British journal of community nursing
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Mary Harris, a community children's nurse, has been concerned for sometime that two of her patients are being abused. She is required to give evidence at the family proceedings court. ⋯ Last month Mary prepared for her appearance by looking at the structure and rules of the court. She also considered the criteria that had to be satisfied before magistrates could grant an order.
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Br J Community Nurs · Dec 2003
ReviewThe role of cranberry juice in the treatment of urinary tract infections.
There has long been an interest in the use of cranberry, usually as a juice, to prevent and treat urinary tract infections (UTI). This mini-review examined the evidence available using a simple search on an internet-based resource designed to make evidence readily available to practitioners in the South Eastern NHS regions of the UK. The resource, known as KA24, provides access to a range of databases and full text of journal articles. ⋯ One of the RCTs was available for full scrutiny and was appraised as a valid study. Both RCTs found that cranberry (as juice or capsule) significantly reduced the rate of UTI in sexually active women. There is evidence to support the use of cranberry to prevent UTI in some populations but none to support its use as a treatment.
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Nitrous oxide gas, mixed 50:50 with oxygen, is an effective and safe analgesic which, although widely used in many areas of clinical practice, has not been fully recognized in the community setting for painful procedures. The reasons why it has not been implemented and used to the patient's advantage have been suggested as apathy, lack of confidence, lack of knowledge and lack of resources. The author describes how, following a review of the literature pertaining to its use in other clinical areas, she has successfully introduced nitrous oxide/oxygen into her trust, with positive results.
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Br J Community Nurs · Nov 2003
ReviewSo you want to do research? 4: An introduction to quantitative methods.
This fourth article of a series of six focuses on some of the key aspects of quantitative research methods. Starting with a review of what quantitative research is, the distinguishing characteristics of experimental and non-experimental research strategies, the different approaches for collecting data including self-completion questionnaires, interviews and scales, together with their respective strength and weaknesses are discussed. ⋯ Aspects of quantitative data analysis are briefly reviewed and the concepts of reliability and validity are described in the context of ensuring rigour in the research design. Finally, some guidance on the reporting the findings from quantitative research is provided.