Issues in Internet survey research among cancer patients

Considering the increasing number of cancer patients who are online, it is clear that the Internet will provide an important research medium and/or setting for oncology nurses in the near future. Despite increasing Internet usage in nursing research and practice, issues in using the Internet among cancer patients as a research tool have rarely been explored and discussed. The purpose of the article is to propose future directions for Internet research among cancer patients based on discussions of practical issues raised in an Internet survey study among 40 online cancer patients. The issues raised through the research process include (a) ethical issues, (b) recruitment issues, (c) issues in Web site development and maintenance, and (d) data entry and analysis issues. On the basis of the discussions of these issues, some future directions for Internet survey studies are proposed, including dealing with ethical issues, getting computer expertise, using motivational strategies, and using national and international approaches.     

A feminist critique on the use of the Internet in nursing research

With the increasing use of the Internet, the importance of incorporating this new technology in nursing research increases. Yet nursing has been slow in adopting this new technology as a research method, and the use of the Internet in nursing research rarely has been discussed and critiqued. In this article, use of the Internet in nursing research is analyzed and critiqued from a feminist perspective. The analysis indicates that use of the Internet in research frequently brings about selection biases because of a limited pool of potential participants, it usually does not provide contextual data on research encounters, it might not uncover women's subjective experiences under marginalized situations, and it tends to raise power issues related to the relationships between researchers and participants. Despite the limitations, use of the Internet in research provides better communication channels for research participants, more flexibility in time and place of data collection, and less expense for data collection. Based on the critique, feminist challenges for future use of the Internet in nursing research are proposed.     

Quality assurance of nursing web sites: development and implications of the ALEU method

This article presents a study that evaluated the physical accessibility, readability, and usability of Spanish nursing Web sites and discusses the quality assurance issues raised, which are relevant to the wider nursing community. The Internet is recognized as an important source of health information for both nurses and the general public. Although it makes health-related information universally available, the wide variation in the overall quality of health Web sites is problematic. This raises many questions for the nursing profession: about what constitutes a good-quality Web site, about the nature of the information that nurses are finding and using to support their professional education, research, and clinical practice, and about the impact that Internet information ultimately has on health interactions and nursing care. The process of completing this small study showed that it is possible to usefully assess dimensions of Web site quality and suggested that it may be feasible to develop tools to help nurses evaluate national and international nursing Web sites. More research is needed to understand how nurses use the Internet to support their everyday professional practices, but the development and application of international Web site quality assurance tools may be important for maintaining professional nursing standards in the Internet age.     

International rural health needs and services research: a nursing and midwifery response.

As the importance of evidence-based practice in global health care increases, the need for constant, accurate feedback from those in practice is critical, yet the requirement to rapidly obtain and disseminate data on a global basis is a challenge for all health professionals. The Internet allows for global participation in data collection that dramatically streamlines the traditional survey process. This new paradigm applies to surveys that are short, issue focused, and time sensitive. The Global Network of World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centres for Nursing and Midwifery Development used a sample of international nurses in 70 countries to identify the worldwide rural health issues of WHO priority health needs, treatment modalities, health care interventions, and providers, as well as the current state of rural health research on a global level. This article presents the results of the survey regarding rural health needs and nursing and midwifery's response to them internationally, demonstrates Internet data collection, and shows how this research paradigm can help establish an evidence base for nursing practice.     

基于扎根理论探究伤口造口失禁专科护士选择互联网+延续性护理的影响因素及作用路径

目的：探究影响伤口造口失禁专科护士选择互联网+延续性护理的因素及其作用路径。方法：采用建构扎根理论方法,通过对11名有互联网+延续性护理经验的专科护士进行半结构化深度访谈收集数据,对数据进行初始编码、聚焦编码、理论编码最终形成理论框架。结果：影响伤口造口失禁专科护士选择互联网+延续性护理的因素围绕“安全”这一核心要义分为促进因素和制约因素。促进因素包括职业价值、资源优化和社区支持;制约因素包括患者安全风险、家属照顾水平、客观执业条件以及护士执业风险。其中患者安全风险受社区支持、家属照顾水平、客观执业条件的影响。结论：“安全”是影响伤口造口失禁专科护士选择互联网+延续性护理的核心要义,应从完善法律法规、加强平台建设、制定规章制度、加强社区支持等方面,促进互联网+延续性护理的安全发展。     

