Listening to the Whispers gives voice to scholars in philosophy, medical anthropology, physical t... more Listening to the Whispers gives voice to scholars in philosophy, medical anthropology, physical therapy, and nursing, helping readers re-think ethics across the disciplines in the context of today's healthcare system. Diverse voices, often unheard, challenge readers to enlarge the circle of their ethical concerns and look for hidden pathways toward new understandings of ethics. Essays range from a focus on the context of corporatization and managed care environments to a call for questioning the fundamental values of society as these values silently affect many others in healthcare. Each chapter is followed by a brief essay that highlights issues useful for scholarly research and classroom discussion. The conversations of interpretive research in healthcare contained in this volume encourage readers to re-think ethics in ways that will help to create an ethical healthcare system with a future of new possibilities.
Our Dissertations, Ourselves: Shared Stories of Women’s Dissertation Journeys engages readers in ... more Our Dissertations, Ourselves: Shared Stories of Women’s Dissertation Journeys engages readers in intimate stories from twenty women who wrote doctoral dissertations across nine disciplines--biology, English literature, modern languages, history, mathematics, music, nursing, philosophy, and social work. Their stories bring to light the common experiences, emotions, and challenges in the sometimes overwhelming process of writing of a dissertation amidst a full and complex life. Through dialogue with these women, the authors found that much of the dissertation journey is shaped by the challenges and transformations in the writer’s own identity and relationships. The book is not designed to be a prescriptive “how to” book, but rather to help women writing dissertations, as well as their advisors, gain new understandings of the often isolating world of the dissertation writer and celebrate the courage and creativity that these twenty women demonstrate. http://www.amazon.com/Our-Dissertations-Ourselves-Dissertation-Journeys/dp/1137395230
American journal of critical care : an official publication, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, 2016
The term spirituality is highly subjective. No common or universally accepted definition for the ... more The term spirituality is highly subjective. No common or universally accepted definition for the term exists. Without a clear definition, each nurse must reconcile his or her own beliefs within a framework mutually suitable for both nurse and patient. To examine individual critical care nurses' definition of spirituality, their comfort in providing spiritual care to patients, and their perceived need for education in providing this care. Individual interviews with 30 nurses who worked in a critical care unit at a large Midwestern teaching hospital. Nurses generally feel comfortable providing spiritual care to critically ill patients but need further education about multicultural considerations. Nurses identified opportunities to address spiritual needs throughout a patient's stay but noted that these needs are usually not addressed until the end of life. A working definition for spirituality in health care was developed: That part of person that gives meaning and purpose to ...
... research. Acknowledgment Mary Silva's contribution to this article was undertake... more ... research. Acknowledgment Mary Silva's contribution to this article was undertaken in part while she was a Visiting Scholar at The Hastings Center, an opportunity for which she expresses her deepest gratitude. REFERENCES ...
Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, Mar 1, 2007
This article is not meant to provide answers but to provoke thinking related to the questions we ... more This article is not meant to provide answers but to provoke thinking related to the questions we should be asking about the ethical personhood of aging adults. Are we covering over the rich opportunities to learn from their stories with an invisible cloak of transparency? Health care professionals have a moral obligation to rethink the assumptions that underlie their definitions of quality of life in aging. We cannot know what should be done unless we learn to listen to the life stories of aging people. This may even help us to see what is most real.
Abstract The move toward managed care and increased competition in health care exacerbates the co... more Abstract The move toward managed care and increased competition in health care exacerbates the conditions leading to instances of whistleblowing. We believe that cases of whistleblowing are indicative of an ethical failure at the organizational level. In this paper, ...
Sunday evening. You can't put off any longer the chore of correcting the stack of student... more Sunday evening. You can't put off any longer the chore of correcting the stack of student papers. Picking up the first one, you scan it. It isn't good. The paper is full of sentence fragments and typographical errors. You decide that this is going to be a long evening. Scenes like this, hours spent correcting students' papers, only to discover that the students barely look at the comments, may lead faculty to avoid assigning writing. Fortunately, there are effective ways to respond to student writing without tying oneself down to hours of tedious correcting. These techniques can help nursing faculty enjoy reading and responding to students' papers, as well as help students to improve their writing skills.
Interviews form an essential part of data collection for many qualitative nursing studies. Inform... more Interviews form an essential part of data collection for many qualitative nursing studies. Information about how to individualize interview formats to meet the purpose and style of specific qualitative research approaches, however, is not readily accessible to the researcher. This paper offers an overview of use of the interviewer as an instrument in qualitative research, as well as ways in which the differing purposes and styles of ethnographic and phenomenological research approaches affect the format for the interview.
Recent research has shown that older people who walk dogs are more likely than those who walk wit... more Recent research has shown that older people who walk dogs are more likely than those who walk with a human companion to engage in regular exercise and show more improvement in fitness. Studies with dogs and other animals have suggested new approaches for using animals to enhance both mental and physical health in older adults. With the current intense focus on health care reform, increased use of animals as therapy may serve as a cost-effective strategy for improving and maintaining health in older adults.
Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, Mar 1, 2009
Recent studies have led to the surprising conclusion that older Americans tend to be happier than... more Recent studies have led to the surprising conclusion that older Americans tend to be happier than younger ones. What does this mean for mental health professionals working with older adults? It is important to consider the implications of mental health research in aging that may help us understand happiness and depression in older adults.
Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, Mar 1, 2006
Health literacy is a critical goal for nurses to address. Consider the patient who stated: They t... more Health literacy is a critical goal for nurses to address. Consider the patient who stated: They told me I was taking double the medication I was supposed to. I had two bottles, and I was taking one from each bottle, but it turned out they were the same medication. But since I didnt know how to read. I didn't know. (University of Virginia Health Systems, 2003). Many older adults struggle daily to manage their health care problems; compounding these dificulties with low literacy skills can be devastating. They need our help.
Hospitals often promote healthy lifestyles, but little is known about nurses' actual diet and... more Hospitals often promote healthy lifestyles, but little is known about nurses' actual diet and physical activity. Greater understanding about these lifestyle choices for clinical nurses may improve existing hospital-based programs and/or create desirable services. This article discusses a study that considered diet and physical activity of clinical nurses, using elements of Pender's self-care theory as a conceptual framework. Study methods included a cross-sectional, correlational design and a convenience sample of 278 nurses who worked on units with 24 hours/day and seven days-per-week responsibilities. Participants completed diet and exercise questionnaires about perceptions of attitudes and opinions, barriers, diet benefits/exercise motivators, self-efficacy, and locus of control, and personal and work characteristics. Diet and activity categories were created. Study results demonstrated that over 50% of nurses had moderately healthy diets but were insufficiently active. H...
Listening to the Whispers gives voice to scholars in philosophy, medical anthropology, physical t... more Listening to the Whispers gives voice to scholars in philosophy, medical anthropology, physical therapy, and nursing, helping readers re-think ethics across the disciplines in the context of today's healthcare system. Diverse voices, often unheard, challenge readers to enlarge the circle of their ethical concerns and look for hidden pathways toward new understandings of ethics. Essays range from a focus on the context of corporatization and managed care environments to a call for questioning the fundamental values of society as these values silently affect many others in healthcare. Each chapter is followed by a brief essay that highlights issues useful for scholarly research and classroom discussion. The conversations of interpretive research in healthcare contained in this volume encourage readers to re-think ethics in ways that will help to create an ethical healthcare system with a future of new possibilities.
Our Dissertations, Ourselves: Shared Stories of Women’s Dissertation Journeys engages readers in ... more Our Dissertations, Ourselves: Shared Stories of Women’s Dissertation Journeys engages readers in intimate stories from twenty women who wrote doctoral dissertations across nine disciplines--biology, English literature, modern languages, history, mathematics, music, nursing, philosophy, and social work. Their stories bring to light the common experiences, emotions, and challenges in the sometimes overwhelming process of writing of a dissertation amidst a full and complex life. Through dialogue with these women, the authors found that much of the dissertation journey is shaped by the challenges and transformations in the writer’s own identity and relationships. The book is not designed to be a prescriptive “how to” book, but rather to help women writing dissertations, as well as their advisors, gain new understandings of the often isolating world of the dissertation writer and celebrate the courage and creativity that these twenty women demonstrate. http://www.amazon.com/Our-Dissertations-Ourselves-Dissertation-Journeys/dp/1137395230
American journal of critical care : an official publication, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, 2016
The term spirituality is highly subjective. No common or universally accepted definition for the ... more The term spirituality is highly subjective. No common or universally accepted definition for the term exists. Without a clear definition, each nurse must reconcile his or her own beliefs within a framework mutually suitable for both nurse and patient. To examine individual critical care nurses' definition of spirituality, their comfort in providing spiritual care to patients, and their perceived need for education in providing this care. Individual interviews with 30 nurses who worked in a critical care unit at a large Midwestern teaching hospital. Nurses generally feel comfortable providing spiritual care to critically ill patients but need further education about multicultural considerations. Nurses identified opportunities to address spiritual needs throughout a patient's stay but noted that these needs are usually not addressed until the end of life. A working definition for spirituality in health care was developed: That part of person that gives meaning and purpose to ...
... research. Acknowledgment Mary Silva's contribution to this article was undertake... more ... research. Acknowledgment Mary Silva's contribution to this article was undertaken in part while she was a Visiting Scholar at The Hastings Center, an opportunity for which she expresses her deepest gratitude. REFERENCES ...
Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, Mar 1, 2007
This article is not meant to provide answers but to provoke thinking related to the questions we ... more This article is not meant to provide answers but to provoke thinking related to the questions we should be asking about the ethical personhood of aging adults. Are we covering over the rich opportunities to learn from their stories with an invisible cloak of transparency? Health care professionals have a moral obligation to rethink the assumptions that underlie their definitions of quality of life in aging. We cannot know what should be done unless we learn to listen to the life stories of aging people. This may even help us to see what is most real.
Abstract The move toward managed care and increased competition in health care exacerbates the co... more Abstract The move toward managed care and increased competition in health care exacerbates the conditions leading to instances of whistleblowing. We believe that cases of whistleblowing are indicative of an ethical failure at the organizational level. In this paper, ...
Sunday evening. You can't put off any longer the chore of correcting the stack of student... more Sunday evening. You can't put off any longer the chore of correcting the stack of student papers. Picking up the first one, you scan it. It isn't good. The paper is full of sentence fragments and typographical errors. You decide that this is going to be a long evening. Scenes like this, hours spent correcting students' papers, only to discover that the students barely look at the comments, may lead faculty to avoid assigning writing. Fortunately, there are effective ways to respond to student writing without tying oneself down to hours of tedious correcting. These techniques can help nursing faculty enjoy reading and responding to students' papers, as well as help students to improve their writing skills.
Interviews form an essential part of data collection for many qualitative nursing studies. Inform... more Interviews form an essential part of data collection for many qualitative nursing studies. Information about how to individualize interview formats to meet the purpose and style of specific qualitative research approaches, however, is not readily accessible to the researcher. This paper offers an overview of use of the interviewer as an instrument in qualitative research, as well as ways in which the differing purposes and styles of ethnographic and phenomenological research approaches affect the format for the interview.
Recent research has shown that older people who walk dogs are more likely than those who walk wit... more Recent research has shown that older people who walk dogs are more likely than those who walk with a human companion to engage in regular exercise and show more improvement in fitness. Studies with dogs and other animals have suggested new approaches for using animals to enhance both mental and physical health in older adults. With the current intense focus on health care reform, increased use of animals as therapy may serve as a cost-effective strategy for improving and maintaining health in older adults.
Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, Mar 1, 2009
Recent studies have led to the surprising conclusion that older Americans tend to be happier than... more Recent studies have led to the surprising conclusion that older Americans tend to be happier than younger ones. What does this mean for mental health professionals working with older adults? It is important to consider the implications of mental health research in aging that may help us understand happiness and depression in older adults.
Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, Mar 1, 2006
Health literacy is a critical goal for nurses to address. Consider the patient who stated: They t... more Health literacy is a critical goal for nurses to address. Consider the patient who stated: They told me I was taking double the medication I was supposed to. I had two bottles, and I was taking one from each bottle, but it turned out they were the same medication. But since I didnt know how to read. I didn't know. (University of Virginia Health Systems, 2003). Many older adults struggle daily to manage their health care problems; compounding these dificulties with low literacy skills can be devastating. They need our help.
Hospitals often promote healthy lifestyles, but little is known about nurses' actual diet and... more Hospitals often promote healthy lifestyles, but little is known about nurses' actual diet and physical activity. Greater understanding about these lifestyle choices for clinical nurses may improve existing hospital-based programs and/or create desirable services. This article discusses a study that considered diet and physical activity of clinical nurses, using elements of Pender's self-care theory as a conceptual framework. Study methods included a cross-sectional, correlational design and a convenience sample of 278 nurses who worked on units with 24 hours/day and seven days-per-week responsibilities. Participants completed diet and exercise questionnaires about perceptions of attitudes and opinions, barriers, diet benefits/exercise motivators, self-efficacy, and locus of control, and personal and work characteristics. Diet and activity categories were created. Study results demonstrated that over 50% of nurses had moderately healthy diets but were insufficiently active. H...
How can nursing education respond to the ominous signs of a serious shortage of nurses in the fut... more How can nursing education respond to the ominous signs of a serious shortage of nurses in the future? One answer to this question is a focus on reclaiming nurses' stories of the "real-world" of nursing practice. In the process of creating a childrens book, The Magic Stethoscope, a group of nurse authors found a new appreciation for the stories of their practice and the need to share these stories with children. The authors hope that these stories will inspire children to consider the exciting career opportunities for the nursing workforce of the future.
Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, Nov 1, 2007
National Family Caregivers month is a reminder of the invaluable contributions of family caregive... more National Family Caregivers month is a reminder of the invaluable contributions of family caregivers--contributions that are too often unrecognized when addressing the costs of health care. Unpaid caregivers spend a substantial percentage of each week "helping out," often with older relatives, which requires major changes in their work patterns. It is clear that these caregivers may need help balancing their work and caregiving responsibilities, and it is tempting to want to help them by "taking over" some of the seemingly overwhelming tasks they face daily. Yet, it is also important to recognize the ways in which these tasks may enrich caregivers' own quality of life. Through listening to caregivers, nurses and other health care professionals can better understand the embedded values, goals, joys, and disappointments that connect their lives with those for whom they care.
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