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Biomedical subjects

A Retsas

Publications and source records attributed to A Retsas.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Barriers to using research evidence in nursing practice.

Barriers to using research evidence in nursing practice The nursing profession has long recognized the importance of research as an essential basis for its development. More recently, the movement supporting evidence-based practice has brought this point into focus. However, relatively little research has been conducted to identify factors that interfere with the ability of nurses to base their practice on research evidence. Using factor analysis procedures, barriers to the use of research evidence in practice which were perceived to be present by 400 registered nurses working in an Australian hospital, were grouped under four main factors. These were accessibility of research findings, anticipated outcomes of using research, organizational support to use research and support from others to use research. The most important factor was perceived to be organizational support, particularly in relation to providing time to use and conduct research.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Manual handling activities and injuries among nurses: an Australian hospital study.

The aims of this study were to identify patterns of manual handling activities and their associated injuries and consequences among nurses working at a large teaching and referral medical centre in Melbourne, Australia. A self-report 140-item questionnaire was distributed to 523 registered nurses working full time at the medical centre. Of the 269 (51.4%) nurses who completed the questionnaire, 108 (40.1%) retrospectively reported an injury associated with manual handling activity, of which 75.9% (82) comprised back injuries. When all full-time nurses working at the medical centre are considered, the prevalence of all manual handling injuries was 20.6% (n=108) and 15.7% (n=87) for back injuries. About two-thirds (67.6%) of all manual handling injuries were associated with direct patient care activities and another third (32.4%) with non-direct patient care activities. Approximately one-third (34.3%) of all injuries were associated with lifting patients and this activity comprised one half of all causes associated with injuries arising from direct patient care activities. The consequences of injuries were significant. Recommendations for reducing manual handling activities and injuries are made and future research directions are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Transacting self-preservation: a grounded theory of the spiritual dimensions of people with terminal cancer.

This study describes the spiritual meanings people with terminal cancer give to their everyday life-experiences. Transcriptions from semi-structured, in-depth interviews of 19 adults who had a diagnosis of cancer and who were living in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia, were analysed using the constant comparative approach of grounded theory. The study found that people with terminal cancer develop a spiritual perspective that strengthens their approaches to life and death. Their discovery of spiritual meaning is enacted through a process of transacting self-preservation. This process incorporates three phases, taking it all in, getting on with things and putting it all together. As people with terminal cancer move through these phases they transact self-preservation by discovering deeper levels of understanding self. This discovery of self incorporates a higher level of spiritual growth, spiritual perspective, spiritual awareness and spiritual experiences. The study indicates that nurses can help people with terminal cancer develop coping strategies that allow them to engage in the process of transacting self-preservation. This study also shows that there needs to be more emphasis on spirituality, spiritual issues and the role of spiritual caring in nursing curricula and practice.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1999

Barriers to nurses' use of research: an Australian hospital study.

Although research is recognised as an essential basis for nursing knowledge and practice development, there is considerable agreement that nurses do not use research as often as they could. The question is, what factors are perceived by nurses in Australia to interfere with their ability to use research in their clinical practice? Using factor analysis procedures, barriers to the use of research by 149 nurses working in an Australian hospital were grouped under three main factors, viz. the perceived usefulness of research to clinical practice; the perceived ability of the practitioner to generate change to practice based on research and the accessibility of research to the practitioner. The three most frequently cited barriers to using research were insufficient time on the job to implement research findings, insufficient time to read research and a lack of awareness of research findings. In order to improve the ability of nurses to apply research to their practice, fundamental changes need to occur within the education system, so as to improve the teaching of research to students of nursing and qualified practitioners, within the health care system where nursing research is expected to be applied and among clinical nurses.

Communication Barriers↗
PubMed1999

Establishing a cardiac surgery recovery unit within the post anaesthesia care unit.

At the Austin & Repatriation Medical Centre (A&RMC) an innovative approach was taken to improve the reliability of ICU bed availability for elective cardiac surgery patients. A cardiac surgery recovery unit (CSRU), a dedicated three bed area, was established within the Post Anaesthesia Care Unit (PACU) so as to deliver care to a group of patients that had previously been provided in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Derived benefits arising from this initiative include a reduction in the number of cardiac surgery cancellations for want of ICU beds, reduced length of stay of patients in the CSRU and in the Medical Centre, and an improvement in the level of knowledge and skills of PACU nurses in relation to caring for the specific needs of acutely ill patients.

Cardiac Surgical Procedures↗
PubMed1999

Describing what chaplains do in hospitals.

Reports on a research project that describes the unique activities in which chaplains engage as they provide pastoral care and counseling and spiritual direction to patients in a large, acute tertiary referral medical center in Melbourne, Australia. Analyzes 57,704 entries which described what hospital chaplains do when interacting with patients over a period of five and one-half years. Identifies as the core activities "promoting spiritual transcending" (57.6% of all entries), "promoting spiritual intactness" (36.1% of all entries) and "enacting ministry" (6.2% of all entries).

Australia↗
PubMed1998

Spirituality and nursing: toward an ontological understanding.

The epistemological basis for nursing knowledge and practice is now well established. However, the ontological dimensions of nursing have not been as fully considered. Although the spirituality of people is receiving attention in nursing literature, a deeper understanding of its relevance as an ontological dimension of nursing, is needed. This paper examines reasons and strategies for emphasising spirituality as an ontological component of nursing.