The Internet as a research site: establishment of a web-based longitudinal study of the nursing and midwifery workforce in three countries

Title.  The Internet as a research site: establishment of a web-based longitudinal study of the nursing and midwifery workforce in three countries.
Aim.  The aim of this paper is to describe the development of a web-based longitudinal research project, The Nurses and Midwives e-cohort Study.
Background.  The Internet has only recently been used for health research. However, web-based methodologies are increasingly discussed as significant and inevitable developments in research as Internet access and use rapidly increases worldwide.
Method.  In 2006, a longitudinal web-based study of nurses and midwives workforce participation patterns, health and wellbeing, and lifestyle choices was established. Participating countries are Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Data collection is handled through a dedicated website using a range of standardized tools combined into one comprehensive questionnaire. Internet-specific data collection and a range of recruitment and retention strategies have been developed for this study.
Discussion.  Internet-based technology can support the maintenance of cohorts across multiple countries and jurisdictions to explore factors influencing workforce participation. However, barriers to widespread adoption of web-based approaches include website development costs, the need for fast broadband connection for large data collection instruments, and varying degrees of Internet and computer literacy in the nursing and midwifery workforce.
Conclusion.  Many of the issues reported in this paper are transitional in nature at a time of rapid technological development. The development of on-line methods and tools is a major and exciting development in the world of research. Research via the world-wide web can support international collaborations across borders and cultures.     

The missing link: information literacy and evidence-based practice as a new challenge for nurse educators

The evolution of nursing as a profession requires the development of evidence-based practice based on outcomes and the ability by nurses to access and evaluate professional literature, both in print and on the Internet. To educate nurses to apply current research outcomes to nursing practice, an information literacy program was designed and implemented for first-semester associate degree nursing students in conjunction with a foundations in nursing course. The effectiveness of the program was evaluated using a 22-item questionnaire, both prior to the course and immediately after. A control group, students who did not receive the intervention, was also tested at both time points. Data analysis revealed that the information literacy program had both a positive effect on students' literacy skills and a negative effect on their attitudes toward the need for using these skills in nursing practice.     

基于"互联网+护理"平台实施慢性伤口管理的SWOT分析及对策

近年来,随着互联网和大数据的迅猛发展,"互联网+护理"已被广泛应用于医疗卫生行业。为了更好地满足人们对慢性伤口管理日益增长的需求,慢性伤口管理已进入全新的互联网时代。本文应用SWOT分析法剖析当前"互联网+护理"在慢性伤口管理的内部优势和劣势以及外部机会和威胁,旨在阐明当前国内基于"互联网+护理"平台在慢性伤口管理的研究现状,分析存在的问题并阐述对策,以供护理人员参考。     

Reflective practice in nursing ethics education: international collaboration

BACKGROUND: The Internet provides the opportunity for international comparative study and collaboration when learning about ethics in clinical nursing practice. AIM: This paper aims to discuss Internet links developed between US and UK postregistration nursing students who were reflecting on clinical practice in order to explore how political and organizational structures of the health care system affect ethical decision-making. DISCUSSION: An analysis is presented of the stages in developing an exchange course for students from these countries, which involved various combinations of classroom-based teaching, on-line discussions and international visits by students and teachers during its evolution. The strengths and weaknesses of the different methods are considered, and future developments identified. CONCLUSION: The Internet collaboration resulted in postregistration nursing students using reflection on practice in the study of ethics in clinical practice and an understanding of how systems structures and procedures affect ethical decision making. Internet-assisted teaching offers opportunities for collaboration, and student participants demonstrate sophisticated critical thinking in ethical decision-making. Issues of access barriers and motivation remain challenges to wider use.     

Perspectives on neonatal nursing: 1985-2005

Neonatal nursing practice has been influenced by a number of external forces over the past 20 years. This article explores some of the influences that have altered practice in the 20-year history of the Journal of Perinatal & Neonatal Nursing. Attention is directed to several significant influences such as the development of the Internet and the World Wide Web and the role that information plays in care delivery. Changing practice roles with the continuing evolution of the neonatal nurse practitioner role and the emerging plans for the doctorate of nursing practice are described. The history of professional associations for neonatal nurses and the impact of evidence-based practice are considered. Finally, the legal environment surrounding practice is explored.     

