Antenatal education – where next?

The history of antenatal education throws light on why contemporary class attenders represent only a particular section of the childbearing population. Since Victorian times, the non-availability of the women's network to middle class women has forced them to seek knowledge of their own bodies, confidence in their childbearing capacities and the support of other women through formal educational opportunities. Research suggests that antenatal classes often fail to provide women with a realistic account of birth and parenting to replace the lived experience of earlier decades and may not be facilitated in such a way as to create the support groups which class attenders critically need. Teaching approaches often promote dependency amongst clients rather than nurturing the decision-making skills required by a consumer-driven maternity service.     

Children and the ingestion of alcohol: a statistical analysis of children attending an A & E department

The results of a survey of children attending an Accident and Emergency (A & E) Department following ingestion of alcohol are reported. Data were analysed to indicate age and sex of children, date and time of attendance, method of transport to hospital, whether accompanied to hospital and if so by whom, and whether admitted or discharged. Trends in children's consumption of alcohol, as observed by the author, are discussed.     

Psychometric evaluation of a squestionnaire to document side-effects of chemotherapy

This paper reports the psychometric testing of the Worthing Chemotherapy Questionnaire(WCQ). The WCQ is a patient self-report instrument to document side-effects of chemotherapy. Literature review of relevant studies shows that psychometric testing of similar instruments is rarely rigorous. Content validity for the WCQ was established in five ways: literature review, Delphi review among oncology staff, pre-pilot unstructured interviews, pilot study and amendment of the instrument and items for spontaneous reporting of problems on the questionnaire. A three-stage approach to construct validity was used. The hypothesis adopted was that as certain cytotoxic agents cause stomatitis, incidence and severity of stomatitis will decrease following cessation of treatment. Stage 1: factor analysis confirmed the presence of a sole factor, with an eigenvalue of 5.3, for mouth problems which explained 65.5% of the variance. Stage 2: the hypothesis was confirmed using research findings. Stage 3: the Wilcoxon test showed highly significant results for during and post chemotherapy stomatitis scores. Reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using the test-retest method. Weighted Kappa was chosen as the test statistic. A median value of _wK=0.87 was obtained. The results indicate that the WCQ is a reliable and valid instrument.     

The meaning of spirituality: a literature review

This paper presents a literature review in relation to the meaning of spirituality. It is proposed that meeting the spiritual needs of patients is a fundamental part of providing holistic nursing care, but that the assessment and meeting of those needs is impeded by inadequate definitions and conceptual frameworks. It should not be assumed that spirituality is either synonymous, or coterminous, with religion, and it is suggested that to adopt this restrictive view is unhelpful in the provision of individualized care. Reflection on the literature reveals that the self, others and 'God' provide the key elements within a definition of spirituality, and that other emerging themes namely meaning, hope, relatedness/connectedness, beliefs/belief systems and expressions of spirituality, can be articulated in the context of those three key elements. In particular, it is proposed that the nature of 'God' may take many forms and, essentially, is whatever an individual takes to be of highest value in his/her life. It is suggested that the themes emerging from the literature can be utilized as a framework to give practitioners and researchers a direction for future exploration of the concept of spirituality.     

Building a relationship: communications and relationships between staff and stroke patients on a rehabilitation ward

Communications among staff and patients on a stroke rehabilitation ward form the focus of this article, which reports on some aspects of a larger study using a grounded theory approach. Tape-recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed concurrently according to recommendations for the approach. A main theme entitled building a relationship was identified, and this process was found to occur in a context varying from participative at one end of a continuum to hierarchical at the other. Building a relationship was found to be influenced by role, personal qualities and organizational context. Appropriate relationships between role-holders were subject to negotiation, leading to a resulting congruence or incongruence between participants' expectations of each other and their roles. Personal qualities were brought into play in the process, with patients' views of staff and staff views of patients both being influential. Some of these views seemed to parallel what has been described in earlier literature as ‘the sick role’ and the labelling of patients as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Responses to personal qualities led to nurses ascribing meaning to patients' behaviour in terms of adjustment to their stroke, giving time to them to help them to adjust, and withdrawal and handing over to other staff if this strategy failed. Organizational context also had an influence on building a relationship, with time constraints being identified particularly by nurses, and the need to fit in the most essential aspects of care. Place was also important, in that nurses were confined to the ward as a work location, whereas other therapists and doctors worked in other places and sometimes had the facility to take patients off the ward to concentrate on therapy. The findings are discussed against the background of related literature and the conclusion is drawn that the crucial role of nurses in rehabilitation is not recognized and valued, and that shortages of resources - especially suitably qualified and trained nursing staff- are a negative influence on building the relationships which are vital to successful rehabilitation.     

