Home  About us  Contact
 

Unit Nurses (unit + nurse)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Medical Sciences100%

Kinds of Unit Nurses

  • care unit nurse
    		•
  • intensive care unit nurse
    		•

    Selected Abstracts

    Efficacy beliefs predict collaborative practice among intensive care unit nurses

    JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 3 2010
    Pascale M. Le Blanc
    le blanc p.m., schaufeli w.b., salanova m., llorens s. & nap r.e. (2010) Efficacy beliefs predict collaborative practice among intensive care unit nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing66(3), 583,594. Abstract Aim., This paper is a report of an investigation of whether intensive care nurses' efficacy beliefs predict future collaborative practice, and to test the potential mediating role of team commitment in this relationship. Background., Recent empirical studies in the field of work and organizational psychology have demonstrated that (professional) efficacy beliefs are reciprocally related to workers' resources and well-being over time, resulting in a positive gain spiral. Moreover, there is ample evidence that workers' affective commitment to their organization or work-team is related to desirable work behaviours such as citizenship behaviour. Methods., A longitudinal design was applied to questionnaire data from the EURICUS-project. Structural Equation Modelling was used to analyse the data. The sample consisted of 372 nurses working in 29 different European intensive care units. Data were collected in 1997 and 1998. However, our research model deals with fundamental psychosocial processes that are not time-dependent. Moreover, recent empirical literature shows that there is still room for improvement in ICU collaborative practice. Results., The hypotheses that (i) the relationship between efficacy beliefs and collaborative practice is mediated by team commitment and (ii) efficacy beliefs, team commitment and collaborative practice are reciprocally related were supported, suggesting a potential positive gain spiral of efficacy beliefs. Conclusion., Healthcare organizations should create working environments that provide intensive care unit nurses with sufficient resources to perform their job well. Further research is needed to design and evaluate interventions for the enhancement of collaborative practice in intensive care units. [source]

    Attitudes of intensive care nurses towards brain death and organ transplantation: instrument development and testing

    JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 5 2006
    Jung Ran Kim BN MClinN DipN RN
    Aims., This paper reports the development and testing of an instrument assessing attitudes of Korean intensive care unit nurses. Background., Reluctance by healthcare professionals to identify brain-dead patients as a potential donor is one reason for a shortfall in transplantable organs in all countries. Organ donation from brain-dead patients is a particularly contentious issue in Korea, following recent legal recognition of brain death within the cultural context of Confucian beliefs. Method., A 38-item instrument was developed from the literature and key informant interviews, and validated by an expert panel and a pilot study. A survey was conducted with Korean intensive care unit nurses (n = 520) from October 2003 to January 2004. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was used to determine construct validity. Item-to-total correlations and Cronbach's coefficient alpha were used to determine the scale's internal consistency and unidimensionality. Results., The scale demonstrated high internal consistency (alpha = 0·88). Principal component analysis yielded a four-component structure: Discomfort, Enhancing quality of life, Willingness to be a donor and Rewarding experience. Overall, Korean intensive care unit nurses showed positive attitudes towards organ transplantation, despite some mixed feelings. Conclusion., The attitude scale was reliable and valid for this cohort. Areas were identified where professional development may enhance positive attitudes towards organ transplantation from brain-dead donors. Effective education for intensive care unit nurses is necessary to increase the organ donor pool in Korea. Further research could test the instrument with other populations. [source]

    Burnout contagion among intensive care nurses

    JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 3 2005
    Arnold B. Bakker PhD
    Aim., This paper reports a study investigating whether burnout is contagious. Background., Burnout has been recognized as a problem in intensive care units for a long time. Previous research has focused primarily on its organizational antecedents, such as excessive workload or high patient care demands, time pressure and intensive use of sophisticated technology. The present study took a totally different perspective by hypothesizing that , in intensive care units , burnout is communicated from one nurse to another. Methods., A questionnaire on work and well-being was completed by 1849 intensive care unit nurses working in one of 80 intensive care units in 12 different European countries in 1994. The results are being reported now because they formed part of a larger study that was only finally analysed recently. The questionnaire was translated from English to the language of each of these countries, and then back-translated to English. Respondents indicated the prevalence of burnout among their colleagues, and completed scales to assess working conditions and job burnout. Results., Analysis of variance indicated that the between-unit variance on a measure of perceived burnout complaints among colleagues was statistically significant and substantially larger than the within-unit variance. This implies that there is considerable agreement (consensus) within intensive care units regarding the prevalence of burnout. In addition, the results of multilevel analyses showed that burnout complaints among colleagues in intensive care units made a statistically significant and unique contribution to explaining variance in individual nurses' and whole units' experiences of burnout, i.e. emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. Moreover, for both emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, perceived burnout complaints among colleagues was the most important predictor of burnout at the individual and unit levels, even after controlling for the impact of well-known organizational stressors as conceptualized in the demand-control model. Conclusion., Burnout is contagious: it may cross over from one nurse to another. [source]

    Assessment of trauma nurse knowledge related to forensic practice

    JOURNAL OF FORENSIC NURSING, Issue 4 2008
    Kelli Eldredge RN
    Abstract Assessment of forensic practice specific to the trauma setting was the purpose of this pilot study. Thirty-eight trauma nurses from a level II trauma center completed a questionnaire related to their knowledge of forensic practice. Although 58% of nurses had some education related to forensics, emergency department nurses were significantly more knowledgeable about existence of protocols than were intensive care unit nurses. Most respondents indicated a willingness to incorporate forensic principles into practice. Forensic education and standardization of protocols would enhance clinical practice in the trauma setting. [source]

    Indicators Nurses Employ in Deciding to Test for Hyperbilirubinemia

    JOURNAL OF OBSTETRIC, GYNECOLOGIC & NEONATAL NURSING, Issue 6 2001
    Anita J. Gagnon RN
    Objective: To identify the indicators nurses employ in deciding to test healthy full-term newborns for total serum bilirubin in the absence of a written protocol. Design: Secondary analysis of data available on 130 mother-newborn pairs and informal interviews of 30 postpartum unit nurses. Setting: Two university teaching hospitals. Participants: All tested newborns and a 33% random sample of remaining newborns from a control group data set created during a previous study and a convenience sample of postpartum nurses from all shifts. Measurement: Outcome data were obtained from a review of records. Background data were obtained from a review of records and questionnaires. Nurse data were obtained through a modified form of participant observation. Results: Ninety-one percent of newborns tested for bilirubin were tested unnecessarily. In logistic regression analyses, variables predictive of nurse-driven total serum bilirubin testing were presence of jaundice, odds ratio (OR) = 31.95 (95% confidence interval, 6.71, 152.03), and feeding frequency, OR = 0.28 (0.11, 0.72). Identifying both presence and location of jaundice simultaneously did not significantly predict testing, OR = 1.82 (0.66, 5.04). Fifty-three percent of nurses who were interviewed identified both the presence of jaundice and feeding as indicators to consider for testing. Conclusion: Newborns are overtested for bilirubin. Indicators used by nurses in deciding to test a healthy newborn for total serum bilirubin are the presence of jaundice and feeding frequency. Nurses who assess feeding frequency are less likely to order bilirubin testing. [source]