International journal of nursing studies
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This paper takes a broad view of the work involved in pilot studies of evaluation research. Drawing on their experience of preparation for a field experiment in a British Accident and Emergency department, which was to evaluate the effectiveness of a nurse triage system, the authors stress the importance of careful observation of the system to be studied, in the environment in which it is to be studied. In addition, the usual evaluations of research instruments which comprise formal pilot studies are included.
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This study has two parts. In the first part, current nursing courses in 18 baccalaureate nursing programs of Canada are examined to find out how traditional nursing courses have been changed. Major trends of nursing courses are identified, and two major types of current nursing courses are identified. ⋯ Textbook and chapter content organizers commonly used in nursing textbooks are identified. Contents organizers currently used in nursing textbooks are argued to be ineffective for students' knowledge integration and knowledge development within the nursing profession. This position and its implications are discussed, and two approaches to developing textbooks are suggested.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Determinants of pain assessment by nurses.
In this replication study pain assessment and patient perception by nurses was studied in relation to patient characteristics and nurse characteristics. Nurses were randomly assigned to one of 24 descriptions of a hypothetical patient of constant age and unspecified sex. The 24 descriptions varied by duration of pain, presence of a physical pathology, diagnosis category, and depression symptoms. ⋯ Nursing experience seems also to be important in pain assessment. First-year student nurses attributed less pain to the hypothetical patient than third- and fourth-year student nurses and registered nurses. In addition they perceived the patient as more positive when physical pathology was present or when no symptoms of depression were present.
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The present exploratory study measured pain and tactile thresholds in response to mechanical stimulation of the hand before labor, during labor, and after parturition in women. In women who had Lamaze childbirth preparation (but not in women who did not have childbirth preparation), pain thresholds were significantly higher during labor (determined up to 8 cm cervical dilatation) than prior to labor and 24 hours postpartum. ⋯ These findings support earlier findings in this laboratory that vaginocervical mechanostimulation elevated pain thresholds in human and animal subjects, and more recent findings that pain thresholds increased in rats during delivery of individual young. The present findings suggest that an endogenous process that attenuates the pain of parturition is activated when the cervix dilates during labor.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Effects of preoperative teaching on postoperative pain: a replication and expansion.
This study was designed to test the effectiveness of brief relaxation training on postoperative pain, replicating and extending a study of Flaherty and Fitzpatrick (1978). A two-group pre- and post-test experimental design was used to determine if vital signs, analgesic consumption, anxiety, self-reported incisional pain sensation and distress differ in postsurgical patients who have or have not received relaxation training. Seventy-two adult, elective abdominal surgery patients were randomly assigned to treatment groups. ⋯ Vital signs, analgesic consumption and self-reported pain sensation were not altered by relaxation training. These findings only partially agree with those of Flaherty and Fitzpatrick. Additional analyses by type of surgery (cholecystectomy and hysterectomy) showed hysterectomy subjects reported less pain sensation and distress and used less analgesics than cholecystectomy subjects.