FreshRSS

🔒
❌ Acerca de FreshRSS
Hay nuevos artículos disponibles. Pincha para refrescar la página.
Anteayer Journal of Advanced Nursing

Healthy work environment: A systematic review informing a nursing professional practice model in the US Military Health System

Abstract

Aim

The aim of the study was to develop recommendations for creating a healthy work environment based on current literature for nurses working within the US Military Health System (MHS). However, our findings would likely benefit other nursing populations and environments as well.

Design

Systematic literature review.

Data Sources

We conducted a systematic literature search for articles published between January 2010 until January 2024 from five databases: PubMed, Joanna Briggs, Embase, CINAHL and Scopus.

Methods

Articles were screened, selected and extracted using Covidence software. Article findings were synthesized to create recommendations for the development, implementation and measurement of healthy work environments.

Results

Ultimately, a total of 110 articles met the criteria for inclusion in this review. The articles informed 13 recommendations for creating a healthy work environment. The recommendations included ensuring teamwork, mentorship, job satisfaction, supportive leadership, nurse recognition and adequate staffing and resources. Additionally, we identified strategies for implementing and measuring these recommendations.

Conclusions

This thorough systematic review created actionable recommendations for the creation of a healthy work environment. Based on available evidence, implementation of these recommendations could improve nursing work environments.

Impact

This study identifies methods for implementing and measuring aspects of a healthy work environment. Nurse leaders or others can implement the recommendations provided here to develop healthy work environments in their hospitals, clinics or other facilities where nurses practice.

Reporting Method

PRISMA 2020 guidelines.

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public contribution.

Incidence of hospital‐acquired pressure injuries and predictors of severity in a paediatric hospital

Abstract

Background

Hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) pose significant challenges in healthcare and cause increased patient suffering, longer hospital stays, and higher healthcare costs. Paediatric patients face unique risks, but evidence remains scarce. This study aimed to identify and describe HAPI admission incidence and severity predictors in a large Australian children's hospital.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study investigated all paediatric patients between January 2020 and December 2021 using a census approach. Demographic and clinical data including HAPI-related data were accessed from the incident monitoring and hospital administration databases. The incidence rate (per 1000 patient admissions) was calculated based on all admissions. Predictors of HAPI severity were identified using multivariable multinomial logistic regression. The study adhered to the STROBE guidelines for retrospective cohort studies.

Results

The HAPI incidence rate was 6.96 per 1000 patient admissions. Of the age groups, neonates had the highest HAPI incidence (15.5 per 1000 admissions). Critically ill children had the highest rate for admission location (12.8 per 1000 patient admissions). Most reported cases were stage I (64.2%). Age was associated with injury severity, with older paediatric patients more likely to develop higher-stage HAPIs. Additionally, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patients had a higher HAPI severity risk.

Conclusion

HAPI injuries in paediatric patients are unacceptably high. Prevention should be prioritized, and the quality of care improved in Australia and beyond. Further research is needed to develop targeted prevention strategies for these vulnerable populations.

Implications for the Profession and Patient Care

This research emphasizes the need for standardized reporting, culturally sensitive care and tailored prevention strategies.

Impact

The research has the potential to influence healthcare policies and practices, ultimately enhancing the quality of patient care.

Reporting Method

STROBE guidelines.

No Patient or Public Contribution

There was no patient or public contribution to the conduct of this study.

Canadian intensive care unit nurses' responses to moral distress during the COVID‐19 pandemic, and their recommendations for mitigative interventions

Abstract

Aims

To describe intensive care unit nurses' experiences of moral distress during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their recommendations for mitigative interventions.

Design

Interpretive description.

Methods

Data were collected with a purposeful sample of 40 Canadian intensive care unit nurses between May and September 2021. Nurses completed a demographic questionnaire, the Measure of Moral Distress—Healthcare Professionals survey and in-depth interviews. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were categorized and synthesized using reflexive thematic analysis and rapid qualitative analysis.

Results

Half of the nurses in this sample reported moderate levels of moral distress. In response to moral distress, nurses experienced immediate and long-term effects across multiple health domains. To cope, nurses discussed varied reactions, including action, avoidance and acquiescence. Nurses provided recommendations for interventions across multiple organizations to mitigate moral distress and negative health outcomes.

Conclusion

Nurses reported that moral distress drove negative health outcomes and attrition in response to moral events in practice. To change these conditions of moral distress, nurses require organizational investments in interventions and cultures that prioritize the inclusion of nursing perspectives and voices.

