Biomedical subjects

P Anne Scott

Publications and source records attributed to P Anne Scott.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Nursing minimum data sets: a conceptual analysis and review.

It is commonly acknowledged that nursing care is underrepresented in the healthcare record. The nursing minimum data set (NMDS) has been proposed as a method of routinely collecting information on core aspects of the nursing contribution to care, organised primarily in terms of phenomena, interventions and outcomes. Potential applications in clinical nursing, healthcare management, education and research have been identified. NMDS systems have been developed in a number of countries, with applications mostly related to resource allocation. To date, NMDS systems have tended to examine physical nursing care provided in institutional settings, with implications for construct and content validity. While NMDS research helps to clarify the nursing contribution to care, attention is now required to better understand the domains of nursing care across a broader range of care settings.

Australia↗

PubMed2006

Perceiving the moral dimension of practice: insights from Murdoch, Vetlesen, and Aristotle.

This paper situates the moral domain of practice within the context of a particular description of nursing practice - one that sees human interaction at the heart of that practice. Such a description fits not only with professional rhetoric but also with literature from patients and recent empirical work exploring the nature of nursing practice. Martha Levine in her 1977 description of ethics, within the context of nursing practice, indicated that what was important from an ethical perspective was how we interact with each other, with patients and colleagues, on a daily basis. What enables such interaction to display moral sensitivity, insight into patient need, and a focus on the good for the patient? Of relevance when answering this question is the empirical evidence indicating that professional socialization, as a nurse or a doctor, may dull the individual's moral sense. If this is the case, cognizance needs to be taken of such evidence when identifying theoretical approaches from mainstream ethics that may provide insight and value for nurse education. It is suggested that such insight and value can be gained from a consideration of the work of Aristotle, Murdoch, and Vetlesen.

Empathy↗

PubMed2005

An exploratory study of the conditions important in facilitating the empowerment of midwives.

OBJECTIVE: to explore the conditions important in facilitating the empowerment of midwives, as judged by practising midwives. DESIGN: a cross-sectional, descriptive, national survey of nurses and midwives practising in Ireland was undertaken in 2002. The questionnaire used in the survey included the 'Understanding of Empowerment Scale'. PARTICIPANTS: the data come from a larger national study of empowerment among nurses and midwives carried out by the authors in 2001/2 (Scott et al., 2003). A random sample of 4050 nurses and midwives in Ireland was obtained from the Live Register of An Bord Altranais (Irish Nursing Board). There was an overall response rate of 46% (n = 1781). Of these, 1340 people completed questionnaires, as 441 of those who replied were not in practice at the time. Of those who completed the questionnaire, 7% (n = 95) were practising midwives. Their findings are reported in this paper. MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS: factor analysis using the Principal Axis Factoring method of extraction and an oblique (Direct Oblimin) rotation was carried out on the Understanding of Empowerment Scale. This suggested four factors or conditions important for the empowerment of midwives: control, support, recognition and skills. KEY CONCLUSIONS: these findings relating to the conditions that facilitate empowerment in midwifery reflect the professional distinctiveness of midwifery and take into account the specific role and working environment of the midwife. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: the identification of the important conditions to facilitate empowerment in midwifery provides a framework with which to explore ways of building on strengths and addressing weaknesses within the current situation for midwives in Ireland and elsewhere. These suggestive findings offer an opportunity to further develop a tool to measure levels of these conditions necessary to facilitate empowerment in midwifery.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Modes of rationality in nursing documentation: biology, biography and the 'voice of nursing'.

This article is based on a discourse analysis of the complete nursing records of 45 patients, and concerns the modes of rationality that mediated text-based accounts relating to patient care that nurses recorded. The analysis draws on the work of the critical theorist, Jurgen Habermas, who conceptualised rationality in the context of modernity according to two types: purposive rationality based on an instrumental logic, and value rationality based on ethical considerations and moral reasoning. Our analysis revealed that purposive rationality dominated the content of nursing documentation, as evidenced by a particularly bio-centric and modernist construction of the workings of the body within the texts. There was little reference in the documentation to central themes of contemporary nursing discourses, such as notions of partnership, autonomy, and self-determination, which are associated with value rationality. Drawing on Habermas, we argue that this nursing documentation depicted the colonisation of the sociocultural lifeworld by the bio-technocratic system. Where nurses recorded disagreements that patients had with medical regimes, the central struggle inherent in the project of modernity became transparent--the tension between the rational and instrumental control of people through scientific regulation and the autonomy of the subject. The article concludes by problematising communicative action within the context of nursing practice.

Aged↗

PubMed2004

Self-determination in surgical patients in five European countries.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effects of informational support, desire for behavioral involvement in health decision-making (behavioral involvement), opportunities to make decisions, and independence on subjective health status in surgical patients. A theoretical model of self-determination was applied and tested. METHODS: The data were collected by structured questionnaires with a sample of 1,454 surgical patients in five European countries. LISREL analyses were used to test the theoretical causal model of self-determination. RESULTS: Patients' perceptions of informational support received from nursing professionals and their desired involvement in health decision-making affected patients' opportunities to make decisions and further their independence level, which in turn affected patients' subjective health status. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding of factors that increase self-determination in patients can help health care professionals to promote patients' well-being.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2003

Perceptions of autonomy, privacy and informed consent in the care of elderly people in five European countries: general overview.

