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Biomedical subjects

E S O'Neill

Publications and source records attributed to E S O'Neill.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

The symptom experience of women with chronic illness.

AIM OF THE STUDY: This integrative review examined how women interpret, cope with, and manage chronic illness symptoms. BACKGROUND: Women with chronic illness report more symptoms and poorer physical health than men. They also enter the health care system later and sicker than their male counterparts. One possible reason for their increased morbidity and mortality is gender differences in interpreting and managing symptoms. METHOD: The inclusion criteria that guided this review were that: (a) the study was published between January 1, 1990 and December 31, 1999; (b) participants were women with at least one chronic health problem; and (c) the study addressed symptom perception, symptom evaluation, and/or symptom management. Databases were searched using women, symptoms, chronic illness, coping, and research as key words. FINDINGS: One hundred and ten published studies were reviewed, yielding 35 journal articles reporting on 32 separate studies that met the inclusion criteria. The analysis identified important gender differences in symptom experience. While studies of coping with symptoms are well represented in the literature, symptom strategies and the cultural meaning of symptoms are understudied. CONCLUSION: Five categories of practice implications emerged from the data. These included physical functioning, coping, self-care, roles and relationships, and socio-cultural issues. Within each category specific directions for nursing practice were developed.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1997

Home care nurses' inferences and decisions.

The types of inferences and decisions made by home health nurses were explored in this study. One hundred patient care records representing 10 home care nurses' primary clients were examined. Two main types of decisions were identified: (1) autonomous with the subcategories of self-directed and consultative and (2) collaborative. Less experienced nurses recorded the most decisions and relied on collaborative decision making more often. Implications include the need for increased autonomy in decision making for home care nurses and the necessity for decision supports for novice nurses.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1997

A longitudinal framework for fostering critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning.

Nurses' reasoning skills are of interest to nurse researchers, managers, clinicians, educators and students. Recent emphasis on critical thinking has raised important questions regarding the modes of reasoning necessary for practice and appropriate measures to improve nurses' cognitive skills. This paper analyses critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning. A longitudinal framework for promoting both modes of reasoning, beginning with nursing students through to experienced clinicians, is proposed as a model worth testing in nurse samples.

Education, Nursing↗
PubMed1994

Home health nurses' use of base rate information in diagnostic reasoning.

This survey examined home health nurses' use of base rate data when diagnosing and explored the influence of education and experience on the use of base rate data. The relationships between education and experience and normatively appropriate diagnoses were also examined. Two hundred and fourteen nurses completed the Clinical Inference Vignettes, which included four diagnostic problems relevant to home health care nursing. Data analysis indicated an association between the use of base rate information and education and experience. Education and experience also influenced normatively correct responses. Recommendations include methods to increase awareness of base rate information, thereby improving diagnostic precision and ultimately enhancing patient outcomes.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1994

The influence of experience on community health nurses' use of the similarity heuristic in diagnostic reasoning.

This study explored the diagnostic reasoning of community health nurses, examining the association between nursing experience and use of the cognitive heuristic similarity. Two types of similarity reasoning were examined, similarity to a single prototype (SSP) and similarity to a population prototype (SPP). The hypothesis of the study, derived from heuristics theory and ACT theory predicted that experts would be more likely to make diagnoses by similarity assessment than less experienced nurses. A random sample of 214 community health nurses was studied. Each subject completed eight diagnostic problems included in the Clinical Inference Questionnaire (CIQ) that was developed for this study to measure judging by similarity. Most of the nurses in this study, regardless of experience, used similarity assessment as a basis for some diagnoses. Experts were more likely than less experienced nurses to judge by similarity in population prototype problems but not in single prototype problems. These findings suggest that the diagnostic process includes similarity reasoning and imply that this process cannot be well understood without further exploration of the role of cognitive heuristics.

Cognition↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Heuristics reasoning in diagnostic judgment.

Heuristics inquiry is an exciting new approach to understanding diagnostic reasoning. Heuristics are short-cut mental strategies that streamline information. Although heuristics allow for faster processing of information than analytic methods, they can lead to errors because not all information is considered. This article describes three heuristics particularly relevant to diagnostic reasoning: accessibility, similarity, and anchoring and adjustment. Specific factors thought to influence heuristic reasoning are reviewed and analyzed. Last, interventions to be tested for both practice and education are presented.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Strengthening clinical reasoning in graduate nursing students.

Clinical reasoning skills are the cornerstone of successful nursing practice. To strengthen the clinical reasoning skills of graduate nursing students, faculty at one university developed an innovative course focusing on theoretical knowledge about clinical decision making and reflective exercises to foster student thinking.

Clinical Competence↗