Meanings of knowledge and Identity in public health nursing in a time of transition : interpretations of public health nurses' narratives.

Background: A changing healthcare system affects the professional identity of nursing groups. Public health nursing has experienced challenges in balancing the paternalistic expert ideology and the empowerment participation ideology. A strong professional identity can legitimate nursing, and possibly influence the quality of nursing work. Narrations from practice can illuminate the nurses’ theoretical and practical knowledge and help illustrate their collective professional identity. Aim: To illuminate the meaning of public health nursing knowledge and professional identity in a continuously changing public health nursing practice. Method: A qualitative interview study with a purposeful sample of 23 Norwegian public health nurses was carried out. Data were analysed using phenomenological hermeneutics, a descriptive method inspired by Ricoeur’s philosophy of interpretation. Findings: Three themes emerged (i) Being a generalist: emphasising the need for generalised knowledge and using clinical judgement, (ii) Being one who empowers: focusing on resources and coping strategies, (iii) Being occupied with individual problem solving: focusing on individuals with special needs, using standardised techniques and protocols, and lacking specialised knowledge. Conclusion: Interpretation of the nurses’ stories illuminated their need for generalised evidence-based knowledge, but also the importance of using sound clinical judgement in a diverse complex practice, where service users need encouragement, support and expert advice. Time pressures can limit the nurses‘ involvement. Many had an individual problem-focus more than a primary prevention focus, in contrast to governmental regulations stating that Norwegian public health nurses should focus on health promotion and primary prevention. Public health nurses have a broad generalised knowledge of their special target group giving them a ‘specialist generalist’ role. Clarification of this role, in relation to jurisdictional borders, can create a strong identity at a time when healthcare policy promotes economic values, professional neutrality and increased collaboration

The economic viability of biomass crops versus conventional agricultural systems and its potential impact on farm incomes in Ireland

Ireland is currently importing 90 percent of its energy. The burning of domestically produced nonrenewable peat provides 4.9 percent of Ireland’s total primary energy supply while renewable biomass crops currently account for only 1 percent of the domestically produced energy supply. The Irish government have set a target of 30% of peat (approximately 0.9 million tonnes) used for electricity generation to be replaced by renewable energy crops. This would be equivalent to approximately 0.6 million tonnes of biomass crops or approximately 45,000 hectares of biomass. Direct payments and subsidies accounted for over 100 percent of average family farm income on beef and sheep farms in 2006. Therefore there appears to be significant potential for Irish farmers to replace conventional agricultural enterprises with biomass crops. A probit model was built to identify the socio-economic characteristics of farmers who may be willing to adopt energy crop production. The results from this were used in the construction of a linear programming model to determine the optimal enterprise for each farmer at varying energy prices.Willow, Miscanthus, Co-firing, Net present value, Probit, Linear programming, Agricultural Finance, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Smart economics: evaluation of Australian aid support for women’s economic empowerment

This report evaluates how effective Australia has been in achieving gender equality outcomes in economic development programs. Executive summary Promoting women’s economic empowerment is ‘smart economics’. When women are fully involved in economic development, countries become more equitable and prosperous. Worldwide, there has been steady progress for women and girls in the key sectors of health and education. However, Australia—like most donors—has had limited success in achieving gender equality outcomes in economic development programs. Last financial year, approximately 25 per cent of the Australian aid budget was invested in the economic sectors, ranging from primary industry through to the production of goods and provision of services. Australian aid support for economic development is mainly concentrated on agriculture, rural development and transport. Smaller, but still significant, amounts of aid focus on energy, trade, and business and banking. Less than a third of this economic sector investment can demonstrate an explicit focus on gender equality. This is a concern, especially given Australia’s longstanding policy of ‘mainstreaming’ gender equality in its aid program

The meaning of dignity for older adults : A meta-synthesis

Dignified care is a central issue in the nursing care of older adults. Nurses are expected to treat older adults with dignity, and older adults wish to be treated in a dignified manner. Researchers have recommended investigating the concept of dignity based on specific contexts and population groups. This meta-synthesis study aims to explore the understandings of dignity from the perspective of older adults in the Nordic countries. Synthesising findings from qualitative studies on older adults? experiences of dignity has provided important insight into what can be essential for dignified care in a Nordic context. The importance of visibility and recognition for the experience of dignity is an overarching theme in all the studies. The participants? descriptions mostly implicated an existence dominated by a lack of recognition. The older adults do not feel valued as people or for their contribution to society and strive to tone down their illnesses in an attempt to become more visible and acknowledged as people. Toning down their illnesses and masking their needs can protect their independence. At the same time, becoming less visible can leave them without a voice. The metaphorical phrase protected and exposed by a cloak of invisibility is used to express the authors? overall interpretation of the findings. Lack of recognition and being socially invisible is a genuine threat to older adults? dignity.Peer reviewe

