Prevalence of keel bone deformities in Swiss laying hens.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of keel bone deformities of laying hens in Switzerland. The keel bones of 100 end-of-lay hens from each of 39 flocks (3900 in total) were palpated. On average, 25·4% of the hens had moderately or severely deformed keel bones and the overall prevalence including slight deformities was 55%. 3. Variation between flocks was considerable. Thus, the prevalence of moderately or severely deformed keel bones ranged from 6 to 48%, and the overall prevalence including slight deformities ranged from 20 to 83%. Aviary housing was associated with a higher prevalence of total, and severe or moderate deformations, compared with floor pens. There were no significant differences in the number of deformities between the different plumage colours, hybrids or perch materials.

Effects of housing, perches, genetics, and 25-hydroxycholecalciferol on keel bone deformities in laying hens.

Several studies have shown a high prevalence of keel bone deformities in commercial laying hens. The aim of this project was to assess the effects of perch material, a vitamin D feed additive (25-hydroxyvitamin D(3); HyD, DSM Nutritional Products, Basel, Switzerland), and genetics on keel bone pathology. The study consisted of 2 experiments. In the first experiment, 4,000 Lohmann Selected Leghorn hens were raised in aviary systems until 18 wk of age. Two factors were investigated: perch material (plastic or rubber-coated metal) and feed (with and without HyD). Afterward, the hens were moved to a layer house with 8 pens with 2 aviary systems. Daily feed consumption, egg production, mortality, and feather condition were evaluated. Every 6 wk, the keel bones of 10 randomly selected birds per pen were palpated and scored. In the second experiment, 2,000 Lohmann Brown (LB) hens and 2,000 Lohmann Brown parent stock (LBPS) hens were raised in a manner identical to the first experiment. During the laying period, the hens were kept in 24 identical floor pens but equipped with different perch material (plastic or rubber-coated metal). The same variables were investigated as in the first experiment. No keel bone deformities were found during the rearing period in either experiment. During the laying period, deformities gradually appeared and reached a prevalence of 35% in the first experiment and 43.8% in the second experiment at the age of 65 and 62 wk, respectively. In the first experiment, neither HyD nor the aviary system had any significant effect on the prevalence of keel bone deformities. In the second experiment, LBPS had significantly fewer moderate and severe deformities than LB, and rubber-coated metal perches were associated with a higher prevalence of keel bone deformities compared with plastic perches. The LBPS laid more but smaller eggs than the LB. Again, HyD did not affect the prevalence of keel bone deformities. However, the significant effect of breed affiliation strongly indicates a sizeable genetic component that may provide a basis for targeted selection.

An exploratory study of clinical decision-making in five countries.

PURPOSE: To identify the cognitive processes nurses use in their decision-making in long- and short-term care settings in five countries, and the demographic variables associated with their decision-making. METHOD AND SAMPLES: The instrument used was a 56-item questionnaire that has been shown to be reliable in earlier studies. The sample consisted of five convenience samples of registered nurses working in either geriatric wards (n = 236) or acute medical-surgical wards (n = 223) in hospitals or nursing homes in Canada, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. FINDINGS: Five models of decision-making were identified on the basis of factor analysis. They represent both analytical and intuitive cognitive processes. Analytical cognitive processes were emphasized in information collection, problem definition, and planning of care, and intuitive cognitive processes were emphasized in planning, implementing, and evaluating care. Professional education, practical experience, field of practice, and type of knowledge were significantly associated with decision-making models as well as with country of residence of the participants. The highest proportion of analytically oriented decision-makers was found among nurses in long-term care, the decision-making of nurses in short-term care was more intuitively oriented. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that decision-making of participants varied from country to country and in different nursing situations. Future research should be focused on reasons for these differences, the relationship between the task and the nurses' type of knowledge, and how nurses use their knowledge to make decisions in different nursing situations.

[Compassion--a forgotten tradition in nursing care?]. / Mit-Leiden--eine vergessene Tradition der Pflege?