实验动物在护理研究中应用现状的调查分析

为了解我国护理研究中应用实验动物的相关情况,我们对1994～2002年统计源期刊收录的6种护理杂志中应用实验动物进行研究的论文进行检索,得到相关文献55篇,总结分析后得出结论：相关护理研究近年来发展迅速,但实验动物论文所涉及的研究范围较窄、受基金资助较少,使用实验动物的种类有限、实验动物标准化仍存在问题,实验设计、统计学方法尚嫌不足。建议在护理研究中实验动物的应用要充分体现护理工作的实际需求,强化对实验动物和动物实验标准化的认识,保证实验研究的科学性、重复性、可比性和效能性,同时要争取更多的基金资助、扩大研究领域、完善实验设计和数据处理过程,提高研究结果最终的临床实用价值,以促进护理领域实验动物研究的不断深化和持续发展。     

The Internet in oncology nursing

OBJECTIVES: To explore the implications of the internet for oncology nursing practice, education, and research. DATA SOURCES: Published articles, texts, research studies, review articles, and online documents pertaining to the internet. CONCLUSIONS: The internet has influenced nearly every aspect of society. As the worldwide communications infrastructure strengthens, access devices become affordable, and more countries contribute content in their native language, this technology becomes a truly global phenomenon. This affords oncology nursing a voice that extends beyond the community support group to millions of internet users. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Internet access, quality of information, and privacy of data transmitted are among the greatest challenges that face oncology nurses who integrate this technology into practice.     

Knowing in nursing: a concept analysis

Title.  Knowing in nursing: a concept analysis.
Aim.  This paper is a report of an analysis of the evolution of the concept of knowing in nursing.
Background.  Following the seminal contribution of Carper in 1978, knowing has been discussed with increasing frequency in the nursing literature with reference to the development of nursing knowledge. Various patterns of knowing, as well as research focused on reflection on experience, have been the foundation for activities and research designed to improve practice as well as patient care in clinical, community, education, cultural and administrative settings.
Methods.  Rodgers' evolutionary method of concept analysis provided the framework for this analysis. The data source was a search of literature published from 1978 to 2007. Three aims guided the analysis: to understand how the concept of knowing is used in nursing, how it is used in other health-related disciplines and how the concept has evolved into the current interpretation.
Discussion.  Analysis revealed that knowing in nursing refers to a uniquely personal type of knowledge constructed of objective knowledge interfaced with the individual's subjective perspective on personal experience. Knowing is a dynamic process and a result of personal reflection and transformation as the individual lives and interacts in the world. Its antecedents are experience, awareness and reflection. The consequences are understanding, finding meaning and transformation.
Conclusion.  This analysis illuminates an area in which nursing has carved out its own niche in healthcare research. The concept of knowing in nursing practice and research reflects a focus on the individual experience of health and illness.     

Nursing the clinic, being there and hovering: ways of caring in a British fertility unit

AIM: To explore the meaning of caring in a fertility unit and to present the findings and discuss their implications for practice. BACKGROUND: Little research has been published internationally on the nature of nursing care in the fertility field. This study was intended to stimulate debate over the nature of care in fertility work. METHODOLOGY: An ethnographic approach, which included part-time participant observation and in-depth focused interviews with staff and patients. Data were also collected using a field and a research diary. Data were analysed using a modified thematic analysis. FINDINGS: The data suggest that caring is strongly linked with nurses and that patients' expectations of nurses may be more practically than emotionally focused. I argue that the organization of nursing work, which I call 'nursing the clinic and the doctor', facilitated this practical approach to caring. I discuss two features of nursing the clinic and the doctor: hovering and being there. CONCLUSIONS: While there may be other factors that influence the practice of this form of non-intimate caring, nursing in this way may be what patients desire and may be congruent with managing emotions. The findings have implications for the discourse on intimacy and caring within fertility nursing as well as in different outpatient settings.     

