Sailing through Ethnographic Data Collection (*on a hospital ship)

This is a reflection on the experiences of data collection by the researcher positioned as a participant observer whilst conducting an ethnographic study of nurses volunteering in an international humanitarian context on a hospital ship

Challenges and Reflections from an International, Humanitarian, Short-term Surgical Mission on Collecting Ethnographic Data in a Remote Environment

Background The experiences of nurses participating in ethnographic fieldwork have been well documented, but often feature short-term, intermittent periods in the field of less than a day. Aim To provide an overview of methodological issues related to collecting data while undertaking a focused ethnography of nurses volunteering with a humanitarian organisation providing surgical care in a remote setting. Discussion Particular challenges during the fieldwork included limited space and privacy influencing data collection and secure storage; sporadic and unreliable communications limiting contact with other members of the research team; the challenges of withdrawing from the intensity of the setting; and navigating blurred boundaries between the roles of clinician and researcher. Conclusion Social research in practice, despite the best of intentions and significant planning, may not always travel the expected path of rational enquiry

An Ethnographic Study of Nursing on a Surgery Ship Providing Humanitarian Care

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Health.Less than half the world’s population has access to essential health services (United Nations, 2020), the majority of whom live in low to middle-income countries (LMICs; Meara et al., 2015). The inability to access health services denies people a life of dignity. To bridge this current gap in the provision of health care, nongovernmental organisations are responding by deploying specialist, short term healthcare teams (Ng-Kamstra et al., 2016). Nurses, as the largest group of health professionals, provide care within those teams. Substantial literature is linked to nurses deployed in a disaster response situation, However, there is limited research into nurses’ roles within teams meeting a humanitarian response outside that urgent disaster context, and what their contribution brings. The purpose of this ethnographic study was to explore nursing involvement within humanitarian healthcare provision to generate insight into the area of humanitarian nursing in an acute, short term, nondisaster context and to extend the research literature surrounding this topic. The study was framed within the context of a faith-based nongovernmental organisation delivering specialist surgery on a civilian hospital ship. The aim was to advance the mission and purpose of humanitarian (nondisaster) nursing, providing a detailed description of the culture of nursing care in that setting. An interpretivist standpoint, influenced by a social constructivist theoretical position, was taken. Data were collected over 6 months, using participant observation, a reflection of artefacts, and the collective voice of volunteer nurses. Thematic analysis was conducted considering Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) guidelines. Findings elucidated nursing within the context of a community of nursing practice (CoNP), revealing four major themes: (1) “What drew us here?” (expressions of motivation), (2) “Who we are and how we do what we do” (expressions of engagement), (3) challenges (embracing change), and (4) development (expressions of transformation). This study contributes new knowledge by describing the culture of nursing and how nurses enact their care in a previously undescribed humanitarian context. Based on the analysis of findings, a professional practice model (PPM) named HHEALED was proposed. An in-depth application of the model was made to the specific organisational context framing the study. Recommendations arising from this study address nurses’ social and professional roles within humanitarian care that could further validate and strengthen policies and programs for the delivery of humanitarian health care for a mobile platform providing specialist surgical care

CATH: comprehensive structural and functional annotations for genome sequences.

The latest version of the CATH-Gene3D protein structure classification database (4.0, http://www.cathdb.info) provides annotations for over 235,000 protein domain structures and includes 25 million domain predictions. This article provides an update on the major developments in the 2 years since the last publication in this journal including: significant improvements to the predictive power of our functional families (FunFams); the release of our 'current' putative domain assignments (CATH-B); a new, strictly non-redundant data set of CATH domains suitable for homology benchmarking experiments (CATH-40) and a number of improvements to the web pages

Between the blabbering noise of individuals or the silent dialogue of many: a collective response to 'Postdigital Science and Education' (Jandrić et al. 2018)

This article is a multi-authored response to an editorial ‵Postdigital Science and Education′ published in 2018 by Petar Jandrić, Jeremy Knox, Tina Besley, Thomas Ryberg, Juha Suoranta and Sarah Hayes in Educational Philosophy and Theory as a mission statement for the journal Postdigital Science and Education. Nineteen authors were invited to produce their sections, followed by two author-reviewers who examined the article as a whole. Authors’ responses signal the sense of urgency for developing the concept of the postdigital and caution about attempts at simplifying complex relationships between human beings and technology. Whilst the digital indeed seems to become invisible, we simultaneously need to beware of its apparent absence and to avoid over-emphasizing its effects. In this attempt, authors offer a wide range of signposts for future research such as ‘the critical postdigital’ and ‘postdigital reflexivity’; they also warn about the group’s own shortcomings such as the lack of ‘real’ sense of collectivity. They emphasize that postdigital education must remain a common good, discuss its various negative aspects such as smartphone addiction and nomophobia, and exhibit some positive examples of postdigital educational praxis. They discuss various aspects of postdigital identities and point towards the need for a postdigital identity theory. With these varied and nuanced responses, the article opens a wide spectrum of opportunity for the development of postdigital approaches to science and education for the future

Public involvement in the governance of population-level biomedical research: unresolved questions and future directions.

