Biomedical subjects

Hans Thulesius

Publications and source records attributed to Hans Thulesius.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Striving for emotional survival in palliative cancer nursing.

In this grounded theory study, the authors analyze interviews and participant observation data related to palliative cancer nursing in hospitals. Striving for Emotional Survival emerged as the pattern of behavior through which nurses deal with their main concern, the risk of being emotionally overloaded by their work. It involved three main strategies: Emotional Shielding through Professional Shielding or Cold Shielding; Emotional Processing through Chatting, Confirmation Seeking, Self-Reflecting, or Ruminating; and Emotional Postponing through Storing or Stashing. Emotional Competence is a property of Striving for Emotional Survival that explains more or less adequate ways of dealing with emotional overload. The theory Striving for Emotional Survival can be useful in the nurses' daily work and provides a comprehensive framework for understanding how nurses deal with emotional difficulties. The authors suggest that health care organizations encourage self-care, prioritize time to talk, and offer counseling to nursing staff with emotionally difficult working conditions.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2004

["Grounded theory" develops medicine. Popular research method for exploring human behavior can discover new connections].

Grounded theory (GT) is a popular research method for exploring human behavior. GT was developed by the medical sociologists Glaser and Strauss while they studied dying in hospitals in the 1960s resulting in the book "Awareness of dying". The goal of a GT is to generate conceptual theories by using all types of data but without applying existing theories and hypotheses. GT procedures are mostly inductive as opposed to deductive research where hypotheses are tested. A good GT has a core variable that is a central concept connected to many other concepts explaining the main action in the studied area. A core variable answers the question "What's going on?". Examples of core variables are: "Cutting back after a heart attack"--how people adapt to life after a serious illness; and "Balancing in palliative cancer care"--a process of weighing, shifting, compensating and compromising when treating people with a progressive and incurable illness trajectory.

Behavior↗

PubMed2004

Post-traumatic stress associated with low self-rated well-being in primary care attenders.

In this study, we assessed the prevalence of self-rated post-traumatic stress in relation to reported trauma in an unselected primary care population. A total of 1,113 out of 1,378 consecutive attenders (response rate 81%) to 10 health centres completed the self-report instruments Impact of Event Scale (IES), and Post Traumatic Symptom Scale (PTSS-10). A horizontal visual analogue scale (VAS; 0-100 mm) resembling the EuroQoL (quality of life) health barometer was used for evaluating well-being. Trauma was reported by 325 attenders (29.2%) when applying DSM-IV trauma criteria. Prevalence of possible post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was 6.5% (n=72) using cut-off scores of >35 for IES and >5 for PTSS-10. The two most common traumas in the PTSD group were accidents (2.0%, n=22), followed by cancer (1.3%, n=15). When excluding diseases and unspecified death as trauma, the rate of possible PTSD was 3.5% (n=39). Mean VAS-QoL score was 39.6 mm in the PTSD group (n=72), and 64.7 mm in the non-PTSD group with a reported trauma (n=253). In a multiple logistic regression analysis low self-rated well-being showed the strongest association with possible PTSD, followed by sexual assault, female gender, immigrant status and less than 2 years since trauma.

Female↗

PubMed2003

Balancing: a basic process in end-of-life cancer care.

In this grounded theory study, the authors interviewed caregivers and patients in end-of-life cancer care and found Balancing to be a fundamental process explaining the problem-solving strategies of most participants and offering a comprehensive perspective on both health care in general and end-of-life cancer care in particular. Balancing stages were Weighing--sensing needs and wishes signaled by patients, gauging them against caregiver resources in diagnosing and care planning; Shifting--breaking bad news, changing care places, and treatments; and Compensating--controlling symptoms, educating and team-working, prioritizing and "stretching" time, innovating care methods, improvising, and maintaining the homeostasis of hope. The Balancing outcome is characterized by Compromising, or "Walking a fine line," at best an optimized situation, at worst a deceit.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

Learner-centred education in end-of-life care improved well being in home care staff: a prospective controlled study.

The aim of this controlled study was to evaluate a 1-year learner-centred educational project in end-of-life care for home care staff in a rural district of Sweden. Another rural district in the same region served as a control area. A 20-item questionnaire measuring attitudes towards end-of-life care was designed, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale was used to measure mental well being. Increased agreement to 18 of 20 attitude statements was seen in the education group, while 2 of 20 items showed a decreased agreement in the control group. Test-retest reliability of the 20-item questionnaire was good (r=0.92). The total HAD score decreased from 8.3 pretest to 5.3 post-test in the education group (95% CI = 2.1 -3.7; P<0.001), and was 6.8 for both years in the control group. Our study shows that a comprehensive educational programme not only improved attitudes towards end-of-life care, but also the mental well being of the home care staff.

Adult↗