young children's interest in nursing

Kids into Health Career (KIHC) initiatives largely have focused on the recruitment of high school- and middle school-age students. Little attention has been given to informing young children and their parents about health professions careers. The career development literature supports that career development is a lifelong process beginning in early childhood. The purpose of this article is to offer practical ideas to introduce preschool-age and elementary school-age children to health careers in nursing. The value of health fairs as a forum to pique interest is discussed. Outcome measures to determine the success of KIHC strategies for younger children are needed.