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- ItemFor whom the [warning] bells tollDharan, V
- ItemInterventions for children’s dental anxiety: Validating a coping styles scale(The Author(s), 2010) Williams, MDental anxiety is a widespread phenomenon with deleterious oral health correlates. Consideration of variation in coping styles may be useful in the selection of effective dental anxiety interventions. Miller (1981, 1987) defined two key modalities for coping with threatening information: monitoring (attending to threatening information) and blunting (avoiding threatening information). This study will report on the New Zealand validation of a measure of children's monitoring-blunting copying styles in dental situations (the MBDS) in a sample of 240 New Zealand children aged 11-13 years. Internal consistency reliability and convergent validity with respect to a related scale wre adequate for both the monitoring and blunting subscales, although discriminant validity with regard to dental anxiety was weak for the blunting subscale. Use of a scale such as the MBDS may be one way in which dental staff can bring children's preferred copying styles into consideration when formulating interventions to manage dental anxiety.
- ItemYou can get there from here: The highs and lows of writing a thesis(Cicero, 2010) Kavan, Heather; Kavan, HeatherNo abstract.
- ItemFacilitating vertical integration of knowledge from animal physiology to farm system level(2012) Matthew C; Parkinson T; Kemp PWe describe a teaching methodology evolved over 25 years for taking incoming students with little farming background to near-consultancy level in terms of ability to discuss feed supply and demand manipulation with practicing farmers. The methodology is currently used in a double semester course offering to 2nd year BVSc students at Massey University with positive feedback from students. Component skills such as visual assessment of herbage mass are introduced at the outset. A keystone of the methodology is the provision of student operated 'farmlets' with 16 sheep on 0.8 ha, where the storage of autumn-surplus feed as increased herbage mass, and release back to animals for winter and early lactation feed is demonstrated. Feed budget calculations for these farmlets in units of MJ metabolisable energy and kg pasture DM/ha/ day promote understanding of animal physiology principles and simulate those of a larger scale commercial farm. As currently offered the module comprises 20 lectures and 5 organised 2 hour farmlet discussion and data collection visits. Students complete additional farmlet work in their own time, such as moving or weighing sheep. Two written assignments promote integration of component knowledge and ownership of that information by participants.
- ItemDegree apprenticeships: Is this the future for employer-led partnerships in New Zealand?(26/10/2017) Poskitt JMWork-ready graduates with practical skills and theoretical knowledge in engineering is essential. Traditionally, potential employees arrive with either theoretical knowledge from University study, or with practical skills learnt ‘on the job’. Yet employers need personnel with theoretical and practical competencies from the outset to undertake project work. To address this, the Tertiary Education Commission initiated a pilot study of Degree Apprenticeships, aimed at investigating how a qualification comprising a nexus of practical and theoretical work could be integrated into the students’ work environment. A number of conditions needed consideration. Only if it was employer-led, endorsed by them and addressed their requirements could the innovation be successful. But given the multiple demands on employer time; different constraints according to the nature of their enterprise; urban-rural location, political and financial complexities; coordinating the innovation could be challenging. This was a four month study with a limited budget. A university-polytechnic team collaborated to facilitate the process. Engineering staff in the Polytechnic sector were invited to provide additional input and contributed pivotal knowledge of tertiary qualification standards to underpin the innovation. The presentation reports the collaborative and facilitative process undertaken. Research interviews were conducted with a small range of employers in purposively sampled urban, regional and rural locations in the North Island. Analysis of the interview data informed the initial draft standard, to which participants were invited to critically discuss and subsequently refine at two collaborative workshops. Balancing academic process and deadlines with the need to be responsive to employer realities created dilemmas, along with the need to manage power differentials in knowledge, experience and political influence. Employer-led learning partnerships are are seen as best practice in developing apprenticeship qualifications, providing there is a spirit of mutual respect, inter-dependence and collaboration across employer, student and tertiary providers.
