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Theo Dassen

Publications and source records attributed to Theo Dassen.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed2003

[What decision-making authority regarding oral care do nurses have?].

By means of a written questionnaire nurses of different wards of various disciplines in 21 German hospitals were asked about their decision-making authorization in mouth care. At the same time experience in this field of nursing was examined. The study revealed that nurses have a high autonomy concerning their decisions in performing mouth care. They decide independently on necessity, indication, and aids to be applied. They are also very independent when it comes to the evaluation of the interventions' effect. Finally, they are the professionals to inform and educate patients on the subject of mouth care. Furthermore, most nurses are not satisfied with the co-operation between nursing and dental medicine. Even in the case of serious mouth problems a dentist's assistance is only rarely sought for although nurses consider such help necessary. Increased co-operation between nurses and dentists is therefore recommended to improve mouth care in hospitals.

Dental Care↗
PubMed2003

[Some frequently used substances, instruments and methods in mouth care with regard to evidence-based applications].

The purpose of this study was to evaluate current practice in mouth care as few data exist in this area. By means of a questionnaire nurses were asked which mouth care substances, methods and instruments they used in their clinical practice. They were also asked about their clinical experience. The most frequently used substances and instruments were then examined with regard to their evidence base using an evaluation system bases on a compilation of scientific literature. The results show that nurses' selections of mouth care substances and instruments are mainly based on their clinical experience and on traditions. There is little scientific evidence for their mouth care practice. Using assessment instruments in order to assess oral conditions and evaluate nursing interventions as well as using more substances with proven effect has the best potential to improve practice. There is an obvious need for evidence-based guidelines and standards.

Evidence-Based Medicine↗
PubMed2003

[Assessment scales for nursing assessment of the mouth. A literature review].

Especially in patients which are at risk for transformations of the oral soft tissue the importance of an oral assessment is stressed by many authors. The application of an assessment instrument enables a diagnosis related decision of the care measures which have to be taken. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the measures can be assessed and it is an important research instrument. An assessment instrument gives support and safety to the practitioner in his decisions and simplifies a precise documentation. In the literature, more than 40 assessment methods and instruments to assess the oral health status could be found. Only a few of them are validated. Concerning the assessment criteria, there was no consensus between the authors. There is no agreement if subjective perceptions of the patient should be included in the assessment. Based on available validity characteristics, recommendations for assessment methods which are suitable for patients in geriatrics, intensive care and specific tumor therapy are given.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Cross-cultural psychometric testing of the Care Dependency Scale with data.

BACKGROUND: The importance of the present study lies in addressing whether it is justified to compare the care dependency status of older patients from different settings and cultures using the same instrument. AIM: The aim of this international study was to compare the psychometric properties of the Care Dependency Scale (CDS) by analysing data gathered in Finland, Spain and the United Kingdom (UK). METHOD: The Finnish, Spanish and UK research instruments were translations of the original Dutch CDS. Psychometric evaluations of this were carried out for each country separately as well as for the three countries combined, based on a convenience sample of 378 older patients. RESULTS: High alpha coefficients between 0.94 and 0.97 were obtained. Subsequent test-retest and interrater reliability revealed moderate to almost perfect kappa values. CONCLUSION: One of the main outcomes of the international comparison was that the findings between the three countries showed more similarities than differences in psychometric assessment, indicating that the CDS can be used for care dependency assessment in different countries.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Validity and reliability of the Nursing Minimum Data Set for the Netherlands (NMDSN).

UNLABELLED: The Nursing Minimum Data Set for the Netherlands (NMDSN) describes nursing care based on nursing phenomena, interventions and outcomes. The validity and reliability of its data collection has not been tested yet. PURPOSE: To report about the discriminative validity and the interrater reliability of the NMDSN. DESIGN: Data were collected in an intensive care ward, in a nursing home and in a residential home. The unit of measurement and analysis is the 'patient day'. The analysis for validity consisted of ridits calculations, and their graphical representations. Interrater reliability was measured by percentage agreement and Cohen's kappa. RESULTS: Graphs illustrate the differences on most nursing phenomena and interventions as expected beforehand. The percentage agreements for the residential home vary from 60.4 to 100%, and the kappa statistics from -0.09 to 0.85, indicating a poor to almost perfect interrater reliability. CONCLUSION: Intensive care patients and patients in the nursing home have more problems and need more nursing interventions compared with general hospital patients, while the patients in the residential home have lesser of both. This illustrates the discriminative validity of the NMDSN. The kappa values for various NMDSN variables are sufficient. A similar test in the general hospital is recommended.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Care dependency: testing the German version of the Care Dependency Scale in nursing homes and on geriatric wards.

The purpose of this study was the psychometric evaluation of the German version of the dependency scale in nursing homes and on geriatric wards. The 15-item scale was originally developed in the Netherlands for assessing the care dependency of demented and mentally handicapped patients. Data of 81 nursing home residents and of 115 geriatric patients were collected. Residents and patients were assessed several time by professionals and nonprofessionals. Reliability was determined by Cronbach's alpha, showing very good results with values of 0.94 and 0.98. Inter-rater and intrarater reliability show moderate to substantial Kappa values. Criterion validity was examined by comparing the data of the scale with the German nursing personal regulation and the German statutory insurance. The results show that the scores of the Care Dependency Scale correlate to the scores of the two classifications. In general, the German version of the scale can be recommended for use in nursing homes and on geriatric wards.

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

[How reliable is the Functional Independence Measure (FMI)?].

The Functional Independence Measure (FIM) is an internationally well-known instrument to assess patient autonomy in Activities of Daily Life. In this article the reliability of the instrument will be discussed by the analysis of data gathered on a rehabilitation ward in a Berlin hospital. The sample consists of 154 patients. Each patient was observed by two nurses. In the first phase of the project only one of these two nurses knew the patient well. In the second phase both nurses knew the patient. As expected, the interrater reliability during the second phase was higher than during the first phase of the research. Furthermore high correlations between the items could be computed. The internal consistence of the scale showed values similar to those known from literature. The data proved a high reliability of the instrument.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2002

[What measures are described in the literature for treatment of mouth problems? An analysis of German and English publications between 1990 and 2001].

The "mucous membrane, altered" is a frequently observed nursing diagnosis. It manifests itself in varying and extremely unpleasant forms of strain on the patient, even life-threatening complications are possible. The publications on mouth changes originate in the field of nursing care, however there is an increasing number in the medical fields of dentistry, oncology and microbiology as well as hygiene. A variety of remedies and instruments are suggested for nursing and treating patients with mouth problems. The purpose of the literary study was to summarize the mouth alterations to be dealt with according to each fundamental problem area as well as to systematize the available remedies and methods--which almost defy an orderly overview--according to the problem areas.

Evidence-Based Medicine↗
PubMed2002

[Nursing care dependence in the hospital. A descriptive study].

The findings indicate no clinical relevant difference relating to care dependency between men and women in any age group. The extent of care dependency grows with the patients' age in both genders. A crucial increase of care dependency is found after the age of 80. Because the variance of means on the care dependency scales increases with age generalizations of the results are restricted. Patients with cardiovascular diseases and patients with injuries and poisoning are more dependent on care than patients with other medical diagnoses. Patients with muscle-skeletal illnesses show the least degree of care dependency. The findings according to medical disciplines reveal patients who are in intensive care as the group most dependent on care with geriatric and neurological patients following. There is no difference of care dependency means between patients who were operated and patients who had not undergone an operation.

Accidental Falls↗
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↗