Nurses For People Research Articles

Schmerzerkennung bei geriatrischen Patienten durch ein interdisziplinäres Team: Urteilssicherheit und Einflussfaktoren

The prevalence of chronic pain increases with age. The awareness of pain in geriatric patients is more difficult than in younger people because of various reasons. The occupational groups of the geriatric team might be different in respect of discerning symptoms of pain. 126 geriatric patients were enrolled in this study. They were asked if they had pain today and in the last seven days. At the same time the members of the geriatric team (old people's nurses, nurses, physicians, physio-, occupational and speech therapists) were asked the same questions with respect of their patients. Items possible influencing the answers were recorded: patient's characteristics: age, cognition (Folstein's minimental state) and duration of hospital stay before this interview; employee's characteristics: age, days of care in the past 7 days, weekly working hours, occupational years and years working in this geriatric hospital. The judgement of the geriatric team varied widely. It was dependent on the profession, days of care, weekly working hours and professional experience. Changes of care in the last 7 days have an negative effect in all occupational groups. Other features will be discussed in details. The handing of the patient's pain should be improved within the occupational groups.

A Systematic Review of the Congruence Between People's Needs and Nurses' Interventions for Supporting Hope

PURPOSE: This systematic review of nursing research from 1987 to 1999 was conducted to explore the factors people identify as supportive of hope, the interventions nurses use to support hope, and the congruence between these two sets of studies. CONCLUSIONS: The factors supporting hope for patients and families found most frequently were social and professional support, cognitive strategies, spiritual or religious activities, relying on inner resources, and setting goals. Nurses used interventions to support families, assist with goal setting and distraction, affirm patient worth, and provide symptom relief. There was substantial congruence between people's needs and nursing actions. The main incongruence was the lack of interventions supporting spiritual practices. IMPLICATIONS: Nurses should continue current practices to nurture hope in their patients and clients. In addition, nurses need to provide spiritual care as an intervention that supports hope. There is a need for further research on nursing interventions to stimulate hope as well as research to understand the differences and relationships among hope, hopelessness, coping, courage, well-being, and spirituality. Research to understand hope in cultures outside of the mainstream United States culture is also needed.

Variable perception of time in inpatient geriatric care--how long is the present?

Time and again a lack of staff in the field of people's nursing is discussed (chronic lack of nursing staff); this means that there are not enough people to do the available work) (1). However, the time factor is also an important sociological dimension in old people's stationary care. First of all, this article points out the time dimension throughout life. This is followed by people's varying perceptions of the present and the related upsets and misunderstandings. Hereby the contradictory abundance and limitation in time as felt by the elderly also becomes apparent. The old people's awareness of the dwindling remainder of their own lifespans conflicts with the seemingly endless time of each day that passes.