New paradigm research in practice: the trials and tribulations of action research

This methodological paper reflects on the way in which nursing research has developed along similar lines to research in education It focuses on the emergence of action research as an example of collaborative research within the practice discipline of nursing Action research is placed in the framework of new paradigm research and questions concerning its scientific merit are addressed along with its idealistic value to nursing Drawing on issues raised during the collection of data for a PhD study which examined a changing ward culture, I hope to share some methodological concerns about the use of action research as a means of changing practice     

Internet users becoming immersed in the virtual world. Implications for nurses

Worldwide, people are using the Internet for computer-mediated communication (CMC) in increasing numbers. Nurse researchers have begun to examine the use of this medium for communication, education, and support of their clients. Therefore, it is important to know the experiences and meanings of CMC if the Internet is to be used for nursing interventions. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences and meaning of online communications for frequent Internet users and discuss implications for nursing practice. Four virtual focus groups consisting of a total of 32 individuals were included in this study. Their stories of everyday Internet use were analyzed by hermeneutic interpretation. Six related themes and 1 constitutive pattern emerged from the data: (1) Internet as a resource for communication, information, and entertainment; (2) Internet as appealing, drawing one into frequent use; (3) developing dependencies; (4) Internet as frustrating; (5) learning the rules; and (6) developing physical and psychosocial effects. The constitutive pattern is immersion into the virtual world. This knowledge can be used to identify the potential effects of integrating the Internet into nursing interventions. Nurses who plan Internet-based interventions need to understand the appeal of this medium as well as the limitations and barriers to use.     

Scholarly pursuit in the clinical setting: an obligation of professional nursing

Scholarly pursuit in the clinical setting is an essential component of the development of nursing as a profession. All nurses have a professional obligation to participate in the generation and testing of nursing knowledge. The success of such scholarly efforts calls for collaboration between nursing education and nursing service, new partnerships between academicians and clinicians, and the development of an array of research participation skills. As in other practice disciplines, nursing has experienced difficulty in translating its research into the practice setting. The lack of relevance of research to clinical practice, and the historic separation of academia and service have slowed the growth of scholarly activities in the clinical setting. However, changing attitudes about nursing research are creating new opportunities for scholarly pursuit in the clinical setting. Successful clinical research programs foster new roles for researchers and demonstrate planned social change to support positive attitudes about research among nurses. This paper will also examine how a few of these new paths of scholarly pursuit have been operationalized in one setting.     

Internet ethnography: A review of methodological considerations for studying online illness blogs

BackgroundIn recent history, the Internet has emerged as a wealth of archived, ongoing, interactive, and socially mediated data. Conducting Internet ethnography is a fairly new methodological approach, however, it has been previously described as a valid form of inquiry. Illness blogs, in particular, have great implications for nurse researchers, as they are able to study the experience of illness in a naturalistic and longitudinal manner, often with greater detail than data relying solely on participant recall. Participants are able to produce online illness blogs as a way to share their own illness narratives and connect with others going through similar processes.ObjectivesThe purpose of this paper is to discuss methodological considerations in studying online illness blogs through Internet ethnography.MethodsThis article provides an overview of Internet ethnography as an emerging qualitative method and an introduction to research using illness blogs. Through use of this method in an exemplar study of young women with cancer, key decision points are highlighted along with the study team's field experiences.ConclusionIssues pertaining to method applicability, active vs. passive involvement as a researcher, ethical considerations, what constitutes data, sampling approach, procedural and analytic decisions, and thoughts regarding reflexivity and voice of the research participants’ are addressed. Strengths and limitations of the study of online illness blogs through Internet ethnography in nursing science are also discussed.     

Web resource appraisal process (WRAP): A framework to establish critically appraised nursing knowledge—an active web based learning exercise

There have been dramatic advances in Internet technology in the past 10 years. However, for the Internet to reach its full potential for nursing practice and education, improvements in the quality and accessibility of health care information on the Internet are needed.This paper describes the development of a Web Resource Appraisal Process (WRAP).The WRAP consists of a template and series of online tutorials designed to facilitate the development of online resources for nursing. The WRAP can be described as a content focused authoring tool. The WRAP directs users through a range of high quality international health websites and databases in order to collect information related to specific practice areas. The WRAP then provides an ordered structure for the presentation of this information in an online format.The WRAP is a website with three main functions. Firstly, it is a teaching and learning resource promoting interactive learning using online resources. Secondly, the WRAP promotes the application of research evidence to practice by providing a standardised framework for the critical review of information resources. Thirdly, the WRAP provides a mechanism for the collaborative documentation of nursing knowledge.This paper concludes by discussing implications of the WRAP for the development, documentation and dissemination of knowledge across the health professions.