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Biomedical subjects

A T Altschul

Publications and source records attributed to A T Altschul.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1989

Student assessment in basic nursing education in Scotland.

This paper presents some of the findings of a 4-year-study of the examination system for student nurses entering basic nursing courses offered by all Colleges of Nursing and Midwifery in Scotland. These modular courses, first implemented in 1982, involve students in a series of internal (college) assessments and two external (national) examinations. Results for 2742 students on 16,764 written assessments were analysed. The hypotheses that there would be high correlation between different modular results in internal assessments, and between results in internal assessments and external examinations were not supported. Implications for possible changes in the examination system are discussed.

Curriculum↗
PubMed1989

A qualitative analysis of examination questions set for students of nursing in Scotland.

The construction of essay-type questions for inclusion in nursing examination papers is a time consuming task for teachers. In this paper, the findings of the qualitative analysis of the examination systems in basic nursing education in Scotland are discussed, with specific reference to questions set in internal and external formal examinations. The form and type of questions which seemed to create difficulties for students are identified and discussed. Several issues are raised, including coverage of the syllabus content, the science base for nursing, and determining levels of question difficulty. The paper concludes with recommendations concerning the format of assessment, especially if the NBS were to delegate more responsibility to colleges and when the proposals on curriculum reform evisaged in Project 2000, are implemented.

Curriculum↗
PubMed1983

Nursing and higher education.

Gladys Carter, an eminent Canadian nurse holding a "Boots" fellowship at the University of Edinburgh, in 1954 set out lucidly the ways in which the nursing profession would benefit from an increase of university graduates among its members. Since then the University of Edinburgh has been playing a prominent part in conducting courses at undergraduate and intermediate degree levels and a considerable number of nurses have obtained M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees by research. There are now many other institutions of tertiary education which provide the opportunity for nurses to study for degrees and an increasing number of graduates enter colleges of nursing for nurse training. Using the Edinburgh experience as a starting point, the article discusses the value of degree courses to individual students and the potential value of graduates to the nursing profession. It is distressing, however, that graduates themselves do not appear to have career aspirations commensurate with their qualifications and that the profession in the United Kingdom still fails to find graduates to fill senior posts. Those who studied for university degrees after having established themselves in nursing appear more likely to be promoted to senior positions than those who have taken degree courses in nursing. The contribution of graduates to the establishment of a body of nursing knowledge and the role that the universities play in the research endeavour is discussed.

Career Choice↗
PubMed1983

The consumer's voice: nursing implications.

Winifred Raphael pioneered survey research into nursing problems. In particular she was interested in what patients thought about their care. Her sympathetic approach and her trust in the motivation of nurses resulted in ready acceptance of her findings and an eagerness of nurses to use these findings as a basis for improving their performance. This article discusses the paradox of patients wanting to talk, but staff being reluctant to listen, especially where emotionally charged topics are concerned. Recognition that it may be therapeutic for patients to discuss painful experiences and an increasing willingness by nurses to listen to patients may call for a system of providing support for the nurses themselves. Unaided, nurses may find the strain excessive and therefore, in spite of the best intention, may feel obliged to cut the patient off. There is evidence that a change has occurred in recent years in nurses' attitudes to researchers. Whereas early reports reveal a defensiveness and a rejection of critical comments by researchers, recent studies show that patients are less critical of nursing care than the nurses are themselves, and that nurses welcome investigations into their work. Lack of communication with patients is most frequently criticized by patients and by nurses. Because of this nurses increasingly believe that patients may need help to make their views known and increasingly incorporate patient-advocacy in their role.

Communication↗
PubMed1979

Commitment to nursing.

After a discussion of models of nursing, the author focuses on what nurses are and argues that their perceptions are significantly different from those of medical practitioners. The commitment of nurses is discussed, debated and explored and some values shared between newly qualified nurses and the lay public. Commitment is put into the prespective of 'accountability' and its effects on assessing quality of care and nurse-patient relationships are discussed. The author also argues that in certain circumstances she would contemplate defecting from 'being a nurse', particularly with regards to her personal concern for the mentally disordered. But the message that pervades the paper is that once one is a nurse, one is a nurse forever. Finally researchers are admonished to strive for 'an elucidation of the nature of commitment'.

Education, Nursing↗
PubMed1978

A systems approach to the nursing process.

This paper makes the point that for psychiatric patients the nursing process based on a systems approach may be more useful than that based on problem-solving or activities of daily living. Some of the key concepts used in this approach are (1) listing component parts of a system, (2) defining the inside and outside of systems, the outside being described as environment, (3) changing the boundaries or the interface of various systems, as appropriate, (4) observing the impact of the environment and especially of the nurse herself as a part of the system or the environment, (5) tracing input, output and throughput, and (6) drawing distinctions between open and closed systems and accounting for a steady state in the system.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1977

Royal College of Nursing (Rcn) code of professional conduct: a discussion document.

We are printing in its entirety the discussion document which sets out a code of professional conduct for nurses published by the Royal College of Nursing in November 1976 together with commentaries by the Assistant Secretary of the British Medical Association, a professor of nursing studies, student nurses and a lawyer. The image of the nurse is still that of one of Florence Nightingale's young ladies or of a member of a religious order who is wholly dedicated to caring for the sick. Today, as this document and the comments upon it show, 'dedication' is still part of the motive which leads a man or woman to become a nurse but in addition, and this is where the public may be ignorant or choose to be ignorant, nursing offers a career where intellectual achievement and the satisfaction of a demanding job bring their proper financial reward and place in the professional community. We are grateful to the Royal College of Nursing for permission to publish this document.

Codes of Ethics↗