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Biomedical subjects

M Clinton

Publications and source records attributed to M Clinton.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Predicting early adolescent substance use: do risk factors differ depending on age of onset?

This study was designed to identify different risk models associated with non-use, first use, and prior substance use among a group of early adolescents. A total of 582 students completed a self-report questionnaire at the beginning and end of sixth grade. Nine predictor variables were used in discriminant function analysis to classify adolescents into three groups. Five variables distinguished non-users (never used by the end of sixth grade) and new users (first used during sixth grade) from prior users (first used before sixth grade). Prior users were found to have weaker decision making skills, more susceptibility to peer pressure, more negative perceptions of school, less confidence in their skills, and an increased likelihood of being male. A second function indicated that new users were similar to prior users in that they had less positive peer relations, were more likely to come from single parent families, and had less knowledge about alcohol and drugs than did non-users. The similarities and differences between new and prior users have implications for future research and prevention programming.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Collaborative education and social stereotypes.

The purpose of this paper is to present results from a two-year collaborative education project conducted with people with a serious mental illness and senior undergraduate students of nursing at the Centre for Mental Health Nursing Research at Queensland University of Technology. The study was funded by the Australian Commonwealth Government and was completed in June 1998. The results suggest that collaborative education is an effective means for breaking down social stereotypical thinking about people with a mental illness. A similar finding with respect to the stigmatization of undergraduates supports this hypothesis. Implications for psychiatric rehabilitation and the undergraduate education of students of nursing are explored.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1999

"What should I say?": qualitative findings on dilemmas in palliative care nursing.

The nursing literature suggests that talking and listening to patients about issues associated with death and dying, is both important and difficult, and may be improved with training. This discussion presents the results of recent nursing research to confirm, and elaborate on, this theme. In this research participants touched on many central issues in communicating with patients that included articulating a sense of discomfort and inadequacy about the whole process, detailing the innumerable blocks to open communication [e.g., interference, denial, unrealistic optimism, resistance, collusion and anger] and sharing their sense of success and failure. The insights of nurses who participated in this research testify to the ongoing need to prioritize the development of nursing skills and support in this challenging but important area.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1999

A rapid protocol for the authentication of isolated differential display RT-PCR CDNAs.

The most time-consuming and problematic step in the overall DDRT-PCR technique is the confirmation that the isolated cDNA clone represents a differentially expressed gene. We have previously suggested that the majority of apparent false positives generated by DDRT-PCR do in fact result from the PCR reamplification of cDNA species which co-migrate with the cDNA of interest, and we have outlined a procedure to effectively eliminate these from further study. However, in situations where RNA is limiting, it is still desirable to confirm that a purified cDNA amplicon does, in fact, represent the originally observed differentially expressed gene prior to embarking on expression studies.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Promoting a good death: an agenda for outcomes research--a review of the literature.

Outcomes research is topical in discussions about health-related research. Its emphasis on effectiveness creates an important opportunity for nurse researchers to strengthen the linkages between theory, outcomes research and nursing practice but, before care can be more effective, it is logical to establish patients' desired outcomes. A thorough review of the implications of this requirement for the care of hospice patients is needed, but is lacking in the literature. Therefore, the literature on a 'good death' is reviewed as a step towards assisting hospice patients to achieve what they regard as an acceptable death. The starting point is to define more clearly what it means to die a good death. The relationship between hospice care and achieving a good death is then examined.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1998

Mediating conflict and control: practice challenges for nurses working in palliative care.

A work-based professional development program was offered to a group of registered nurses working in palliative care. The goal of the program was to improve skills in psychosocial care (Yates et al., 1996). Participants were encouraged to reflect critically on their practice experience within a group setting. The focus of the group discussion and reflection were shared practice incidents. Each participant was given the opportunity to identify and describe an incident from their professional practice that presented a challenging issue within palliative nursing. This paper explores the themes of conflict and control, evident within the collection of fifteen practice incidents and discusses the nurses' role as mediator. The concepts of patient advocacy and professional autonomy are challenged through the nurses' experience of providing care within a hierarchical and bureaucratic health service. The outcome of reflection for the organization is most effective when shared experience and collective action (rather than individual practice) are the focus.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Perceived social support and community adaptation in schizophrenia.

