Discharge planning in end-of-life care

The article offers suggestions for nurses and midwives regarding planning of discharge of paitation under end-of-life care. Topics include recognising the patient end of their life being a key consideration, sensitive communication needs to take place between the dying person, those identified as important to them and members of the health care team, and patients have a right to be involve in decisions about the care given to the extent of the patient's desired involvement

The power of role-modelling: White teacher educators normalising anti-racism and cultural reflexivity for white pre-service teachers

Every child has a right to feel culturally safe in schools, yet for countless Indigenous students this is not the case. Many White pre-service teachers in Australia enter initial teacher education with a limited understanding of racial identity, Indigenous knowledge or White anti-racism. This autoethnographic study applies Social Cognitive Theory and the Theory of Planned Behaviour to understand the role of the White teacher educator in racial conscientisation of White pre-service teachers. We examine how White teacher confidence in enacting anti-racist behaviours builds when White teacher educators role-model the professional approaches which White teachers can use to teach about race and be culturally reflexive in K-12 classrooms. Such cultural reflexivity requires that White teachers acknowledge their positionality and make visible Indigenous cultural authority over course material. In doing so, this culturally reflexive approach provides an effective and authentic critical pedagogy for developing anti-racist conscience and practice amongst White educators

Developing generic online tutorials as a strategy for extending the use of WebCT

This paper is a progress report on the design and delivery of two short WebCT tutorials for students, as part of a wider strategy to encourage further use of online learning within the University. The tutorials address issues of concern to the Department and to the Higher Education community as a whole: the indiscriminate use of Internet resources by students, poor acknowledgement of sources and inaccurate citation practice. The various stages of design and delivery, as informed by guidance in action research methods are described. Issues surrounding the use of WebCT, including interactivity and accessibility, are discussed and some preliminary results of student evaluations and learning experiences are presented

Putting awareness into practice: practical steps for conducting usability tests

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describes the methods and findings of two research projects undertaken to explore user behaviour and usability issues relating to the use of Web-based resources by people with disabilities. Design/methodology/approach – Whilst the aims of the research differed, the methods adopted were similar – including observation, talk aloud protocols, questionnaires and focus groups. Findings – The findings from both studies provided evidence of the problems faced by disabled users when using Web-based resources. It provided evidence of the types of features users liked and disliked, how they overcame navigational problems and what types of features enhanced their experience, all of which can be fed back into recommendations for the design of electronic resources. Practical implications – The richness of the data collected for both studies confirmed the importance of involving users in accessibility and usability assessments. Analysis of both the findings and the methods for both studies also enabled a checklist to be developed, outlining issues that should be taken into consideration when planning a usability test. Originality/value – Document analysis of past and current usability studies revealed that suggested methods are often directed more towards expert usability testing, rather than managing the user testing in-house. Although it may be preferable to engage an expert, in reality practical guidance is also needed. The checklist aims to address gaps in usability advice identified, by providing practical guidance to enable providers and developers of web-based resources to conduct their own effective usability testing

Teenage and Young Adult Cancer-Related Fatigue Is Prevalent, Distressing, and Neglected: It Is Time to Intervene. A Systematic Literature Review and Narrative Synthesis.

PURPOSE: Cancer-related fatigue in adults has been the subject of considerable recent research, confirming its importance as a common and debilitating symptom, and establishing a number of evidence-based interventions. There has, however, been limited focus on the fatigue suffered by teenagers and young adults with cancer, a group recognized as having unique experiences and developmental needs. We have undertaken a systematic review of the literature to provide a comprehensive overview of studies evaluating fatigue in this younger patient group in order to guide clinical practice and future research. METHOD: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases for literature containing data relating to any aspect of fatigue in patients aged 13-24 at cancer diagnosis or treatment. RESULTS: Sixty articles were identified, of which five described interventional clinical trials. Cancer-related fatigue was consistently one of the most prevalent, severe, and distressing symptoms, and it persisted long-term in survivors. It was associated with a number of factors, including poor sleep, depression, and chemotherapy. There was little evidence for the effectiveness of any intervention, although exercise appears to be the most promising. Importantly, fatigue was itself a significant barrier to physical and social activities. CONCLUSION: Cancer-related fatigue is a major and disabling problem in young cancer patients. Effective management strategies are needed to avoid compounding the dependence and social isolation of this vulnerable patient group. Future research should focus on providing evidence for the effectiveness of interventions, of which activity promotion and management of concurrent symptoms are the most promising.SB and AS were funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care East of England at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available via Mary Ann Liebert at http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/jayao.2014.0023#/doi/abs/10.1089/jayao.2014.0023