Evaluating the effects of an Internet education programme on newborn care in Taiwan

Aim. The objectives of this study were to evaluate an Internet education programme provided to primigravida in the third trimester of pregnancy with the aim of enhancing mothers’ knowledge about newborn care and increasing their maternal confidence. Background. Shorter hospital stays have had an impact on the traditional role of mother–baby nurses in providing education about parenting to their parturient women. Internet education is an efficient way to provide nursing instruction. Design. A randomised controlled trial was used. A total of 118 women receiving prenatal care in a hospital clinic who met study criteria and who consented were assigned randomly to intervention and control groups. The study was conducted at a hospital in Taiwan. Methods. The target population was women at 32–34 weeks gestation, using the Internet on a regular basis. The primigravida were randomly assigned to either the control group (n = 57) or the experimental group (n = 61). Two primary outcome measures were newborn‐care knowledge and maternal confidence. Results. The changes in newborn‐care knowledge were 7·21 for the experimental group, compared with 1·95 for the control group; the difference between the least‐squares means computed by ancova was 5·73 and statistically significant (p < 0·001). The changes in maternal confidence were 8·46 for the experimental group and 3·05 for the control group; the difference between the least‐squares means computed by ancova was 5·94 and statistically significant (p < 0·001). Conclusion. Results suggest that Internet education about newborn care may contribute to greater care knowledge and maternal confidence. Relevance to clinical practice. Internet newborn‐care education programmes can achieve success in promoting newborn care and provide health professionals with evidence‐based intervention.     

Private prayer as a suitable intervention for hospitalised patients: a critical review of the literature

Aim. This critical review seeks to identify if there is evidence that private (personal) prayer is capable of improving wellbeing for adult patients in hospital. Background. The review was conducted in the belief that the spiritual needs of hospitalised patients may be enhanced by encouragement and support to engage in prayer. Design. Systematic review. Method. A systematic approach was used to gather evidence from published studies. In the absence of experimental research involving this type of population, evidence from qualitative and correlational studies was critically reviewed. Results. The findings indicate that private prayer, when measured by frequency, is usually associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety. Most of the studies that show positive associations between prayer and wellbeing were located in areas that have strong Christian traditions and samples reported a relatively high level of religiosity, church attendance and use of prayer. Church attenders, older people, women, those who are poor, less well educated and have chronic health problems appear to make more frequent use of prayer. Prayer appears to be a coping action that mediates between religious faith and wellbeing and can take different forms. Devotional prayers involving an intimate dialogue with a supportive God appear to be associated with improved optimism, wellbeing and function. In contrast, prayers that involve pleas for help may, in the absence of a pre‐existing faith, be associated with increased distress and possibly poorer function. Conclusion. Future research needs to differentiate the effects of different types of prayer. Relevance to clinical practice. Encouragement to engage in prayer should be offered only following assessment of the patient’s faith and likely content and form of prayer to be used. Hospitalised patients who lack faith and whose prayers involve desperate pleas for help are likely to need additional support from competent nursing and chaplaincy staff.     

Subjectivity About Turnover Intention Among Male Nurses in South Korea: A Q-Methodological Study

Purpose

Around the world, male nurses face a variety of difficulties within clinical settings; accordingly, a large number of male nurses consider changing their occupation. In particular, male nurses in a number of Asian countries with a Confucian heritage experience difficulties. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore individual differences in turnover intention among male nurses in one such country, South Korea, and on that basis to suggest concrete strategies for reducing turnover among male nurses in Confucian cultures.

A critical review of knowledge on nurses with problematic substance use: The need to move from individual blame to awareness of structural factors

Problematic substance use (PSU) among nurses has wide‐ranging adverse implications. A critical integrative literature review was conducted with an emphasis on building knowledge regarding the influence of structural factors within nurses' professional environments on nurses with PSU. Five thematic categories emerged: (i) access, (ii) stress, and (iii) attitudes as contributory factors, (iv) treatment policies for nurses with PSU, and (v) the culture of the nursing profession. Conclusions were that an overemphasis on individual culpability and failing predominates in the literature and that crucial knowledge gaps exist regarding the influence of structural factors on driving and shaping nurses' substance use.     

Evaluation of factors related to glycaemic control among South Korean patients with type 2 diabetes

Aims

To examine specific self‐care behaviours, depression, and diabetes‐related stress among South Korean patients with type 2 diabetes and to evaluate whether these factors are related to glycaemic control.

Methods

This cross‐sectional study included 171 patients with type 2 diabetes who visited an endocrinology clinic. A structured questionnaire and electronic medical records were used to collect data regarding self‐care behaviours, depression, diabetes‐related distress, and glycaemic control between May 2015 and July 2015.

Results

Compared with the group with good glycaemic control, the group with poor glycaemic control had significantly lower values for medication adherence and significantly greater values for regimen‐related distress. Depression was not significantly associated with glycaemic control. In logistic regression analysis, only medication adherence was independently associated with glycaemic control.

Conclusions

Medication adherence should be continuously emphasized and monitored in clinical practice to effectively manage glycaemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, consideration of diabetes‐related distress may help improve glycaemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes.