Margarethe Lorensen

Norwegian families: transition to parenthood.

Our purpose in conducting this study was to explore relationships among family dynamics, parent–fetal attachment, and infant temperament in 230 mother–father pairs from the third trimester of pregnancy to when their infant was 7 to 9 months old. Mothers reported increased role conflict during this time, as well as more role conflict than their partners. First-time parents (n = 133) perceived more positive family dynamics than second-time parents (n = 97), as well as greater parent–fetal attachment. Maternal–fetal attachment was greater than paternal–fetal attachment. Health care providers can provide support for new parents as they negotiate new role relationships.

Cross-cultural testing of the “appraisal of self-care agency: ASA scale” in Norway

The purpose of this study was to test the discriminant validity and interrater reliability of an instrument that measures aspects of self-care agency using Norwegian populations. The ASA scale forms A and B, which had been tested in the Netherlands previously, were translated into Norwegian and administered to two groups of elderly subjects and to a sample of geriatric nurses and nursing assistants in Norway. The subjects, one group from two geriatric rehabilitation units, and another from those living independently who were attending activity centres, completed the ASA-A scale. The nurses filled out the ASA-B scale. The results were supportive of the validity and reliability. Discriminant validity of the ASA scales was demonstrated.

Research resource development in Denmark

The kingdom of Denmark has a population of a little more than 5.1 million, with an average density of 118.7 people per square kilometer. Its landmass includes 4,307,629 square kilometers, not including Faro Island and Greenland. The life expectancy for men is 71.5 years and for women, 77.5. At present, there are about 42,000 working nurses, approximately 1 per 146 persons. Health care is organized into three levels, national, county and district. The county level is responsible for the hospital service and the district level for the community care including nursing homes. The responsibility for primary care lies with the 273 districts. The health service is organ&d through a National Care System which ensures free delivery of care for all and equal access to health care facilities. Funding is through general taxation. The development of nursing research in Denmark can be attributed to the contributions of a number of individuals, organizations and to important events in the history of Danish society, as well as to changes in law and policy (Magnussen, 1979). While it would be impossible to name all of the influential persons, many of whom remain historically anonymous, it can be said that they were catalysts for change in Danish nursing which helped make nursing research a reality. The key events in the history of Danish nursing science are shown in Table 1. It is very difficult to say exactly when nursing research started in Denmark. Visible results of research endeavors began to appear in the late 195Os, however, the inspiration and groundbreaking work began much earlier. Henny Tscherning and Charlotte Munck were the founders of the Danish Nurses Organization (DNO) in 1899. Both studied and got inspiration from America, England and Germany. The international networking began with the International Council of Nurses (ICN), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Nordic Nurses Federation (NNF) and has continued and intensified throughout the years (Brock, 1970, p. 73). Nursing research in the late 1950s and early 1960s was aided primarily by the Danish Nurses’ Organization (DNO) with Margarethe Kruse as its leading proponent. The DNO