Mental Health Nurse Incentive Program: contributing to positive client outcomes

Mental health conditions are likely to affect almost half of the population at some stage in their lives. Despite the magnitude and potentially serious consequences of mental illness and disorders, access to services is a significant problem. In 2007, the Mental Health Nurse Incentive Program (MHNIP) was implemented to improve access to mental health care in Australia. Mental health nurses are engaged under the MHNIP to work with general practitioners, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals to treat clients experiencing a mental health condition. This paper presents findings from a qualitative exploration of nurses working under the MHNIP in Australia. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 nurses currently working under the MHNIP to gain an understanding of their roles and their perceptions of the effectiveness of this new programme. Data were analysed using NVivo. Four major themes emerged: developing the role, a holistic approach, working collaboratively, and benefits to clients. The findings suggest that mental health nurses have the potential to make a significant contribution to enhancing access to, and the quality of, mental health care through flexible and innovative approaches.     

重庆市30个区县城区居民流感样病例电话调查快速评估

目的 快速评估2007年元旦前后重庆市城区居民急性上呼吸道感染病例和流行性感冒(流感)样病例的发病、诊疗情况以及2006年流感疫苗接种情况.方法 设计统一调查问卷、采用电话访谈方法 ,随机调查重庆市30个区县城区常住居民300户936人.结果 2006年12月15日至2007年1月14日重庆市城区居民急性上呼吸道感染病例罹患率为16.3%(153/936),发病有家庭聚集现象,各年龄组之间差异有统计学意义(x2=19.4,P0.05).流感样病例罹患率为3.0%(28/936).急性上呼吸道感染病例以自行服药为主(68.0%),到医院就诊占38.6%(59/153),个体诊所就诊占44.1%(26/59).流感样病例以医院治疗为主且经济负担较重(H=19.2,P0.05).2006年居民流感疫苗调查接种率为10.8%(101/936),各年龄组接种率差异有统计学意义(x2=64.7,P0.05).结论 重庆市城区居民急性上呼吸道感染病例罹患率较高,流感样病例罹患率较低,病例病情较轻,流感疫苗接种率低.     

自我管理教育模式对糖尿病患者健康教育效果的影响

目的探讨运用自我管理教育模式对糖尿病患者进行健康教育的效果。方法对78例糖尿病患者进行为期10个月的自我管理教育,比较教育前后患者的自我管理能力及血糖值的变化。结果患者的自我管理能力总分由（5．38±1．06）分提高到（7．28±0．86）分,空腹血糖值及餐后2h血糖值均较教育前低,P〈0．01,差异有统计学意义。结论自我管理教育可提高糖尿病患者的自我管理能力和自我效能,降低血糖值,加强了健康教育的效果。     

Job satisfaction among a multigenerational nursing workforce

Aim To explore generational differences in job satisfaction. Background Effective retention strategies are required to mitigate the international nursing shortage. Job satisfaction, a strong and consistent predictor of retention, may differ across generations. Understanding job satisfaction generational differences may lead to increasing clarity about generation‐specific retention approaches. Method The Ontario Nurse Survey collected data from 6541 Registered Nurses. Participants were categorized as Baby Boomer, Generation X or Generation Y based on birth year. Multivariate analysis of variance explored generational differences for overall and specific satisfaction components. Results In overall job satisfaction and five specific satisfaction components, Baby Boomers were significantly more satisfied than Generations X and Y. Conclusion It is imperative to improve job satisfaction for younger generations of nurses. Implications for Nursing Management Strategies to improve job satisfaction for younger generations of nurses may include creating a shared governance framework where nurses are empowered to make decisions. Implementing shared governance, through nurse‐led unit‐based councils, may lead to greater job satisfaction, particularly for younger nurses. Opportunities to self schedule or job share may be other potential approaches to increase job satisfaction, especially for younger generations of nurses. Another potential strategy would be to aggressively provide and support education and career‐development opportunities.     

Cardiac misconceptions: comparisons among nurses, nursing students and people with heart disease in Taiwan

Title. Cardiac misconceptions: comparisons among nurses, nursing students and people with heart disease in Taiwan. Aim. This paper is a report of a study to examine the misconceived and potentially maladaptive beliefs (cardiac misconceptions) about heart disease held by nurses, nursing students and people with heart disease in Taiwan. Background. Research suggests that misconceived and maladaptive beliefs about heart disease influence outcomes in people with heart disease, and that eliciting and dispelling incorrect beliefs can reduce disability in this population. However, nurses do not routinely elicit maladaptive beliefs or attempt to dispel them. Method. Between October 2005 and March 2006, a survey was conducted using version 1 of the York Cardiac Beliefs Questionnaire to measure cardiac misconceptions in 64 hospital‐based nurses (13 of whom were cardiac nurses), 134 nursing students and 238 people with heart disease. Results. Nursing students held fewer cardiac misconceptions than nurses (P = 0·042). There were no statistically significant differences in the numbers of misconceptions between cardiac and general nurses, and no statistically significant associations between level of qualification, years of nursing experience and number of misconceptions. Nurses with higher levels of education were more likely to hold fewer misconceptions (P = 0·24). Patients held statistically significantly more misconceptions about heart problems than nurses (P < 0·001). Conclusion. Nurses who are involved in the care for people with heart disease have a responsibility to assess and dispel people’s misconceptions about their condition, and therefore continuing professional education is required to develop this clinical expertise. Future research should focus on methods of dispelling cardiac misconceptions in both nursing and patient education.     