Implications for the Profession

Nurses engage in a variety of responses to cope with moral distress. They possess valuable insights into the practice issues central to moral distress that have significant implications for all members of the healthcare teams, patients and systems. It is essential that nurses' voices be included in the development of future interventions central to the responses to moral distress.

Reporting Method

This study adheres to COREQ guidelines.

Impact

What Problem did the Study Address?

Given the known structural, systemic and environmental factors that contribute to intensive care unit nurses' experiences of moral distress, and ultimately burnout and attrition, it was important to learn about their experiences of moral distress and their recommendations for organizational mitigative interventions. Documentation of these experiences and recommendations took on a greater urgency during the context of a global health emergency, the COVID-19 pandemic, where such contextual influences on moral distress were less understood.

What Were the Main Findings?

Over half of the nurses reported a moderate level of moral distress. Nurses who were considering leaving nursing practice reported higher moral distress scores than those who were not considering leaving. In response to moral distress, nurses experienced a variety of outcomes across several health domains. To cope with moral distress, nurses engaged in patterns of action, avoidance and acquiescence. To change the conditions of moral distress, nurses desire organizational interventions, practices and culture changes situated in the amplification of their voices.

Where and on Whom Will the Research Have an Impact on?

These findings will be of interest to: (1) researchers developing and evaluating interventions that address the complex phenomenon of moral distress, (2) leaders and administrators in hospitals, and relevant healthcare and nursing organizations, and (3) nurses interested in leveraging evidence-informed recommendations to advocate for interventions to address moral distress.

What Does this Paper Contribute to the Wider Global Community?

This paper advances the body of scientific work on nurses' experiences of moral distress, capturing this phenomenon within the unique context of a global health emergency. Nurses' levels of moral distress using Measure of Moral Distress—Healthcare Professional survey were reported, serving as a comparator for future studies seeking to measure and evaluate intensive care unit nurses' levels of moral distress. Nurses' recommendations for mitigative interventions for moral distress have been reported, which can help inform future interventional studies.

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public contribution.

Impact of the COVID‐19‐pandemic and perception of self‐efficacy on the mental health of out‐of‐hospital emergency healthcare professionals by modality of care

Abstract

Objective

To analyse the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the perception of self-efficacy on the health professionals of the Spanish out-of-hospital emergency services.

Design

Observational, cross-sectional and descriptive with a survey methodology of 1710 participants from Spain (1 February–30 April, 2021).

Methods

The mental health of healthcare workers was assesed in terms of stress, anxiety and depression, as well as their self-efficacy. Linear and logistic regression models were fitted to predict these variables. A moderation analysis was conducted to determine the effect of self-efficacy on mental health.

Results

The means of the sample for stress, anxiety, depression and self-efficacy were 20.60, 15.74, 13.07 and 70.87, respectively. In the regression models, being a woman was the most significant factor for severe mental health impairment. Female gender was also a relevant factor for self-efficacy. Self-efficacy had a direct effect on the mental health for working in patient care.

Conclusions

Healthcare workers showed moderate stress, severe anxiety, mild depression and good self-efficacy. Direct patient care was associated with more stress and severe anxiety. Age, female gender, job changes and job adjustment were associated with levels of stress, anxiety and depression. Self-efficacy is a determining factor of mental health in the direct care modality.

Implications

The mental health of healthcare workers has been of great importance in the aftermath of the pandemic, but out-of-hospital emergency workers have been neglected in research. The levels of stress, anxiety and depression during the pandemic justify the creation of prevention and early diagnosis programmes, as they are essential in a health disaster. Surprisingly, their high level of perceived self-efficacy directly impact on the mental health of patient helthcare workers, so improving it will reduce the psychological risk.

Reporting Method

We have followed the STROBE guidelines. It has been partially funded by the Asistencia Sanitanitaria Interprovincial de Seguros - ASISA Foundation (Spain).

Patient or Public Contribution

‘No patient or public involvement’.

Dementia friendly in the context of hospitalization: A concept analysis using the Walker & Avant Method

Abstract

Aim(s)

To evaluate the literature to inform and propose a conceptual definition for dementia friendly in the context of hospitalization.

Methods

The Walker & Avant method for concept analysis was utilized for this review.

Data Sources (Include Search Dates)

Initial search conducted June 2022. Repeated search conducted in February 2023. Databases for the literature search include Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and AGELINE.

Results

Five attributes of the concept of dementia friendly in the context of hospitalization were identified including: staff knowledge/education, environmental modification, person-centred care, nursing care delivery and inclusion of family caregivers. Based on these attributes a conceptual definition is proposed.

