ABSTRACT
UNLABELLED: The first year of college can be extremely stressful, especially for students residing on campus. OBJECTIVE: The authors obtained information from college freshmen about their relationships with pets and investigated interest in a pet therapy program as social support for transient stressful periods. PARTICIPANTS: As part of a university orientation program, 246 college freshman attended 1 of 5 health issues sessions offered during the 2006-2007 academic year. Approximately 50 freshmen attended each session. METHOD: Participants completed a questionnaire at the beginning of the session, followed by a 20-minute presentation about pet therapy that ended with pet therapy visitation. RESULTS: Students identified that visits with certified pet therapy dogs could be beneficial to college freshman during their first year away from home. CONCLUSIONS: These students indicated that a pet therapy program could temporarily fill the absence of previous support systems and be a catalyst for establishing new social relationships.
Subject(s)
Animals, Domestic , Human-Animal Bond , Mental Health , Students/psychology , Universities , Adolescent , Adult , Animals , Complementary Therapies , Female , Humans , Male , Young AdultABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate potential predictors (patient variables) that would result in oncology nurses' recognition of and response to patient-initiated humor (PIH). Participants included 47 nurses of an 80-member Oncology Nursing Society chapter (57% response rate), which yielded 232 usable vignettes. Previously collected qualitative data of patient-nurse conversations were used to construct simulated vignettes using a factorial survey design. Five randomly generated vignettes containing 14 independent patient variables with different levels were used to examine nurses' identification of PIH. The unit of analysis in factorial survey is the vignette. Multiple regression and analysis of variance were used to analyze variables in each vignette. Two of 14 variables were significant: "verbal" (actual words the patient spoke) and "intonation" (inflection, pitch, or manner of speech). A 2x2 factorial analysis of variance using verbal and intonation variables revealed that oncology nurses' recognition of and response to PIH were primarily predicted by patients' verbal words. This study distinguishes PIH as a patient-initiated behavior rather than nurse-driven interventions and is a new venue for research in patient-nurse interactions. Results demonstrate the central role of patient-centered communication to inform clinical practice about patient preferences, individualized integration/participation in their care, and a knowledge base of patient-centered behaviors for outcomes of personal importance.
Subject(s)
Communication , Neoplasms/psychology , Nurse-Patient Relations , Oncology Nursing , Wit and Humor as Topic/psychology , Analysis of Variance , Demography , Female , Health Care Surveys , Humans , Male , Models, Statistical , Pilot Projects , Regression Analysis , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Humor has been recognized by nurse researchers as a therapeutic intervention known to have positive psychological and physiological outcomes for patients. There is, however, no research that examines how nurses learn about humor. The purpose of this preliminary study was to examine nursing faculty members' teaching practices about humor education in the classroom and in clinical settings. Nursing faculty members from four nursing programs, two in the United States, one in Northern Ireland, and one in Taiwan, were surveyed about the inclusion of humor in the nursing curriculum. Findings revealed that substantially more humor education was included in clinical settings in the USA and Northern Ireland than in the classroom. In Taiwan, however, humor education was included more in the classroom than in clinical settings. Older and more experienced nurses with higher levels of education reported using less humor in teaching practices.
Subject(s)
Cultural Characteristics , Faculty, Nursing/organization & administration , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Nurse's Role , Nursing Faculty Practice/organization & administration , Teaching/methods , Wit and Humor as Topic , Burnout, Professional/prevention & control , Curriculum , Humans , Northern Ireland , Nurse-Patient Relations , Nursing Education Research , Staff Development , Taiwan , United StatesABSTRACT
Humor has been identified as an intrinsic social phenomenon occurring in all groups throughout human history. It is among the most prevalent forms of human social behavior yet one of the least understood or defined. Although researchers in a number of disciplines have studied the effects of humor on patients, limited work has focused on end-of-life care. The present study investigated social interactions involving humor in hospice settings using nonparticipant observation. Results revealed that humor was present in 85 percent of 132 observed nurse-based hospice visits. Of these, hospice patients initiated humor 70 percent of the time. These findings were consistent regardless of hospice setting. Humor was spontaneous and frequent, and instances of humorous interactions were a prevalent part of everyday hospice work.
