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Nurses' Attitudes (nurse + attitude)
Selected AbstractsObstetric Nurses' Attitudes and Nursing Care Intentions Regarding Care of HIV-Positive Pregnant WomenJOURNAL OF OBSTETRIC, GYNECOLOGIC & NEONATAL NURSING, Issue 5 2007Lynda A. Tyer-Viola Objective:, To define attitudes toward pregnant women with HIV and how these attitudes correlate with and affect prejudice and nursing care intentions. Design:, Cross-sectional descriptive correlational study of obstetric nurses. Setting:, Eight hundred (800) mailed surveys in the United States (N = 350). Participants:, A random sample of nurses certified in inpatient obstetrics. Main Outcome Measures:, Background information tool, the Pregnant Women with HIV Attitude Scale, the Prejudice Interaction Scale in response to four vignettes, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale,Form C. Results:, Obstetric nurses had more positive Mothering-Choice attitudes than Sympathy-Rights attitudes (p= .000). Nurses who knew more than four people affected by HIV/AIDS had more positive attitudes (p, .05). Nurses with more positive attitudes were less prejudiced and more willing to care for pregnant women with HIV (p= .05). Nurses were significantly more prejudiced and less willing to care for women with than without HIV (p, .0001). Conclusions:, Nurses' clinical care may be influenced by their attitudes and prejudice toward pregnant women with HIV. Nursing education should include how prejudice can affect our clinical decision making and behaviors. Research is needed to explicate the effects on patient outcomes. JOGNN, 36, 398-409; 2007. DOI: 10.1111/J.1552-6909.2007.00172.x [source] Nurses' attitudes to CAMFOCUS ON ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY THERAPIES AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH, Issue 2005N Kanji [source] Nurses' attitudes to the use of seclusion: A review of the literatureINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 3 2010Brenda Happell ABSTRACT Seclusion is now widely recognized as a coercive strategy with negative consequences for the consumers and staff involved. Nevertheless, this intervention continues to be used frequently in mental health services internationally. Due to their direct care role, nurses are commonly involved in the initiation or management of seclusion. Understanding nurses' attitudes to seclusion is therefore essential for the success of any attempts to reduce its use. A review of the literature was conducted using the search terms ,patient', ,seclusion', ,attitudes', ,nurses' and ,containment'. Twenty-eight articles which met the inclusion criteria were identified. Analysis of these articles identified six main themes: a necessary intervention; workplace culture; staff composition and experience; conflict; ethical considerations; and consumer characteristics. An overview of the literature is presented according to these main themes. The research suggests that most nurses support the continued use of seclusion as a strategy for the management of violence and aggression. A deeper understanding of the factors that influence attitudes is necessary if seclusion rates are to be effectively reduced. [source] Nurses' attitudes towards adult patients who are obese: literature reviewJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 2 2006Ian Brown BSc RGN RHV PhD PGCE Aims., This paper presents a review of all empirical studies focusing on nurses' attitudes towards adult overweight or obese patients, with the aim of clarifying the dimensions and patterns of these attitudes and the methods by which they have been studied. Background., Obesity has become a common condition and a major public health concern, but it is often associated with negative attitudes and discrimination. Nurses play a key role in providing support and care to patients who are obese. Methods., Electronic searches were carried out on seven databases from inception to December 2004, along with hand-searching of references in relevant studies. The search terms were built around obesity (and related terms), nursing (and its branches) and attitudes (and related terms). Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. Data were extracted and summarized in tabular form and analysed in relation to the aims of this review during January 2005. Findings., There is relatively little research about nurses' attitudes towards obese patients, and the studies reviewed mostly have weaknesses of sampling and measurement. However, they do consistently suggest that a proportion of nurses have negative attitudes and beliefs, reflecting wider stereotypes within Western cultures. There is also a hint of a more complex mix of attitudes among nurses, some of which may counter the consequences of negative attitudes, but these have not been adequately investigated. A number of variables that influence attitudes of nurses can be identified, including age, gender, experience and the weight/body mass index of the nurse. Conclusion., Further research (both qualitative and quantitative) is needed with more rigorous sampling and, where appropriate, more consistency of measurement. A shift in focus towards the sets of attitudes (positive as well as negative) and behaviours that influence health service quality and outcomes for obese persons would be useful. [source] Seclusion and Restraint of Children: A Literature ReviewJOURNAL OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRIC