Computer-mediated support group intervention for parents

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldPurpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a computer-mediated support group (CMSG) intervention for parents whose children had been diagnosed with cancer. Design and Methods: An evaluative one-group, before-and-after research design. A CMSG, an unstructured listserve group where participants used their E-mail for communication, was conducted over a 4-month period. Participation in the CMSG was offered to parents in Iceland whose children had completed cancer treatment in the past 5 years. Outcome measures were done: before the intervention (Time 1), after 2 months of intervention (Time 2) and after 4 months of intervention (Time 3) when the project ended. Measures included: demographic and background variables; health related vulnerability factors of parents: anxiety, depression, somatization, and stress; perceived mutual support; and use of the CMSG. Data were collected from November 2002 to June 2003. Twenty-one of 58 eligible parents participated in the study, with 71% retention rate for both post-tests. Findings: Mothers' depression decreased significantly from Time 2 to Time 3 (p<.03). Fathers' anxiety decreased significantly from Time 1 to Time 3 (p<.01). Fathers' stress decreased significantly from Time 2 to Time 3 (p<.02). To some extent, mothers and fathers perceived mutual support from participating in the CMSG. Both mothers and fathers used the CMSG by reading messages. Messages were primarily written by mothers. Conclusions:Study findings support further development of CMSGs for parents whose children have been diagnosed with cancer. Clinical Relevance: Using computer technology for support is particularly useful for dispersed populations and groups that have restrictions on their time. Computer-mediated support groups have been shown to be a valuable addition to, or substitute for, a traditional face-to-face mutual support group and might suit both genders equally

Educating nurse leaders to think globally with international collaborative learning

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked DownloadGiven the rapid pace of change and globalization, leaders in healthcare must be educated to think globally even if they only act locally. This short article discusses the experience of a collaborative online international learning (COIL) project between the University of Iceland (UI) and the University of Minnesota (UMN) in the United States. The project was embedded into graduate courses in nursing administration and leadership. COIL courses require substantial collaboration but, when done well, COIL transforms teaching so that global awareness of students and faculty is enhanced and widens their horizons as well as their cultural sensitivity

Sense of security during COVID-19 isolation improved with better health literacy - A cross-sectional study

Funding Information: This work was supported by the University of Iceland Research Fund , the Icelandic Nurses’ Association Research Fund and Landspitali University Hospital Science Fund ( A-2022-051 ). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The AuthorsOBJECTIVE: To assess sense of security, health literacy, and the association between sense of security and health literacy during COVID-19 self-isolation. METHODS: In this cross-sectional survey all adults who caught COVID-19 from the onset of the pandemic until June 2020 in Iceland and received surveillance from a special COVID-19 outpatient clinic, were eligible. Participants retrospectively answered the Sense of Security in Care - Patients' Evaluation and the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire. Data were analysed with parametric and non-parametric tests. RESULTS: Participants' (N = 937, 57% female, median age 49 (IQR=23)) sense of security during isolation was Med 5.5 (IQR=1) and 90% had sufficient health literacy. The proposed regression model (R2 =.132) indicated that those with sufficient health literacy had, on average, higher sense of security than those with inadequate health literacy. CONCLUSION: Sense of security was high among individuals who received surveillance from an outpatient clinic during isolation and was associated with health literacy. The high health literacy rate may be an indication of a high COVID-19 specific health literacy rather than general health literacy. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Healthcare professionals can improve the sense of security of patients through measures to improve their health literacy, including their navigation health literacy, by practising good communication, and providing effective patient education.Peer reviewe

Psychometric instrument evaluation: the pediatric family satisfaction questionnaire

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldPURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate parental satisfaction with hospital care in general pediatric units. A search for a valid parental satisfaction instrument resulted in the selection of the Pediatric Family Satisfaction Questionnaire (PFSQ) (Budreau & Chase, 1994). This paper will report on the psychometric testing of the PFSQ. METHODS: The data were retrieved from several years of patient satisfaction surveys collected at a large Midwest hospital and clinics. The SPSS statistical software was used to test the reliability and construct validity of the PFSQ. RESULTS: Alpha for the total instrument was .83, based on 327 cases and 35 items. Factor analysis indicated two main factors, nursing care and medical care, with a total of 30 items. CONCLUSION: The PFSQ is considered a promising instrument for evaluating parental satisfaction in general, inpatient pediatric units. urther development of the instrument is suggested

Patients and families realising their future with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-A qualitative study

