Ruth Elder

Mammograms and Pap smears for Australian deaf women.

This study aimed to assess baseline knowledge about mammograms and pap smears among Australian Deaf women, to investigate their participation in breast and cervical cancer screening services, and to explore, where relevant, their perceptions about their access to breast and cervical screening services. An interview schedule was developed, and a convenience sample of 13 Deaf women was interviewed face-to-face by the first researcher with an accredited Auslan interpreter. The Deaf womens knowledge about mammograms and Pap smears often was incomplete. However, most of the eligible women had undergone a mammogram and had been rescreened within the recommended time frame. Although most had received a Pap smear, some were not attending as recommended by the Cancer Council of Australia. This exploration into the experiences of Deaf women can prompt all nurses to consider the needs of particular minorities and the barriers they may face to participate fully in health services.

Changing to learner-centred education: Challenges experienced by nurse educators in Taiwan

This paper reports the challenges experienced by nurse educators in changing a teacher-centred, content-driven approach to teaching and learning to a learner-centred, process-driven approach within a School of Nursing in Taiwan. While a general movement towards a learner-centred approach was achieved, the curriculum transformation process was complex and inevitably slow with many challenges. First the study is outlined, with the key challenges experienced by the participating nurse educators explicated and illuminated with excerpts drawn from the research data. This is followed by a discussion of possible reasons for the challenges and how they were overcome and the transition process from teacher-centred to learner-centred education facilitated.

Overcoming challenges to collaboration: nurse educators' experiences in curriculum change.

This article describes challenges to effective collaboration encountered by nurse educators as they transformed a unit within a school of nursing in Taiwan. This study introduced collaborative action research as a vehicle for curriculum change. Although the team achieved positive outcomes in transforming a unit, the collaborative process was complex with four major challenges: meaning, time, work culture, and conflicting views. This article provides an overview of the study, and the major challenges posed by working together are expounded and illustrated with excerpts drawn from the study data. Possible reasons for the challenges, how these challenges were overcome, and facilitation of the collaborative process are discussed.