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Biomedical subjects

A Liukkonen

Publications and source records attributed to A Liukkonen.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Fathers' experiences of childbirth.

OBJECTIVE: To describe how fathers who are present during childbirth experience the event, what they feel during childbirth and how they understand the meaning of childbirth. DESIGN: Survey using questionnaire. SETTING: Maternity unit in Finland. PARTICIPANTS: A non-random sample of fathers (n = 137) who were present at the birth of their baby at one university hospital in Finland. The response rate was 81% (n = 107). MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS: Young fathers and those expecting their first baby reported feeling uncomfortable during delivery more frequently than others. Almost all said that they had plenty of good experiences, younger fathers more so than older fathers. The fathers expressed their confidence in the staff and described the environment at the hospital as pleasant. They said their presence at delivery was important for their growth into fatherhood. The best experience was the moment that the baby entered the world. The hardest things were the pain experienced by their partner and being unable to help. Most of the fathers were very pleased with current midwifery practices followed in childbirth, however, it was felt that more attention ought to be paid to pain relief and to supporting and providing guidance to the father during delivery. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The work of midwives should be planned so that fathers can feel secure and comfortable. Further studies are needed into the ability of midwives to support fathers in their fatherhood.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

[Fathers' childbirth experience and nursing interventions].

The purpose of the study was to describe the childbirth experience of fathers and nursing interventions used during labour and delivery. The data were collected by questionnaires from fathers attending delivery room during one month (n = 137). Five fathers refused to participate. The return rate was 81% out of 132 fathers. Data analysis included cross tabulations, factor analysis as well as content analysis for open ended questions. Nursing interventions which fathers found supportive were infant care, getting information and attention from the staff. Most of the respondents felt they got encouragement to take care of the infant. They also got information of the delivery and newborn's welfare. However, about half felt they got little encouragement to show their own feelings. Fathers found that being present at the delivery was an important part of their fatherhood. The best moments were attached to enjoyment of taking care of the newborn. Fathers felt themselves unable to help their partner enough. They felt very difficult to see their partner in pain. Most of the father were quite satisfied with nursing interventions used during labour. They wanted more attention to be paid to pain management. Fathers would like to get more advice during labour.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Life in a nursing home for the frail elderly: daily routines.

This study forms part of a research project intended to shape the care of elderly residents in two nursing homes so that it better corresponds to their needs. The goal of this effort was to look at the life and treatment experiences of frail elderly residents. The data were collected by interviewing 31 residents and analyzed using continuous comparison methods. The results showed that the nursing staff was clearly preoccupied with daily activities, whereas the lives of elderly residents received less attention. There was a widespread feeling among residents that staff members were always pressed for time and did not want to talk with them. Nursing staff should encourage elderly patients to talk about their hopes, desires, and everyday thoughts. A closer familiarity with their patients' life stories will also help the nursing staff to understand and appreciate the hopes of their clients.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1994

Humour in nursing care.

Humour is an integral part of everyday life and therefore also a component of the care and treatment of patients in the modern health care system. This paper looks at the role of humour in practical nursing in the light of earlier research literature on the subject. It also describes some preliminary results of our studies on the meaning of humour to professional nurses. We opted to use a qualitative approach in this study because the focus of interest was on an issue that has received only little attention in earlier research. Nurses were presented with a set of unstructured, open-ended questions requiring short, essay-type answers. The data obtained were analysed using the qualitative method of content analysis. In the light of our findings here, humour can be described as a joie de vivre which is manifested in human interaction in the form of fun, jocularity and laughter. Humour is a meaningful factor, both with regard to the patient's well-being and to coping, and also with regard to the interaction of nurse and patient. Humour also allows for more job satisfaction and better motivation. Research should be continued and intensified into the role and use of humour in everyday life and particularly in nursing care.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1994

Reasons for uses of physical restraint and alternatives to them in geriatric nursing: a questionnaire study among nursing staff.

This study is part of a major research project that is concerned with disruptive behaviour among elderly patients and the use of physical restraint in geriatric nursing. The purpose of this study was to describe the use of physical restraint and alternatives as reported by professional nurses. The data were collected by a structured questionnaire. Nursing staff (n = 287) from a geriatric unit of a health centre, a nursing home, and the medical and psychiatric clinics of a university hospital in one city in central Finland, volunteered for the study. The clear majority (85%) of the nurses stated that physical restraint had been used on the ward during the week preceding the questionnaire. Reasons cited most often for restraint use were reduced physical and cognitive capacity of demented patients. The most common alternative was to try to understand the reasons for the elderly patient's disruptive behaviour. A major challenge for future research and for field experiments is to provide new alternatives to the use of physical restraint in geriatric nursing.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

[Participant observation as data collection method in nursing research].

Participant observation as data collection method in nursing research is explored in this article. The scientific basis of observation method comes from symbolic interactionism. Nature and epistemological starting points of the knowledge produced by observational method can vary depending on the purpose of the study. Participant observation is a process, which aims at scientific research through observer's presence in social situations. Fieldwork should be carefully prepared because the main problem in participant observation is observer's influence on phenomenon which is being studied. In the beginning of the field-work researcher tries to get a general view what happens in the situation. After the analysis the researcher can focus his observations according to his research problems and finally observe selectively. The data consists of record-keeping, descriptions and field-work note book. Participant observation is the most subjective observation method of data collection. By using triangulation a researcher can avoid his personal influence on results and make the validity of his study better. The researcher must take ethical issues into consideration when collecting data by participant observation.

