Biomedical subjects

Gerard Kenny

Publications and source records attributed to Gerard Kenny.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: the current debate and neglected dimensions.

The aim of this article is to identify and highlight the issues facing children, young people and families experiencing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in an United Kingdom context. In presenting these issues it is hoped that wider discussion and awareness of the challenges of this condition may have an effect on the planning and delivery of services within the UK. We seek to highlight that an overreliance on a medical perspective has the effect of neglecting the wider context of the rights of the child and the needs of the family. We advocate for an approach that recognizes the importance of the contributions of other professionals and the implementation of locally-agreed guidelines that incorporate the perspectives of families and the rights of the child.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

Family nursing and parents who have a learning disability.

Parents who have learning difficulties pose profound questions to the philosophy and practice of family nursing. Failure to recognise how care delivery needs to change in the context of parents with a learning disability can perpetuate discrimination and inequalities for adults and their children. In this paper we explore the neglected topic of adults who have learning disabilities and the problems they face when they become parents. We examine the issue of the rights of adults with learning disabilities and illustrate that when these rights are not upheld they increase the vulnerability of the adults and their children. The implications of these issues are highlighted in the context of children's nursing practice.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Family nursing and the management of pain in children.

Most of the issues around children and pain have been identified and yet children's pain continues to be poorly managed. This review aims to take a fresh look at this topic through the use of family nursing theory and children's policy and rights perspectives. Family nursing and children's policy have a valuable contribution to make to assessment issues; nurse education needs to combine family-centred care concepts and children's rights in the teaching of pain management.

Child↗

PubMed2005

Children's student nurses' knowledge of spirituality and its implications for educational practice.

Children's nurse educators have to rely predominantly on adult-based literature to guide their educational practice concerning spirituality in the nursing curriculum. The aim of this study was to get a children's nursing perspective. A questionnaire was designed around the main themes emerging from the adult literature on spirituality. This was distributed to children's nurses on the undergraduate curriculum at a UK university. The results showed that some of the challenges of delivering spirituality are common to both adult and children's nursing. However, there were also significant differences revolving around the impact that children and families had in informing students' understanding of spirituality, and the problems of seeking a unified theory of spirituality in a children's nursing context. It concludes that children's nursing has important lessons to learn from the adult literature; however, it must strive to construct its own insights and use this understanding to inform educational approaches to the topic.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed2004

The origins of current nurse education policy and its implications for nurse educators.

The publication of Fitness for Practice [UKCC Commission for Nursing and Midwifery Education, 1999. Fitness for Practice (Chair Sir Leonard Peach). UKCC, London] in the United Kingdom (UK) came at a time when anxiety was being expressed by UK government and the National Health Service (NHS) over the suitability of newly trained nurses to be 'fit for purpose'. There had been growing disquiet that the education reforms of the 1990s, which had seen nurse education move into higher education, had failed to deliver skilled nurses for the modern healthcare system. Fitness for Practice (loc. cit.) became the driving force behind government's attempts to bring about change nurse education policy. In the process of these reforms, nurse educators were marginalised and portrayed a negative light. The implementation time of the report was one to two years. This makes the policy ripe for discussion and analysis to explore the complexity of its recommendations, and its implications for UK nurse educators within a higher education context.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed2004

Negotiating socialisation: the journey of novice nurse academics into higher education.

In this paper we seek to explore the socialisation process experienced by novice nurse academics when they make the transition from the health sector into the education sector. We will do this by identifying the theoretical tensions between individual freedom in the context of organisational needs. The ramifications of these tensions will be highlighted and solutions for raising awareness as to how to manage them are discussed. We conclude that a socialisation process that protects individual freedom and promotes self-development is one that carries the greatest benefit for the novice nurse academic and the educational institution.

Education, Nursing↗

PubMed2003

Skills or skilled? Children's nursing in the context of the current debate around nursing skills.

This article seeks to demonstrate how the current debate around nursing skills is derived from an economic model of care and competency that has been based on the needs of the adult population. The professional perspective of children's nursing has been unheard in policy and decision-making circles concerning the skills agenda debate within educational and clinical practice. As a consequence, the need of children's nurses has been assumed to be the same as those of general/adult nursing. This article argues that children's nursing has followed a different historical and professional pathway on its progression to maturity. These differences call for alternative educational and clinical solutions for children's nurses in the issue of skills acquisition. In the children's nursing context, this is the difference between having a skill and being skilled. Recognition of this could ensure that children's nursing has a valuable contribution to make to the debate from its unique perspective.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed2002

Interprofessional working: opportunities and challenges.

Interprofessional working is a concept that has an impact on nursing and the care delivered. However, this article argues that it continues to remain a poorly understood term in clinical practice. It explores the implications of interprofessional working and argues that the term 'interprofessional' encompasses three separate but connected dynamics. These are: Philosophy--new ways of working. Policy initiatives that seek to create a structure where interprofessional working can be implemented. Patients receiving improved care with delivery based on evidence and efficient use of resources. The article seeks to show how nursing can actively engage with this process to a positive effect, and that the values and focus of holistic care can be integral to modern healthcare delivery.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed2002

Male teacher female students: a novice teacher reflects.

This paper seeks to explore the gender dynamics of being a novice male teacher working with female nursing students. Using a reflective framework it examines the gender dynamics within the classroom setting. Educational, social, feminist and political theory are discussed to give some insight into teaching and learning strategies that can perpetuate or circumvent unhelpful gender dynamics. Implications for learning and teaching are evaluated, and further topics for investigation are acknowledged.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Children's nursing and interprofessional collaboration: challenges and opportunities.

Interprofessional working has been the subject of recent debate in the nursing press. Despite this heightened scrutiny little attention has been given to putting this development in the context of practitioners working within children's nursing. This paper seeks to redress this imbalance by focusing on the challenges and opportunities for professional development that interprofessional collaboration working offers. This is illustrated by acknowledging existing themes of good practice, and identifying the potential for new ways of working that maintain professional status, skills and knowledge but also facilitate wider collaboration.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The importance of nursing values in interprofessional collaboration.

Nursing values are fundamental to the practice of nursing. They guide standards for action, provide a framework for evaluating behaviour and influence practice decisions. Despite the importance that can be attributed to nursing values, acknowledgement of them is difficult to find in the current debate about how interprofessional working is changing the healthcare system in which nurses currently work. This article argues that the profession needs to demonstrate that values are not only a theoretical concept but also that they can, and do, have a profound impact on the practical working life of nurses delivering care in collaboration with other professions.

Ethics, Nursing↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The tensions between education and models of nurse preparation.

This article seeks to explore the relationship that has evolved between the training and education models of nurse preparation since the creation of the NHS. Through the process of professional reflection it intends to investigate how each model develops the profession and enhances care delivery. It seeks to move away from an either/or approach that has dominated the nurse education debate, and instead seeks to identify the potential benefits, as well as the tensions, of trying to integrate these models into a modern context. In so doing, this article hopes to inform practitioners about the debate so that they can engage with it more fully and effectively.

Clinical Competence↗