Prompted by the continuing transition to community care, mental health nurses are considering the role of social support in community adaptation. This article demonstrates the importance of distinguishing between kinds of social support and presents findings from the first round data of a longitudinal study of community adaptation in 156 people with schizophrenia conducted in Brisbane, Australia. All clients were interviewed using the relevant subscales of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule to confirm a primary diagnosis of schizophrenia. The study set out to investigate the relationship between community adaptation and social support. Community adaptation was measured with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Life Skills Profile (LSP) and measures of dissatisfaction with life and problems in daily living developed by the authors. Social support was measured with the Arizona Social Support Interview Schedule (ASSIS). The BPRS and ASSIS were incorporated into a client interview conducted by trained interviewers. The LSP was completed on each client by an informal carer (parent, relative or friend) or a professional carer (case manager or other health professional) nominated by the client. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between community adaptation and four sets of social support variables. Given the order in which variables were entered in regression equations, a set of perceived social support variables was found to account for the largest unique variance of four measures of community adaptation in 96 people with schizophrenia for whom complete data are available from the first round of the three-wave longitudinal study. A set of the subjective experiences of the clients accounted for the largest unique variance in measures of symptomatology, life skills, dissatisfaction with life, and problems in daily living. Sets of community support, household support and functional variables accounted for less variance. Implications for mental health nursing practice are considered.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

On reflection in action: unaddressed issues in refocusing the debate on reflective practice.

Reflective practice is now widely debated as a means of improving nursing practice. However, assumptions about reflective practice are rarely clarified and seldom subjected to critique. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to take up Clarke, James & Kelly's suggestion that limits to the scope and depth of reflection be considered. This is achieved by reflecting on what these authors claim it means to reflect in action. Four arguments are presented: (i) that nurses cannot be conscious of all aspects of nursing practice because there are aspects of practice that cannot be represented in consiousness, (ii) that those aspects of practice that can be represented in consciousness can be so only imperfectly, (iii) that all such representations are not reflexive, and (iv) that any representation in the form of an internal dialogue that could be regarded as reflection is overdetermined. Implications for reflexivity are then considered.

Consciousness↗
PubMed1998

Exploring empathy as a variable in the evaluation of professional development programs for palliative care nurses.

Research indicates that empathy, a quality regarded as fundamentally important to nursing practice, is a teachable skill. Because empathic nurse-patient relationships are particularly important in the care of the terminally ill, this has direct relevance to the professional development of palliative care nurses. This article discusses the place of empathy as a criterion variable in the evaluation of a professional development program for palliative care nurses introduced at the Centre for Mental Health Nursing Research at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. A modified version of the Staff-Patient Interaction Response Scale (SPIRS) was used as a pre- and postintervention measure to assess the expressed empathy of the participating nurses. The modifications to SPIR and its coding system to make it suitable for palliative care nursing, and the mechanisms for improving and evaluating the reliability of this instrument will be discussed. The full description of this particular modification of SPIRS for palliative care research is provided as an example of how this instrument could be used in projects for which nurses undertake the difficult task of providing compassionate care to the terminally ill.

Australia↗
PubMed1998

Elimination of false positives generated through PCR re-amplification of differential display cDNA.

Differential display (DD) is a powerful molecular tool that allows the identification and subsequent isolation of transcripts differentially expressed between biological samples, for example, between undifferentiated and differentiated cells, between different tissues or in one tissue at different stages of development. However, significantly high rates of apparent false positives have been reported using this technique. We suggest that the vast majority of false positives do not represent the originally selected transcript, but instead result from the re-amplification of cDNA species that co-migrate with the cDNA of interest in DD gels. Here we describe the use of a procedure to resolve co-migrating cDNAs and to purify the candidate of interest before cloning. The use of this modified technique resolves downstream problems encountered during DD experiments.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Suicide on the Internet: a focus for nursing intervention?

The Internet is a means for people who do not know each other to share information to their mutual benefit or harm. Whereas electronic communication without censorship has its benefits, the net has not escaped the attention of people contemplating suicide. If mental health nurses are to assist vulnerable people who surf the net in search of encouragement to complete suicide, they need to know about Internet resources on suicide and to understand how suicide fatalities influence the behaviours of vulnerable people who express suicidal ideation in cyberspace. The importance of suicide modelling, ambivalence, group death wishes, suicide notes and related research is considered. Mental health nurses are invited to consider the implications for suicide prevention.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

The problem of arriving at a phenomenological description of memory loss.

This paper discusses a methodological difficulty that arose when uncovering the conscious experience of being nurtured as an in-patient with depression on a psychiatric ward. It considers the problem of arriving at a phenomenological description of memory loss in a patient who had undergone electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The paper begins by describing the prevalence of depression and its significance for nurses working in in-patient settings. Examples of empirical research into memory loss in depression are used to show what researchers must set aside if they are to arrive at a phenomenological description of memory loss. The choice of a phenomenological approach to the wider study from which the methodological problem discussed here arose is then justified. The phenomena of memory is introduced to show the methodological significance of attempting to arrive at a phenomenological description of the statement made by one of the participants, a woman being treated as an in-patient for major depression. A possible description of the phenomena of memory loss based on the existential phenomenology of Sartre is offered to call into question the ability of researchers to bracket their assumptions. The significance for nurses of the wider study from which our example is taken is then described. Finally it is argued that despite the methodological difficulty described, a phenomenological perspective based on the philosophy of Husserl can point nurses in the direction of meeting the human needs of their patients.

Amnesia↗