Conclusion

A clarified definition for dementia friendly in the context of hospitalization will aid in understanding the concept, provide guidance for hospitals seeking to implement dementia-friendly interventions and benefit researchers aiming to study the impact of such programs.

Reporting Method

n/a.

Patient or Public Contribution

No Patient or Public Contribution.

Remote visits to address loneliness for people living with dementia in care homes: A descriptive qualitative study of visitors' perceptions

Abstract

Aims

To assess visitors' perceptions of the benefits and challenges related to engaging in a remote visit intervention, which was designed to address the loneliness of people living with moderate to severe dementia in care homes.

Design

A qualitative descriptive study.

Methods

Twenty-four people living with dementia in care homes in Canada and their family and friends (i.e., remote visitors) took part in facilitated remote visits in 2021. Each person living with dementia received scheduled visits for 30–60 min per week for 6 weeks. Participants chose to complete one longer visit, or multiple shorter visits, per week. Twenty remote visitors participated in semi-structured interviews after six weeks to discuss their perspectives on the effectiveness, benefits and challenges of the program in relation to addressing experiences of loneliness of the person living with dementia. Conventional content analysis was used to analyze the data.

Results

We describe three themes and several sub-themes. Themes support the use of remote visits to enhance, rather than replace, in-person visits; the benefits of remote visits for the person living with dementia and their remote visitors; and the conditions that lead to a successful remote visit.

Conclusion

Remote visitors reported that facilitated visits had positive effects for both visitors and people living with dementia with respect to loneliness, communication, relationships, and social connection.

Implications for Patient Care

Clinicians can consider the factors that contributed to positive experiences of remote visits. The factors include individualized, facilitated visits that were flexible, and the use of reliable technology in a supportive, distraction-free environment.

Impact

Loneliness and social isolation are growing health concerns. When experienced by people living with dementia residing in long-term care homes, loneliness and social isolation can result in lower levels of quality of life and well-being, and higher levels of anxiety and responsive behaviours. Remote visitors perceived that facilitated remote visits have the potential to address loneliness and improve quality of life for people living with dementia and also offer social support to remote visitors. The findings can impact clinician practice by guiding the use of remote visits in care homes, and inform future intervention research to evaluate the effectiveness of remote visits for people living with dementia and their remote visitors.

Reporting Method

This manuscript adheres to the relevant EQUATOR guidelines (the Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research or COREQ).

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public contribution.

Predictors of mental health in healthcare workers during the COVID‐19 pandemic: The role of experiential avoidance, emotion regulation and resilience

Abstract

Aims

This study explores the mediational role of resilience, experiential avoidance and emotion regulation in the levels of anxiety, depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, we explored the association of such levels with personal and professional variables.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Methods

Healthcare professionals working in Spain (N = 786) were recruited following a snowball approach in November and December 2021. Resilience, emotion regulation, experiential avoidance, depression, anxiety, PTSD and work-related variables were measured. Mean differences and correlations were computed, and a path analysis with latent variables (PALV) model was tested.

Results

In total, 18.8% of the sample scored above the cut-off score for depression, 24.6% for anxiety and 36.4% for PTSD. Higher resilience and lower experiential avoidance and expression suppression were correlated with better mental health. The PALV model explained 42%–53% of mental health outcomes. Experiential avoidance showed the greatest explanatory power and mediated the impact that stressors had on mental health. Some work-related variables correlated with greater psychological impact. These factors encompassed being a nurse, feeling that their job remained stressful and had not yet returned to its pre-pandemic state and having interacted with individuals facing economic difficulties due to the pandemic, and those who had lost their lives to COVID-19.

Conclusion

Healthcare workers showed high levels of psychological impact during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such impact was predicted from some work-stress variables and the reliance on maladaptive strategies such as experiential avoidance and expressive suppression.

Impact

Training healthcare professionals to use coping strategies incompatible with experiential avoidance may improve their mental health. Additionally, better working conditions are fundamental for reducing the impact of critical situations on healthcare workers' mental health.

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public contribution.

The ILC Maine statement: Time for the fundamental care [r]evolution

Abstract

Aim

The aim of this study was to present the third position statement from the International Learning Collaborative (ILC). The ILC is the foremost global organization dedicated to transforming fundamental care. Internationally, fundamental care is reported to be poorly delivered, delayed or missed, negatively impacting patients, their families/carers and healthcare staff and systems. Overcoming this global challenge requires profound transformation in how our healthcare systems value, deliver and evaluate fundamental care. This transformation will take both evolutionary and revolutionary guises. In this position statement, we argue how this [r]evolutionary transformation for fundamental care can and must be created within clinical practice.

Design

Position paper.