To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink belowAIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To gain insight into the lived experience of learning about having chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for patients and their families. BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease often progresses for years. Adjustment to declining health is gradual, and the disease may have developed considerably when health care is sought and people are diagnosed. Reaching patients at early stages is necessary to delay progression of the disease. DESIGN: Interpretive phenomenology. METHODS: Data were collected in four family focus group interviews (N = 37) and a subsample of eight family-dyad interviews. Patients were eight men, and 14 women aged 51-68 years. Majority of the patients (n = 19) were at GOLD grades II and III, with three at grade IV. The family members were eight men, and seven women aged 29-73 years. Data were collected between June-November 2012. RESULTS: Five, not mutually exclusive themes, revealed a long and arduous process of learning about and becoming diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and how unaware participants were of the imminent threat that the disease imposes on life. The themes were as follows: burden of shame and self-blame, enclosed in addiction, living in parallel worlds, realising the existence of the disease and a cry for empathy. CONCLUSIONS: Learning about and realising the existence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and what it entails at present time and in the future was bleak for the participants. The patients tended to put aside the thought of being a person with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and defer actions that might halter progression of the disease, particularly to quit smoking. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Individuals and families need support early in the disease process to realise and accept the existence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and particularly to deal with the challenges that nicotine addiction, shame and self-blame present. Increased public awareness about this enormous, but hidden, health problem is necessary.Icelandic Research Fund University of Iceland, Landspitali National University Hospital of Iceland Icelandic Nurses' Associatio

Regulation and current status of patient safety content in pre-registration nurse education in 27 countries: Findings from the Rationing - Missed nursing care (RANCARE) COST Action project

Patient safety, as a contemporary health care concern, must remain a priority for nurse educators. This on-line consultation, carried out within the RANCARE COST Action project, determined to establish how patient safety teaching is incorporated into pre-registration education of nurses across 27 countries. How nursing is regulated within countries was examined, along with national guidelines related to nurse education. HEIs were asked to provide details of pre-registration nurse training and how patient safety is taught within programmes

Regulation and current status of patient safety content in pre-registration nurse education in 27 countries: Findings from the Rationing - Missed nursing care (RANCARE) COST Action project

Patient safety, as a contemporary health care concern, must remain a priority for nurse educators. This on-line consultation, carried out within the RANCARE COST Action project, determined to establish how patient safety teaching is incorporated into pre-registration education of nurses across 27 countries. How nursing is regulated within countries was examined, along with national guidelines related to nurse education. HEIs were asked to provide details of pre-registration nurse training and how patient safety is taught within programmes. The results confirm that the topic of patient safety is generally not explicitly taught, rather it remains a hidden element within the curriculum, taught across many subjects. Variation in how nursing is regulated exists across the countries also, with the professionalization of nursing remaining a challenge in some states. No guidelines exist at EU level which address how patient safety should be taught to nursing students, and as yet regulatory bodies have not put forward criteria on the subject. As a result individual HEIs determine how patient safety should be taught. The WHO guidelines for teaching patient safety are currently underutilized in nurse education, but could offer a structure and standard which would address the deficits identified in this work

Resource allocation and rationing in nursing care: A discussion paper

Driven by interests in workforce planning and patient safety, a growing body of literature has begun to identify the reality and the prevalence of missed nursing care, also specified as care left undone, rationed care or unfinished care. Empirical studies and conceptual considerations have focused on structural issues such as staffing, as well as on outcome issues - missed care/unfinished care. Philosophical and ethical aspects of unfinished care are largely unexplored. Thus, while internationally studies highlight instances of covert rationing/missed care/care left undone - suggesting that nurses, in certain contexts, are actively engaged in rationing care - in terms of the nursing and nursing ethics literature, there appears to be a dearth of explicit decision-making frameworks within which to consider rationing of nursing care. In reality, the assumption of policy makers and health service managers is that nurses will continue to provide full care - despite reducing staffing levels and increased patient turnover, dependency and complexity of care. Often, it would appear that rationing/missed care/nursing care left undone is a direct response to overwhelming demands on the nursing resource in specific contexts. A discussion of resource allocation and rationing in nursing therefore seems timely. The aim of this discussion paper is to consider the ethical dimension of issues of resource allocation and rationing as they relate to nursing care and the distribution of the nursing resource

Regulation and current status of patient safety content in pre-registration nurse education in 27 countries: Findings from the Rationing - Missed nursing care (RANCARE) COST Action project

Patient safety, as a contemporary health care concern, must remain a priority for nurse educators. This on-line consultation, carried out within the RANCARE COST Action project, determined to establish how patient safety teaching is incorporated into pre-registration education of nurses across 27 countries. How nursing is regulated within countries was examined, along with national guidelines related to nurse education. HEIs were asked to provide details of pre-registration nurse training and how patient safety is taught within programmes. The results confirm that the topic of patient safety is generally not explicitly taught, rather it remains a hidden element within the curriculum, taught across many subjects. Variation in how nursing is regulated exists across the countries also, with the professionalization of nursing remaining a challenge in some states. No guidelines exist at EU level which address how patient safety should be taught to nursing students, and as yet regulatory bodies have not put forward criteria on the subject. As a result individual HEIs determine how patient safety should be taught. The WHO guidelines for teaching patient safety are currently underutilized in nurse education, but could offer a structure and standard which would address the deficits identified in this work