Jean Gilmour

The impact of endometriosis on work and social participation

Endometriosis is a debilitating chronic disease that can affect many aspects of everyday life owing to symptoms such as pain and fatigue. This paper reports the findings of a study exploring the impact of symptomatic endometriosis on womens social and working life. The study used a feminist approach. Eighteen women were interviewed and a thematic approach used to analyse the data. The analysis is structured around three themes focusing on issues around disclosure of symptoms in the work place; the impact of symptoms on work, education and social participation; and the strategies used by women in the study to manage endometriosis. A range of health and employment implications are discussed in this paper. In particular, nurses can provide useful support to women by careful assessment and prompt referral for diagnostic procedures and by providing timely and comprehensive information, including information about the lifestyle and nutritional factors recommended by women with endometriosis.

Representations of people with dementia - subaltern, person, citizen

This study traces shifts in health professional representations of people with dementia. The concepts of subaltern, personhood and citizenship are used to draw attention to issues around visibility, voice and inclusion. Professional discourses and practices draw upon, and are shaped by historical and contemporary representations. Until recently, people with dementia were subaltern in nursing and medical discourses; marginalised and silenced. The incorporation of contemporary representations foregrounding personhood and citizenship into health professional accounts provide space for transformative styles of care. Privileging personhood centralises the person with dementia in social networks, focusing on their experiences and relationships. Respecting citizenship involves challenging discrimination and stigma: nursing from a rights-based approach necessitates listening and being responsive to the needs of the person with dementia. Incorporating contemporary representations in health professional practice requires the discarding of the historically dominant elite and authoritarian accounts of dementia still apparent in some nursing texts along with, perhaps, the historically burdened term of dementia itself.

Nursing students and internet health information

This study investigates use of the internet by nursing students to access health information and their evaluation practices in relation to this information. The research method was a retrospective descriptive postal survey. A questionnaire was sent to all undergraduate students enrolled in a Bachelor of Nursing programme at a New Zealand university in 2005. The response rate was 50% or 174 responses. Findings from the study included marked variations in respondents ability to successfully search for and evaluate relevant internet health and nursing information. Few respondents assessed patients use of the internet to gather health information or assisted patients with evaluation. As searching, evaluating and sharing online information is a core element of nursing practice, formal education to develop competency in the ability of all nursing students to retrieve and assess internet health information is essential. The integration of these skills into nursing practice is a vital step in developing new approaches to working with knowledgeable consumers of internet health information.

Engaging With Patient Online Health Information Use: A Survey of Primary Health Care Nurses

Internet health information is used by patients for health care decision making. Research indicates this information is not necessarily disclosed in interactions with health professionals. This study investigated primary health care nurses’ engagement with patient online health information use along with the respondents’ disclosure of online sources to their personal health care provider. A questionnaire was posted to a random sample of 1,000 New Zealand nurses with 630 responses. Half the respondents assessed patients’ online use (n = 324) and had encountered patients who had wrongly interpreted information. Health information quality evaluation activities with patients indicated the need for nursing information literacy skills. A majority of respondents (71%, n = 443) used online sources for personal health information needs; 36.3% (n = 155) of the respondents using online sources did not tell their personal health care provider about information obtained. This study identifies that there are gaps in supporting patient use but more nursing engagement with online sources when compared with earlier studies.

Medical education and informal teaching by nurses and midwives

Objectives The aim of this study was to examine the contribution of nurses and midwives to the education of medical colleagues in the clinical context. Methods The research design was a cross-sectional survey using an online questionnaire. A subsample of 2906 respondents, from a total of 4763 nurses and midwives participating in a web-based study, had taught doctors in the 12 months prior to the survey. The questionnaire generated mainly categorical data analysed with descriptive statistics. Results In the group of respondents who taught doctors (n =2906), most provided informal teaching (92.9%, n=2677). Nearly a quarter (23.9%, n=695) self-rated the amount of time spent teaching as at least moderate in duration. The most common named teaching topics were documentation (74.8%, n=2005) and implementing unit procedures (74.3, n=1987), followed by medication charting (61.9%, n=1657) and choosing correct medications (55.8%, n=1493). Respondents felt their contributions were unrecognised by the doctors and students they taught (43.9%, n=1256). Conclusions Educational contributions while unrecognised could be considered positively by the respondents. However, discussion of teaching responsibilities is necessary to support the development of teaching protocols and supervision responsibilities as respondents reported teaching clinical medical tasks related to medications, consent and other skills within the medical domain. Study limitations include the nature of self-reported responses which cannot be validated and data drawn from a survey concluded in 2009.

An ordinary life: people with dementia living in a residential setting

The aim of this research was to explore the experiences of care support workers and family members of the impact of a new care approach in a specialised unit as it shifted from a clinical to an inclusive model, focused on creating an ordinary life for people with dementia and their families. The research was a partnership between the unit staff and university researchers. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected in focus groups with 11 family members and nine staff members. Thematic analysis identified the themes personalised care for people with dementia, family involvement – continuing to care, and staff competence and confidence to care. A personalised approach to supporting people with dementia was considered paramount, communicative family–staff relationships enhanced the social environment, and competence enhanced confidence and quality care. Participants identified positive ways of working that benefited staff and families and they reported increased well-being for the people with dementia on the unit. Developing well-articulated and systematically implemented local models of care provides opportunities for family and staff creativity and engagement, enhancing care for people with dementia. Strong and effective leadership is required to enable these approaches to become a reality.