Holistic Nursing↗
PubMed1997

'Effective' Australian gerontology nurses: a repertory grid analysis.

Repertory grids were completed by gerontological nurses (N = 60) to elicit the personal constructs they used to characterize gerontological nurses, effective gerontological nurses and the extent to which participants believed themselves to be effective as nurses working in this specialist field. Analysis of pooled repertory grids indicated that the personal construct 'caring, compassionate, empathetic' was rated most highly as characteristic of gerontological nurses in general and of effective gerontological nurses. Cluster analysis of individual repertory grids showed no significant difference between self-perceptions of participants as effective gerontological nurses and the ideal gerontological nurses they would like to become. Other findings of this research indicate that a variety of aspects of gerontological nursing need improvement if negative perceptions of this area of nursing practice are to be altered.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Critical care graduate diploma: nursing students' needs identified in evaluation.

In 1993 a Graduate Diploma in Critical Care Nursing was developed by the Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences Griffith University--Gold Coast Campus, in collaboration with hospitals in the South Coast and Brisbane regions of Queensland and the Queensland Nurses Union of Employees. An independent evaluation of this 1-year full-time course identified several issues which should be considered when planning courses of this type. Student characteristics varied, and most gained entry into this course on the basis of prior experience. Many students lacked such 'hardware' skills as library access, computing and study ability. By the end of the course, students perceived that their prospects for career advancement were enhanced by the knowledge and skills gained from the course and that they had demonstrated professional development. Students emphasised the need for a strong focus on the clinical component of the course. Planning for specialty education should include comprehensive induction programs which provide opportunities to develop 'hardware' skills, and special attention must be paid to the clinical components.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

The critical thinking abilities of RNs entering university courses.

The critical thinking abilities of groups of registered nurses (n 143) who were entering the post-registration Bachelor of Nursing or one of the four graduate diploma in nursing courses offered by Griffith University were assessed using the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Test. The mean scores of the Bachelor of Nursing student group, none of whom had attended university, were significantly lower than the mean scores of the graduate diploma students who had no experience of tertiary education. There was not a significant difference in the mean scores of the group who were accepted into the graduate diploma courses on the basis of previous university studies and the group whose acceptance was based on prior learning in non-tertiary courses and/or clinical nursing experience. There were also no significant differences in the mean scores of groups of students entering the four graduate diploma courses. Some implications of these findings for students and for the development and implementation of curricula are discussed.

Curriculum↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Australian nurses' personal constructs about effective nurses--a repertory grid approach.

Repertory grids were completed by nurses (N = 56) enrolled in university courses to elicit the personal constructs they used to characterize nurses as effective and to elicit the extent to which participants believed themselves to be effective nurses. The personal constructs of "good knowledge base," "good interpersonal and communication skills," were ranked, respectively, as the four most frequently elicited constructs associated with nurses. "Good knowledge base," "caring, compassionate," "good clinical skills," and "good decision-making and problem-solving skills" were ranked, respectively, as the four most frequently elicited constructs associated with "effective" nurses. Cluster analysis of individual repertory grids showed that there was a significant difference between self-perceptions of participants as effective nurses and the nurses they would like to become.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Manual handling practices and injuries among ICU nurses.

This paper describes manual handling practices and injuries among Intensive Care Units (ICU) nurses working in a large tertiary referral medical centre in Australia. The objectives of this study were to identify patterns of manual handling activities; the incidence, types of injury and body site injured; and establish the consequences of injuries. The rate of manual handling injuries among ICU nurses was unacceptably high (52.2%), as was back injury (71.4% of all injuries). In order to reduce manual handling injuries, employers should provide lifting assistance devices; design workplaces so as to minimise the need for ICU nurses to twist, bend and/or lift items from the floor; introduce regular equipment maintenance procedures; provide adequate staffing to assist with lifting patients; and implement processes that facilitate more detailed statistics on manual handling activities and outcomes.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Knowledge and practice development: toward an ontology of nursing.

This paper argues that patterns and dependencies in the way that modern nursing has been constructed have contributed to a lack of clarity about the significance of nursing's ontological dimensions. It is claimed that there is now a crisis in development of nursing knowledge and practice. The solution to this crisis lies in nurses explaining what they do, not just in relation to the epistemological dimensions that methods of positivist science allow, but also from ontological dimensions.

Education, Nursing↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The use of physical restraints in Western Australian nursing homes.

Sixtyfour directors of nursing of Western Australia's 95 nursing homes that provide care for elderly residents responded to a survey designed to obtain descriptive information about the use of physical restraints. The study found that physical restraints had been applied to 26% (n = 787) of the 3028 nursing home residents. The most common forms of restraint were bedrails, which were used in 38.3% of homes, restraining belts (26.7%) and vests (16.7%). Ninetyfive percent of DONs cited "preventing falls" as a patient-oriented reason for using physical restraints and 19% said "because no alternative exists" was the nursing-oriented reason for restraint. While there may have been therapeutic reasons for using physical restraints, the extent to which they were used is cause for concern. Further efforts to reduce the use of restraints are needed. In particular, all nursing home staff involved in direct care of residents should be educated about the effects of applying physical restraints and about alternative way to manage elderly residents.

Accidental Falls↗