Kierrynn Davis

Reconceptualizing vulnerability: deconstruction and reconstruction as a postmodern feminist analytical research method

Nursing research informed by postmodern feminist perspectives has prompted many debates in recent times. While this is so, nurse researchers who have been tempted to break new ground have had few examples of appropriate analytical methods for a research design informed by the above perspectives. This article presents a deconstructive/reconstructive secondary analysis of a postmodern feminist ethnography in order to provide an analytical exemplar. In doing so, previous notions of vulnerability as a negative state have been challenged and reconstructed.

Factors that influence physical activity for pregnant and postpartum women and implications for primary care

Many pregnant women and women of child-bearing age do not engage in the recommended levels of physical activity despite the well known benefits. Pregnancy and the postpartum period can be a time when inactivity actually increases. Women who experience gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) during their pregnancy are often advised to become more active in order to ameliorate their increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Health professionals have an influential role in promoting physical activity, which would be enhanced with an understanding of the factors that positively and negatively influence womens participation in physical activity during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. This research sought to explore these factors with pregnant and postpartum women including those who had experienced GDM and the attention given to physical activity during pregnancy. A survey was developed after a critical review of factors identified from previous studies. Women were recruited from the antenatal clinic, community health centres and the local media. Results from 72 women are reported from a predominately well educated, Caucasian population. Overall, the results were confirmatory of factors previously identified. Lack of child care, time constraints, no time and feeling unwell during pregnancy hindered activity and factors that facilitated activity included family support, enjoyment of activity and to prevent later health problems. It was also found that non-GDM women are given minimal advice about exercise during pregnancy. A checklist has been developed for health professionals, in partnership with women, to direct attention to the factors that enable and hinder participation in physical activity during and after pregnancy.

Stories of resistance and healing in the process of leaving abusive relationships

Abstract This article examines the unexpected outcomes of a research project that explored the informal support needs of women leaving abusive relationships.The women not only identified informal supports, they also appreciated the time the research offered them to talk about the violent situations, as well as their healing journeys of leaving relationships to sustain their lives without violence. The womens healing journeys were complex and unstable and the feminist approach used in this research empowered participants to acknowledge their abuse, resist the effects of that abuse, and begin their journeys of recovery.The implications of the findings for best nursing practice and models of service delivery are provided.

Resisting gender-bias: Insights from Western Australian middle-level women nurses

Abstract An integrated feminist postmodernist ethnography was applied to explore the experiences of eight women nurses working in the corporate sector and/or management in public hospitals in Western Australia. Data were collected through participant observation, the researcher’s field notes and journal and through semi-structured critical conversations. Data were analysed by the application of a trifocal analytic method (Glass & Davis, 2004; Savage, 2000b). This approach, consistent with the methodology, examined the data at multiple levels by applying realist, feminist and feminist postmodern lens which allowed the data to remain relevant to each participant, avoided objectifying the participants and uncovered knowledge relevant to the nursing profession. The findings revealed what it meant to be a nurse functioning within a corporate setting. Three culturally-constructed discourses emerged: values attributed to nursing, bureaucratic managerialism and medical science. The first was found to be empowering but the other two revealed evidence of patriarchal and oppressive behaviours by both medical staff and senior nurses. The findings also revealed that the nurses were sometimes unaware of the oppression they were subject to. The nurses avoided confronting their oppressors preferring strategies revealed as creep up/creep in. Discussion focuses upon the implications of the research project findings for senior and executive nurse leaders and managers and which may evoke a sense of commonality for women in general. The implications are that nurses could apply self-managing strategies in order to resist gendered oppression in senior-level workplace relationships. The authors recommend that more research and publications are needed that reveal and celebrate women’s every-day exemplar empowering leadership practices.

Epistemology at work: the ontological relationship between feminist methods, intersubjectivity and nursing research – a research exemplar

Abstract This article explores the importance of strong epistemological and ontological links in nursing research by examining the design and process of a recent research project. The research topic concerns the relationship between self-concept and nursing practice. In this article, the authors demonstrate that commitment to a methodologically consistent process and the necessary associated epistemological and ontological positions provides a depth and structure to nursing research. It is the authors’ belief that such consistency within research acts to strengthen the research process, and consequently strengthens nursing’ s research base and knowledge.