- ItemIndwelling Catheter Care: Areas for Improvement(Sigma Theta Tau International Honour Society of Nursing, 13/07/2016) Gesmundo MHObjectives: To describe perioperative nurses? current attitude and indwelling catheter management practices, To analyse and identify areas of indwelling catheter care practice that require improvement in the light of existing evidence-based guidelines. Research Question: What areas of indwelling catheter care experience of perioperative nurses in a tertiary public hospital require improvement in the light of existing evidence-based guidelines? Design:'A qualitative research design using focus group discussions was utilised to answer the research question. The focus group discussions explored the perioperative staff nurses? attitude and indwelling catheter care experience and facilitated the identification of areas of practice that can be further improved in the light of existing evidence. Setting:' Two perioperative wards of a public tertiary hospital located in Auckland, New Zealand Participants: A convenience sample of staff nurses (n=13) from two perioperative wards were invited to participate in the focus group discussions. Study participation was voluntary, with utmost respect for human dignity and autonomy. Methods:'A qualitative approach utilising focused group discussions was done to gain insight into the nurses? attitude and indwelling catheter care experience. Thirteen (n = 13) nurses participated in the focus groups. Two focus groups were formed to facilitate the management of interviews. Seven nurses participated in the first focus group, whereas six participated in the second. The focus group discussions were organised on different dates to accommodate as many participants as possible without compromising patient care or safety. An interview prompt sheet was utilised as a guide in the focus group discussions which took approximately 45 minutes to complete. The proceedings were audio-recorded, transcribed and made accessible only to the researcher with due respect to confidentiality of information. Results:'The results of the two focus groups discussions were combined and four key themes were established, namely: preparation for catheter management, Nursing skills and knowledge, current clinical practice and catheter management resources. The focus groups revealed that the nurses did not always feel confident towards indwelling catheter management due to their lack of preparation or catheter care training. There was evidence of diversity in training and feelings of not being prepared properly during their undergraduate training due to the teaching method utilised, the time allotted for the training, the focus of the training itself and the lack of opportunity to practice catheter management skills to prevent CAUTI. These relate to feelings of insufficiency with regard to catheter care knowledge and lack of confidence with regard to catheter management skills. Diversity and deficiency in undergraduate education can be one of the reasons why nurses? practices vary thereby affecting the quality of patient care. Despite these challenges, nurses cope with the task by being resourceful and by asking colleagues for support. There are also recommendations to standardise in-service training programmes and organisational policies and procedures; and, to revisit undergraduate nursing programmes to emphasise infection prevention and control. The findings also suggest that nurses perceive catheter management as task-oriented, with the decision to insert, re-insert and remove a catheter being heavily reliant on doctors. There is, however, a growing recognition among nurses that they also make important patient care decisions. The existence of organisational protocols such as those related to catheter removal empowers nurses to make important nursing decisions. Revisiting organisational protocols also help nurses feel more confident in performing procedures. Nurses want to advocate for their patients? safety, thus increased confidence and empowerment facilitates nurses? assertion of evidence-based practices to minimise risks and improve their patient?s condition. Finally, nurses also expressed awareness of the importance of catheter care documentation. However, there is an apparent discrepancy in what the nurses expressed as recognition of the importance of documentation and actual documentation of patient care as evidenced by variability in actual documentation and failure to relate assessment findings with the patient?s health status. Standardised documentation of patient assessment and catheter status is recommended to improve the quality of documentation in relation to nursing assessment. Current clinical practice is characterised by collaborative care. While nurses were perceived to be mainly responsible for catheter insertion, maintenance and removal, doctors also need support in terms of recognising the unnecessary presence of a patient?s catheter. Nurses expressed that cognitively able patients play a role in catheter care. This makes patient care in the current research setting unique because of nurses? perception of patient involvement. Nurses perceive that they are responsible for educating and empowering patients to actively participate in their care. Catheter care also involves advocating for the patient?s interests. Nurses feel vulnerable and fear going against their patient?s preference when faced with circumstances that require ethical decision-making. Nurses are aware that in patient centred care, the patient?s moral, cultural and religious values need to be considered. Thus, nurses overcome this feeling of concern by maintaining