This scientific study is based on the assumption that the Jewish-Christian motive of the compassionate God is the original model of the nurse. Accordingly it investigates the Wirkungs- and Rezeptionsgeschichte (the history of the tradition) of this motive in nursing from the perspectives of Nursing Science and Jewish Studies. To this purpose it was necessary to apply a transdisciplinary and methodologically pluralistic research approach. It involved various applications of hermeneutics such as applied by theology, historiography and philosophy. The research material comprised primary sources from Jewish and Christian scriptures and commentaries as well as nursing literature from the 19th and 20th century. A comparative analysis of the phenomenology of the research object during these periods was carried out: The results support the initial assumption and show that the motive of the compassionate God was actualised over the last 2000 years. What originally appeared as a religious motive presents itself as nursing concept under the name compassion or caring in modern and post-modern nursing theory.

Using restraint with nursing home residents: a qualitative study of nursing staff perceptions and decision-making.

The study reported in this paper applied a qualitative and interpretative approach to nursing staff perceptions of the use of restraint with elderly nursing home residents, and into nurses' decision-making on restraint use. The data were collected using unstructured interviews with a purposive sample of 20 trained and untrained nursing staff from two Swiss nursing homes. Data analysis was based on Colaizzi's phenomenological method. Three main themes were extracted from the data: (1) understanding the term restraint, (2) situations in which the decision to apply restraint is considered justified and (3) situations in which nursing staff are uncertain about the use of restraint. The underlying bases with respect to decision-making were: understanding restraint, the rights and responsibilities of both residents and staff, and the duties of staff. Staff members were ambiguous in their understanding of restraint and they showed positive as well as confused attitudes towards its use. Their behaviour was defensive and protective rather than challenging. Further research is required on what is meant by safety in care of the elderly nursing today. In nursing practice, as far as issues of restraint are concerned, greater attention should be devoted to the relationship between elderly residents' self-determination and responsibility for their actions.

Between suffering and redemption. Religious motives in Jewish and Christian cancer patients' coping.

The aim of this research was to study the potential influence and significance of Jewish and Christian patients' religion on their coping with cancer. After intensive methodological experimentation, the Interpretive Biography-approach, an inductive unstructured research method was applied to collect and analyse the data. In this way 100 Jewish and Christian patients were interviewed. Document analysis was performed when patients' diaries were available. Comparative analysis of the patients' stories made possible the identification of a number of religious motives from which the patients drew meaning to explain their suffering. The findings show that Jewish and Christian patients utilize the same religious motives. The relevance of this research for nurses lies in the finding that, for many patients, their religiousness has great potential as a resource and it should therefore be supported by nurses.

[What kind of science is required by nursing?]. / Was für eine Wissenschaft braucht die Pflege?

This article represents a slightly modified paper presented at the symposium on Nursing Science held by the University of Basel in December 1998. It involves a topic analysis of the requirements for nursing science of a nursing service of a University Hospital. On the basis of this analysis a possible identity of Nursing Science is derived. It appears to be compatible both with the ethos and goals of the nursing profession and with the present system of the sciences.

[Focal points in operating room nursing]. / Pflegeschwerpunkte im Operationssaal.

This research investigated with which thoughts and nursing problems patients undergo surgery without general anaesthetic were preoccupied during their operation. In addition, information was collected on those aspects of nursing care which the patients appreciated or missed during this time. Both sets of data were collected from nurses and patients. Comparative analysis showed that patients on average list less problems than nurses. Conclusions with respect to nursing care of patients who are awake during surgery is discussed.

[Religion as a subject of nursing research]. / Religiosität als Untersuchungsgegenstand der Pflegewissenschaft.

This article involves a discussion of some theoretical and methodological aspects of research subjects which may not typically be attributed to nursing. It leads to the conclusion that it is useful and necessary for nursing as an integrative scientific discipline to consider knowledge and methods of its "neighbouring" disciplines.

