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Biomedical subjects

K Fahy

Publications and source records attributed to K Fahy.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Moral distress, advocacy and burnout: theorizing the relationships.

Burnout is a major contributor to shortages of experienced nurses. The research literature shows a correlation between moral distress and burnout in critical care nurses. This paper reports on part of an interpretive interactionist study concerning nurses' experiences of moral distress which prompted attempts to advocate for vulnerable patients. One critical incident is used as an example of the qualitative findings of the study. In this paper, we theorize about what happened when nurses advocated for their patients by challenging medical treatments which the nurses believed to be both inappropriate and to contributing to patient suffering. When attempts at advocacy were unsuccessful, the nurses experienced intensified moral distress, frustration and anger. Being an unsuccessful advocate resulted in nurses being relocated within the hospital, nurses being scapegoated and/or burning out. The theoretical links which this paper makes between advocacy, moral distress and burnout are supported by empirical data from the study.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Being a midwife or doing midwifery?

As a profession, we need to be more conscious of the way in which our discipline has been subsumed into techno-rational science and away from our 'with women' focus. The ACMI Philosophy says that we value 'being with' women as the foundation for midwifery practice, therefore the concept 'being with' should be a competency which is reflected in the ACMI Professional Standards and Competencies. Currently, there is no Professional Standard for "Being With Women": all midwifery care has been subsumed under the rubric of problem-solving. The problem-solving approach is part of the modernist, techno-rational approach to human life experiences. Problem-solving, I am claiming, has been over-generalised and imposed upon human experiences where it is not appropriate. This paper argues against adopting problem-solving as the framework for practice because this means that every aspect of midwifery care has to be problematised. This paper concludes by suggesting one way in which our philosophy could be honoured in our professional standards and competencies.

Australia↗
PubMed1997

Postmodern feminist emancipatory research: is it an oxymoron?

Many nurse-researchers who use feminist methods believe that postmodernism undermines the scientific and emancipatory aspirations of our discipline and they are therefore wary of postmodern theories. One of the main threats of postmodernism is the critique of humanism because humanism forms the ethical foundation for both nursing and feminism. These critiques expose the dark underside of humanistic ideals and show how, paradoxically, humanism has functioned to oppress people. The arguments presented here help emancipatory researchers to defend their practices, both in relation to research participants and in the ways in which the subjects is theorized. The conclusion is that postmodernism can be compatible with politically motivated, humanistically-based inquiry.

Ethics, Nursing↗
PubMed1996

Praxis methodology: action research without a group.

Critical action research is a compelling method for nursing research because it offers a sensitive and qualitative way to study change processes in action. Action research is of limited use to nurse researchers because it relies on group participation whereas most nursing work which we may want to research involves one to one relationships with clients. This paper presents a modification of critical action research. It is termed 'Praxis Research' and it is suitable for research projects that aim to empower individuals, rather than groups. The steps in the praxis research process are described as an on-going spiral of practice, self-reflection, scholarly inquiry and theorising which leads to changed practice.

Health Services Research↗
PubMed1995

Poverty, welfare and single teenage mothers: a primary health care concern.

This paper draws upon the international literature to support the thesis that poverty is more the cause, then the effect, of single teenage childbearing. The paper demonstrates that the rate of single teenage births has dramatically declined over the past twenty years while the level of government support for sole parents has significantly increased over the same period (an example of current rates of payment is included). The author asserts that there is no direct relationship between the level of welfare support and the incidence of adolescent childbearing. Midwives who function as primary health care providers should be aware of the socio-political environment as it affects disadvantaged young women.

Adolescent↗