军队医院聘用护士科研能力的调查分析

目的　了解聘用护士对科研活动的认识及科研水平现状。方法　自行设计问卷 ,调查 10 5名聘用护士的科研能力。结果　聘用护士对参加科研活动、撰写论文的认识不足 ,工作 2～ 6年的聘用护士撰写与发表论文较少 ,发表率与军人护士比较 ,经统计学分析 ,有显著性差异 (P <0 .0 1)。结论　重视聘用护士科研能力的培养 ;对聘用护士参加科研活动 ,做出明确要求 ;定期举办论文写作学习班及新业务、新知识讲座 ;提高专业及外语理论水平 ;加大护理信息量等举措是提高聘用护士科研素质的有效途径。     

A health comparison of Alabama nurses versus US, UK, and Canadian normative populations

This article is one of a two part series examining the people and environment associated with patient handling. The approach used was that of an occupational injury investigation of a job class, which incorporates defining in the task, environment, tools, and worker health status. Hence, the objective of this portion of the research was to develop a method and use it to compare the physical and mental health of Alabama nurses with known normative populations to determine a baseline of overall health. For this purpose, the validated SF-36© survey was used to collect data on Alabama nurses who had been registered in the state for at least one year. The potential participant pool included 1000 nurses randomly selected from more than 49,000 registered. Physical mailers with a pre-paid return envelope and a follow-up reminder post-card were used. A return rate of 10% was expected based on nursing literature. One hundred and one surveys were returned with 87 being complete. Results confirmed that nursing in the US is a female dominated profession with the survey matching both the Alabama and US national average of 92%. Comparisons of the sample data to general populations yielded significant differences in 3 of the 8 outcome measures: social functioning; physical functioning; bodily pain. In each of these measures, Alabama nurses had a reduced health status compared to at least one comparative population. Additionally, data related to body mass index (BMI) for Alabama nurses were stratified by gender and age. Results indicated 28% had a “healthy” BMI with 37% and 35% of the nurses being “overweight” or “obese”, respectively. Consequently, results suggest Alabama nurses have a reduced health status compared to normative populations and show similar but not identical BMI trends to the general populations for the state of Alabama and the US, which warrants concerns about potential declines in health status among caregivers.

Significance to healthcare

Nurses constitute the largest proportion of the healthcare industry’s workforce. Understanding the perceptions of health status of this employee group is essential to gain further information about possible influences of health on nurses’ ability to continue to perform their jobs.     

Are People With Chronic Diseases Interested in Using Telehealth? A Cross-Sectional Postal Survey

Background

There is growing interest in telehealth—the use of technology to support the remote delivery of health care and promote self-management—as a potential alternative to face-to-face care for patients with chronic diseases. However, little is known about what precipitates interest in the use of telehealth among these patients.

Objective

This survey forms part of a research program to develop and evaluate a telehealth intervention for patients with two exemplar chronic diseases: depression and raised cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. The survey was designed to explore the key factors that influence interest in using telehealth in these patient groups.

Methods

Thirty-four general practices were recruited from two different regions within England. Practice records were searched for patients with (1) depression (aged 18+ years) or (2) 10-year risk of CVD ≥20% and at least one modifiable risk factor (aged 40-74 years). Within each general practice, 54 patients in each chronic disease group were randomly selected to receive a postal questionnaire. Questions assessed five key constructs: sociodemographics, health needs, difficulties accessing health care, technology-related factors (availability, confidence using technology, perceived benefits and drawbacks of telehealth), and satisfaction with prior use of telehealth. Respondents also rated their interest in using different technologies for telehealth (phone, email and Internet, or social media). Relationships between the key constructs and interest in using the three mediums of telehealth were examined using multivariable regression models.

Results

Of the 3329 patients who were sent a study questionnaire, 44.40% completed it (872/1740, 50.11% CVD risk; 606/1589, 38.14% depression). Overall, there was moderate interest in using phone-based (854/1423, 60.01%) and email/Internet-based (816/1425, 57.26%) telehealth, but very little interest in social media (243/1430, 16.99%). After adjusting for health needs, access difficulties, technology-related factors, and prior use of telehealth, interest in telehealth had largely no association with sociodemographic variables. For both patient groups and for each of the three technology mediums, the most important constructs related to interest in telehealth were having the confidence to use the associated technology, as well as perceiving greater advantages and fewer disadvantages from using telehealth. To illustrate, greater confidence using phone technologies (b=.16, 95% CI 0.002-0.33), while also perceiving more benefits (b=.31, 95% CI 0.21-0.40) and fewer drawbacks (b=-.23, 95% CI -0.28 to -0.17) to using telehealth were associated with more interest in using phone-based telehealth technologies for patients with depression.

Conclusions

There is widespread interest in using phone-based and email/Internet-based telehealth among patients with chronic diseases, regardless of their health status, access difficulties, age, or many other sociodemographic factors. This interest could be increased by helping patients gain confidence using technologies and through highlighting benefits and addressing concerns about telehealth. While the same pattern exists for social media telehealth, interest in using these technologies is minimal.