Decision making of nurses practicing in intensive care in Canada, Finland, Northern Ireland, Switzerland, and the United States.

In this study, our intention was to describe the decision making of nurses practicing in intensive care, and the differences of nurses' decision making in Canada, Finland, Northern Ireland, Switzerland, and the United States. The instrument used in the study was a 56-item Likert-type questionnaire that has been used in previous studies and has proved to be a reliable tool. The target group comprised a nonrandom sample of nurses (N = 314) from five countries. The samples are not representative; therefore, the results in these cases cannot be generalized. The results showed that the decision making of nurses practicing in intensive care was broadly based, and that there were some country differences in data collection, problem definition, and planning. In contrast, decision making related to the implementation and evaluation of nursing is quite similar in the different countries. Canada and the United States on the one hand, and Finland, Northern Ireland, and Switzerland on the other, showed more similarities with each other in data collection, problem definition, and nursing planning related to decision making. Neither experience nor nurse's knowledge structure was associated with different decision-making approaches.

[From the bed onto the operating table. The transfer of patients from their bed to the operating table]. / "Vom Bett auf den Tisch". Der Transfer der Patientinnen und Patienten vom Spitalbett auf den Operationstisch.

Perioperative nursing is still a much neglected area among the various fields of direct nursing care. This investigation was carried out within a framework of reevaluation and actualization of this area of care. The results show that in particular because of the working conditions of perioperative nursing high standards of professionally both with respect to details of care as well as to recognition of the overall situation of a patient are required.

Patients' needs in hospital: nurses' and patients' views.

This study set out to identify the most important needs of hospital patients on surgical and medical wards and to assess the ability of nurses to identify these needs. The population consisted of 92 Finnish patients and 69 Finnish nurses. The study was carried out using a questionnaire designed on the basis of the need theory presented by Yura and Walsh. The results of the statistical analyses were presented in the form of frequencies, cross-tabulations and chi-square tests. The patients' most common needs were related to vital functions (44%), followed by those related to functional health status (38%) and environmental needs (36%). The last item on the list of expressed needs concerned reactions to functional health status (31%). Over 70% of the surgical patients suffered from problems related to sleep and rest. Less than 60% of them suffered from acute pain. Medical patients, in turn, had more frequent needs related to vital functions than did surgical patients. Three out of four medical patients suffered from acute pain. Sleep and rest disturbances, stress, bad mood and listlessness were also common problems. The nurses underestimated all patient needs, apart from environmental needs, which they regarded as the main concern of patients. There was a statistically significant difference between patients' and nurses' assessments for 38% of all needs. Moreover, there were differences in assessments between the surgical and medical wards included in the study.

[Emergency nurses investigate their patients' needs]. / Pflegende einer traumatologischen Klinik erforschen die Bedürfnisse ihrer Patienten.

This article reports on a study in which clinical nurses contributed actively to the scientific investigation of the nursing needs of their patients. The study revealed valuable information relating to both the psycho-social needs caused by the accident and the integration of nurses in clinical nursing research.

Interprofessional cooperation: why is partnership so difficult?

The present state of interpersonal cooperation from the perspective of nursing is analysed, and some explanations are presented. The history of nurse-doctor cooperation in hospital is described. Examples of professional cooperation concerning the care of geriatric patients are also presented.

[Nursing diagnosis in acute care. An exploratory study at the Zürich University Hospital]. / Pflegediagnose in der Akutpflege. Eine explorative studie im Universitätsspital Zürich.

The purpose of the study presented here was twofold: one was the identification of nursing diagnoses in patients who were hospitalised in different departments of the University Hospital; the other was the identification of the comparative distribution of these nursing diagnoses over the different medically defined departments. The study was based on 927 lists of nursing diagnoses within which the patients ticked the relevance for, them according to their present state of health. The analysis of the data showed the large spectrum of nursing diagnoses with which clinical nurses can be confronted and the distribution of the diagnoses over different departments. The results also point to important relationships between different nursing diagnoses, thus having certain predictive value.