Nursing Specialty Areas Research Articles

Educational training and nursing professional self-perception in Mongolia: A prospective observational pre-post design study.

To determine whether professional self-perception of nurses in Mongolia improves following an educational intervention and to identify differences in scores among participant subgroups. A prospective observational pre-post design. Using a convenience sample of 67 nurses in Mongolia in 2019, the Nursing Professional Values Scale-3 instrument was used pre- and post-intervention. Independent and paired sample t-tests were conducted. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS 28.0.1.1 and Stata/SE 16.1. This study complied with the STROBE checklist. Of the 67 nurses, 92.0% were female, mean age was 32.15 years (SD 8.96), 70.0% held a bachelor's degree, 58.0% had 5 or more years' nursing experience and 51.0% were members of a professional nursing organization. After participating in the educational training, nurses reported higher overall professional self-perception as well as across subscales: activism, professionalism and caring. Considering the nursing shortage in lower-middle-income countries, it is important to recognise the influence of nurses' professional self-perception on nursing retention. This study highlights the significant role continuing educational opportunities play in increasing nurses' professional self-perception. It is imperative to explore ways of improving this perception and focusing on subgroups of nurses to help guide the use of limited resources. Further research is necessary to include nurses in other areas of Mongolia. Accurately assessing nursing professional self-perception and providing educational opportunities could improve nursing professional self-perception, nursing satisfaction, patient safety and nursing retention in lower-middle-income countries. What problem did the study address? This study meets the need for current study on the nursing professional self-perception of nursing from the perspective of nurses in Mongolia. It addresses the dangerous nursing shortage in Mongolia by determining if an educational intervention could improve nursing professional self-perception and thus improve nursing job satisfaction and retention. What were the main findings? Mongolian nurses in this study scored in the top quartile of the NPVS-3, indicating a baseline high NPSP. Educational intervention (including translated oral education and written clinical pathways) significantly improved the nurses' professional self-perception. Nurses were eager for training in other clinical and leadership topics. Where and on whom will the research have an impact? This research can be impactful for nurses, nurse leaders and policy makers in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Specifically for nurses in Mongolia, with increasing technologies and services such as cardiac catheterization laboratories becoming available, more education in these nursing specialty areas is imperative. Professional Nursing Organizations are poised to foster more educational offerings to their members and to increase membership. Nursing education provided by international volunteer nurses with Non-Governmental Organizations can improve NPSP in nurses in LMICs. This study complied with the STROBE checklist. No patient or public contribution.

Secondary Traumatic Stress in Pediatric Nurses

PurposeSecondary traumatic stress affects many in the helping professions, and has been identified in many nursing specialty areas. The purpose of this study was to expand the knowledge of secondary traumatic stress in pediatric nursing by examining the statistical relationships between secondary traumatic stress, age of the nurse, and years of nursing experience, and coping responses. Design and MethodsA convenience sample of Certified Pediatric Nurses (n = 338) were surveyed using the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale, the Brief COPE, the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability-Short Form, and a demographics form. Hierarchical multiple linear regression and descriptive statistics were utilized to examine secondary traumatic stress and the other variables of interest. ResultsSecondary traumatic stress affected more than half of pediatric nurses surveyed. Age and years of experience did not predict secondary traumatic stress. Looking at coping responses pediatric nurses with higher emotional support and instrumental support scores also demonstrated higher secondary traumatic stress scores. Denial and behavioral disengagement were also associated with an increase in secondary traumatic stress scores. ConclusionSecondary traumatic stress impacts many pediatric nurses. Further research is needed to determine which factors predispose pediatric nurses to secondary traumatic stress and which coping responses help pediatric nurses best manage this stress. Practice ImplicationsAcknowledging secondary traumatic stress in this population by promoting awareness, and providing educational programs will help to protect nurses' psychological health, and may prevent nurses from leaving the profession due to work-related stress.

Effect of standardized nursing language continuing education programme on nurses' documentation of care at University College Hospital, Ibadan.

AimThe study assessed the documentation of nursing care before, during and after the Standardized Nursing Language Continuing Education Programme (SNLCEP). It evaluates the differences in documentation of nursing care in different nursing specialty areas and assessed the influence of work experience on the quality of documentation of nursing care with a view to provide information on documentation of nursing care. The instrument used was an adapted scoring guide for nursing diagnosis, nursing intervention and nursing outcome (Q‐DIO).DesignRetrospective record reviews design was used.MethodsA total of 270 nursing process booklets formed the sample size. From each ward, 90 booklets were selected in this order: 30 booklets before the SNLCEP, 30 booklets during SNLCEP and 30 booklets after SNLCEP.ResultsOverall, the study concluded that the SNLCEP had a significant effect on the quality of documentation of nursing care using Standardized Nursing Languages.

Individual vulnerability to burnout in nurses: The role of Type D personality within different nursing specialty areas

IntroductionPrevious studies describe nursing as an occupation with a high-risk for burnout. However, less attention has been paid to the individual factors underlying this psychological syndrome. AimThis study aims to contribute to the limited body of evidence concerning Type D personality and burnout in nursing. To investigate this topic, we examined Type D personality, stress and burnout within the nursing profession, while taking the organisational and job-related elements into account. MethodDuring this cross-sectional study, data were collected using self-report questionnaires. The 222 nurses who participated were selected from 12 general hospitals across Antwerp, Belgium. The departments and nurses surveyed were selected at random and sub-divided into six nursing specialty areas. ResultsType D personality ranged from 23% in medical and surgical units, up to 36% in paediatric units. In addition, even when corrected for organisational and job-related factors, nurses with Type D personality were five times more likely to have a high risk for burnout. ConclusionThis study suggested that Type D is a vulnerable personality in nurses for the development of burnout. Consequently, it might be advisable to target this individual factor in prevention programmes.