an open communication with the patient. Nurses also identified their gender as a barrier to catheter care due to unwritten, agreed rules of behaviour that guide clinical practice. To remove this barrier without compromising patient preference, a standardised organisational policy on catheterisation has been recommended. Nurses also reported clinical practises that puts patient?s safety at risk and indicated poor knowledge and hence clinical practice. A multi-pronged approach in educating and addressing practice discrepancies has been recommended to improve nurses? knowledge and practise. Overall, clinical practice related to catheter care requires nursing skills, decision-making, critical thinking and a complete grasp of ethical principles. Finally, with regard to catheter management resources, nurses are aware that organisational policies on catheter management are available intranet, although some have concerns with locating it. Ease of access to policies and consistency with day to day workflow can potentially enhance nursing care. Support from colleagues also proves to be valuable when nurses cannot access policies. The nurses also reported that the existence of policies on catheter removal helped standardise the process itself and guided nurses in their decisions. For those who found the organisational policy not suitable for various types of patients, their expertise in the use of the nursing process and collaborative care helped them arrive at important decisions and interventions. Decision-support tools were recommended to be utilised as these facilitate decisions regarding deviations from specific organisational guidelines. While organisational policies facilitate decisions and nursing care, these do not replace nurses? knowledge and skills in providing quality patient care. Conclusion:'There are various areas in catheter care that can be improved further. These include: diversity in catheter care practise of which some may be of concern to patient safety; variability in actual documentation of care and failure to relate assessment findings with the patient?s health status; heavy reliance on doctors for the decision to insert, re-insert and remove a catheter; gender as a barrier to catheter care due to unwritten, agreed rules of behaviour that guide clinical practice; and difficulty in accessing organisational policies. Nurses have identified recommendations to address these concerns. These include: standardisation of in-service training programmes and organisational policies and procedures without compromising patient preference; standardisation of documentation of patient assessment and catheter status; empowerment of nurses through evidence-based protocols; multi-pronged approach in the delivery of in-service education; creation of policies that are consistent with day to day workflow and are easy to access; and utilisation of decision-support tools that address deviations from specific organisational guidelines.
- ItemHearing from the experts – Parents’ knowledge of what works for their children(22/07/2015) Dharan VGiven that children and young persons with ASD require support both at home and school, one of the fundamental factors for the success of all types of supports, services and interventions is the effective collaboration and open communication between families, schools, other professionals and organisations. This inextricable nature of partnership has its own complexities, and if interventions and supports are to be successful, there needs to be a better understanding of ways in which the supports are perceived to be usefuland effective by families. This presentation is drawn from a small researchproject undertaken for the first time in New Zealand in the form of a nationalsurvey to understand parents’/caregivers’ of children and young persons with ASD aged 0-21 of what works for their children and whānau. Particularly the research focused on the supports at home, out of home/after school carearrangements and educational settings. Data was gathered using an e-survey sent to parents using the Autism NZ database, followed by a small number of families participating in Focus Groups and five case studies. This presentation will report on the e-survey findings of 335 families who participated in the survey that was distributed through Autism NZ database. Broadly, themes that emerged from parent responses to key questionsindicate that parents were accessing a range of services for supporting the communication, behaviour and social difficulties of their children with ASD. These supports were provided either by individuals or organisations, but often their access was dictated by what was available than what is needed.. While specific therapy needs were identified by some, there was an overarching desire for their children to be in educational settings alongside their peers supported by adequate and appropriate resources. More training and support for classroom teachers as well as parents was emphasised strongly. This presentation will share these findings and more. The topic of presentation aligns well with the conference themes and will be of interest to all those who work with and support families, children and young persons.
- ItemEmerald Muriwai - Maori culture and wellbeingMuriwai EEmerald Muriwai, Masters student from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study talks about her research assessing the buffering or protective function of cultural efficacy for Maori. This research was published in the New Zealand Journal of Psychology.
- ItemHealth behaviour change: Applying Prochaska and DiClemente's Stages of Change Model(4/07/2013) Flett RA