Ethical issues in the care of elderly people have been identified in many countries. We report the findings of a comparative research project funded by the European Commission, which took place between 1998 and 2001. The project explored the issues of autonomy (part I), privacy (part II) and informed consent (part III) in nursing practice. Data were collected from elderly residents/patients (n = 573) and nursing staff (n = 887) in five European countries: Finland, Spain, Greece, Germany and the UK (Scotland). Questionnaires were used as the data collection tool (self-completion questionnaires for staff, structured interviews for the elderly participants). Four basic nursing interventions in the care of elderly people were targeted: hygiene, fluid intake and nutrition, medication, and elimination. The data were analysed statistically. The results indicated differences within all five countries between staff and patient perceptions of autonomy, privacy and informed consent. There were also similar differences between individual countries. Conclusions were reached concerning practice, education and research. This is the first of a set of five articles published together in this issue of Nursing Ethics in which the results of this comparative research project are presented.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Perceptions of autonomy in the care of elderly people in five European countries.

The focus of this article is perceptions of elderly patients and nurses regarding patients' autonomy in nursing practice. Autonomy is empirically defined as having two components: information received/given as a prerequisite and decision making as the action. The results indicated differences between staff and patient perceptions of patient autonomy for both components in all five countries in which this survey was conducted. There were also differences between countries in the perceptions of patients and nurses regarding the frequency with which patients received information from nursing staff or were offered opportunities to make decisions. This is the second of a set of five articles published together in this issue of Nursing Ethics in which the results of this comparative research project are presented.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Perceptions of privacy in the care of elderly people in five European countries.

The focus of this article is on elderly patients' and nursing staff perceptions of privacy in the care of elderly patients/residents in five European countries. Privacy includes physical, social and informational elements. The results show that perceptions of privacy were strongest in the UK (Scotland) and weakest in Greece. Country comparisons revealed statistically significant differences between the perceptions of elderly patients and also between those of nurses working in the same ward or long-term care facility. Perceptions of privacy by patients and their nursing staff were quite similar in Finland, Germany and the UK. In contrast, in Greece and Spain these perceptions were different: nurses believed that they took account of their patients' privacy needs more often than the patients themselves felt this was the case. Among Spanish and UK patients, an association was found between lower levels of independence and comparatively less positive perceptions of privacy. No associations were established between nurses' perceptions and their demographic factors. This is the third of a set of five articles published together in this issue of Nursing Ethics in which the results of this comparative research project are presented.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2003

Perceptions of informed consent in the care of elderly people in five European countries.

The focus of this article is on elderly patients' and nursing staff perceptions of informed consent in the care of elderly patients/residents in five European countries. The results suggest that patients and nurses differ in their views on how informed consent is implemented. Among elderly patients the highest frequency for securing informed consent was reported in Finland; the lowest was in Germany. In contrast, among nurses, the highest frequency was reported in the UK (Scotland) and the lowest in Finland. In a comparison of patients' and nurses' perceptions, nurses had more positive views than patients in all countries except Finland. Patients with less need for nursing interventions in Greece and Spain gave their consent less often. The German and Greek patients were older, and the results also point to an association between this and their lower frequency of giving consent. In Spain, patients who were married or who had a family member or friend to look after their personal affairs were more likely to be included in the group whose consent was sought less often. This is the fourth of a set of five articles published together in this issue of Nursing Ethics in which the results of this comparative research project are presented.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2003

Perceptions of autonomy, privacy and informed consent in the care of elderly people in five European countries: comparison and implications for the future.

This article discusses nurses' and elderly patients' perceptions of the realization of autonomy, privacy and informed consent in five European countries. Comparisons between the concepts and the countries indicated that both nurses and patients gave the highest ratings to privacy and the lowest to informed consent. There were differences between countries. According to the patient data, autonomy is best realized in Spain, privacy in the UK (Scotland), and informed consent in Finland. For the staff data, the best results tended to concentrate in the UK. The conceptual and methodological limitations of the study are identified and discussed. Implications of the results are divided into three areas: nursing practice, education and research. In practice, the analysis of patients' values and the ethical sensitivity of nurses are important as part of ethically good care. In nurse education, students should learn to recognize ethical problems, generally and particularly, among vulnerable groups of patients. Multicultural international research is needed in this area. This is the last of a set of five articles published together in this issue of Nursing Ethics in which the results of this comparative research project are presented.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Maintaining privacy on post-natal wards: a study in five European countries.

AIM: Maintaining privacy on post-natal wards: a study in five European countries Aim. To describe how mothers' privacy is maintained on post-natal wards in five European countries: Finland, Spain, Greece, Germany and Scotland [United Kingdom (UK)] BACKGROUND: Privacy is an important concept in nursing and nursing ethics. Empirical studies in this field, however, are few. In this study, privacy is defined as comprising both physical and social-informational dimensions and both the perceptions of mothers and professional were investigated. METHODS: The data were collected by a questionnaire from mothers (n=1192) and midwife/nursing staff (n=952). RESULTS: The results revealed differences both between the different countries and between patients' and professionals' views. Mothers in Finland, Germany and Scotland felt their privacy was maintained better than mothers in Greece and Spain. The differences in staff perceptions are less clear-cut. Different background factors emerge as statistically significant in different countries. CONCLUSION: Empirical studies in privacy are important and give ideas about the problems in nursing practice. Future analyses should look also at other areas of nursing.

Adolescent↗