Biomedical subjects

Maija Hupli

Publications and source records attributed to Maija Hupli.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Finnish nurses' and nursing students' mathematical skills.

The health care environment requires that practitioners have sufficient mathematical skills to perform accurate, safe and effective medication administration. This is a highly responsible and nursing task, which is performed daily. In this study 364 nurses and 282 graduating nursing students in Finland completed the Medication Calculation Skills Test (MCS Test). According to the findings students lacked accurate mathematical skills, while nurses attained higher scores in the test. Nurses with an upper secondary school education managed better with the calculation problems than nurses with a lower basic education. Students who had an excellent mark (9-10) in mathematics, had studied mathematics longer at high school and were more satisfied with the amount of medication calculation instructions and scored higher in the MCS Test than others. The differences between the nurses' and students' mathematical skills were significant. The MCS Test could be used to measure one's own skills and to give information of the mathematical skill level for constructing a nursing curriculum or additional training for clinical practice.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Developing terminology for documenting perioperative nursing interventions.

OBJECTIVE: To develop terminology for documenting perioperative nursing interventions. METHOD: Nursing documentation of 250 patients was explored by content analysis. The study was conducted to validate further the Perioperative Nursing Data Set (PNDS) in Finland. The data included 3442 terms that were clustered into 104 nursing interventions. A Delphi-panel (N=5) evaluated the relevance of each term on a scale from 1 to 4. The structure of each nursing intervention was checked to meet the minimum requirements of the ISO reference terminology model for nursing action concepts. Finally, the nursing interventions were compared with the original PNDS-interventions. RESULTS: The Delphi-panel accepted 98 nursing interventions with Content Validity Index from 0.88 to 1.0. Of the 133 nursing interventions in the PNDS, 60% (n=80) were covered by nursing interventions identified in this study. A notable portion of the nursing interventions related to preventive aspects of perioperative care and the patients' coping with perioperative experience. CONCLUSION: The findings supported the need for cross-cultural validation of a nursing language prior to clinical implementation. The ISO reference terminology model is recommended as framework in constructing concepts for nursing interventions in a regular form.

Delphi Technique↗

PubMed2005

Perioperative nurses' attitudes toward the use of nursing diagnoses in documentation.

AIM: This paper reports a study of nurses' attitudes towards the use of nursing diagnoses in perioperative documentation and the factors affecting these attitudes. BACKGROUND: There are both international and national requests for nurses to move from natural language-based narrative documentation to electronic documentation and clinical use of nursing classifications. However, nurses' attitudes toward nursing classifications have not been widely studied. METHODS: A questionnaire was distributed to a purposive sample of perioperative nurses (n = 146) who had participated in clinical testing of nursing diagnoses. The response rate was 60% (n = 87). The data were collected in 2003. RESULTS: In general, nurses' attitudes toward nursing diagnoses were positive. Those over 40 years of age who had clinical experience from 10 to 19 years, postbasic nursing education and previous knowledge of nursing diagnoses were most positive in their attitudes. However, the use of nursing diagnoses in perioperative practice was not seen as either necessary or accurate in describing patients' problems. Furthermore, the documentation of perioperative routines was seen as time-consuming and frustrating. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing classifications should be included in both preregistration nursing curricula and in-service educational programmes to ensure theoretical knowledge of and practical skills in standardized clinical languages. The perioperative nursing diagnoses should be reviewed to fit better with clinical practice. In addition, current perioperative documentation practices should be reconsidered and updated as appropriate to address clinical requirements better.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Finnish nurses' and nursing students' pharmacological skills.

UNLABELLED: PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES: The purposes of this study were to investigate the pharmacological skills of Finnish nurses and graduating nursing students, to determine how pharmacological skills are related to background factors and to identify differences between nurses and students and, finally, to examine how the instrument used, the Medication Calculation Skills Test, works. BACKGROUND: Pharmacology is a relevant and topical subject. In several studies, however, pharmacological skills of nurses and nursing students have been found insufficient. In addition, pharmacology as a subject is found to be difficult for both nursing students and nurses. DESIGN AND METHODS: The study was evaluative in nature; the data were collected using the Medication Calculation Skills Test, developed for the purposes of this study. The instrument was used to gather information on background factors and self-rated pharmacological and mathematical skills and to test actual skills in these areas. RESULTS: Results concerning pharmacological skills are reported in this paper. The maximum Medication Calculation Skills Test score was 24 points. The mean score for nurses was 18.6 and that for students 16.3. Half of (50%) the students attained a score of 67% and 57% of nurses attained a score of 79%. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses and students had some deficiencies in their pharmacological skills. Nurses had better pharmacological skills than students according to both self-ratings and actual performance on the test. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: It is vitally important that nurses have adequate pharmacological skills to administer medicines correctly. This study showed that the Medication Calculation Skills Test seems to work well in measuring pharmacological skills, even though it needs further evaluation. Findings from this study can be used when planning the nursing curriculum and further education for Registered Nurses.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

How delivery ward staff exercise power over women in communication.

