Background: One of the sources of anxiety and fear among patients undergoing open-heart surgery is the possibility of experiencing pain, such as sternotomy-related chest pain. Giving them the chance to express their feelings about the potential pain may be effective in reducing their anxiety and may support their coping strategies.
Objectives: To examine pain-related fear among patients undergoing open-heart surgery and to understand the underlying reasons of their fears.
Methods: A qualitative interview based on Heidegger's interpretative phenomenological approach was conducted adhering to the COREQ guidelines. Sixteen patients who were undergoing open-heart surgery in the following day were interviewed at the cardiovascular surgery ward of a university hospital. The organization and mapping of the qualitative data was done by using ATLAS.ti 8.0.
Results: The patients who were afraid of experiencing pain after surgery seemed to be more concerned about open-heart surgery itself (such as pain from sternotomy and chest tubes) and the possibility of prolongation of postoperative pain. To cope with these fears, the patients employed a variety of social and self-coping strategies. Trusting the healthcare team, having a high pain tolerance, and having personal thoughts that take precedence over pain-related fear were the key factors explaining not being afraid of experiencing pain.
Conclusions: This study provides a deeper understanding of the underlying reasons and the needs of patients in controlling their pain-related fears before open-heart surgery. Trusting the healthcare professionals is one of the main factors for patients to control their pain-related fears. To develop a supportive sense of trust and to help patients in controlling their pain-related fears, surgical nurses must dedicate enough time for understanding patients' concerns while planning their nursing care plans. Future studies may focus on exploring the role of nursing interventions and multidisciplinary team approaches on the management of preoperative pain-related fear.
Aims and objectives: The study's aim was two-fold: (1) to explore the experiences and perceptions of industry, academic, and research professionals concerning technologies used within aged care; and (2) to identify needs-led priorities for the future development and application of technologies within aged care.
Background: Global population ageing requires a recalibration of aged care policies, systems, and services to promote and support healthy ageing. It is expected that technology will play an important role in this regard. This study qualitatively assessed the landscape of technology use in aged care from the perspective of industry, academic, and research professionals.
Design: A purposefully designed cross-sectional survey collecting experiences, perspectives, and barriers about technology through open responses.
Methods: Using convenience sampling, thirty-five participants completed an online survey between April and October 2020. A descriptive qualitative content analysis approach was used to analyse the written responses. Reporting of findings followed the EQUATOR's Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research checklist.
Results: Four themes were identified that characterised the use of technologies within aged care: (1) User Perceptions and Attitudes: wariness and reluctance to technology; (2) Systemic Issues within Aged Care: Under-resourced with opportunities for innovation; (3) Technology-Related Barriers: Equity, costs, privacy, integration, and interoperability and (4) Research Priorities: Co-design and integration of technology.
Conclusions: The existing technology does not meet the needs of older people, aged care personnel and the system in general, which prevents its successful implementation and uptake.
Background: As Artificial Intelligence and social robots are increasingly used in health and social care, it is imperative to explore the training needs of the workforce, factoring in their cultural background.
Objectives: Explore views on perceived training needs among professionals around the world and how these related to country cultures.
Design: Cross-sectional, descriptive, mixed-methods international online survey.
Methods: Descriptive statistical analysis explored the ranking across countries and relationships with three Hofstede cultural dimensions. Thematic analysis was conducted on the open-ended text responses.
Results: A sample of N = 1284 participants from eighteen countries. Knowing the capabilities of the robots was ranked as the top training need across all participating countries and this was also reflected in the thematic analysis. Participants' culture, expressed through three Hofstede's dimensions, revealed statistically significant ranking differences.
Conclusions: Future research should further explore other factors such as the level of digital maturity of the workplace.
Impact statement: Training needs of health and social care staff to use robotics are fast growing and preparation should factor in patient safety and be based on the principles of person- and culture-centred care.
Background: There is minimal information regarding sleep disturbance and burnout during COVID-19 in nurses working within haematology-oncology and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) settings.Aim: To identify socio-demographic and professional factors that predicted burnout and sleep disturbance during COVID-19 in nurses working in HSCT settings.Design/Methods: Data were collected using the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Descriptive statistics and linear regression examined relationships.Results: 308 responses were received. Nurses working in outpatient settings had greater emotional exhaustion (Rpartial = -0.12, n = 308, p = 0.03). Negative predictors for quality of sleep were transplant programme setting (Rpartial = -0.19, n = 308, p < 0.01) and years working in HSCT (Rpartial = -0.17, n = 308, p < 0.01). Other relationships were found on univariate analysis.Conclusion: Institutions must offer programmes for nurses to develop sleep strategies, self-care, and work-related stress management.
Background: This study reports on the process of competence assessment in undergraduate nursing programmes in New Zealand.
Aim: To identify current competence assessment practice and determine how competence assessment is constructed in order to reflect student development.
Design: This research utilised a qualitative exploratory-descriptive design.
Participants: Nurse educators from nine tertiary institutions opted to participate in the research.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted and data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach.
Results: Three themes are reported in this article; clinical assessment pedagogy, measure of competence, and relational assessment practice. There was significant variation between and within institutions in conducting competence assessment while scaffolding competence assessment throughout the degree programme was highlighted as a challenge.
Conclusions: This study highlights the need for an assessment process that allows for the developing competence of nursing students and competencies that are designed to adequately assess students in each year of the nursing programme.