Compassion in emergency departments. Part 1: nursing students’ perspectives

Compassion is a topical issue in clinical nursing practice, nurse education and policy, but a review of the literature reveals that nursing students’ experiences of compassionate care receives little attention. In this three-part series David Hunter and colleagues explore compassion in emergency departments (EDs) from nursing students’ point of view. Part one provides findings of a professional doctorate study of nursing students’ experiences of compassionate care in EDs, part two explores the barriers to compassionate care in this clinical setting that emerged from the study, and part three considers factors that enable and support compassionate care provision in EDs. Aim: The aim of the study was to explore nursing students’ experiences of the provision of compassionate care in EDs. Method: The underpinning methodology was an exploratory-descriptive qualitative design. A total of 15 nursing students from across the west of Scotland, who had been placed in eight different EDs, participated in face-to-face interviews which were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed. Findings: Two major themes emerged ‘doing the little things’ and ‘a strange, new world: the uniqueness of the ED’. The students also identified barriers and enablers to providing compassionate care which are discussed in parts two and three. Conclusion: Despite the challenges of working in the most acute of clinical settings, nurses can provide compassionate care to patients and their relatives. However, this is not universal because certain groups of patients considered ‘challenging’ do not receive equitable compassionate care

Compassion in the emergency department. Part 3: enabling and supporting the delivery of compassionate care

In the final part of this three-part series, David Hunter and colleagues analyse the factors that enable and support delivery of compassionate care in emergency departments (EDs). Part one reported findings from doctoral-level research that explored nursing students' experiences of compassionate care in EDs, while part two considered the barriers to such care identified by the students. This article highlights and celebrates the ways in which emergency nurses provide compassionate care despite the challenges they face

Defining Exploratory-Descriptive Qualitative (EDQ) research and considering its application to healthcare

No abstract available

A process of developing a national practice assessment document

This paper will share how one country within the United Kingdom (UK) collaborated on a national partnership approach in developing a consistent pre-registration undergraduate nursing practice learning assessment document. In 2011 the Scottish Heads of Academic Nursing and Allied Health Professionals (SHANAHP, now Council of Deans Scotland, CoDS) agreed to support the development of a Scottish national approach to practice learning assessment document (the “Scottish Ongoing Achievement Record”). Whilst no direct funding was received to support this work, each HEI agreed that this work would be recognised via the release of staff time to enable completion. Utilising a communities of practice approach to collaborative working, the national group incorporated the collective knowledge and experience of representatives from all Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) in Scotland that provided undergraduate pre-registration nurse education. The work of the group will be described in four phases, Mapping of Influential Drivers; Guiding Principles and Good Practice; Document development; and Implementation. Appraisal of the advantages of this approach in light of international literature will be considered alongside challenges encountered during development and implementation

Defining Exploratory-Descriptive Qualitative (EDQ) research and considering its application to healthcare

This article aims to introduce readers to a distinctive approach to health research when the topic under investigation has received little previous attention. It provides details of the theoretical underpinnings of the methodology, as well as providing recommendations regarding the practicalities of its use. To address a specific research aim, the primary author believed that an exploratory descriptive qualitative approach was the most suitable. A subsequent review of the relevant literature identified a number of published research articles, which claimed to use an "exploratory descriptive qualitative" design. Closer inspection revealed that these papers lacked theoretical underpinning. As a result, the authors created a conceptual framework, underpinned by appropriate theory, to support the use of an exploratory descriptive qualitative approach. We refer to this approach as EDQ and argue that there is a place in health research when it is deemed the most appropriate methodology to achieve the aims of a study

Compassion in the emergency department. Part 2: barriers to the provision of compassionate care

In the second part of this three-part series, David Hunter and colleagues discuss the barriers to the provision of compassionate care in emergency departments (EDs). Part one reported findings from doctoral-level research exploring nursing students' experiences of compassionate care in EDs. Many of the findings related to what the students considered as barriers to the provision of compassionate care in this clinical environment. Six barriers to compassionate care were identified and this article considers them in detail

Testing and comparing two self-care-related instruments among older Chinese adults

OBJECTIVES:The study aimed to test and compare the reliability and validity, including sensitivity and specificity of the two self-care-related instruments, the Self-care Ability Scale for the Elderly (SASE), and the Appraisal of Self-care Agency Scale-Revised (ASAS-R), among older adults in the Chinese context. METHODS:A cross-sectional design was used to conduct this study. The sample consisted of 1152 older adults. Data were collected by a questionnaire including the Chinese version of SASE (SASE-CHI), the Chinese version of ASAS-R (ASAS-R-CHI) and the Exercise of Self-Care Agency scale (ESCA). Homogeneity and stability, content, construct and concurrent validity, and sensitivity and specificity were assessed. RESULTS:The Cronbach's alpha (α) of SASE-CHI was 0.89, the item-to-total correlations ranged from r = 0.15 to r = 0.81, and the test-retest correlation coefficient (intra-class correlation coefficient, ICC) was 0.99 (95% CI, 0.99-1.00; P<0.001). The Cronbach's α of ASAS-R-CHI was 0.78, the item-to-total correlations ranged from r = 0.20 to r = 0.65, and the test-retest ICC was 0.95 (95% CI, 0.92-0.96; P<0.001). The content validity index (CVI) of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI was 0.96 and 0.97, respectively. The findings of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA and CFA) confirmed a good construct validity of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI. The Pearson's rank correlation coefficients, as a measure of concurrent validity, between total score of SASE-CHI and ESCA and ASAS-R-CHI and ESCA were assessed to 0.65 (P<0.001) and 0.62 (P<0.001), respectively. Regarding ESCA as the criterion, the area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve for the cut-point of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI were 0.93 (95% CI, 0.91-0.94) and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.80-0.86), respectively. CONCLUSION:There is no significant difference between the two instruments. Each has its own characteristics, but SASE-CHI is more suitable for older adults. The key point is that the users can choose the most appropriate scale according to the specific situation

Equity and Equality in learning in Asia-Pacific: What do results from large-scale assessments tell us? Gender in focus policy brief

This policy brief investigates gender disparities in learning outcomes and the factors contributing to these disparities as identified in large-scale assessment data in Southeast Asia. It additionally provides a set of recommendations aimed at enhancing equitable student learning outcomes while advocating for comprehensive support of gender-based interventions within educational quality initiatives, spanning both systemic and school-level support. The findings presented in this brief are drawn from large-scale assessment (LSA) datasets and secondary analysis of these sources. For more detailed information regarding the large-scale assessments in Southeast Asia, please refer to the appendix section