NURSING, Issue 4 2000John Julian Allen BSN TOPIC. Nurses' attitudes toward the use of seclusion and restraint with children. PURPOSE. To review recent literature concerning these controversial interventions, and to examine possible alternative therapeutic interventions. SOURCES. Selected published nursing and psychiatric literature 1987 to 1998. CONCLUSIONS. Staff have a positive attitude toward the use of seclusion and restraint. A theory of pozoer and control may explain their use when many alternative, less restrictive interventions are available. [source] Testing the effectiveness of an educational intervention aimed at changing attitudes to self-harmJOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 1 2007P. PATTERSON phd ba (hons) rmn rgn cert ed Nurses' attitudes toward service users who repeatedly self-harm can be negative and may interfere with the user's willingness to engage with services. The effectiveness of an educational intervention aimed at improving nurses' attitudes in this area was tested in this study. The intervention consisted of attendance on an accredited course on self-harm over a period of 15 weeks and the outcome of interest was attitudes as measured by the Self Harm Antipathy Scale. When deployed in a before-and-after design with two non-randomly allocated groups, there was evidence of a 20% reduction in antipathy toward self-harm among course attenders maintained over a period of at least 18 months (compared with a 9% reduction in a comparison group). Three of the six Self Harm Antipathy Scale attitude dimensions showed significant short-term change with some further long-term effects. This is preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of the chosen intervention in reducing overall antipathy toward self-harm clients and enhancing a sense of competence, a valuing of the care process and an awareness of the factors contributing to self-harm. [source] Enhancing primary health care services for adults with intellectual disabilitiesJOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 3 2005C. A. Melville Abstract Background Primary health care teams have an important part to play in addressing the health inequalities and high levels of unmet health needs experienced by people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Practice nurses have an expanding role within primary health care teams. However, no previous studies have measured their attitudes, knowledge, training needs, and self-efficacy in their work with people with ID. Methods All practice nurses working in a defined area were identified. A purpose-designed questionnaire to measure nurse attitudes, knowledge, training needs and self-efficacy was developed and piloted. All practice nurses were then invited to participate. Data from completed questionnaires were entered onto PC and analysed. Results Of a total of 292 practice nurses 201 (69%) participated. Whilst 89% (n = 179) of participants reported having infrequent contact, 25% (n = 50) reported a growing workload with people with ID. Only 8% (n = 16) had ever received any training in communicating with people with ID. A knowledge gap regarding the health needs of people with ID was identified. Eighty-six per cent reported having experienced specific difficulties during previous appointments, and only 23% thought they had sufficient case note information at appointments, but 68% did not modify the duration of their appointments with people with ID. Conversely, responses demonstrated that practice nurses have a high level of experience and qualification in general nursing, have positive attitudes to working with people with ID, and high self-efficacy scores were identified for work with people with ID. The practice nurses viewed ID to be a high priority area for future training. Conclusions Primary health care teams have a key role in tackling the unmet health needs of people with ID. Whilst this project has identified factors that may impact on the accessibility of services, it has also identified practice nurses as having positive attitudes and high self-efficacy scores in their work with people with ID. This indicates that they should be targeted for specific training in this area, which may make an important contribution in enhancing future accessibility of primary health care services for people with ID. [source] Measuring nurse attitudes towards deliberate self-harm: the Self-Harm Antipathy Scale (SHAS)JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 5 2007P. PATTERSON phd ba (hons) rmn rgn cert ed Most mental health nurses engage at some point with clients who harm themselves and these nurses often experience strong negative emotional reactions. Prolonged engagement with relapsing clients can lead to antipathy, and ,malignant alienation'. The study reported here has the aim of developing a brief, robust instrument for assessing nurse attitudes in this area. The Self-Harm Antipathy Scale, developed here on a sample of 153 healthcare professionals, has 30 attitudinal items with six factors. It has acceptable face validity, good internal consistency and some evidence of good test,retest reliability. It discriminates effectively between criterion groups. Overall this is evidence for the complexity of nurses' responses to this client group but such complex attitudes can still be assessed using a relatively brief structured instrument. [source] Experiences of intensive care nurses assessing sedation/agitation in critically