Karen Staniland

Empowerment an essential ingredient in the clinical environment: A review of the literature

Empowerment is an important concept worthy of attention in healthcare. The merits of empowerment are irrefutable including benefits to the organisation and to the individual nurse. Empowered nurses contribute to the clinical learning environment in a positive way. There is a dearth of literature on how or indeed if nursing students are empowered. The process of empowering registered staff/nursing students is not clear. Ward environment and culture are important contributors to patient care, patient safety and staff well-being. It is therefore necessary to address how empowerment can contribute positively to improving the environment in which care is provided.

A sociological ethnographic study of clinical governance implementation in one NHS Hospital Trust

Purpose – This study aims to give an account of how stakeholders in one NHS Hospital Trust responded to the clinical governance initiative, the effects on quality improvement and the practical accomplishment of legitimacy.Design/methodology/approach – Sociological new institutionalism theory was utilised to explain the political and ceremonial conformity that marked the clinical governance process. A case study was employed using ethnographic methods. The qualitative data were obtained by documentary analysis, observation of meetings and ward activity and 28 semi‐structured interviews. A grounded theory approach was adopted in the analysis of the interviews.Findings – Errors and inconsistencies were found in Trust documentation and reporting systems were poor. In practice clinical governance was inadequately understood and the corporate goals not shared. Nevertheless, during the same period the Trust obtained recognition for having appropriate structures and systems in place resulting in external legitima...

Introduction: why a Sociology of Pandemics?

Infectious disease has re-emerged as a public health threat in an increasingly globalised era, adding trans-national actors to traditional national and local government actors. This special issue showcases new sociological work in response to this challenge. The contributors have investigated the social construction of new and re-emerging diseases; the development of surveillance systems, public health governance; the impact of scientific/technical modalities on uncertainty and risk, the interplay of infectious disease, public health and national security concerns, and public and media responses. The case studies range broadly across North America, Europe and Asia and define new agendas for medical sociologists and public health policymakers.

Flu frames: Flu frames

This article investigates how the frame concept was used in media studies of the 2009 flu pandemic representation. It examines how frame (or framing) analysis has illuminated sociological features of these depictions and how the frame concept facilitated an analytic understanding of media representations. The article first outlines the principal uses of the concept in the social sciences. It then examines the approach and findings of empirical studies of the 2009 outbreak. The findings are reported under three headings: production, text and the consumption of flu frames. This schema provides a better understanding of key sociological dimensions of news responses to the 2009 pandemic. Most articles reviewed were conducted under the auspices of communication studies. It is shown that questions of frame production and the interpretation and challenging of frames, while not at the forefront of many analyses, nevertheless were not neglected.

Ageing and genetics - partners in care report of a conference for student nurses at the university of salford 14th-15th march 2002.

Four hundred and twenty five student nurses attended a two-day pre-registration nurse’s conference entitled ‘Ageing and Genetics – Partners in Care’ which took place in the Maxwell Hall, University of Salford recently. The conference attracted many eminent international speakers and was evaluated well by the students who attended. Day one was chaired by Michael Garrity, OBE, Dean of the Faculty of Health and Social Care. The focus of the day was – Ageing. The first paper by Julia Ryan, Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing explored the myths and realities of later life and considered how these influenced and would influence the care of older people now and in the future. The growing demand for collaboration in healthcare, which has led to the need for more effective partnerships, was next demonstrated in the work undertaken in meeting the standards of the National Service Framework for Older People by, nursing, medical and social service professions. Ann Shuttleworth, a freelance journalist, firstly identified the framework requirements, followed by presentations by Carole Swindells, Associate Clinical Dean, and Mahendra Gonsalkorale, Consultant in Geriatric Medicine, Salford Royal Hospitals NHS Trust, and Julia Clarke, Assistant Director, Adults in Social Services, who gave opportunities for delegates to appreciate the challenges, energy and co-operation that existed in the North West of England region and what had actually been achieved since the publication of the framework in March 2001.