"Having attitude" : nurses' perceptions of the qualities and skills needed to successfully nurse the 10-24 year old client : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Nursing at Massey University

This thesis presents a grounded theory study following Glaser's methodological stance. It explores nursing of the 10-24 year old client through interviews with thirteen registered nurses. The participants worked in a variety of clinical settings including community, hospital and specific adolescent services. From the analysis of the data emerged the complexity of the nurses' work with the chosen age group. The study identifies that the quality of the nurse/client encounter may enable the young person to feel accepted and to be empowered to make their own health choices. This thesis identifies how 'Having Attitude' is seen by the nurse participants as critical in the care of the young person. 'Having Attitude' is about the nurse balancing the dependence/independence needs of the young person with their family and peers, and about being acceptable to the client. This results from the work of the nurse which is characterised by the nurse 'being competent' and 'being supportive' whilst taking into account all of the socio-political factors that effect the nurse's working situation. The socio-political context impacts upon the young person's life in terms of the types of health issues they have, and the availability and affordability of appropriate health services. It also impacts on the environment in which the nurse works, in terms of the complexity of the concerns with which young people present, current health reforms and funding issues. The nurse needs to have a broad knowledge base and ability to work within a complex situation. Nurses believe they can make a difference to the young person's health experience when they are supportive, competent and 'have attitude'

Resi-Rise Skyscraper

The resi-rise is less “building,” more “vertical urbanism.” Its frame, not unlike a spatial matrix of “lots,” is initially built-out to the maximum allowable zoning envelope with deformations accounting for site influences, such as views and adjacencies

STREET CHILDREN‟S STORIES OF ESCAPING TO, AND SURVIVING ON, THE STREET – “SLUMDOG” LIFE AND “MILLIONAIRE” ENDING?

Most movie enthusiasts were intrigued by the film Slumdog Millionaire. This story reflects, amongst other issues, the survival strategies of kids living on the streets in towns in India and the happy ending for one of them. The findings of the research on which this article was based could likewise have been dramatised into a script with similar story lines. It would reflect stories of kids trying to escape deprivation and violence and getting caught up in drugs and criminal activities. The authors of such a script could, however, argue that the researchers‟ interpretation of the findings would not substantiate any story with a “millionaire” ending. Nevertheless, according to the perspectives of research participants, street life could indeed be likened to a “millionaire‟s life”, compared to their home circumstances.The discussion that follows clarifies and substantiates this introductory statement. The rationale for, and the goal of the study, are presented, followed by a summary of the research methodology. The article then reports core findings in an inductive, narrative style and concludes with a summary and certain recommendations. Relevant literature is compared to the findings of the study

Disability and forgiveness: An intervention to promote positive coping for persons with disabilities

Disability is an event that forever changes a person\u27s life. Throughout the coping and adaptation process, many experience negative thoughts and feelings such as anger, anxiety, depression, and multiple forms of frustration. Some of these may be related to a disability, while others are by-products of the negative experiences, attitudes, and treatment of persons with disabilities. These include societal barriers and injustices and changes and losses that often accompany a disability. Counseling professionals can assist persons with disabilities in learning to improve their coping process by learning about approaches and, in this case, interventions to help promote healing and positive coping. In order to cultivate forgiveness, the present article clarifies the meaning of forgiveness and its relevance to persons with disabilities, discusses barriers to and benefits of forgiveness, and provides a rationale for developing the forgiveness intervention and information about the content and modules it contains. Implications concerning ways counselors can use the forgiveness intervention and future directions for study are also discussed

Indigenous Post-Secondary Mentorship: Our Journey

This article explores the use of mentorship as a source of support for Indigenous post-secondary students and as a way to disrupt the dominance of Western worldviews in academic institutions.  Although there is a significant amount of literature written on the topic of mentorship, very little of it describes how educators can actually conceptualize the idea of providing mentorship to students.  This article begins to fill that gap by describing a mentorship relationship that developed between a Métis post-secondary student and a Métis faculty member and provides suggestions around mentorship for consideration by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people involved in education systems. 

Illness identity as an important component of candidacy: Contrasting experiences of help-seeking and access to care in cancer and heart disease

How and when we use health services or healthcare provision has dominated exploration of and debates around healthcare access. Levels of utilisation are assumed as a proxy for access. Yet, focusing on utilisation conceals an important aspect of the access conundrum: the relationships that patients and potential patients have with the healthcare system and the professionals within those systems. Candidacy has been proposed as an antidote to traditional utilisation models. The Candidacy construct offers the ability to include patient-professional aspects alongside utilisation and thus promotes a deeper understanding of access. Originally applied to healthcare access for vulnerable populations, additional socio-demographic factors, including age and ethnicity, have also been shown to influence the Candidacy process. Here we propose a further extension of the Candidacy construct and illustrate the importance of illness identities when accessing healthcare. Drawing on a secondary data analysis of three data sets of qualitative interviews from colorectal cancer and heart failure patients we found that though similar access issues are apparent pre-diagnosis, diagnosis marks a critical juncture in the experience of access. Cancer patients describe a person-centred responsive healthcare system where their patienthood requires only modest assertion. Cancer speaks for itself. In marked contrast heart failure patients, describe struggling within a seemingly impermeable system to understand their illness, its implications and their own legitimacy as patients. Our work highlights the pressing need for healthcare professionals, systems and policies to promote a person centred approach, which is responsive and timely, regardless of illness category. To achieve this, attitudes regarding the importance or priority afforded to different categories of illness need to be tackled as they directly influence ideas of Candidacy and consequently access and experiences of care

The Therapeutic Triad of Disability

For many counseling professionals, the exploration of forgiveness, selfcompassion or resilience can seem daunting, particularly when determining ways to apply these concepts to people with disabilities and their specific needs. When approaching this task, counselors may ask themselves several questions, including: Where do I start? Which concept is most important? Is one of them more relevant for this population? How can I best help people explore one or all of these concepts? Good questions indeed but not always easy ones to answer. To help counselors understand each of these concepts, the three authors of this article developed a model called the therapeutic triad of disability. The therapeutic triad provides counselors a means with which to consider one or all of these approaches as a gateway to healing and a pathway to hope for clients

Therapeutic effects of building resilience: an observation of two case studies

Resilience is an emerging area of research interest. Resilience has much relevance and applicability to persons with disabilities and to the situations lived and experienced by people with disabilities.1–3 However, few resilience interventions, specifically tailored to the needs of people with disabilities, have been developed and empirically studied. Stuntzner and Hartley3 began to change this trend with the development of a 10-module resilience intervention. Presented as a part of this article are two case studies of people who completed an initial resilience intervention pilot study conducted by Stuntzner and MacDonald.4 The case studies represent people living with varying disabilities and diagnoses and illustrate the application and usefulness of resilience interventions in their lives. Based on these initial findings, resilience and resilience-skill building approaches may help assist people with disabilities in reducing negative emotions and cultivating more positive ways of coping. Additional research is warranted to learn more about the utility of resilience interventions among people with disabilities