Data Collection↗
PubMed1993

The content of nurses' oral shift reports in homes for elderly people.

The paper deals with the content of nurses' oral shift reports in homes for elderly people. Material for the study was gathered from two homes by recording nurses' morning, afternoon and evening reports on audio tape over 4 weeks. It was analysed by classifying the content of the reports. Emphasis in the reports was on matters associated with physical needs and medical treatment of the aged person. There were considerably fewer statements in the report about opinions and state of mind of elderly people. Nurses did not often discuss how to support independence of elderly people. The reports provided situationally dependent and random information for the nurses' decision-making process. In comparison, they contained relatively little information or discussion about care as a whole.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1993

The psychogeriatric nurse's decision-making process in a mental hospital.

This article looks at the psychogeriatric nurse's decision-making process in a mental hospital. The subjects consist of 26 nurses working on the psychogeriatric wards of one hospital. The data were collected by a questionnaire (N = 26), content analysis of nursing plans (N = 56), and observation of nursing plans meetings (N = 15). The results on the different phases of the decision-making process suggested that nurses had little difficulty with the identification of problems. Data collection tended to concentrate on the physical side of nursing work. The setting of explicit targets for nursing care proved to be difficult. The vast majority of the nurses (85%) felt that decision-making on different nursing alternatives was only moderately or not at all successful. Over half of the nurses felt that their ability to evaluate the outcome of treatment and nursing was either satisfactory or poor.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Disruptive behavior; what is it, how prevalent is it and how much nursing care does it require in geriatric departments?].

The purpose of the study was to examine disruptive behaviors in elderly patients, to find out the prevalence of disruptive behaviors and the most disruptive behavior for staff and to examine nursing interventions in these situations. The data were collected with a questionnaire. The respondents on the survey were special nurses, nurses, mental health nurses and licensed nurses (N = 287). This type of study cannot be generalized to a larger population of geriatric care facilities without bearing in mind that the population studied was not representative of the general population of all geriatric care facilities. Our results show that problems of mobility, incontinence, dressing, language and passivity were among the top five most frequently occurring on geriatric wards. Nursing personnel identified physical aggression as the most disruptive behavior for them. The results of this study suggest that disruptive behaviors occur at rates which are clinically significant in a geriatric care setting. Research into the etiology and treatment of disruptive behaviors is in a most preliminary stage. Research is also needed on the potential for training nursing staff in the use of simple and positive behavioral procedures.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

The nurse's decision-making process and the implementation of psychogeriatric nursing in a mental hospital.

This study looks at the psychogeriatric nurse's decision-making process and on this basis seeks to describe the implementation of psychogeriatric nursing in a mental hospital. The subjects consist of 26 nurses working on the psychogeriatric wards of one hospital. The data were collected using a questionnaire (n = 26), a 1-week time-usage analysis, content analysis of nursing plans (n = 56), and observation of planning meetings (n = 15). The results for different phases of the decision-making process suggested that nurses had little difficulty with the identification of problems. Data collection tended to concentrate on the physical side of nursing work. The setting of explicit targets for nursing care proved to be difficult. The vast majority of the nurses (85%) felt that decision-making on different nursing alternatives was only moderately or not at all successful. Over half of the nurses felt that their ability to evaluate the outcome of treatment and nursing was either satisfactory or poor. Time-usage analysis indicated that the nurses had frequent interaction with their patients in connection with basic care, although the nurses themselves did not regard this part of their work as active interaction with the patient.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

The models of nursing activity in the basic care of demented patients living in institutions.

The chief concern of this article is the basic care of demented patients living in institutions. The data for the study were collected by observing basic care situations and interviewing practising nurses. The analysis was based on continuous comparative analysis. Five models of nursing activity were identified: rejective, routinized, robot-like, cassette-like, and skillful. Nurses concentrated more on obligatory daily activities than on the individual needs of demented patients, on the special characteristics of dementia, or on encouraging spontaneous activity among demented patients. The nurses tended to look at demented patients chiefly in terms of the abilities they had lost and the disturbance they caused; less attention was given to their remaining facilities, such as their sense of humor and their ability to enjoy things and to establish contact through gestures and physical touching.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1992

[Contents of daily reports and nursing practice in 2 homes for the aged].

Many patients in homes for the aged become progressively more disabled and thus constant reevaluation of all their nursing care needs is required. The patients' basic human needs, as well as those related to their diseases, have to be met. The aim of this study was to describe the contents of daily reports in two homes for the aged. The data was collected by tape-recording nursing staff's reports for four weeks period on two wards. The data was analysed by using content analysis. The contents were divided into messages. The results show that most of the discussions concerned daily activities and medical care. Some of the discussions fell within the categories of "patients' opinions" and "mood". Information was situation related. Patient's holistic care or supporting the patient's initiativeness in his daily activities were seldom discussed. The impression given on the nursing practice was task orientated and routinized.

Activities of Daily Living↗