Methods

This position statement stems from the ILC's annual conference and Leadership Program held in Portland, Maine, USA, in June 2023. The statement draws on the discussions between participants and the authors' subsequent reflections and synthesis of these discussions and ideas. The conference and Leadership Program involved participants (n = 209) from 13 countries working primarily within clinical practice.

Results

The statement focuses on what must occur to transform how fundamental care is valued, prioritized and delivered within clinical practice settings globally. To ensure demonstrable change, the statement comprises four action-oriented strategies that must be systematically owned by healthcare staff and leaders and embedded in our healthcare organizations and systems: Address non-nursing tasks: reclaim and protect time to provide high-value fundamental care. Accentuate the positive: change from deficit-based to affirmative language when describing fundamental care. Access evidence and assess impact: demonstrate transformation in fundamental care by generating relevant indicators and impact measures and rigorously synthesizing existing research. Advocate for interprofessional collaboration: support high-quality, transdisciplinary fundamental care delivery via strong nursing leadership.

Conclusion

The ILC Maine Statement calls for ongoing action – [r]evolution – from healthcare leaders and staff within clinical practice to prioritize fundamental care throughout healthcare systems globally.

Implications for the Profession and/or Patient Care

We outline four action-oriented strategies that can be embedded within clinical practice to substantially transform how fundamental care is delivered. Specific actions to support these strategies are outlined, providing healthcare leaders and staff a road map to continue the transformation of fundamental care within our healthcare systems.

Impact

Fundamental care affects everyone across their life course, regardless of care context, clinical condition, age and/or the presence of disability. This position statement represents a call to action to healthcare leaders and staff working specifically in clinical practice, urging them to take up the leadership challenge of transforming how fundamental care is delivered and experience globally.

Patient or Public Contribution

Patients, service users and caregivers were involved in the ILC annual conference, thus contributing to the discussions that shaped this position statement.

What Does this Paper Contribute to the Wider Global Clinical Community?

The strategies and actions outlined in this position statement are relevant to all clinical settings globally, providing practical strategies and actions that can be employed to enhance fundamental care for all patients and their families/carers. By outlining the importance of both evolutionary and revolutionary change, we identify ways in which healthcare systems globally can begin making the necessary steps towards radical fundamental care transformation, regardless of where they are in the change journey.

Oncology nursing under pressure

Journal of Advanced Nursing, EarlyView.

African Immigrants' perceptions and attitudes toward cardiovascular health

Abstract

Aim

To explore perceptions and attitudes of African immigrants (Ghanaians, Nigerians, Liberians, and Sierra Leoneans) in the Baltimore-Washington, DC, metropolitan area toward cardiovascular health.

Methods

This was a qualitative study among African immigrants recruited from religious and community-based organizations in the Baltimore-Washington metro area. A purposive sample of 66 African immigrants originally from Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, and Sierra Leone completed a sociodemographic survey and participated in focus group discussions. Focus group data were analysed using qualitative description to develop emergent themes.

Results

A total of 66 African immigrants with a mean (±standard deviation) age of 51 (±11.8) years participated in the focus group discussions. Fifty percent were women, 91% had at least a bachelor's degree, 84% were employed, 80% had health insurance, and 75% were married/cohabitating. The majority of the participants (74%) had lived in the US for 10 years or more, 44% of them had hypertension, and 12% had diabetes. Findings from the focus group discussions revealed: gender differences in descriptions of cardiovascular health and healthiness, an emotional response associated with cardiovascular disease (evoking fear and anxiety and associated with family secrecy), positive and negative lifestyle changes after migration, cardiovascular screening behaviours, and facilitators and barriers to cardiovascular disease prevention practices and heart-healthy lifestyle.

Conclusions

Participants understood health to be a holistic state of well-being. Secrecy in disclosing their cardiovascular disease diagnoses informed by historical socio-cultural belief systems, perceived racial discrimination by healthcare providers, communication and health literacy barriers, economic barriers of holding multiple jobs and the exorbitant cost of heart-healthy foods were identified as some barriers to achieving optimal cardiovascular health in this immigrant population.

Impact

Our study expanded on the body of knowledge on African immigrants' perceptions and attitudes toward cardiovascular health. Addressing this knowledge gap will provide important intervention opportunities targeted at improving cardiovascular health outcomes in this population.

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public contribution.

How and where does “care” fit within seminal life‐course approaches? A narrative review and critical analysis

Abstract

Aims

To map the concepts of the caring life-course theory that are used in life-course approaches from different disciplines; establish whether there is a common recognition of, or language used, to describe care in those life-course approaches; and identify the role and contribution of care to the life-course literature.