Livsmod

Courage to beIn the first part of the essay the question is: What is and what characterizes courage to be? - I here distinguish between courage to be in children, where it is attached to children´s play, and the courage to be in adults, where ist combined with self-conquest and with integration of the ability to act purposely. I stress five dimensions in courage to be: power, possibility, vitality, courage and meaning. It is made clear, that even if courage to be in adults are not attached to bodily unfolding, yet it is stored in the body and therefore can be called forth in a bodily way. In the second part of the essay I discuss the relation between courage to be on one side and fear of life, selfishness and joy of life on the other side. It is demonstrated, that what nourishes and maintains courage to be is joy of life and self-devotion. The thesis of the essay is accordingly that courage to be is created and maintained partly by vitality in its different forms, partly by its attachment to joy of life

Targeted Deposits in Pennsylvania’s Keystone Scholars Child Development Account Program

In 2018, Pennsylvania became the first state to legislate a statewide, automatic CDA for all children at birth. In 2021, Pennsylvania achieved another first: an automatic targeted deposit within the Keystone Scholars program to build wealth for financially vulnerable children. This brief examines two new targeted policy initiatives being piloted for Pennsylvania mothers who participate in WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. The Bright Future Booster and Milestone pilots represent important steps in expanding the Keystone Scholars program and serving as models for other states. Pennsylvania Treasury and the PA 529 make this CDA policy innovation possible through strong partnerships with the Pennsylvania Department of Health, numerous, engaged community organizations, and several committed private foundations

Valuing the risk associated with willow and miscanthus relative to conventional agricultural systems

The agronomic characteristics of willow and miscanthus make these crops highly susceptible to risk. This is particularly true in a country such as Ireland which has limited experience in the production of these crops. Issues such as soil and climate suitability have as yet to be resolved. The lengthy production lifespan of energy crops only serve to heighten the level of risk that affects key variables. The uncertainty surrounding the risk variables involved in producing willow and miscanthus, such as the annual yield level and the energy price, make it difficult to accurately calculate the returns of such a project. The returns from willow and miscanthus are compared with those of conventional agricultural enterprises using Stochastic Efficiency with Respect to a Function (SERF). A risk premium is calculated which farmers would need to be compensated with in order for them to be indifferent between their current enterprise and switching to biomass crop production. With the exception of spring barley, a risk premium is required if farmers are to be indifferent between their current enterprise and willow or miscanthus. The value of the risk premium required to entice farmers to switch to miscanthus production is significantly less than that required for willow. This suggests that a greater level of risk is associated with willow than with miscanthus.Biomass, SERF, Risk Premium, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty,

The Evolution of shorthand as a school subject.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University N.B.: Pages 65, 78 missing from originals

Trøstens stille stemme i helsesykepleiekonsultasjoner

Providing comfort is an integral aspect of nursing care and being comforted is a basic human need. This paper is concerned with the phenomenon of comfort in Norwegian public health nursing. Public health nurses in Norway do not provide curative care and their caring practice has been described as invisible. The aim of the paper is to explore the phenomenon of comfort in health promoting consultations involving public health nurses, parents, babies, children and young people. Levinasian philosophy mediates with the author when reflecting on these caring encounters. The interpretative process has shown that talking, touching, and listening provide comfort when the nurse shows professional presence and genuine concern.Å gi trøst er en integrert del av sykepleie, og å få trøst er et grunnleggende menneskelig behov. I dette vitenskapelige essayet ser vi nærmere på hvordan fenomenet trøst kommer til uttrykk i norsk helsesykepleiepraksis. Helsesykepleiere i Norge yter ikke pleietjenester, men tilbyr helsefremmende og forebyggende helsetjenester til barn og unge mellom 0 og 20 år. Deres omsorgspraksis har blitt beskrevet som usynlig. Hensikten med artikkelen er å utforske hvordan trøst kommer til uttrykk i helsesykepleiekonsultasjoner på helsestasjon for barn og ungdom og i skolehelsetjenesten. Eksempler fra empirisk forskning er utgangspunktet for refleksjonene og tolkningen. Levinas filosofi bidrar til å forstå trøst som en respons til et annet menneskets sårbarhet. Tolkningsprosessen har vist at det å snakke med, berøre og lytte til kan være en trøst når helsesykepleieren er oppriktig og viser at hun bryr seg med sin personlige og profesjonelle tilstedeværelse

An analysis of Norwegian public health nursing curricula: Where is the nursing literature?

Background - Norwegian public health nurses prevent diseases and promote health in children and young people aged 0–20 and their families. Public health nursing programs prepare students for their practical role and provide relevant theoretical knowledge. Objectives - To gain knowledge of the literature in the Norwegian public health nursing curricula, and to examine further the nursing base in these curricula. Design - An explorative and descriptive design was chosen. Sample - Reading lists based on syllabus documents from the 10 higher educational institutions in Norway offering programs in public health nursing. Measurements - A summative content analysis and a categorization of content from reading lists were performed. Results - Numerical information on the content and categorization of reading lists shows that social science and humanities literature dominates, followed by psychology and medicine. Nursing texts, theories and philosophy comprise only a minor part of the curricula. Conclusion - The paper provides valuable data on the theoretical focus in Norwegian public health nursing and raises important questions about the paucity of nursing texts in the curriculum. The imbalance in reading lists in Norway should be studied further and similar studies conducted in other countries to encourage reflection on the theoretical content of public health nursing education globally