ill patientsNURSING IN CRITICAL CARE, Issue 4 2008Stephanie Weir Abstract Background:, Patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) will more often than not require sedative and analgesic drugs to enable them to tolerate the invasive procedures and therapies caused as a result of their underlying condition and/or necessary medical interventions. Aim:, This article reports a study exploring the perceptions and experiences of intensive care nurses using a sedation/agitation scoring (SAS) tool to assess and manage sedation and agitation amongst critically ill patients. The principle aims and objectives of this study were as follows: ,,to explore nurse's everyday experiences using a sedation scoring tool; ,,to explore and understand nurse's attitudes and beliefs of the various components of assessing and managing sedation among critically ill patients. Method:, Using a descriptive qualitative approach, semistructured interviews were carried out with a purposive sample of eight ICU nurses within a district general hospital ICU. The interviews focused on nurse's own experiences and perceptions of using a sedation scoring tool in clinical practice. Burnard's 14-stage thematic content analysis framework was employed to assist in the data analysis process. Results:, Three key themes emerged that may have implications not only for clinical practice but for further research into the use of the SAS tool. ,,Benefits to patient care as a direct result of using a sedation scoring tool. ,,The concerns of nursing staff. ,,The implications of using such a tool in clinical practice. Conclusion:, This paper reinforces the potential benefits to patients as a direct result of implementing the SAS scoring tool and clinical guidelines. Furthermore, it highlights the reluctance of a number of staff to adhere to such guidelines and discusses the concerns regarding less experienced nurses administering sedative agents. Attention was also drawn to the educational requirements of nursing and medical staff when using the SAS scoring tool. [source] Nurses' attitudes to the use of seclusion: A review of the literatureINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 3 2010Brenda Happell ABSTRACT Seclusion is now widely recognized as a coercive strategy with negative consequences for the consumers and staff involved. Nevertheless, this intervention continues to be used frequently in mental health services internationally. Due to their direct care role, nurses are commonly involved in the initiation or management of seclusion. Understanding nurses' attitudes to seclusion is therefore essential for the success of any attempts to reduce its use. A review of the literature was conducted using the search terms ,patient', ,seclusion', ,attitudes', ,nurses' and ,containment'. Twenty-eight articles which met the inclusion criteria were identified. Analysis of these articles identified six main themes: a necessary intervention; workplace culture; staff composition and experience; conflict; ethical considerations; and consumer characteristics. An overview of the literature is presented according to these main themes. The research suggests that most nurses support the continued use of seclusion as a strategy for the management of violence and aggression. A deeper understanding of the factors that influence attitudes is necessary if seclusion rates are to be effectively reduced. [source] Acute-care nurses' attitudes towards older patients: A literature reviewINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NURSING PRACTICE, Issue 2 2000Mary Courtney PhD With increases in life expectancy and increasing numbers of older patients utilising the acute setting, attitudes of registered nurses caring for older people may affect the quality of care provided. This paper reviews recent research on positive and negative attitudes of acute-care nurses towards older people. Many negative attitudes reflect ageist stereotypes and knowledge deficits that significantly influence registered nurses' practice and older patients' quality of care. In the acute setting, older patients experience reduced independence, limited decision-making opportunities, increased probability of developing complications, little consideration of their ageing-related needs, limited health education and social isolation. Available instruments to measure attitudes towards and knowledge about older people, although reliable and valid, are outdated, country-specific and do not include either a patient focus or a caring perspective. This paper argues for the development and utilisation of a research instrument that includes both a patient focus and a caring dimension. [source] Developing a questionnaire to measure nurses' attitudes towards hospitalized older peopleINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OLDER PEOPLE NURSING, Issue 2 2007Dip N. (C.T) Dip., Ella McLafferty PhD A number of studies have used generic measures to evaluate nurses' attitudes toward hospitalized older people. Those measures do not consider the context in which nurses meet older people and the influence that this may have on nurses' attitudes. The aims and objectives of the study were to develop a questionnaire from focus group data to evaluate nurses' attitudes towards hospitalized older people. To evaluate the psychometric properties of the questionnaire the design included a qualitative and quantitative phase. The method used for the qualitative phase was focus group