An examination of research priorities in nurse education

This paper outlines research priorities in general student nurse training, which include looking at curriculum content and methods of teaching/learning, and the linking of theory and practice--particularly the inclusion of research findings. The student nurse's ability and counselling needs are assessed. Finally, the need for research into the teacher's training and role is outlined.     

Reasons for referral to a palliative nursing team

Referral patterns to a palliative nursing team are examined within the context of the developing role of the service Reasons for referral are identified and a checklist developed to encourage specificity in statement of need on referral Comparison is made with the assessment of the Macmillan nurse on assessment Use of the checklist encouraged greater awareness of need There was no correlation between the referrers' perceived needs and the Macmillan nurses' assessments on visiting The literature supports the need for more explicit referral criteria based on needs assessment There are implications for greater awareness of roles, better communication regarding intervention, and organizational review     

Lay carers of patients admitted to a hospice: how caring restricts their lives

The aim of this paper is to examine how caring for a terminally ill person in the domestic home restricts the lives of their lay carers. Fifty-nine lay carers of hospice patients were interviewed in the hospice approximately a week after the patient's admission using a structured and primarily closed choice schedule. Respondents were mainly the spouse or other close kin of terminally ill patients admitted to the hospice. Respondents reported that in the month prior to their admission, patients were highly symptomatic and required a great deal of help with activities of daily living. Forty per cent of patients required help. Three-quarters of the lay carers reported receiving help from one to three other lay carers in looking after the patient. Two thirds of the carers said that either the patient or they themselves, o both, would have benefited from moe help. Ove one thid of carers reported that in the month prior to the patient's hospice admission their own activities had been severely restricted, especially in the areas of visiting friends and relatives and going out to social activities. Activities least affected were looking after other members of the household and going out to paid work.     

The Roy Adaptation Model: a consideration of its properties as a conceptual framework for an intervention study

The underlying premise of this paper is the belief that one of the core values of nursing research is its ability to demonstrate that nursing interventions influence care outcomes From this perspective the contribution offered by the Roy Adaptation Model for Nursing within an intervention study is evaluated Although it was believed that the model enriched the study in several ways, its overall contribution was likened to a 'conceptual stepping stone', used by the researcher en route back towards its underlying theories and classical     

Assessing altered body image

Assessing altered body image.
Like pain, altered body image remains highly personal, abstract and difficult to describe. It has taken nearly a century to define the concept of body image, and to construe a reasonable working definition of altered body image (ABI). During this time, the assessment of body image has focused upon the researcher and his/her needs, rather than the professional nurse, who must arrive at a practical means to understanding patients' distress, and identify possible solutions. In this paper the author suggests parameters for the assessment of ABI in the practical arena, based both upon ongoing asthma care research and the experience of practitioners developing body image counsellor roles. It is suggested that altered body image should be assessed as part of an integrated approach, and that the complicated risk or cathexis scales developed for psychological research have limited use within the clinical setting.     

Whose responsibility is it anyway? Hospital admission and discharge of older people in an inner-London District Health Authority

The division of responsibilities that exists between primary and secondary health care services and health and social care services may create problems in the provision of care to patients whose needs mean that a number of different agencies are involved in their care The objective of all the agencies involved is the smooth transfer of clients between different sectors of care provision One client group thought to be particularly vulnerable to dislocations in the continuous pattern of care provision is older people Problems over the division of responsibility between professional groups are particularly evident on admission to and discharge from hospital It is the latter rather than the former aspect that has been the focus of research An extensive multi-methods study of the admission and discharge of older people from hospital in an inter-city District Health Authority was undertaken This paper examines the transfer of older people between different elements of the health and social care systems Our study illustrates that on neither admission nor on discharge was there a clearly defined mechanism for affecting liaison between hospital and community Clearly, the responsibility for this task must be delegated to a specific group However, such responsibility must be given within a properly resourced and managed system, otherwise the current position of blurred responsibilities will remain It is unclear as to how the reform of the National Health Service and the introduction of the internal market and the purchaser/provider division will aid the improved co-ordination which this study has identified as being required     

A Prospective Randomized Study Comparing the Clinical Effects of a Norethisterone and a Levonorgestrel Containing Low Dose Oestrogen Oral Contraceptive Pills

Summary: The two types of low dose oral contraceptives one containing levonorgestrel the other containing norethisterone have been compared in a randomized prospective study. We have found that cycle control was much poorer with the norethisterone pill and would therefore recommend that if the norethisterone-containing pill needs to be prescribed then either the 1 mg or the 'synphasic' preparation should be considered.