Action learning enhances professional development of research supervisors: an Australian health science exemplar

The worldwide academic workforce is ageing. At the same time, health and human services workforces are expanding. The preparation of educators to fill gaps in expertise and to position the health sciences for future growth is an urgent need. The findings from a recent action learning project that aimed to enhance the professional growth and development of higher degree researcher student supervisors in a School of Health and Human Sciences are presented. Seven early career researchers and the facilitator met for two hours every two to three weeks over 4 months between April and July 2010, in a rural and regional university in New South Wales, Australia. The processes initiated were a combination of experiential knowledge, referral to relevant published reports, use of an effective supervision checklist, and critical conversations. Learning outcomes centered on higher degree management and supervision pedagogy, communities of practice, knowledge translation, and the establishment of a research culture. The contextual barriers and implications of the methodology and learning outcomes for the professional development of health and human science practitioners, researchers and educators is also discussed.

Women, Hepatitis C, and sexuality: a critical feminist exploration.

Abstract Sexuality is a neglected subject in nursing with nurses often exhibiting erotophobia. Furthermore Hepatitis C is a stigmatised disease and people living with HCV frequently experience stigmatisation by health professionals, including nurses. Erotophobia and HCV related stigmatisation is detrimental to the formation of an open and trusting nurse-client relationship and is potentially injurious to the health and well being of people living with HCV who come into contact with nurses in the course of their illness. This research explored the question of whether living with HCV affected the sexuality of HCV positive women and if so in what ways?

Nurses’ knowledge and learning experiences in relation to the effects of domestic abuse on the mental health of children and adolescents

Nurse researchers are yet to direct substantial attention towards addressing and understanding nurses’ experiences of learning about and caring for child and adolescent victims of domestic abuse. This lack of recognition has resulted in the marginalisation of this issue. This paper seeks to explore nurses’ present understanding and experiences of learning about the effects of domestic abuse on the mental health of children and adolescents. The research utilised an interpretive case study approach within a naturalistic paradigm. Snowball sampling of nursing staff within two mental health units was used. Data were collected using semi-structured in-depth interviews with each participant. Using a constant comparative method and hermeneutic dialectical process both the commonalities and differences regarding participants’ multiple realities were identified. Three major categories emerged within the data. These were education, resources and nurses’ role. It was apparent that nurses’ knowledge and education about the effects of domestic abuse on the mental health of children and adolescents negatively impacted on nurses’ ability to provide appropriate care. The research has clear implications for mental health nursing education, practice and future research.

Safe sex and student nurses in rural Australia: Nurses’ knowledge and practices (Part 1)

Abstract This article is the first of a two-part series on a research study investigating student nurses’ knowledge and attitudes to safe sex in a rural university in Australia. The article begins with a discussion of HIV/AIDS, particularly the current incidence and a discussion of the associated epidemiological data. Health care professionals responses to the disease and examples from relevant Australian literature are briefly explored. The authors then discuss the need for this current research study, reveal the associated ethical process, outline the instrument used and the sample population. The article concludes with a discussion of reliability and validity.

Voices from the margins Part 1: narrative accounts of indigenous family violence.

Abstract The needs of informal supporters of rural women surviving domestic violence from the supporter’s perspective were explored through the use of storytelling. Eleven women were interviewed. Of those eleven, three informal supporters spoke about supporting Indigenous women in family violence. These three stories have been grouped as a separate cohort and are discussed in two papers. Of the women who told stories of supporting Aboriginal women, two were Indigenous and one was non Aboriginal, although her partner was Indigenous. It was clear from the stories told by these women that Indigenous family violence is situated in a context of a history and experience of colonisation and human rights abuses. Therefore, this article explores the context of Indigenous family violence and the second explores the strategies for strengthening support for Aboriginal families experiencing violence.