interviews with the intention of identifying the phenomena that may indicate nurses' attitudes towards older people. The quantitative phase included the development and psychometric testing of an attitudinal questionnaire. Samples for the qualitative phase included Registered Nurses from the care of older people setting; Registered Nurses from the acute setting; nursing students and nurse teachers. The sample for the quantitative phase included nursing students (numbering 355). Ten themes were identified through thematic analysis. Eighty items were extrapolated from the qualitative analysis and used to formulate a questionnaire which was then distributed to the nursing students. On analysis, the reliability was 0.78. Further analysis using Principal Components Analysis (P.C.A.) with orthogonal rotation indicated that 45 items loaded on to eight factors. Results of the quantitative analysis indicated that there was a strong correlation between the thematic analysis and the P.C.A. The results would suggest that there may be important and relevant domains that are worthy of further study into nurses' attitudes towards older people. If the domains identified are useful for identifying negative attitudes towards older people, then strategies can be implemented to try and reduce negative attitudes in clinical practice. [source] Nurses' attitudes towards adult patients who are obese: literature reviewJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 2 2006Ian Brown BSc RGN RHV PhD PGCE Aims., This paper presents a review of all empirical studies focusing on nurses' attitudes towards adult overweight or obese patients, with the aim of clarifying the dimensions and patterns of these attitudes and the methods by which they have been studied. Background., Obesity has become a common condition and a major public health concern, but it is often associated with negative attitudes and discrimination. Nurses play a key role in providing support and care to patients who are obese. Methods., Electronic searches were carried out on seven databases from inception to December 2004, along with hand-searching of references in relevant studies. The search terms were built around obesity (and related terms), nursing (and its branches) and attitudes (and related terms). Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. Data were extracted and summarized in tabular form and analysed in relation to the aims of this review during January 2005. Findings., There is relatively little research about nurses' attitudes towards obese patients, and the studies reviewed mostly have weaknesses of sampling and measurement. However, they do consistently suggest that a proportion of nurses have negative attitudes and beliefs, reflecting wider stereotypes within Western cultures. There is also a hint of a more complex mix of attitudes among nurses, some of which may counter the consequences of negative attitudes, but these have not been adequately investigated. A number of variables that influence attitudes of nurses can be identified, including age, gender, experience and the weight/body mass index of the nurse. Conclusion., Further research (both qualitative and quantitative) is needed with more rigorous sampling and, where appropriate, more consistency of measurement. A shift in focus towards the sets of attitudes (positive as well as negative) and behaviours that influence health service quality and outcomes for obese persons would be useful. [source] Psychiatric nurses' attitudes towards patient autonomy in depot clinicsJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 4 2001Bodil Svedberg RPN Psychiatric nurses' attitudes towards patient autonomy in depot clinics Aim.,The aim of this qualitative study was to explore how psychiatric nurses experience patient autonomy in relation to their professional role in depot clinics. Background.,The administration of depot neuroleptics at outpatient clinics is a common task for psychiatric nurses in many countries. The procedure is characterized by brief contacts often allowing little opportunity for adequate monitoring of the treatment and a dialog between nurses and patients. As nurses have an important role in involving patients in decision-making, there is a need to analyse the nurses' attitudes towards giving depot neuroleptics from the perspective of autonomy. Method.,Nine experienced psychiatric nurses were interviewed using open-ended questions. The steps of a phenomenological descriptive method guided the data analysis. Findings.,The structure describes how benevolent attitudes towards patient autonomy motivated the nurses' interventions in relation to how they experienced their own professional authority. The structure consists of four variations: (1) Beneficent interventions used with patients perceived as co-operative when the nurses experienced a high degree of professional authority. (2) Paternalistic interventions used with patients perceived as ambiguous towards medication when the nurses experienced an arbitrary professional authority in collaboration with team members. (3) Weak paternalistic interventions used with patients perceived as unwilling when the nurses experienced having sufficient professional authority in the treatment situation. (4) Nonmaleficent interventions used with patients perceived as being resigned when the nurses experienced a low degree of professional authority within the team. Conclusions.,The findings indicate that psychiatric nurses' experience