Journal of professional nursing : official journal of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing
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In the 1970s, the field of medical humanities developed and included ethics, literature, history, integrative medicine, and other topics, most often described from a physician's perspective. During this same period of revolutionary changes in health care, nursing curricula did not seek to emphasize content in humanities, perhaps because stereotypical views of nursing as the "caring profession" made such coursework seem redundant. In 2001, as a result of the Institute of Medicine's call for all health professionals to be educated in interdisciplinary teams, there was a new focus on the importance of interdisciplinary education. ⋯ The purpose of this article is to describe the relevance of humanities to the interdisciplinary education and practice of health care providers. This article extends the thinking about the value of interdisciplinary education beyond the traditional dimensions of evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and informatics to humanities. Ways to provide nurses and physicians with interdisciplinary humanistic experiences are illustrated through an overview of projects jointly developed by the School of Nursing and the College of Medicine at The Pennsylvania State University.
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Review
Reforms in nursing education across Western Europe: implementation processes and current status.
The aim of this review was to provide a comprehensive outlook on nursing education reforms enacted in Western Europe in the last three decades. Specifically, this analysis aimed to describe major trends in the implementation processes of nursing education reforms and the current academic status of nursing programs across Western Europe. A critical analysis of the scientific literature and policy documents was conducted. ⋯ As a result, Western Europe today represents a myriad of arrangements for preregistration nursing programs. Nursing has viewed these reforms in the education system as vital in promoting the profession and crucial for responding to the reforming health care system. This research indicates that nursing goals have only been partially obtained.
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The increasing need and limited sources for organs has stimulated a renewed interest in non-heart-beating organ donation (NHBOD). NHBOD is the donation of organs from cadavers that have been declared dead by cardiopulmonary criteria. Emerging protocols for heparin administration to the potential non-heart-beating organ donor (NHBD) deserve scrutiny. ⋯ Nurses are guided by codes that require the consideration of the ethical principles of autonomy, informed consent, beneficence, and justice while providing compassionate care. An eagerness to procure viable organs for positive transplant outcomes must not be the guiding force in protocols that allow the administration of heparin to the potential NHBD. Heparin administration is supported for these donors within specific parameters.
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In this article, we examine emerging themes in the research and theoretical literature on care at the end of life to develop a conceptual framework to guide further research in this area. The integrity of the human person is the organizing concept, and the spiritual domain is at the core of the psychological, physical, and functional domains. ⋯ Also, outcomes in this framework extend beyond quality of life and comfort to include patient decision-making methods and achievement of life goals. Attention is given to the cultural dimension of personhood in our multicultural society, and the definition of end of life is expanded to include both the acute phase of terminal illness and the frailty of health associated with advanced age.
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In February 2001, President Clinton's Information Technology Advisory Commission reported that information technology has the potential to advance biomedical research. As nursing research via the Internet expands, important ethical and legal issues need to be addressed. ⋯ The ethical and legal issues needing attention are discussed. Potential guidelines are provided for researchers wanting to use Internet technology.