Design

This discursive paper uses a narrative review process to explore points of convergence and divergence between life-course approaches and the caring life-course theory.

Methods

Categories for analysis were developed deductively and inductively, focusing on the constructs of fundamental care, capacity and capability, care network, care transition, care trajectory and care biography.

Results

We identified four disciplinary perspectives: (1) life-course sociology; (2) life-course epidemiology; (3) lifespan developmental psychology; and (4) life-course health development. While six core constructs of the caring life-course theory were described, either explicitly or implicitly, in existing life-course approaches, no single approach fully describes the role and contribution of care across the lifespan.

Conclusion

Life-course approaches have largely neglected the contribution and role of care in informing the life-course discourse. This review highlights the significance of care beyond traditional healthcare settings and recognizes it as a fundamental human need for well-being and development, which can contribute to existing life-course literature.

Implication for the Profession and/or Patient Care

There is a need to understand care as a complex system and embrace a whole-system, life-course approach to enable nurses and other healthcare professionals to provide high-quality, patient-centred care.

Impact

Incorporating care within a life-course approach provides opportunities to integrate and deliver care centred around the person, their life transitions, trajectories and care networks, including informal carers and healthcare professionals.

No Patient or Public Contribution

Patients or members of the public were not involved in this study as it is a discursive paper based on the relevant literature.

Contribution of non‐socioeconomic factors to healthy quality of life in socioeconomically deprived patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer: Measuring attributable fraction

Abstract

Background

The quality of life of patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer is seriously impaired, and socioeconomic deprivation often has a serious impact on their quality of life. However, little is known about the relative contribution of non-socioeconomic factors to the quality of life of patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer with socioeconomic deprivation.

Aim

This study aims to investigate the situation and predictors of quality of life of patients with socioeconomic deprivation and evaluate the independent effects of some non-socioeconomic factors.

Design

A retrospective study based on cross-sectional design.

Methods

Data were obtained from 1075 patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer who received family palliative treatment in the hospice ward of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University from March 2010 to October 2020, including demographic and clinical questionnaires, Karnofsky Performance Status scale and Cancer Pain and Quality of Life Questionnaire of Chinese Cancer Patients.

Results

The quality of life of patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer with socioeconomic deprivation is impaired and is affected by gait, self-care ability, abdominal distension, nutritional status, weight loss, constipation and posture. Improvement in six of these factors—gait, self-care ability, abdominal distension, nutritional status, weight loss and posture—has an independent positive impact on the development of a healthy quality of life for patients.

Conclusions

Gait, self-care ability, abdominal distension, nutritional status, weight loss and posture are important determinants of healthy quality of life in patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer with socioeconomic deprivation, and early identification and strength management of these non-socioeconomic factors may neutralize the negative impact of socioeconomic factors on the quality of life.

Implications for Practice

This study provides new ideas and intervention entry points for global nurses in practice innovations to improve the quality of life of socioeconomically deprived patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer. It enables them to focus on the effectiveness of non-socioeconomic factors in the development and implementation of targeted care plans for patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer experiencing socioeconomic deprivation globally.

Reporting Method

This study was reported in strict compliance with the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guideline.

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public contribution.

Interprofessional clinical decision‐making process in health: A scoping review

Abstract

Aims

To describe the key elements of the interprofessional decision-making process in health, based on published scientific studies. To describe the authors, reviews and subject matter of those publications.

Design

Scoping review of the literature.

Data Sources

MEDLINE, APA Psycinfo OpenGrey, Lissa and Cochrane databases were searched in December 2019 and January 2023.

Review Methods

References were considered eligible if they (i) were written in French or English, (ii) concerned health, (iii) studied a clinical decision-making process, (iv) were performed in an interprofessional context. ‘PRISMA-scoping review’ guidelines were respected. The eligible studies were analysed and classified by an inductive approach

Results

We identified 1429 sources of information, 145 of which were retained for the analysis. Based on these studies, we identified five key elements of interprofessional decision-making in health. The process was found to be influenced by group dynamics, the available information and consideration of the unique characteristics of the patient. An organizational framework and specific training favoured improvements in the process.

Conclusion

Decision-making can be based on a willingness of the healthcare organization to promote models based on more shared leadership and to work on professional roles and values. It also requires healthcare professionals trained in the entire continuum of collaborative practices, to meet the unique needs of each patient. Finally, it appears essential to favour the sharing of multiple sources of accessible and structured information. Tools for knowledge formalization should help to optimize interprofessional decision-making in health.