BACKGROUND: Power is a central element in all social interactions. In order to act appropriately in different care situations, it is important to understand the meaning of power. AIM: This paper reports a study whose aim was to describe delivery ward staff opinions about the exercise of power over women in communications. METHODS: Data were collected in 2000 using a questionnaire developed for the study with a convenience sample of 155 midwifery and nursing professionals in delivery wards in four Finnish hospitals. RESULTS: The results showed that in respondents' opinions they worked for women's good and aimed at relationships based on a sense of equality and individuality. Negative power was used in situations where women's well-being was threatened. The power used was verbal or non-verbal. CONCLUSIONS: The exercise of power is not only negative in nature. There are times, such as in life-threatening situations, when it is crucial that the professional takes control and makes decisions immediately, and in that sense exercises power.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Medication calculation skills of nurses in Finland.

The aim of this study was to describe the medication calculation skills of nurses in Finland. We tried to ascertain how nurses evaluate their own medication calculation skills and how these self-evaluations are associated with various background factors and the actual level they score in a calculation test. In the spring of 2000, nurses (n = 546) in one Finnish university hospital completed a questionnaire specially developed for this study. The instrument included structured questions, statements and a medication calculation test. The response rate was 56%. Data analysis was based on descriptive statistics. The nurses found the mathematics and dosage calculation easy and interesting but the pharmacology difficult. They evaluated their own mathematical and dosage calculation skills as sufficient, although it had certain shortcomings. The youngest nurses (20-29 years) evaluated their mathematical and dosage calculation skills as sufficient and they also succeeded in the calculation test. Basic (High School) education was associated with better calculation skills. The findings of this study support the need and importance of checking and maintaining one's medication calculation skills.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Do nurses exercise power in basic care situations?

Power is a matter of authority and control. It can be wielded either consciously or unconsciously, and it can be either overt or latent. Using a structured questionnaire, this study set out to describe nurses' opinions about the exercise of power in basic care situations in both acute and long-term care. The questionnaire was organized into four categories in which items concerned: power in obligatory daily activities; power in activities necessitated by obligatory activities; power in voluntary activities; and power in activities that take into account the patient's characteristics. The samples consisted of 228 nurses from five medical and surgical wards of district hospitals, and 233 nurses from five geriatric units of a community health centre and from one nursing home in Finland. The final response rate was 65% (acute care 76%; long-term care 55%). Data analysis was based on statistical methods. The results showed that, in the nurses' own opinion, negative power is exercised only in certain situations and in the patient's best interest, when for instance there are concerns that something may happen to the patient.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Barriers to and facilitators of research utilization among Finnish registered nurses.

1. The aim of nursing research is to produce a sound foundation for evidence-based nursing; the job of nurses is to make the best possible use of that foundation and apply the knowledge produced to the practice of nursing. 2. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe barriers to and facilitators of research utilization from the point of view of Finnish Registered Nurses. 3. The BARRIERS Scale was administered to 316 nurses in two major hospitals; 253 nurses returned the questionnaire, giving a response rate of 80%. The structured data were processed with SPSS 9.0, and the unstructured data were interpreted using the method of content analysis. 4. The main barriers to research utilization identified by the respondents were: the fact that most research is published in a foreign language; that physicians will not co-operate with implementation; and that statistical analyses are difficult to understand. The facilitators mentioned most often were nurses' positive attitudes and abilities. Other important facilitators included the support and activity of a ward sister as well as encouragement, a favourable attitude and collaboration on the part of all staff members. 5. The findings are discussed in relation to the Finnish healthcare context and nurse education, and evidence-based nursing practice.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Patients' learning needs after hip arthroplasty.

The purpose of this study was to describe patients' learning needs after hip arthroplasty and compare them prior to and 2 weeks after hospital discharge. Data were collected in two phases from 22 surgical wards in 17 hospitals in Finland using a Canadian Patient Learning Needs Scale (Galloway et al., 1996). The first questionnaire (n=212, 81%) was completed before hospital discharge and the second (n=144, 55%) was completed at home after hospital discharge. Results indicated that patients' learning needs diminished significantly after hospital discharge. In both questionnaires patients felt that the most important information was about complications and symptoms. Information about medication was ranked the second most important. Demographic variables such as age, gender, education and working life were clearly related to learning needs. Women over 60 years old, and less educated and retired respondents had many learning needs.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Initial validation of the perioperative nursing data set in Finland.

PURPOSE: To explore the relevance of the Perioperative Nursing Data Set (PNDS) in Finland. METHODS: A three-round Delphi technique (10 participants) and content analysis of 134 articles from the Journal of the Finnish Operating Room Nurses Association. FINDINGS: All the PNDS outcomes, 86% of the diagnoses, and 87% of the interventions were found to be relevant. The Delphi panel suggested, and content analysis revealed, 6 new outcomes, 43 new diagnoses, and 11 new interventions. Consensus was achieved on 77%. The phrases used in perioperative articles corresponded with those of PNDS 56%-78% of the time. CONCLUSIONS: PNDS can be used to describe perioperative nursing in Finland. Further conceptualization and validation are needed before using the data set in perioperative practice. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Although PNDS cannot be implemented in Finland as is, it is a valid structure for further development of the terminology, contents, methods, and practice of Finnish perioperative documentation.

Documentation↗