Burden among informal caregivers of individuals with heart failure: A mixed methods study

AIMS: To develop a comprehensive understanding of caregiver burden and its predictors from a dyadic perspective. METHOD: A convergent mixed methods design was used. This study was conducted in three European countries, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands. A sample of 229 HF patients and caregivers was enrolled between February 2017 and December 2018 from the internal medicine ward, outpatient clinic, and private cardiologist medical office. In total, 184 dyads completed validated scales to measure burden, and 50 caregivers participated in semi-structured interviews to better understand the caregiver experience. The Care Dependency Scale, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and SF-8 Health Survey were used for data collection. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify the predictors and qualitative content analysis was performed on qualitative data. The results were merged using joint displays. RESULTS: Caregiver burden was predicted by the patient's worse cognitive impairment, lower physical quality of life, and a higher care dependency perceived by the caregivers. The qualitative and mixed analysis demonstrated that caregiver burden has a physical, emotional, and social nature. CONCLUSIONS: Caregiver burden can affect the capability of informal caregivers to support and care for their relatives with heart failure. Developing and evaluating individual and community-based strategies to address caregiver burden and enhance their quality of life are warranted

New frontiers for qualitative textual data analysis: a multimethod statistical approach

In recent years, the increase in textual data production has meant that researchers require faster text analysis techniques and software to reliably produce knowledge for the scientific-nursing community. Automatic text data analysis opens the frontiers to a new research area combining the depth of analysis typical of qualitative research and the stability of measurements required for quantitative studies. Thanks to the statistical-computational approach, it proposes to study more or less extensive written texts produced in natural language to reveal lexical and linguistic worlds and extract useful and meaningful information for researchers. This article aims to provide an overview of this methodology, which has been rarely used in the nursing community to date

Perceptions of nursing staff and students regarding attrition: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVES: This research aims to explore the perceptions of nursing students and directors of bachelor of nursing degree courses regarding reasons for attrition amongst nursing students. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted using inductive thematic analysis. The study included a purposeful sample of 12 students and 4 directors of bachelor of nursing degree courses. RESULTS: As reasons for attrition, the directors highlighted a lack of preparation for nursing studies and students' limited awareness of possibilities for support and learning. The students emphasized insufficient support from academic staff and poor course organization. Economic and family issues and a misunderstanding of the professional role of a nurse were cited as reasons by both directors and students. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide important insight into attrition in the nursing programme. Further research is warranted, particularly in other contexts. Addressing student attrition requires a comprehensive approach that includes the provision of adequate support systems, mentorship, and resources for students

Designing and conducting qualitative research across countries and cultures: challenges for inclusiveness and rigour

Qualitative research is fundamental to understanding the nature and complexity of human phenomena. While cultural and psychometric validations exist for quantitative tools, the same cannot be said of qualitative ones. There are other many challenges when conducting a multinational qualitative study, which includes different cultural and linguistic 'biases'. This paper presents some key issues that researchers may encounter when designing and developing multinational and multicultural qualitative studies, and also provides some strategies to overcome difficulties and ensure rigour