Tonks N. Fawcett

Parental responses to health care services for children with chronic conditions and their families: a comparison between Hong Kong and Scotland

Families caring for a chronically-ill child are known to experience a significant degree of stress that often is not fully understood by health professionals. The purpose of this study was to examine, cross culturally, the experience of families caring for children with chronic conditions both in terms of the impact on their lives and the nature of the support received. The responsibility of caring for a child with a chronic condition had considerable impact on family life in both groups, with the disturbance to harmony possibly being felt more keenly in the Hong Kong group. Effective communication with parents was seen in both countries as key for effective practice. Expectations of health services differed between cultures. Implications can be drawn for the design of future health services addressing the specific health needs of families with children with chronic illness.

Emotive responses to ethical challenges in caring A Malawian perspective

This article reports findings of a hermeneutic phenomenological study that explored the clinical learning experience for Malawian undergraduate student nurses. The study revealed issues that touch on both nursing education and practice, but the article mainly reports the practice issues. The findings reveal the emotions that healthcare workers in Malawi encounter as a consequence of practising in resource-poor settings. Furthermore, there is severe nursing shortage in most clinical settings in Malawi, and this adversely affects the performance of nurses because of the excess workload it imposes on them. The results of the study also illustrate loss of professional pride among some of the nurses, and the article argues that such a demeanour is a consequence of burnout. However, despite these problems, the study also reveals that there are some nurses who have maintained their passion to care.

Leaps in the dark: 60 years of nursing studies at the University of Edinburgh

2016 marks the 60th anniversary of Nursing Studies at Edinburgh University. This important anniversary has been celebrated both within the university (see www.ed.ac.uk/nursing) and during the International RCN Research Society Conference in Edinburgh held in April 2016 to coincide with Nursing Studies’ Diamond Jubilee year. HRH the Princess Royal and University of Edinburgh Chancellor, visited Nursing Studies to unveil a plaque to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee and view a poster exhibition which demonstrated how the Department has contributed to nursing excellence, since its inception in 1956. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Further study opens up career opportunities: A wide range of master’s courses are available to enhance your clinical practice and improve patient outcomes

In the 1970s, only about one in 20 nurses in the had a degree, and the necessity of such an academic requirement was often viewed with derision. Now, as an all-graduate profession, the importance of a masters degree for career progression takes on greater potency.

Service evaluation: A grey area of research?

The National Health Service in the United Kingdom categorises research and research-like activities in five ways, such as ‘service evaluation’, ‘clinical audit’, ‘surveillance’, ‘usual practice’ and ‘research’. Only activities classified as ‘research’ require review by the Research Ethics Committees. It is argued, in this position paper, that the current governance of research and research-like activities does not provide sufficient ethical oversight for projects classified as ‘service evaluation’. The distinction between the categories of ‘research’ and ‘service evaluation’ can be a grey area. A considerable percentage of studies are considered as non-research and therefore not eligible to be reviewed by the Research Ethics Committee, which scrutinises research proposals rigorously to ensure they conform to established ethical standards, protecting research participants from harm, preserving their rights and providing reassurance to the public. This article explores the ethical discomfort potentially inherent in the activity currently labelled as ‘service evaluation’.

Using Data Mining Strategies in Clinical Decision Making: A Literature Review.

Several data-mining models have been embedded in the clinical environment to improve decision making and patient safety. Consequently, it is crucial to survey the principal data-mining strategies currently used in clinical decision making and to determine the disadvantages and advantages of using these strategies in data mining in clinical decision making. A literature review was conducted, which identified 21 relevant articles. The article findings showed that multiple models of data mining were used in clinical decision making. Although data mining is efficient and accurate, the models are limited with respect to disease and condition.