Through the lens of Merleau-Ponty: advancing the phenomenological approach to nursing research

Abstract   Phenomenology has proved to be a popular methodology for nursing research. I argue, however, that phenomenological nursing research could be strengthened by greater attention to its philosophical underpinnings. Many research reports devote more page space to procedure than to the philosophy that purportedly guided it. The philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty is an excellent fit for nursing, although his work has received less attention than that of Husserl and Heidegger. In this paper, I examine the life and thought of Merleau-Ponty, with emphasis on concepts, such as perception, intentionality and embodiment, which have particular relevance to the discipline of nursing.     

Is the grass any greener? Canada to United States of America nurse migration

Aim:  Little or no attempt has been made to determine why nurses leave Canada, remain outside of Canada, or under what circumstances might return to Canada. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of Canadian-educated registered nurses working in the USA.
Data sources:  Data for this study include the 1996, 2000 and 2004 USA National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses and reports from the same time period from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
Findings:  This research demonstrates that full-time work opportunities and the potential for ongoing education are key factors that contribute to the migration of Canadian nurses to the USA. In addition, Canada appears to be losing baccalaureate-prepared nurses to the USA.
Discussion:  These findings underscore how health care policy decisions such as workforce retention strategies can have a direct influence on the nursing workforce. Policy emphasis should be on providing incentives for Canadian-educated nurses to stay in Canada, and obtain full-time work while continuing to develop professionally.
Conclusion:  Findings from this study provide policy leaders with important information regarding employment options of interest to migrating nurses.
Study limitations:  This study describes and contrasts nurses in the data set, thus providing information on the context of nurse migration from Canada to the USA. Data utilized in this study are cross-sectional in nature, thus the opportunity to follow individual nurses over time was not possible.     

Research Article: Effects of a cognitive adjustment program for Thai parents

Child physical abuse is recognized as a major public health problem that affects children and is likely to become increasingly common. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of a cognitive adjustment program on parental attitudes toward child rearing and the potential for this abuse. Child‐care centers were randomly allocated to either the intervention or the control group. The sample included 116 Thai parents of children aged 1–6 years. The intervention group attended the cognitive adjustment program while the control group received the usual services. The results showed that, after program completion, the intervention group had statistically significantly better parental attitudes toward child rearing, but not a significantly lower potential for CPA than the control group. We concluded that the cognitive adjustment program was effective in altering parental attitudes toward child rearing. However, in order to enhance its efficacy, the program should be modified to be more intensive and it should be studied further for its effect on the potential for abuse.     

Updating United States psychiatric nurses in a state hospital

Nurses who care for psychiatric patients are often located in settings far from nursing schools and medical centres. As these often provide workshops and training in order to familiarize nurses with current concepts, not only in the field of psychiatry but in medical, surgical, maternity and paediatric fields, it is important that a mechanism be developed to ensure that nurses in distant settings receive training on these topics. This paper outlines the assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation phases on the initial 'Psychiatric Nursing Update' held at Logansport State Hospital during 1986–1987. The initial 'update' was evaluated by nurses as successful and has been continued.     

Collaborative nursing leadership project in the People's Republic of China

SPICER, J.G., GUO, Y., LIU, H., HIRSCH, J., ZHAO, H., MA, W. & HOLZEMER, W. (2010) Collaborative nursing leadership project in the People's Republic of China. International Nursing Review 57 , 180–187 Background: A nursing leadership project for directors of nursing (DONs) in China was implemented by the Ministry of Health, Peking Union Medical College, School of Nursing; Chinese Nurses' Association and University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing. Aims: The aims were: (1) to establish a leadership project, (2) to survey DONs on the perceived importance of role competencies, and (3) to develop an education program. Methods: A survey was completed by the DONs on the importance of role competencies related to the forces of magnetism. The DONs rated their job satisfaction. Four leadership educational modules were developed. Findings: The 28‐item survey was completed by 208 (68%) DONs from public tertiary hospitals who rated each item on a six‐point Likert scale. The mean scores of the items ranged from 4.29 [standard deviation (SD) 1.21] to 5.66 (SD 0.70), suggesting they felt that most were very important. DONs who reported higher job satisfaction perceived two dimensions of the forces (structural empowerment and exemplary professional practice) as significantly more important than those with lower job satisfaction. The greatest work challenge reported was shortage of nurses. The four educational modules were pilot tested with ten DONs in Beijing and they provided positive feedback. Conclusion: The DONs perceived that the forces of magnetism competencies were important to their work settings in China. The modules were positively received and plans are underway to develop a train‐the‐trainer program. Study limitations: While the instrument was developed for this study, the validity and reliability were demonstrated.     

Psychometric testing of the Immigrant Barriers to Health Care Scale: Hispanic Version

Barriers to care contribute to health inequities for immigrant populations. Although inadequate health insurance is a known barrier, other factors impact the issue. Few instruments exist to specifically measure these other barriers. The purpose of this study was to test the Immigrant Barriers to Health Care Scale – Hispanic Version. It was first pilot-tested in southern California with a Mexican population. After refinement, the instrument was tested in a north-eastern sample of diverse Hispanic adults. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis. Factor loadings and communalities were used to assess the adequacy of the scale's items. Six items were deleted due to ambiguous factor loadings. The final 11 items loaded onto four factors and explained 54.58% of the variance. The coefficient alpha was 0.81 for the instrument. The Immigrant Barriers to Health Care Scale is a reliable and valid tool. Its further use and reporting with other socially and economically disadvantaged groups is advised.