Journal of advanced nursing
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Review Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA): does time saved by PCA improve patient satisfaction with nursing care?
This quasi-experimental study compared the degree of satisfaction with nursing care among patients receiving post-operative pain relief via patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) and those receiving traditional intramuscular injection (IMI) regimes. This study, which involved a total of 79 adult patients (mainly female) undergoing major abdominal surgery, was comprised of two main parts. First, the amount of time taken by nurses to carry out pain control procedures on 11 matched pairs of PCA and traditional patients was recorded. ⋯ The findings indicated that PCA did save time and this time saving could improve the nursing care quality of the whole ward, though not necessarily resulting in higher satisfaction amongst those patients who used PCA. Interestingly, younger and the more highly educated patients were found to be especially critical and be less satisfied with care. The implications for nursing practice and management are addressed, with special emphasis placed on the notion that time saved with PCA should be used to increase patient-nurse contact and should not be used to compensate for a reduction in nursing staff.
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The assessment and control of pain in elderly patients present unique problems. Old people are likely to experience more pain, both chronic and acute, than their younger counterparts. ⋯ This paper discusses issues specific to pain in elderly people, and suggests that wide ranging and careful assessments are needed. Benefits can be achieved not only from the appropriate use of analgesic drugs, but also physical and psychological therapies.
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Nurse teachers can often find themselves in various situations where they resort to using humour. An exploration of the role of humour within the educational relationship between nurse teachers and nursing students is the focus of this paper. Consideration is given to the nurse teachers' requirement to develop self-awareness in their own understanding of humour in order to facilitate and recognize the reasons for the nursing students' use of humour. The development of the appropriate use of humour by nursing students may lead to enhanced nursing practice, thereby reinforcing the need for inclusion of the theory of humour in both teacher training and the nursing curriculum.
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This paper investigates the evidence presented in the literature concerning the use of ring cushions in nursing and midwifery practice, as a case study of the relationship between research-based knowledge and practice. It explains the origins of the claims that these aids cause pressure sores, urinary tract infection and expose postpartum mothers to the risk of thrombosis. It demonstrates that the empirical evidence on which these claims are based is very slight and that re-interpretation of the evidence by successive authors has raised its status considerably. Practical steps to avoid this type of occurrence are suggested.
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Caring has been cited by many authors as the core value of nurse educator-student relationships. Others have discussed the need for caring to be translated and transmitted in the practices of nursing education. However, a clear conceptualization of what caring in nursing education is and how it is transmitted to students does not yet exist. ⋯ The authors present a critical analysis of the definitions, objectives, attributes and constraints of caring in nursing education. What is currently known and perceived about caring in nursing education, as well as what is not known and what needs to be known, is highlighted. Imperatives for future research are identified.