Impact

The quality of a team decision-making is critical to the quality of care. Interprofessional decision-making can be structured and improved through different levels of action. These improvements could benefit to patients and healthcare professionals in every settings of care involving care collaboration.

Impact Statement

Interprofessional decision-making in health is an essential lever of quality of care, especially for the most complex patients which are a contemporary challenge. This scoping review article offers a synthesis of a large corpus of data published to date about the interprofessional clinical decision-making process in healthcare. It has the potential to provide a global vision, practical data and a list of references to facilitate the work of healthcare teams, organizations and teachers ready to initiate a change.

Integrating nurse practitioners into primary healthcare to advance health equity through a social justice lens: An integrative review

Abstract

Aim

To develop a framework to guide the successful integration of nurse practitioners (NPs) into practice settings and, working from a social justice lens, deliver comprehensive primary healthcare which advances health equity.

Design

Integrative review.

Methods

The integrative review was informed by the Whittemore and Knafl's framework and followed the Preferred Reporting for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Quality was assessed using the Johns Hopkins Research Evidence Appraisal Tool. Findings were extracted and thematically analysed using NVivo. A social justice lens informed all phases.

Data Sources

Databases, including CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science, were searched for peer-reviewed literature published in English between 2005 and April 2022.

Results

Twenty-eight articles were included. Six themes were identified at the individual (micro), local health provider (meso), and national systems and structures (macro) levels of the health sector: (1) autonomy and agency; (2) awareness and visibility; (3) shared vision; (4) leadership; (5) funding and infrastructure; and (6) intentional support and self-care. The evidence-based framework is explicitly focused on the components required to successfully integrate NPs into primary healthcare to advance health equity.

Conclusion

Integrating NPs into primary healthcare is complex and requires a multilevel approach at macro, meso and micro levels. NPs offer the potential to transform primary healthcare delivery to meet the health needs of local communities. Health workforce and integration policies and strategies are essential if the contribution of NPs is to be realized. The proposed framework offers an opportunity for further research to inform NP integration.

Impact Statement

Nurse practitioners (NPs) offer the potential to transform primary healthcare services to meet local community health needs and advance health equity. Globally, there is a lack of guidance and health policy to support the integration of the NP workforce. The developed framework provides guidance to successfully integrate NPs to deliver comprehensive primary healthcare grounded in social justice. Integrating NPs into PHC is complex and requires a multilevel approach at macro, meso and micro levels. The framework offers an opportunity for further research to inform NP integration, education and policy.

Summary Statement

What problem did the study address: The challenges of integrating nurse practitioners (NPs) into primary healthcare (PHC) are internationally recognized. Attempts to establish NP roles in New Zealand have been ad hoc with limited research, evidence-informed frameworks or policy to guide integration initiatives. Our review builds on existing international literature to understand how NPs are successfully integrated into PHC to advance health equity and provide a guiding framework. What were the main findings: Six themes were identified across individual (micro), local health provider (meso) and national systems and structures (macro) levels as fundamental to NP integration: autonomy and agency; awareness and visibility of the NP and their role; a shared vision for the direction of primary healthcare utilizing NP scope of practice; leadership in all spaces; necessary funding and infrastructure; and intentional support and self-care. Where and on whom will the research have an impact: Given extant health workforce challenges together with persisting health inequities, NPs provide a solution to delivering comprehensive primary healthcare from a social justice lens to promote healthcare access and health equity. The proposed evidence-informed framework provides guidance for successful integration across the health sector, training providers, as well as the NP profession, and is a platform for future research.

Reporting Method

This integrative review adhered to the Preferred Reporting for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method.

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public contribution.

The relevance of the contribution of psychoneuroendocrinoimmunology and psychology of reasoning and decision making to nursing science: A discursive paper

Abstract

Aim

Patients' death or adverse events appear to be associated with poor healthcare decision-making. This might be due to an inability to have an adequate representation of the problem or of the connections among problem-related elements. Changing how a problem is formulated can reduce biases in clinical reasoning. The purpose of this article is to explore the possible contributions of psychoneuroendocrinoimmunology (PNEI) and psychology of reasoning and decision-making (PRDM) to support a new nursing theoretical frame.

Design

Discursive paper.

Method

This article discusses the main assumptions about nursing and nurses' ability to face patient's problems, suggesting a new approach that integrates knowledge from PNEI and PRDM. While PNEI explains the complexity of systems, highlighting the importance of systems connections in affecting health, PRDM underlines the importance of the informative context in creating a mental representation of the problem. Furthermore, PRDM suggests the need to pay attention to information that is not immediately explicit and its connections.

