Nursing Students' Attitudes Towards Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia

In 1991/92, 289 students from four different schools of nursing in Norway participated in a case-related attitudes test. The nursing students answered questions concerning their personal views on the moral and legal implications of either assisting suicide or performing euthanasia. They also indicated whether they thermselves were willing to perform these acts. The results were compared with responses from a study on students from other faculties in 1988. The findings suggested that nursing students were significantly (p < 0.0005) more restrictive than the other students in their attitudes towards voluntary active euthanasia (VAE). Factors that influenced the nursing students' attitudes towards VAE were measured by the index of VAE. Religious belief (p < 0.0001), conservative political view (p < 0.01), and the perception of life as meaningful (p < 0.02) were the best predictors of the dependent variable.     

整体护理改善护患关系的体会

整体护理的实施,重塑了护士的职业价值观,增加了护患之间的接触。护士能够在自己的专业范围内积极主动地解决病人的问题,挖掘了护理人员的自身潜力,加深了护患交流,使护患关系明显改善。     

气垫床工作模式转换器的研制

本文阐述了我院自行研制的气垫床工作模式转换器的结构、工作原理及应用效果。     

Providence School Asthma Partnership: School-based Asthma Program for Inner-City Families

Over 3 years, 972 families participated in an after-school asthma program at their child's school. Parents and children attended concurrent 2¹/₂ -hour workshops. Parents were 74% Latino; 45% non-English speaking, with 77% of children on Medicaid. Asthma symptoms were significantly reduced, from multiple times per week to less than once per week on average. Oral steroid use decreased to one third of baseline use. Hospital days decreased from 11% to 2%; emergency visits decreased 35% to 4%; and school days missed decreased 48% to 20%. This program has now become sustainable with both private and Medicaid insurance coverage.     

Effects of self-management training in Type 2 diabetes: a randomized, prospective trial.

AIMS: The efficacy of three education programmes for Type 2 diabetic patients was tested in a randomized trial. A didactic-oriented training programme (treatment A) was compared with a self-management-oriented programme delivered in group sessions (treatment B). The latter programme was compared with a more individualized approach (treatment C). METHODS: One hundred and eighty-one Type 2 diabetic patients (age 55.6 +/- 6.3 years, diabetes duration 6.6 +/- 6.2 years, HbA(1c) 7.8 +/- 1.6%, female 49.7%) took part. Efficacy was assessed 3 months (t1) after baseline (t0) and at a follow-up 15 months (t2) after baseline. RESULTS: The fall in HbA(1c) in treatment B at t1 was sustained at t2 (t0 8.1 +/- 1.8%, t1 7.3 +/- 1.7%, t2 7.4 +/- 1.9%). In treatment A, HbA(1c) was unchanged throughout (t0 7.6 +/- 1.5%, t1 7.5 +/- 1.3%, t2 7.7 +/- 1.7%; treatment A vs. treatment B; P < 0.05). With the more individualized approach of treatment C, there was a fall in HbA(1c) at t1, but this was not sustained at t2 (t0 7.8 +/- 1.6%, t1 7.1 +/- 1.3%, t2 7.6 +/- 1.6%; treatment B vs. treatment C; P = 0.73). There were also significant benefits in treatment B subjects compared with treatment A in further medical (body mass index and fasting blood glucose), psychological (control, irritability and hunger dependency of eating behaviour, and trait anxiety) and behavioural (exercise) variables. There were no significant benefits of the more individualized treatment C compared with group treatment B. No significant differences were found regarding triglyceride levels, high-density lipoprotein, diabetes-related knowledge, negative well-being, urine or blood glucose levels or foot care. CONCLUSION: Self-management training had a significantly higher medium-term efficacy than didactic diabetes education. The group sessions were more effective than a more individualized approach.     

Preference awareness education as stress management training for academic staff

This paper describes a response directed stress management intervention (SMI) in the form of a Jungian based preference awareness education (PAE). It uses the Insights System of personality types to increase awareness of behaviour and communication preferences of self and different others. Eighteen self‐recruited academic employees participated for 7 weeks and received feedback about work preferences and personality type. The aim was to reduce perceptions of stress and interpersonal stress and to increase feelings of job satisfaction and interpersonal satisfaction. The data were analysed using two‐tailed t‐tests. No significant findings were observed for the total sample after training, however, interesting results were found for certain sub‐sample groups. Extravert‐thinking types, reported decreased stress levels (p > 0.018), and participants suffering high stress/interpersonal stress pre‐PAE, reported decreased stress levels (p > 0.010–0.018). Participants suffering low job/interpersonal satisfaction pre‐PAE, reported increased job satisfaction (p > 0.015–0.016). These results suggest that individuals who report high levels of stress and dissatisfaction are most likely to benefit from this type of intervention. Future PAE research might: (a) use pilot studies to meet the intervention preferences of employees that are reluctant to participate in SMIs; (b) include a wait‐list control group; use: (c) a follow up education/measures; (d) and organizational level (stressor directed) SMIs at the same time as response directed initiatives. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Disturbed behaviour in dementia sufferers: A comparison of three nursing home settings

In order to determine whether a specialist psychogeriatric nursing home was fulfilling its intended role of caring for the most behaviourally disturbed dementia sufferers, 24 of its demented residents were compared with 28 demented individuals discharged from a psychiatric unit to ordinary nursing homes and 30 mobile dementia sufferers in nursing home wards of a geriatric centre. Those in the psychogeriatric nursing home showed more disturbed behaviours than those in the other two settings. Scores on the Rating Scale for Aggressive Behaviour in the Elderly were compared with degree of cognitive impairment for the first time in the literature and showed no correlation with degree of cognitive impairment for the first time in the literature and showed no correlation with congnitive performance.     

lnter-rater reliability of an oral assessment guide for elderly patients residing in a rehabilitation ward

The aim of this study was to test the inter-rater reliability of a revised oral assessment guide (ROAG) for patients residing in a geriatric rehabilitation ward. A consecutive sample of 140 patients was recruited for the study. Oral assessments were performed for 133 newly admitted patients by one registered nurse (RN) during a period of six months. A dental hygienist (DH) carried out 103 oral assessments during the same half-year. For 66 patients, the RN and the DH performed independent assessments. There was an agreement between the RN and the DH in the majority of the independent assessments, except for tongue and teeth/dentures. The percentage agreement exceeded 80 percent. Inter-rater agreement measured by Cohen's Kappa coefficient ranged from moderate to very good and percentage agreement had a range of 58 to 91 percent. The agreement was highest in assessment of voice and swallowing (91%). Assessments of teeth and dentures seemed to be most difficult for the RN to evaluate. ROAG was found to be a clinically useful assessment tool. Additional education and training is needed to improve the reliability of the oral assessments and should include continuous support from a dental hygienist as well as a pictorial manual on how to use the ROAG.     

Clinical problem-solving using video simulation: an investigation

This paper examines the use of videotape simulation as a research method for the exploration of clinical problem-solving, the challenges posed and the strategies employed to overcome the difficulties encountered are discussed. The simulation forms part of a larger comparative study of outcomes of pre-registration nurse education programmes, commissioned by the English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting.