Verbal Abuse of Pediatric Nurses by Patients and Families

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which nurses practicing in a pediatric hospital encounter verbal abuse by patients and families and their reactions to this abuse. Background: Verbal abuse, the most common type of workplace violence against nurses results in declining morale and job satisfaction, and can negatively impact nurse turnover and quality of patient care. Methods: The study employed a concurrent triangulation strategy using mixed methods. The 162 nurses who volunteered completed a 3-part questionnaire, and a subgroup participated in one of three focus groups. Results: Eighty-two percent of subjects reported verbal abuse an average of 4 times per month. The majority of these continued to think about the incident for a few hours (25%), a few days (36%), or a week or more (12%). Nearly half reported feeling angry or powerless and 14% said they thought of leaving their position. Conclusions: The findings of this study described the nature and scope of the problem, and prompted improvement in processes and education to support nurses. This study was motivated by nurses employed at an urban children\u27s hospital reporting increased incidences of verbal abuse by patients and families. These nurses told of negative encounters which produced feelings of frustration. They perceived that the hospital\u27s increased emphasis on patient and family satisfaction prevented them from setting limits on verbal abuse perpetrated by patients and families. Nursing administration, concerned about staff morale, proposed a study that would describe the extent to which nurses practicing in a pédiatrie hospital encounter verbal abuse by patients and families and their reactions to this abuse

“Worried About Them When We Left”: A Mixed-Methods Essay

The purpose of this visual inquiry using ethnographic photographic research was to examine fire safety in homes of 42 urban older adults. Photographs were taken to document home fire safety (HFS) practices and grouped according to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Home Safety Checklist categories. Participants had a mean age of 74 years, and were mostly African American (n=21, 57%), and female (n=32, 78%). Major findings from the photographs demonstrated unsafe electrical, cooking, and heating practices. Other HFS hazards related to installation and maintenance of carbon monoxide (CO) and smoke alarms, smoking safety, and identification and practice of home fire escape plans. The findings will provide future direction for community education and fire prevention advocacy for older adults

Sibling relationships in the family of a child with a burn injury

Purpose. Understanding siblings\u27 experiences after a major childhood burn injury was the purpose of this mixed method, qualitative dominant study. The following research questions guided this project: How do siblings describe the impact of a major childhood burn injury experience? How do sibling relationship factors of warmth/closeness, relative status/power, conflict, and rivalry further clarify their relationship and their experience after a major burn injury? Methods. A mixed method, qualitative dominant, design was implemented to understand the sibling experiences in a family with a child suffering from a major burn injury. Informants were selected from patients with childhood burn injuries attending the reconstructive clinic at a Gulf coast children\u27s specialty hospital. The qualitative portion used the life story method, a narrative process, to portray the long-term impact on sibling relationships. A case represents a family unit and could be composed of one or multiple family members. Participants from 22 cases (N = 40 participants) were interviewed. Interviews were conducted in person and via telephone. The quantitative portion, or the embedded part of this mixed method design, used the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire Revised (SRQ-R) to conduct an additional structured interview and acquire scoring data. It was postulated that the SRQ-R would provide another perspective on the sibling experience and expand the qualitative data analysis. Thematic analysis was implemented on the qualitative interview data including the qualitative data from the interviews structured on the SRQ-R. Additionally, scores on the SRQ-R were tabulated to further describe the cases. Results. The overall thematic pattern for the sibling relationship in families having a child with a major burn injury was that of normalization. Areas of normalization as well as the process of adjustment were the major themes. Areas of normalization were found in play and other activities, in school and work, and in family relations with their siblings and their parents. The process of adjustment in the sibling relationship was described as varied, involved school and work re-entry, and might even change their life perspective. Further analysis included an examination of the cases in which more than one person were interviewed and completed the SRQ-R. Participants from five ( n = 11) of six cases (n = 14), scored above 3.0 on the five-point scale on the Warmth/Closeness construct, indicating they perceived the sibling relationship as close. Five participants scored high on the Conflict construct and four participants scored high on the Rivalry construct. Finally, Relative Status/Power was low or negative in the six cases (n = 13). Conclusions/implications. These findings suggest the importance of returning to normalcy for many of the families and the significance of sibling relationships on the process. Some of these families were able to use this major life event in a positive way to promote normalization

From Defense to Dissemination. Jump Start Your Academic Career with a Scholar Mentor Group

PROBLEM. The dissertation provides an excellent source of scholarly productivity for new doctoral faculty, yet is often neglected because of the demands inherent in the faculty role. METHODS. The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of a scholar mentor group composed of three graduates of a PhD nursing program and their shared dissertation chair, who acted as a senior scholar mentor to the group. FINDINGS. By working together, we have been able to enhance our scholarly productivity by disseminating our dissertations through presentations and publications. The paper will present the evolving process of this working group, summarize outcomes, analyze the challenges, and provide suggestions for future doctoral students and faculty who are working with them. CONCLUSIONS. Our experience and scholar mentor model captures the best of both worlds—the benefits of interaction with academic peers and the benefits of having a senior scholar mentor. This was accomplished while all members were at different schools in different cities and states. Although other literatures that document successful collaborations using a peer-mentorship model are available, we were unable to locate any that documents a post-doctoral group with a senior scholar mentor who continued working together after graduation

Using photographic interpretation to evaluate the safety of home environments

In the US there were 400,000 home fires resulting in 2755 deaths, 12,450 injuries, and $6.9B lost. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the content-validity of photographs taken in the home for use as an educational instrument to teach about “safe” and “unsafe” fire safety practice for adults and older adults. A total of 73 home fire safety experts were provided 27 photographs to evaluate home fire safety practice. Initially, a Krippendorff's alpha was calculated for the first 24 questions to evaluate inter-rater reliability, and differences in demographics were evaluated. Unique codes and themes for the last three questions were identified and inter-rater reliability examined. A majority of respondents were female (n = 43, 60.6%), college educated (n = 61, 83.6%), nurses (n = 25, 33.8%), or worked for a fire department (n = 21, 29.6%). Their mean age was 45.5 years and they had 11.05 years of experience. The first 24 questions had high inter-rater reliability (Krippendorff α = 0.831). No significant differences existed between the strata of the demographic variables (all p-values > 0.05). Similarly, based on the codes and themes identified, the last three questions had moderate-to-good inter-rater reliability (Krippendorff α = 0.764). Providing photographs as a ‘seek-and-find’ or ‘What's wrong with this picture?’ tools and simplified visual images is an excellent way to aid recognition of unsafe home fire safety environments. Education through non-traditional visual methods increases the possibility of change for diverse low-literacy populations. Keywords: Photographs, Home fire safety, Instrument development, Diverse low-literacy population