Why Nurses Need to Understand Nursing Informatics

N ursing informatics is an exciting nursing specialtydit affects learning environments, meaningful use, interprofessional collaboration, patient care settings, strategic planning, patient satisfaction, and, ultimately, patient outcomes. Simply put, nursing informatics is the practice of using nursing science and technology to enhance the pathway that data take to become knowledge to improve patient care. Furthermore, nursing informatics “is the synthesis of nursing science, information science, computer science, and cognitive science for the purpose of managing and enhancing health care data, information, knowledge, and wisdom to improve patient care and the nursing profession.” According to Hebda and Czar, it is “broadly defined as the use of information and computer technology to support all aspects of nursing practice, including direct delivery of care, administration, education, and research. The definition of nursing informatics is evolving as advances occur in nursing practice and technology.” Nursing informatics is important to all nursing specialty areas. It is important for nurses to understand the relevance of nursing informatics to their practice. In clinical practice, for example, nursing informatics can be used to track patient outcomes, find data trends, and assess workload and interventions. It also can help develop technologies, such as apps, to help health care workers virtually monitor and stay in touch with patients, improve workflows, and help patients deal with their diseases. The use of nursing informatics in nursing education supports virtual teaching and learning, assessment, analytics associated with educational outcomes, and the paradigm shift of bringing the library to the student virtually. Nurse executives use nursing informatics to help them with cost containment, improved workflows, decision support, budgeting tools, and trending costs and savings. Nursing informatics also can facilitate and support nursing research by evaluating patient outcomes, evidence-based practice, standardized terminologies, and virtual knowledge bases. As nurses learn nursing informatics, they must learn to use all information technologies effectively, recognize the benefits and limitations of this technology, and integrate them into how they implement these technologies. In this era of large amounts of data, nursing informatics competencies are key to safe, efficient, and quality practice, and good use of nursing informatics can result in enhanced patient care outcomes.

A family systems nursing intervention model for paediatric health crisis

This article discusses the development of a family systems nursing intervention for clinical use in health crisis. Although studies in paediatric critical care provide evidence that family stress is an important clinical phenomenon, studies have demonstrated that few nurses have the requisite family intervention skills to provide family members with adequate support during crisis. In addition, few intervention studies that focus on provider-family relationships with the goal of reducing stress have been reported. This article contributes to the literature by redressing this lack. Data sources. The literature search supporting this project spanned from 1980 to 2009 and included searches from classic nursing theory, family theory and relevant nursing research specific to the design of the intervention reported. The goal of the intervention is to provide a theoretical and practical foundation for explicit action that enhances relationships with caregivers thereby supporting the integrity of the family and enhancing their coping abilities. The intervention, based on the Family Systems Model and the family's understandings of the situation, defines specific goals and desired outcomes to guide strategic actions. Discussion of the conceptual foundation, procedural development and an example of the protocol is provided. Implications for nursing. The intervention is designed for nurses with limited knowledge in family theory to aid them to better help families dealing with stress. The proposed intervention can be used to increase nurses' skills in family centred nursing care. Although designed for use in paediatric critical care, it can, with modifications, be used in other nursing specialty areas.

Nurse practitioners for rural and remote Australia: Creating opportunities for better health in the bush

[Extract] Controversy has dogged the introduction of nurse practitioner (NP) positions in rural and remote Australia, despite the need for an increase in flexible and affordable health-care services outside metropolitan areas. Ironically, it was the need for a new model of rural and remote health care that provided the impetus for developing the NP role in Australia in the late 1990s. Almost a decade after the first NP was authorised to practise in rural New South Wales, the number of endorsed NPs in rural and remote areas remains low relative to those practising in large regional and metropolitan hospitals. Indeed, the majority of new positions have been created in specialty areas of nursing.

Perseverance: The meaning of patient education in psychiatric nursing

This phenomenological study was undertaken to discern the meaning psychiatric nurses attach to their patient education experiences. Although patient education crosses all nursing specialty areas, no studies have attempted to describe how it is unique to psychiatric nursing. Hermeneutic analysis of audiotaped, semistructured, in-depth interviews revealed three themes, The Teaching Way, Being In-Between, and Seeing Inside, which, when taken together, formed one constitutive pattern: perseverance. The results indicate that psychiatric nurses are very much involved in educating their patients and that the process differs from traditional expectations of learning readiness. There is also an apparent need to educate students about the realities of health care settings and how to deal with them. The researcher, herself a psychiatric nurse, came away from this study with a renewed respect for nurses' commitment to patient education, for their ability to use themselves as therapeutic tools, and for their ability to practice from within political settings which seldom encourage or reward nurses for patient education. Further studies are needed to explore how nurses deal with the political realities affecting their practices and how they maintain their commitment to patient care under such circumstances.

Tape injury in the patient with total hip replacement.

Patients undergoing total hip replacement surgery may experience edema around the incision related to intraoperative positioning and manipulation of the extremity, as well as general soft tissue damage. The edema may contribute to the impairment of skin integrity when tape is applied to secure postoperative dressings. This article describes how the problem of impaired skin integrity was identified and the process used to determine the contributing factors. The interventions used by three nursing specialty areas to correct the problem are also described.