Listening as a method of addressing psychological distress

Aims  This paper discusses the values of therapeutic listening and ways that emotional difficulties can impact palliative nurses' abilities to provide psychological care.
Background  Recent literature indicates that providing psychological care can burden some healthcare professionals including nurses; who may lack the necessary competencies or organizational resources to carry out their roles.
Evaluation  References drawn from the databases: all EBM reviews, BRITISH NURSING INDEX, CINAHL, PSYCH INFO and MEDLINE and EMBASE are discussed.
Key issues  Psychological care is considered critical to providing holistic care. Yet the literature suggests engaging in such work makes emotional demands on the professionals attempting to carry it out and is associated with psychological difficulties including burnout.
Conclusion  Clinical supervision can help reduce the distress caused by emotionally charged situations. Thoughtful clinical supervision can also contribute to safe and effective health care.
Implications for Nursing Management  Nursing would benefit from understanding more about the effects on healthcare professionals of repeated exposure to emotionally charged situations and benefits that clinical supervision can offer to health care.     

A concept analysis of empathy

The concept of empathy lies amid much confusion This analysis addresses that confusion using Walker and Avant's model of concept analysis, and looks at what empathy is is it trait or state, is it dynamic or static, and how is it recognized and measured' Implications of these findings are discussed, limitations of the study are acknowledged and areas for further work suggested     

Peppermint oil: a treatment for postoperative nausea

This paper describes a research study to investigate the efficacy of peppermint oil as a treatment for postoperative nausea. It uses a three-condition experimental design using statistical analysis to compare groups. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to establish significance and the Mann–Whitney test to differentiate significance between the groups. The control, placebo and experimental groups of gynaecological patients were compared, using variables known to affect postoperative nausea. They were found to be homogeneous for the purposes of the study. A statistically significant difference was demonstrated on the day of operation, using the Kruskal-Wallis test, P = 0·0487. Using the Mann-Whitney test the difference was shown to be between the placebo and experimental group ( U =3; P = 0·02). The experimental group also required less traditional antiemetics and received more opioid analgesia postoperatively. The total cost of the treatment was 48 pence per person.     

The perceptions of nurses towards barriers to the safe administration of medicines in mental health settings

The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of barriers to safe administration of medicines in mental health settings. A cross‐sectional survey was used, and 70 mental health nurses and 41 students were recruited from a mental health trust and a university in Yorkshire, UK. Respondents completed a questionnaire comprising closed‐ and open‐response questions. One item, which contained seven sub‐items, addressed barriers to safe administration of medication. Seven themes—five nurse‐ and prescriber‐focused and two service user‐focused—were abstracted from the data, depicting a range of barriers to safe administration of medicines. Nurse‐ and prescriber‐focused themes included environmental distractions, insufficient pharmacological knowledge, poorly written and incomplete medication documentation, inability to calculate medication dosage correctly, and work‐related pressure. Service user‐focused themes comprised poor adherence to medication regimens, and cultural and linguistic communication barriers with service users. Tackling medication administration error is predominantly an organizational rather than individual practitioner responsibility.     

Analysing clinical practice guidelines. A method of documentary analysis

This paper will describe a method of documentary analysis used in a study examining the validity of clinical guideliness issued to health visitors to assist them in identifying families requiring increased health visitor support. This forms the preliminary work for a wider study examining how health visitors decide to increase support to vulnerable families. Although a number of published research texts dicuss the value of records and documents as important data sources for health service researchers, there is relatively little information avialable about the processes of documentary analysis. This paper offers one method for analysing clinical practice guidelines, it describes the development of a critique and analysis tool and expolres the strengths an weaknesses of this particular analysis instrument.     

Integrating what is taught with what is practised in the nursing curriculum: a multi-dimensional model

The discrepancy between nursing as it is taught in the classroom (theory) and nursing as it is experienced by students in the clinical setting (practice) has long been a source of concern to teachers, practitioners and learners This paper provides an overview of the literature on the theory-practice gap, exploring some of the many reasons cited for its existence as well as suggested ways of bridging the gap Drawing upon the findings, a comprehensive and multidimensional model designed to integrate theory and practice of nursing is proposed for use by curriculum planners Fundamental to the model is the notion of collaboration between education and service staff at all stages of the curriculum process The model highlights eight key areas for the curriculum team to consider the curriculum model to be used, sequencing of taught content and clinical practice, the content of the course, teaching methods to be used, assessment criteria, the role of tutors in the learning process, the contribution of service staff, and the influence of the hidden curriculum It is argued that only through such a comprehensive model can integration of theory and practice within the curriculum be achieved Adoption of the model, however, will require considerable individual and organizational commitment     

Assessing mental competence of patients and relatives

This paper presents a discussion on the assessment of mental competence of patients and relatives in the health care setting Their decision-making ability is explored with particular reference to the giving of consent for nursing intervention and medical treatment It is suggested that, in addition to obvious psychological or neurological disorders, decision-making ability will be influenced by psychological stress and the ability to communicate effectively It highlights the ambiguity of mental competence assessment and concludes that such assessments will, to a greater or lesser extent, be subject to value-laden judgement