Prevention from a community perspective facilitating and constraining factors perceived by nurses in local community health centers in the course of prevention and health promotion

The purpose of this paper is to explore the sti- mulating factors and the obstacles experienced by nurses in community health centres in their work with prevention and health promotion. We conducted the qualitative research design con- sisting of fifteen nurses in five community health centres in Ghent. There was also a focus group and participant observation. All partici- pants experienced stimulating factors as well as obstacles in their work with preventive interven- tions. The most strongly facilitators were the Electronic Medical File and the multidisciplinary approach. The obstacles mentioned by the nurs- es were the communication problems and the financial problems. This study may have an im- portant impact on nursing practice and nursing prevention. Further research is needed on nurs- es working in community health centres and the way they approach their patients in the course of preventive actions

The Dutch Individualised Care Scale for patients and nurses : a psychometric validation study

Aims and objectives: Translating and psychometrically assessing the Individualised Care Scale (ICS) for patients and nurses for the Flemish and Dutch healthcare context. Background: Individualised care interventions have positive effects on health outcomes. However, there are no valid and reliable instruments for evaluating individualised care for the Flemish and Dutch healthcare context. Design: Psychometric validation study. Setting and participants: In Flemish hospitals, data were collected between February and June 2016, and in Dutch hospitals, data were collected between December 2014 and May 2015. Nurses with direct patient contact and a working experience of minimum 6 months on the wards could participate. Patient inclusion criteria were being an adult, being mentally competent, having an expected hospital stay of minimum 1 day, and being able to speak and read the Dutch language. In total, 845 patients and 569 nurses were included. Methods: The ICS was translated into Dutch using a forward–backward translation process. Minimal linguistic adaptations to the Dutch ICS were made to use the scale as a Flemish equivalent. Omega, Cronbach’s Alpha, mean inter-item correlations and standardised subscale correlations established the reliability and confirmatory factor analysis the construct validity of the ICS. Results: Internal consistency using Omega (Cronbach’s Alpha) ranged from 0.83 to 0.96 (0.82–0.95) for the ICSNurse and from 0.88 to 0.96 (0.87–0.96) for the ICSPatient. Fit indices of the confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good model fit, except for the root mean square error of approximation, which indicated only moderate model fit. Conclusion: The Dutch version of the ICS showed acceptable psychometric performance, supporting its use for the Dutch and Flemish healthcare context. Relevance to clinical practice: Knowledge of nurses’ and patients’ perceptions on individualised care will aid to target areas in the Dutch and Flemish healthcare context in which work needs to be undertaken to provide individualised nursing care

Associated factors of hope in cancer patients during treatment : a systematic literature review

Aim: To identify the associated factors of hope during treatment in cancer patients. Background: Hope is very important to cancer patients at all stages of the disease process. Hope is seen as an important coping mechanism. Most research about hope in cancer patients considered the end of life or in palliative care. Several and different factors are associated with hope. It is not yet sufficiently clear which factors are associated with hope during the treatment. Design: A systematic literature review of quantitative empirical studies on hope in cancer patients during treatment. Data Sources: Search in MEDLINE (PubMed interface), CINAHL (EBSCO interface), Psychinfo and Cochrane (January 2009-December 2018). Review Methods: Empirical quantitative studies were included regardless of the disease stage, written in English or Dutch, measuring hope from the perspective of cancer patients. Two authors independently screened all the studies and assessed their quality. Results: Thirty-three studies were included. Positive relationship has been established between hope and quality of life, social support, spiritual and existential well-being. Hope appears to be negatively associated with symptom burden, psychological distress and depression. There appears to be no relationship between hope and demographic and clinical variables. The relationship between anxiety and hope remains unclear. Conclusions: Hope primarily seems to be a process that takes place in a person's inner being rather than being determined from outside. Impact: Health professionals may want to focus on the meaning of hope for cancer patients in relation to the associated factors. A better understanding of the meaning of hope during treatment can be of great value in supporting cancer patients with regard to treatment decisions, psychosocial support, the experienced quality of life and symptom burden and any wishes they may have with regard to advanced care planning

Hospitalized patients’ vs. nurses’ assessments of pain intensity and barriers to pain management

Aims: The aim of the study was to identify if nurses and patients equally assessed pain intensity and patient-related barriers to pain management in hospitalized patients. Background: Several studies reported poor to moderate agreement between patient- and nurse-reported pain assessment. Many of these studies focused on a specific patient group. So far, no study studied the level of agreement in the assessment of patient-related barriers between patients and nurses. Design: A cross-sectional study was performed in two hospitals. Participants: Inclusion criteria for patients were: (1) being at least 18years; (2) understanding the Dutch language; and (3) giving informed consent. All nurses responsible for the participating patients and present at the time of the survey were invited to participate. Methods: Data were collected between October 2012 - April 2013. Patients and nurses completed the Numeric Rating Scale to measure pain intensity. Patient-related barriers to pain management were measured using the barriers to pain assessment and management scale developed by Elcigil etal. (Journal of Pediatric Hematology Oncology 2011, 33:S33). Results: A moderate agreement between patients and nurses was found for the assessment of pain intensity. Multiple logistic regressions showed a significant association between pain intensity reported by patients and the under-, over- and adequate estimation of pain by nurses. Nurses significantly underrated the belief patients had about pain management. Conclusions: Nurses should be educated about these beliefs and should be encouraged to actively explore patient-related barriers to pain management with their individual patients. Routine pain assessments should also be encouraged and should be explained to patients

Perceptions of physicians, medical and nursing students concerning shared decision-making : a cross-sectional study

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