Nursing and Midwifery

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1988 - 198911990 - 19922

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End date: 1997Subject: search.filters.subject.Nursing

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    An ethnography of caring and control in an acute psychiatric unit : a dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Studies at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1992) Boddy, Julienne Mary
    The setting for this study was a 19 bed general hospital psychiatric ward serving a heterogeneous population. The objective of the study was to generate thick description of the cultural knowledge patients and nurses used to organise their behaviour and interpret their experience in an acute psychiatric unit. Further aims were to describe the nature of the service provided, and more specifically to identify relationships between caring and controlling in this social context, and the outcomes for patients of caring and controlling interventions by nurses. Over a 10 month period primary data were obtained through participant observation and ethnographic interviews, with analysis of documentation providing secondary data. Thirty patients and 20 nursing staff acted as informants. They were selected on the basis that they had experienced the event being studied, and that they were both willing and able to share the experience. A cyclic research process was adopted, in which initial data analysis followed early data collection resulting in more focussed questions for subsequent data collection. Content analysis was undertaken to inductively derive patterns or themes from the data. Validity of data was achieved through triangulation of multiple data sources. Interpretations of the findings were verified and clarified in collegial dialogue with other psychiatric nurses, and with academic colleagues. The central thesis which emerged from the data is that the nature of caring and controlling acts by nurses is shaped by the social organisation of care, and by the dominant belief system of that setting. A view of mental illness as a life long event for the majority of inpatients, coupled with beliefs about the "outside world" as tough, contributed to nurses' feelings of powerlessness to change situations for, or with patients, and so diminished expectations for change. Caring as a moral obligation was often interpreted by nurses as a moral obligation to provide a safe haven, with nurturance and acceptance of patients viewed as chronically psychiatrically disabled. Additionally, features of the organisational context including nurses' lack of autonomy in their practice, the absence of both appropriate environmental controls and a clearly articulated rule structure, and the competing demands on nurses arising from the provision of the after hours crisis service from the ward, contributed to an organisational context which was not supportive of sustained therapeutic interaction between nurses and patients. There was a culture of chronicity in the ward. Implications of these findings for psychiatric nursing education and practice, and for service development are discussed.
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    The nursed passage : a theoretical framework for the nurse-patient partnership : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1988) Christensen, Judith C.
    This study focused on nursing in action. The research goal was to identify nursing-relevant dimensions within a person's experience of being a hospital patient undergoing elective surgery. In order to discover and conceptualise the underlying processes which are present as patients are nursed through this experience, an open question was posed - What is happening here? A qualitative research method was the most appropriate means of discovering an answer to this question. The particular method chosen was the grounded theory approach developed by Glaser and Strauss. Data were collected in five surgical wards of a large city hospital over a period of five months. The research participants were twenty-one patients and the nurses involved in their care. Primary sources of data were interviews and the nursing records. These were augmented by field notes and accounts of observed incidents relating to the care of each patient. Using the inductive strategies of the grounded theory method, numerous descriptive concepts were generated during data analysis. These were ordered within an integrating social process derived from anthropology. By this means a grounded theory in the form of a theoretical framework - the Nursed Passage - was developed. Within this passage the patient is the passagee and nursing is translated into action through the agency of the nurse. The Nursed Passage is a patterned partnership with three key elements. Firstly, the temporal element, characterised by ongoing movement and constant change, is conveyed in the sequence of phases or stages. Secondly, the participative element is portrayed as a patterned relationship in which both nurse and patient are actively involved in progressing the patient through the passage. Finally, the contextual element recognises complex factors within the nursing environment which have an impact on the shape of the relationship between patient and nurse. This theoretical framework, generated from the reality of nursing as it occurs in one setting, assigns a specific shape to the encounter between nurse and patient. It identifies the contribution nursing alone can make to optimise each patient's hospital experience. In this way it both complements and facilitates the work of medical and other colleagues with whom nurses work. Thus, it serves to revalue nursing in terms that can maximally utilise the registered nurse's knowledge and skill for the benefit of all concerned, but particularly the patient and the nurse. Consequently, it has potential value for nursing practice, education and research.
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    The actualized caring moment : a grounded theory of caring in nursing practice : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1991) Euswas, Payom Wiriya
    The purpose of this study was to provide a partial theoretical description of the phenomenon of caring in nursing practice. Three practice settings involving cancer patients were selected: hospital, hospice, and community with thirty patients and thirty-two nurses participating in the study. A research design combining a phenomenological perspective and grounded theory strategies was implemented. Data were collected by indepth interview, participant observation, and records. The data were analysed by the method of constant comparative analysis. A number of concepts were developed from the data and the theoretical framework of "The Actualized Caring Moment" was formulated to explain how the actual caring process occurs in nursing practice. This caring moment is the moment at which the nurse and the patient realise their intersubjective connectedness in transforming healing-growing as human beings in a specific-dynamic changing situation. The actualized caring moment is a gestalt configuration of three main caring components: The preconditions, The ongoing interaction, and The situated context. The Preconditions, which consist of the nurse, personally and professionally prepared to care, and the patient, a person with compromised health and wellbeing, are prerequisites for the occurrence of the caring process. The nurse has the qualities of benevolence, commitment, and clinical competency to be ready to care. The patient is a unique person in a vulnerable state and requires assistance from the nurse to meet personal health needs. The Ongoing Interaction, the actual caring process, is the continuity of the nurse-patient interaction moment-by-moment which brings together six caring elements: Being there, Being mindfully present, A relationship of trust, Participation in meeting needs, Empathetic communication, and Balancing knowledge-energy-time. The Situated Context is the situation and environment where the actual caring process is taking place, and this is comprised of circumstances of the nurse-patient meeting and care-facilitating working conditions The conceptual framework of "The Actualized Caring Moment" offers nurses an opportunity to understand their practice more fully in providing effective nursing service. Consequently, its implications are valuable for education, research, and the development of knowledge focused on the discipline of nursing.