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Biomedical subjects

L Grealish

Publications and source records attributed to L Grealish.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Relating palliative care principles to the promotion of undisturbed sleep in a hospice setting.

Nurses working at night have a specific role in supporting sleep and promoting rest and comfort. Sometimes the role of the night duty nurse in promoting sleep and comfort is taken for granted. One author's experience of working as a night duty nurse led to reflection on her responsibilities in improving practice and addressing the sleep-related needs of patients in a palliative care setting. Following a literature review, it was clear that there are very few publications on sleep disturbance in palliative care. Using the four principles of palliative care (Aranda, 1998a), the authors construct a series of strategies to prevent and manage sleep issues.

Health Facility Environment↗
PubMed2000

Foot massage. A nursing intervention to modify the distressing symptoms of pain and nausea in patients hospitalized with cancer.

This article describes the findings of an empirical study on the use of foot massage as a nursing intervention in patients hospitalized with cancer. The study was developed from the earlier work of Ferrell-Torry and Glick (1992). In a sample of 87 subjects, a 10-minute foot massage (5 minutes per foot) was found to have a significant immediate effect on the perceptions of pain, nausea, and relaxation when measured with a visual analog scale. The use of foot massage as a complementary method is recommended as a relatively simple nursing intervention for patients experiencing nausea or pain related to the cancer experience. Further research into its effectiveness in the management of these symptoms by the family at home is warranted.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Mini-Mental State Questionnaire: problems with its use in palliative care.

The Mini-Mental State Questionnaire (MMSQ) has been established as a reliable research instrument and is recommended for the early detection of impaired mental status (Fainsinger et al, 1993). Using reflection on a clinical incident, the problems associated with the clinical application of the MMSQ that may outweigh its usefulness are identified. The patient's experience of MMSQ as routine cognitive monitoring can be distressing as the person experiences loss of cognitive ability in a visible way. This experience has a negative influence on the person's quality of life, which is contrary to the essential aim of palliative care. Research evidence suggests that the MMSQ lacks specificity (the ability to detect impaired mental status) because it is affected by pre-morbid ability and intelligence, and therefore cannot be used to assess competence in decision making. Further research on the meaning of losing cognitive ability in terminal illness and other cognitive assessment strategies is required.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

Nurses' knowledge of palliative care in the Australian Capital Territory.

Australia has a growing number of specialist palliative care services. As they expanded in the Australian Capital Territory, a working party was established to discuss issues associated with palliative care. One activity authorized by this committee was a survey of nurses' knowledge of palliative care. The Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses (Ross et al, 1996) was adapted with permission for this survey: 455 registered and enrolled nurses were surveyed; 247 (54%) participants returned completed questionnaires. The overall mean score for the Palliative Care Quiz was 12.4 of a possible 20; the mean scores were 13.2 for registered nurses and 10.6 for enrolled nurses. Nurses with some oncology or palliative care experience scored significantly higher than others. Nurses with more work experience as measured by working years also attained significantly higher scores. Analysis and examination of correct items suggest that nurses have acquired basic knowledge through experience. However, as other studies have suggested, there is also a lack of knowledge of complex symptoms found in palliative care patients.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2000

The skills of coach are an essential element in clinical learning.

Students learn about the nursing profession through experience and close association with expert practitioners. It has been found repeatedly that expert nurses as clinical teachers "coach" students to realize their full potential. The steps of coaching have been described here to provide guidelines for clinicians new to the teaching role. The activity of coaching in clinical education is worthy of further investigation. Not only do students develop confidence in psychomotor skills, coaching appears to facilitate scholarship in the clinical setting. Skilled coaches encourage students to form meaningful, coherent theoretical frameworks for the information gathered. Without the support of a coach, students would continue to adhere to familiar views of the world and accept the clinical world as it presents itself without healthy scepticism or the ability to be creative. Cognitive coaching is not a separate activity to psychomotor coaching. Together both strategies offer a unique, and to date a poorly described, method to communicate practice knowledge to the nursing student. The ultimate benefit of coaching is the ability to instill in the student the motivation to improve performance and strive for excellence.

Australian Capital Territory↗
PubMed1998

Credentialing specialty nursing practice: a dissenting view.

Orderly development of specialty practice has been a professional issue in Australian nursing since the 1991 visit of Dr Margretta Madden Styles of the International Council of Nurses. In response, the ANF established the National Nursing Organisations (NNOs)--leaders of about 60 national specialty groups who meet twice each year to ensure orderly development of specialty practice. The most recent issue raised in this forum was credentialing.

Australia↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Beyond preceptorship and supervision: a third clinical teaching model emerges for Australian nursing education.

In Australia, there are two established models for teaching in the clinical setting, supervision and preceptorship. Both models are used in the final year unit at the University of Canberra. In 1995, seven clinical supervisors and 34 preceptors responded to a questionnaire about their perceptions of their respective roles. The most significant findings were that (1) clinical supervisors did not feel prepared for their role and felt that the supervision requirements were unreasonable and (2) although preceptors did feel adequately prepared for their role and able to supervise the students assigned, there were times when they felt that the demands of 'work' overtook the learning needs of the student. A review of the contemporary literature in the field of clinical education for undergraduate nursing students revealed a pattern of similar weaknesses in other programs. Compounded by the climate of economic restraint, these weaknesses could evolve into obstacles to effective student learning. A collaborative clinical education model, adapted from North America, is proposed as a third clinical teaching model to overcome the identified difficulties and capitalise on the combined benefits of supervision and preceptorship.

Australia↗