Population-level biomedical research offers new opportunities to improve population health, but also raises new challenges to traditional systems of research governance and ethical oversight. Partly in response to these challenges, various models of public involvement in research are being introduced. Yet, the ways in which public involvement should meet governance challenges are not well understood. We conducted a qualitative study with 36 experts and stakeholders using the World Café method to identify key governance challenges and explore how public involvement can meet these challenges. This brief report discusses four cross-cutting themes from the study: the need to move beyond individual consent; issues in benefit and data sharing; the challenge of delineating and understanding publics; and the goal of clarifying justifications for public involvement. The report aims to provide a starting point for making sense of the relationship between public involvement and the governance of population-level biomedical research, showing connections, potential solutions and issues arising at their intersection. We suggest that, in population-level biomedical research, there is a pressing need for a shift away from conventional governance frameworks focused on the individual and towards a focus on collectives, as well as to foreground ethical issues around social justice and develop ways to address cultural diversity, value pluralism and competing stakeholder interests. There are many unresolved questions around how this shift could be realised, but these unresolved questions should form the basis for developing justificatory accounts and frameworks for suitable collective models of public involvement in population-level biomedical research governance

Between the blabbering noise of individuals or the silent dialogue of many: a collective response to ‵Postdigital Science and Education′ (Jandrić et al. 2018)

This article is a multi-authored response to an editorial ‵Postdigital Science and Education′ published in 2018 by Petar Jandrić, Jeremy Knox, Tina Besley, Thomas Ryberg, Juha Suoranta and Sarah Hayes in Educational Philosophy and Theory as a mission statement for the journal Postdigital Science and Education. Nineteen authors were invited to produce their sections, followed by two author-reviewers who examined the article as a whole. Authors’ responses signal the sense of urgency for developing the concept of the postdigital and caution about attempts at simplifying complex relationships between human beings and technology. Whilst the digital indeed seems to become invisible, we simultaneously need to beware of its apparent absence and to avoid overemphasizing its effects. In this attempt, authors offer a wide range of signposts for future research such as ‘the critical postdigital’ and ‘postdigital reflexivity’; they also warn about the group’s own shortcomings such as the lack of ‘real’sense of collectivity. They emphasize that postdigital education must remain a common good, discuss its various negative aspects such as smartphone addiction and nomophobia, and exhibit some positive examples of postdigital educational praxis. They discuss various aspects of postdigital identities and point towards the need for a postdigital identity theory. With these varied and nuanced responses, the article opens a wide spectrum of opportunity for the development of postdigital approaches to science and education for the future

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nursing students? navigation of their nursing programmes and experiences of resilience. A qualitative study

Introduction : High-quality pre-registration student nurse training and development is integral to developing a sustainable and competent global nursing workforce. Internationally, student nurse recruitment rates have increased since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, attrition rates for student nurses are high. During the pandemic, many student nurses considered leaving the programme due to academic concerns, feeling overwhelmed, and doubting their clinical skills. Little was known about the extent to which nursing education prior to COVID-19 had prepared students for their role in managing the healthcare crisis or the impact on their resilience. Thus, this study aimed to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted on the resilience levels of student nurses across the United Kingdom. Methods : Data were collected as part of a multi-site qualitative study named ‘COV-ED Nurse’ and involved pre-placement surveys, placement diaries, and post-placement interviews with nursing students. Student nurse participants were recruited from across the United Kingdom, from all years of study, and from all four nursing branches: children, adult, mental health, and learning disabilities. Participants were asked to complete a pre-placement survey that collected demographic details and information about their placement expectations. They were also asked to record a weekly audio-visual or written diary to describe their placement experiences, and, on completion of their placements, students were interviewed to explore their experiences of this time. Data were thematically analysed using the Framework Approach. Ethical approvals were obtained. Results : Two hundred and sixteen students took part in the wider study. The current study involved a subset of 59 students’ data. Four main themes were identified: ‘coping with increased levels of acuity’, ‘perceived risks of the pandemic’, ‘resilience when facing uncertainty and isolation’, and ‘the importance of coping mechanisms and support structures.’ Discussion : From this study, we have generated insights that can be applied to nursing research, education, policy, and practice and identified the wide-ranging impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on student nurses and their abilities to remain resilient in an unstable environment. The value of communication and support networks from a wide range of sources was highlighted as key to navigating many uncertainties. In addition, the extent to which students were able to navigate their personal and professional roles and identities influenced their ability to cope with and continue along their training pathways