of their professional authority is closely related to the organization of the depot treatment and that brief contacts do not favour the establishment of collaborative relationships with patients. When injection-giving nurses, as patients' key workers, have overall responsibility for co-ordinating the patients' treatment they can encourage patient autonomy by helping patients understand the meaning of depot medication and its benefits. Further clinical research regarding the involvement of nurses in the treatment as well as patients' experiences of treatment with depot neuroleptics is needed to allow suggestions about improvements of the organization of the treatment. [source] Investigating factors associated with nurses' attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care: a study in Shandong and Hong KongJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 16 2009Moon Fai Chan Aims., To explore nurses' attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care and to identify factors associated with these attitudes. Background., It is likely that the attitude of nursing staff can influence recovery from a pregnancy loss and that nurses with positive attitudes to bereavement care can help bereaved parents to cope during their grieving period. Design., Survey. Method., Data were collected through a structured questionnaire; 657 nurses were recruited from Obstetrics and Gynaecology units in Hong Kong and Shandong during 2006. Outcome measures included attitudes towards perinatal bereavement care, importance of hospital policy and training support for bereavement care. Results., The majority of nurses in this study had a positive attitude to bereavement care. Results show that only 21·6% (n = 141) of the nurses surveyed had bereavement-related training. In contrast, about 89·8% (n = 300) believed they needed to be equipped with relevant knowledge, skills and understanding in the care and support of bereaved parents and more than 88·5% (n = 592) would share their experiences with their colleagues and seek support when feeling under stress. A regression model showed that age, past experience in handling grieving parents, recent ranking and nurses' perceived attitudes to hospital policy and training provided for bereavement care were the factors associated with nurses' attitudes to perinatal bereavement care. Conclusions., Nurses in both cities emphasised their need for increased knowledge and experience, improved communication skills and greater support from team members and the hospital for perinatal bereavement care. Relevance to clinical practice., These findings may be used by nursing educators to educate their students on issues related to delivery of sensitive bereavement care in perinatal settings and to enhance nursing school curricula. [source] Obesity: attitudes of undergraduate student nurses and registered nursesJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 16 2009Man-Yuk Poon Aim., To investigate undergraduate student nurses' and registered nurses' attitudes towards obese persons and towards the management of obese patients. Background., Obesity is a global public health problem. Escalating rates of overweight and obesity are also taking a toll in Asian countries that have historically had much lower rates. Despite the growing prevalence of obesity worldwide, studies show that nurses and other health professionals hold negative attitudes towards obese people, which may affect the care of obese patients. Design., Cross-sectional study. Methods., A self-administered questionnaire was completed by 352 undergraduate student nurses and 198 registered nurses. The questionnaire consisted of the Fat Phobia Scale, the Attitudes Toward Obese Adult Patients Scale and a demographic profile. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and student's t -tests. Results., Overall mean scores on the Fat Phobia Scale (3·53 SD 0·47) indicated average levels of fat phobia and mean scores on the Attitudes Toward Obese Adult Patients scale (2·64 SD 0·51) indicated neutral attitudes towards obese patients. Registered nurses had significantly higher levels of fat phobia and more negative attitudes than did student nurses. The majority of participants perceived that obese people liked food, overate and were shapeless, slow and unattractive. Additionally, over one-half of participants believed that obese adults should be put on a diet while in hospital. Conclusions., Results of this study show that both registered nurses and student nurses have negative perceptions of obesity and are unlikely to attribute positive characteristics to obese individuals. That registered nurses hold more negative attitudes towards obese person is cause for concern. Relevance to clinical practice., Given the increasing prevalence of obesity and the disproportionate number of obese persons affected by many health conditions, current and future nurses should have positive professional attitudes towards obese individuals. Obesity needs to more be adequately addressed, both in basic nursing education programs and in continuing professional education for practising nurses. [source] Patients and nurses' perceptions of ward environmental factors and support systems in the care of suicidal patientsJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 1 2006Fan-Ko Sun PhD Aims., The aims of this paper are to present and discuss the findings that emerged from a qualitative study exploring nurses and patients' views