The implications of Project 2000 and the formation of links with higher education for the professional and academic needs of nurse teachers in the United Kingdom

A national study was conducted between 1991 and 1994 to explore and describe the changing role of the nurse teacher following the introduction of Project 2000 pre-registration nursing courses. Multiple methods were used to collect data from a wide variety of respondents (nurse teachers, midwife teachers, clinical nurses, health service managers and higher education lecturers). This paper presents the findings relating to the impact of Project 2000 and the move into higher education on the continuing educational needs of nurse teachers. Views on college strategies for staff development, the changing nature of teachers'academic and professional development needs and the problems of the conflicting demands experienced are reported. The research highlights the need for clinical credibility to be clearly defined in relation to nurse teachers and for educational institutions to place more emphasis on teachers'clinical development if the rhetoric of policy is to become a reality.     

Isometric muscle strength is an indicator of self-reported physical functional disability in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

The objective of our study was to examine (1) whether isometric muscle strength contributes to the explanation of the physical functional disability of a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patient population after accounting for other disease parameters and demographic variables and (2) whether change in isometric muscle strength is an indicator of change in physical functional disability. Sixty-five consecutive patients fulfilling the American Rheumatism Association 1987 revised criteria for RA were included in the study. Isometric muscle strength was measured with a validated Muscle Strength Index (MSI) calculated as the mean score of standardized isometric extension and flexion strength of the knee and elbow joints. Physical functional disability was measured with the physical dimension of the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ). For 56 patients, we could obtain 1 yr follow-up data. Cross-sectionally, there was a significant correlation (r = - 0.51, P < 0.01) between the MSI and the HAQ. Muscle strength remained a significant determinant of the HAQ in multivariate analysis accounting for disease and demographic variables. Longitudinally, change in MSI explained additional variance of change in HAQ after accounting for change in pain, the most important correlate of change in HAQ.      

Postoperative radiotherapy for locally advanced colon cancer

Background: The role of adjuvant postoperative radiotherapy for locally advanced colon cancer is not well documented. Methods: Seventy-eight patients who underwent a complete resection of B2-C colon cancer received postoperative radiotherapy. Twenty-eight patients received ⩽45 Gy; 50 patients received 50–55 Gy. Twenty-seven patients received adjuvant fluorouracil-based chemotherapy. All patients were followed for a minimum of 3 years; no patients were lost to follow-up. Results: The overall local control rate was 88%. The 5-year actuarial rate of local control was 96% after 50–55 Gy postoperative radiotherapy compared with 76% after <50 Gy (p=0.0095). Multivariate analysis of local control showed that only radiotherapy dose significantly influenced this end point. Cause-specific survival rates at 5 years were B2, 67%; B3, 90%; C1, 100%; C2, 61%; C3, 36%; and overall, 63%. Multivariate analysis of cause-specific survival showed that only stage significantly influenced this end point. Bowel obstruction caused by adhesions developed in three patients and required a laparotomy; radiation-induced sarcoma developed in one additional patient. Conclusions: Postoperative radiotherapy appears to reduce the risk of local recurrence in patients with locally advanced colon cancer. The optimal dose is probably 50–55 Gy at 1.8 Gy per fraction. Postoperative radiotherapy may improve cause-specific survival for patients with stages B3 and C2 cancers.