Conclusion

Nursing recognizes the patient–nurse relationship as the axiom that governs care. The integration of PNEI and PRDM in nursing theoretics allows the expansion of the axiom by providing essential elements to read a new type of relationship: the relationship among information. PNEI explains the relationships between biological systems and the psyche and between the whole individual and the environment; PRDM provides tools for the nurse's analytical thinking system to correctly process information and its connections.

Impact on Nursing Practice

A theoretical renewal is mandatory to improve nursing reasoning and nursing priority identification. Integrating PNEI and PRDM into nursing theoretics will modify the way professionals approach patients, reducing cognitive biases and medical errors.

No Patient or Public Contribution

There was no patient or public involvement in the design or writing of this discursive article.

Nursing practice in modern healthcare environments: A systematic review of attributes, characteristics, and demonstrations

Abstract

Aim

To identify Attributes, Characteristics and Demonstrations of nursing practice from both nurses' and people perspectives in today's healthcare environments. A secondary aim was to identify relevant differences between female and male nurses in the context of ACDs.

Design

This systematic review was informed by the Joanna Briggs Institute Convergent Integrated Approach to Mixed Study Systematic Reviews.

Methods

The search included articles ranging from the years 2000 to 2023 across 10 electronic databases and multiple grey literature outlets. McMaster critical review forms and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool were used to appraise article quality. The Convergent Integrated Approach to Mixed Study Systematic Reviews was used to guide data synthesis.

Results

Twenty articles were included in this review, 13 qualitative, five quantitative and two mixed-methods studies. Three themes emerged, including knowledge, practice skills and interpersonal relationships. Differences in Attributes, Characteristics and Demonstrations of professional practice between women and men in nursing were also explored.

Conclusion

Findings suggest that evolving healthcare environments challenge nurses to remain focused on patient-centred and compassionate care. The review also supports nurses caring in a manner that empowers people, increases well-being, and reduces suffering.

Impact

Identified characteristics and attributes of nursing practice, including emphasis on continuous learning, interpersonal relationships and compassion, have a profound impact on nursing. Nurses should remain adaptable, compassionate and patient-focused in an ever-evolving healthcare environment. These foundational care principles are necessary for improving patient outcomes, enhancing trust between people and healthcare providers, and increasing inclusivity and diversity in the nursing workforce.

Wider Global Community

Nurses worldwide should strive to embody these attributes to provide high-quality, patient-centred care in an inclusive environment in today's demanding healthcare environment. Gender-specific differences in the perception and expression of professional Attributes, Characteristics and Demonstrations can inform inclusion and diversity efforts in the workplace.

Reporting Method

This systematic review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines.

Patient or Public Contribution

No Patient or Public Contribution.

Struggling in the dehumanized world of COVID—An exploratory mixed‐methods study of frontline healthcare workers' experiences

Abstract

Aim

To explore healthcare workers' experiences of the changed caring reality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden.

Design

An online fully mixed-methods design.

Methods

A web-based self-reported questionnaire with fixed and open-ended answers collected data from March to April 2021, analysed in three steps. First, free-text questions were analysed by qualitative content analysis. Then quantitative linear regression analyses using models covering stress and coping mechanisms were conducted. Finally, a meta-inference of qualitative and quantitative data emerged a new comprehensive understanding. The COREQ guidelines were used for reporting.

Results

Meta-inferenced results of quantitative and qualitative findings show the pandemic was a traumatic experience for healthcare workers. Main theme; When work became a frightening experience in a dehumanized reality, comprised four themes: Entering unprepared into a frightful, incomprehensible world; Sacrificing moral values and harbouring dilemmas in isolation; Lack of clear management; and Reorient in togetherness and find meaning in a changed reality. Qualitative results comprised four categories; Working in a dehumanized world; Living in betrayal of ones' own conscience; Lack of structure in a chaotic time and Regaining vitality together. Subdimensions comprehensibility and meaningfulness were associated significantly with post-traumatic stress disorder in multiple regression analysis. In multiple regression analysis, sense of coherence was the most prominent coping strategy.

Conclusions

Forcing oneself to perform beyond one's limit, sacrificing moral values and lacking management was a traumatic experience to healthcare workers during the pandemic. Reorienting as a way of coping was possible in togetherness with colleagues. There is an urgency of interventions to meet the needs among healthcare workers who took on a frontline role during the COVID-19 pandemic and to prevent mental health illness in future crisis.

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public contribution.

