Caring international research collaborative: A five-country partnership to measure perception of nursing staffs' compassion fatigue, burnout, and caring for self

Partnering in research across disciplines and across countries can be challenging due to differing contexts of practice and culture. This study sought to demonstrate how central constructs that have application across disciplines and countries can be studied while concurrently considering context. Groups of nurses from Botswana, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, and Spain partnered to identify how to measure the constructs of caring for self, burnout, and compassion fatigue, replicating a study by Johnson (2012), who found that caring for self had a moderately strong negative relationship with both compassion fatigue and burnout. While these constructs were of interest to all five groups, the conversation of contextual influences varied. All five groups used the same instruments to measure the central constructs. Levels of burnout and compassion fatigue varied by country but were moderated by caring for self. Partnering across countries made it possible to understand that caring for self moderates the negative impact of burnout and compassion fatigue in all five countries. This study gives insight into methods for partnering across disciplines and contexts

Young people's perceptions of and experiences with drugs: findings from an Irish study.

This paper presents data from Irish children on their perceptions and experiences in relation to illicit drugs as they approached adolescence. In depth interviews were conducted with 78 participants with findings suggesting that most participants had a high level of exposure to drug culture, yet had little direct experience with actually being offered or taking drugs. A small minority had used cannabis, but most expressed anti-drug attitudes. The participants' knowledge of the outcome of drug use tended to be vague or dramatic

Alcohol consumption among 11-16 year olds: 'getting around' structural barriers?

This paper presents qualitative data from Irish children and adolescents on their experiences in relation to alcohol consumption. A sample of 78 participants (average age 11.5 years) was selected. A proportion of this initial sample were interviewed at intervals over a period of 3 years. The participants' consumption patterns were analyzed and four categories were generated: covert unsanctioned, overt unsanctioned, overt sanctioned, and peer unsanctioned. As the children got older, peer drinking became a stronger feature of the data; however, it mediated other patterns of behavior. Although the children displayed agency in circumventing adult rules relating to alcohol consumption, the participants were subjected to structural constraints by virtue of their status as children. Moreover, the agentic powers of the participants were procured through their social network rather than arising from an essentialist agency possessed by each individual child. The impact of childhood as a structural dimension weakened to some extent as the participants got older and had more freedom to circumvent adult-defined barriers to alcohol consumption

Nurse teachers\u27 constructions of reflection and reflective practice

This article concerns the meanings that a sample of nurse teachers ascribed to the concepts of reflection and reflective practice as aspects of an undergraduate nursing curriculum. It represents one of the major findings in a qualitative study that set out to explore nurse teachers’ perceptions and experiences of using reflection with diploma nursing students in the Republic of Ireland. Eleven nurse teachers were interviewed intensively, and data were analysed using a strategy resembling grounded theory. Two major themes were identified: reflection and reflective practice as a way of reviewing clinical experiences, and reflection and reflective practice as a way of valuing, developing and professionalising nursing practice knowledge. There was evidence that reflective practice was compartmentalised on nursing curricula, and some participants reported having limited knowledge of reflection. A number of participants alluded to the potential for reflective practice to uncover the hidden wealth of knowledge in everyday nursing practice. There appeared, however, to be a risk that this perceived wealth may be a conceptualisation of the teachers, rather than the students. Reflective learning through the affective domain was perceived as central to caring.AMS. No Keywords

Alcohol consumption among 11-16 year olds:"Getting around" structural barriers?

This paper presents qualitative data from Irish children and adolescents on their experiences in relation to alcohol consumption. A sample of 78 participants (average age 11.5 years) was selected. A proportion of this initial sample were interviewed at intervals over a period of 3 years. The participants’ consumption patterns were analyzed and four categories were generated: covert unsanctioned, overt unsanctioned, overt sanctioned, and peer unsanctioned. As the children got older, peer drinking became a stronger feature of the data; however, it mediated other patterns of behavior. Although the children displayed agency in circumventing adult rules relating to alcohol consumption, the participants were subjected to structural constraints by virtue of their status as children. Moreover, the agentic powers of the participants were procured through their social network rather than arising from an essentialist agency possessed by each individual child. The impact of childhood as a structural dimension weakened to some extent as the participants got older and had more freedom to circumvent adult-defined barriers to alcohol consumption.Author has checked copyrightAM

Modes of rationality in nursing documentation: biology, biography and the 'voice of nursing'

This article is based on a discourse analysis of the complete nursing records of 45 patients, and concerns the modes of rationality that mediated text-based accounts relating to patient care that nurses recorded. The analysis draws on the work of the critical theorist, Jurgen Habermas, who conceptualised rationality in the context of modernity according to two types: purposive rationality based on an instrumental logic, and value rationality based on ethical considerations and moral reasoning. Our analysis revealed that purposive rationality dominated the content of nursing documentation, as evidenced by a particularly bio-centric and modernist construction of the workings of the body within the texts. There was little reference in the documentation to central themes of contemporary nursing discourses, such as notions of partnership, autonomy, and self-determination, which are associated with value rationality. Drawing on Habermas, we argue that this nursing documentation depicted the colonisation of the sociocultural lifeworld by the bio-technocratic system. Where nurses recorded disagreements that patients had with medical regimes, the central struggle inherent in the project of modernity became transparent--the tension between the rational and instrumental control of people through scientific regulation and the autonomy of the subject. The article concludes by problematising communicative action within the context of nursing practiceS.B. 8/03/201

The case management approach to protecting older people from abuse and mistreatment: lessons from the Irish experience

The aim of this paper is to inform the development of social work practice and policy by applying a practice-based evidence perspective to the experiential knowledge of social workers responsible for managing cases of elder abuse in Ireland. The study adopted a qualitative descriptive research design. Semi-structured interview data were collected from a purposive sample of eighteen senior case workers and inductive thematic analysis was undertaken. The findings are presented according to three themes: elder abuse case management, practice strategies for overcoming challenges and augmenting protective practice. By examining practice in the context of wider socio-political and legislative contexts, the paper provides learning in key areas for the protection of older people. The challenges to case management practice and the strategies employed to respond to these challenges are discussed in terms of adult protective service policy development and its relationship to practice. While recognising the imperative to respect a client's right to self-determination, increased statutory authority for the duty of the state to protect older people from abuse as well as the role of the case worker to act on behalf of the state to implement protective interventions is important for the future development of the service

Older people's experiences of mistreatment and abuse

This report outlines the findings of a study undertaken to examine older people’s experiences of mistreatment and abuse. The study involved in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of nine older people who have been victims of abuse, recruited through the senior case workers responsible for managing cases of elder abuse in Ireland. Interviews were conducted over a seven month period from May to November 2011. This study aimed to examine and describe older people’s experiences of abuse. The objectives of this study were to: 1. Examine the extent and impact of abuse on older people and their families 2. Examine the decision-making pathways and forms of action taken by older people in response to the abuse 3. Explore the coping strategies older people adopt to deal with the abuse 4. Identify the support needs of older people who have experienced abuse