of the acute psychiatric ward (the context) and the type of care received (the intervening conditions). Background., The phenomenon of suicide and the nursing care of people who are suicidal have previously been investigated. However, literature demonstrates that there is a dearth of information exploring the importance of the ward context in the care of suicidal patients and the intervening conditions that are used by professionals in the care of suicidal patients. Method., Qualitative research using the grounded theory approach. Data collection and analysis., Fifteen patients who had either suicidal ideas or had attempted suicide and 15 psychiatric nurses were interviewed and observed. Data were analysed using open, axial and selective coding. Findings., A substantive theory of suicide-nursing care was developed. For the purpose of this paper, the two categories that emerged in the ,context' element of the paradigm model are explored. They were: team working and the psychiatric ward environment. In addition, the four categories from the ,intervening conditions' are discussed. They were: nurses' attitudes and beliefs have an effect on caring, barriers to caring, patients' negative thoughts and feelings about the care provided and support systems. Conclusion., The findings indicated that the context of the ward environment and the intervening conditions used by nurses in the nursing care of suicidal patients helped to define some of the complex dynamics that impacted on the development of a therapeutic relationship within the practice of suicide-nursing care. Relevance to clinical practice., Environmental factors as well as the nurses' knowledge and skills and the type of support patients receive impact on the care of suicidal patients. These findings could help to enhance and advance suicide-nursing care. [source] Infection control in wound care: a study of fatalism in community nursingJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 1 2000BNurs, Christine E. Hallett PhD, DNCert, HVCert ,,As part of a study of community nurses' perceptions of quality in nursing care, the author conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with seven community-based nurses. ,,As part of the study, nurses were asked to describe episodes of wound care and to discuss the factors which could affect the quality of such care. ,,One of the most interesting themes to emerge from the data was the apparent ambivalence of the nurses' attitudes towards infection control in wound care. ,,Nurses discussed the concept of ,aseptic technique' in fatalistic terms and seemed uncertain about what could be achieved in terms of infection control. ,,Although their policy guidelines referred to ,aseptic technique', their educational experience appeared to have made them feel uncertain about the implementation of the measures involved. ,,With the proviso that this was a small scale qualitative study, the author concludes by suggesting that there is a need for greater clarity, both in what is taught and in what is included in practice policy with regard to infection control in wound care. [source] Nurses' Use of Physical Restraints in Four Turkish HospitalsJOURNAL OF NURSING SCHOLARSHIP, Issue 1 2007Ayten Demir Purpose: (a) Determine the frequency and types of physical restraints used by nurses in intensive care units, emergency departments, and neurosurgery wards; (b) understand nurses' attitudes toward physical restraint; and (c) identify complications in physically restrained patients. Design and Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out on 254 nurses working in intensive care units, emergency departments, and neurosurgery wards in four Turkish hospitals where physical restraints were used. The whole population was studied without any sampling, and data were collected via semistructured interviews from July 20 to September 6, 2005. Findings: Nurses used either wrist, ankle, or whole body restraints at various levels. Those nurses who worked in surgical intensive care units and emergency departments and had in-service training used more physical restraint than did others. Only a third of nurses decided on physical restraint together with physicians and three-fourths tried alternative methods. Nurses reported edema and cyanosis on wrist and arm regions, pressure ulcers on various regions, and aspiration and breathing difficulties in relation to physical restraint. Moreover, they reported 9 deaths of patients in chest restraints. Reduction in the frequency of caregiving was related to complications. Conclusions: Actions to reduce use of and complications from physical restraints should include attention to nurse staffing and education about use of restraints. [source] Testing the effectiveness of an educational intervention aimed at changing attitudes to self-harmJOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 1 2007P. PATTERSON phd ba (hons) rmn rgn cert ed Nurses' attitudes toward service users who repeatedly self-harm can be negative and may interfere with the user's willingness to engage with services. The effectiveness of an educational intervention aimed at improving nurses' attitudes in this area was tested in this study. The intervention consisted of attendance on an accredited course on self-harm over a period of 15 weeks and the outcome of interest was attitudes as measured by the Self Harm Antipathy Scale. When deployed in a before-and-after design with two non-randomly allocated groups, there