Summary

The pandemic outbreak exposed frontline healthcare workers to unparallelled stress shown as negative for their mental health in several meta-analyses and systematic reviews. In-depth understanding on experiences and how symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder relate to coping mechanisms have been scarcely explored. This study contributes to understanding on healthcare workers' experiences and the relation between lower sense of coherence and increased risk of developing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Implications for Practice/Policy

This study might guide how to prepare for resilience in future emergencies.

Renegotiating identity. A Nordic study of adolescent's experiences of living with a parent having heart disease

Abstract

Aim

To explore adolescents' experiences of having a parent with heart disease.

Design

This qualitative study was performed with semi-structured individual interviews.

Methods

Interviews were conducted with 33 adolescents between 13 and 19 years old, who either had a mother or father with one of these diagnoses: ischemic heart disease, arrhythmia, heart failure, cardiac arrest or heart valve disease. The parent had been ill for at least 6 months and up to 5 years. The study was carried out in Denmark, Norway and Sweden between 2019 and 2022. The analysis was inspired by Reflexive Methodology.

Results

Three central themes emerged: Response to parental heart disease; Growing up ahead of time; and Strategies in a changed life situation. For the adolescents, heart disease was experienced as an acute and lethal disease that put their parents' lives in danger. New routines and roles not only changed everyday life within the family but they also enhanced maturity and appreciation of life. To maintain a balance in life, the adolescents pursued normality and sought a safe space to have a normal youthful life.

Conclusion

In a period known to be significant for development, life with parental heart disease appeared as a biographical disruption because adolescents renegotiated their identity to manage their new life situation.

Impact

It is important to help younger family members adapt to parental heart disease by informing them about possible reactions and supporting them in how to adapt to their new life by seeking breaks and normality.

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public involvement.

Development and psychometric evaluation of an expanded urinary catheter self‐management scale: A cross‐sectional study

Abstract

Aim

To develop and test the psychometric properties of an expanded catheter self-management scale for patients with in-dwelling urinary catheters.

Design

A cross-sectional validation study. Despite the utility of the original 13-item catheter self-management scale, this instrument did not include bowel management, general hygiene and drainage bag care, which are fundamental skills in urinary catheter self-management to prevent common problems resulting in unnecessary hospital presentations. The expanded catheter self-management scale was developed with 10 additional items to comprehensively assess all five essential aspects of urinary catheter self-management.

Methods

A total of 101 adult community-dwelling patients living with indwelling urinary catheters were recruited from Western Sydney, Australia. Using exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation, the number of factors to be extracted from the expanded 23-item expanded catheter self-management scale was determined using a scree plot. The reliability of the overall scale and subscales was measured using Cronbach's alpha. Convergent validity was assessed using Spearman's correlations between clinical characteristics, overall scale and subscales.

Results

The 23-item expanded catheter self-management scale yielded a 5-factor solution, labelled as: (i) self-monitoring of catheter function, (ii) proactive, help-seeking behaviour function, (iii) bowel self-care function, (iv) hygiene-related catheter site function and (v) drainage bag care function. Cronbach's alpha of the expanded catheter self-management scale indicating all 23 items contributed to the overall alpha value. Convergent validity results showed a negative correlation between the overall expanded catheter self-management scale and catheter-related problems.

Conclusion

The 5-factor structure provided a comprehensive assessment of key aspects of urinary catheter self-management essential to reduce the likelihood of catheter-related hospital presentations.

Implications

The expanded catheter self-management scale can be used to assess and monitor effective patient-centred interventions for optimal self-management to prevent catheter-related problems and improve the quality of life of patients.

Impact

Many patients start their journey of living with a urinary catheter unexpectedly and are not supported with quality information to care for their catheter. The findings of this study show the correlation between catheter self-management skills and catheter-related problems. The expanded catheter self-management scale (E-CSM) assists with analysing the self-management skills of patients living with a catheter and developing tailored interventions to prevent problems and improve their quality of life. In addition, this screening tool can be included in policies, guidelines, and care plans as a standard for improving catheter management and developing educational resources for patients.

Reporting Method

STROBE checklist was used to report all aspects of this study comprehensively and accurately.

Patient or Public Contribution

Patients living with indwelling urinary catheter and their carers have participated in surveys, interviews and co-designing interventions. This paper reports the psychometric analysis of the expanded catheter self-management scale (E-CSM) used in the patient survey as part of the main study ‘Improving Quality of Life of Patients Living with Indwelling Urinary Catheters: IQ-IDC Study’ (Alex et al. in Collegian, 29:405–413, 2021). We greatly value our consumers' contributions and continue to communicate the progress of the study to them. Their contributions will be acknowledged in all publications and presentations. In addition, all participants will be provided the option of receiving the interventions and publications generated from this study.

❌