was evidence of a 20% reduction in antipathy toward self-harm among course attenders maintained over a period of at least 18 months (compared with a 9% reduction in a comparison group). Three of the six Self Harm Antipathy Scale attitude dimensions showed significant short-term change with some further long-term effects. This is preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of the chosen intervention in reducing overall antipathy toward self-harm clients and enhancing a sense of competence, a valuing of the care process and an awareness of the factors contributing to self-harm. [source] SPANISH NEPHROLOGY NURSES' VIEWS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS CARING FOR DYING PATIENTSJOURNAL OF RENAL CARE, Issue 1 2010Tai Mooi Ho RN SUMMARY Patients with advanced chronic kidney disease are increasingly elderly with increasing numbers of co-morbidites. Some may not be suitable for dialysis, some will choose to withdraw from treatment after a period of time and some will reach the end of their lives while still on dialysis. Studies have shown nurses' attitudes towards caring for dying patients affect the quality of care. A descriptive study was conducted to explore Spanish nurses' views and attitudes in this context and to assess any relationship between demographic variables and attitudes. Two measurement tools were used: a demographic survey and the Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale,Form B. Two hundred and two completed questionnaires were returned. Although respondents demonstrated positive attitudes in this domain, 88.9% viewed end-of-life (EOL) care as an emotionally demanding task, 95.3% manifested that addressing death issue require special skills and 92.6% reported that education on EOL care is necessary. This paper suggests strategies which could ease the burden in this area of care. [source] Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Midwife and Physician Assistant Attitudes and Care Practices Related to Persons with HIV/AIDSJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS, Issue 2 2000Jane E. Martin RN ABSTRACT Although multiple studies of nurses' attitudes toward people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWAs) can be found in the literature, little is known about the attitudes, beliefs and practices of nurse practitioners (NPs), certified nurse midwives (CNMs), and physician assistants (PAs). A survey including a 21-item AIDS Attitude Scale measuring the constructs of Avoidance and Empathy was sent to 1,291 NPs, CNMs and PAs in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi to describe their attitudes and care practices related to PLWAs. Respondents who were more comfortable treating PLWAs had significantly lower avoidance scores and significantly higher empathy scores than respondents with lower comfort levels in providing care. Greater than 80% of respondents indicated that they would provide health care to HIV-infected individuals. Respondents who referred HIV/AIDS patients for all care did so primarily due to lack of experience with HIV and the availability of more experienced providers. Avoidance and empathy scores were not found to be significantly associated with referral for care. This study suggests that this group of providers has relatively low avoidance and high empathy toward PLWAs and is willing to care for HIV-infected individuals. This study was supported by Grant No. 5U69PE00112-06 from the Department of Health & Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, HIV/AIDS Bureau, National AIDS Education and Training Center. [source] Nursing staff attitudes towards patients with personality disorderPERSONALITY AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 2 2007Daniel Webb Background,The Gwylfa Therapy Service is a specialist outpatient personality disorder (PD) service within Gwent Healthcare NHS trust. Among its key functions, the service is required to develop training procedures that improve the attitudes and capabilities of mental health staff working with patients with PD. Aim,The aim was to assess Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) nurses' attitudes to patients with PD, using the Attitude to Personality Disorder Questionnaire (APDQ), and to compare their scores with published APDQ data for nurses and prison officers working with patients with PDs. Method,Participants were nurses recruited from CMHTs (n = 88) and those who volunteered to attend a PD awareness workshop (n = 29). They completed the APDQ. Results,CMHT nurses reported lower feelings of security, acceptance and purpose compared with all other groups, although at the same time they also reported higher levels of enjoyment in working with PD patients. CMHT nurses who volunteered to participate in an awareness workshop reported higher levels of enjoyment, security, acceptance and purpose when working with patients with PD compared to those who did not volunteer. Discussion,CMHT nursing staff require help to feel safer, more accepting and more purposeful when working with patients with PD. Some of these issues may be addressed through the formulation of policies and good practice procedures, but staff also need to be trained for working with people with PD. The next step is to design suitable training and evaluate its effectiveness with respect to how it changes knowledge, attitudes and skills, and, eventually, how this benefits patients. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||