ABSTRACT
The aging of America and the explosion of Hispanic immigrants into the United States are causing a tremendous burden to the health care system. The challenges already apparent in an overburdened health care system are examined, and useful strategies for health care providers are offered. The significant challenges facing the Hispanic population are presented, and the need for cultural sensitivity and its importance in providing culturally competent, patient-relevant care are highlighted.
Subject(s)
Health Status , Hispanic or Latino , Acculturation , Aged , Cultural Competency , Healthcare Disparities/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Nurse-Patient RelationsABSTRACT
PURPOSE: With the numbers of cancer diagnoses increasing annually and the aging of the global citizenry, it is certain that more nurses with expert competencies in cancer care will be needed. Nursing students must have a broad understanding of cancer content in order to provide safe, effective care in the clinical setting as they learn to recognize their own experiences in caring for cancer patients. Experienced nursing educators are aware that student nurses bring into any clinical learning situation their unique knowledge, values, fear, uncertainty and bias. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of nursing students caring for cancer patients. METHOD: This descriptive qualitative study included participants who were Junior or Senior Baccalaureate nursing students and had provided care for at least one patient with cancer during clinical experiences. Focus group interviews were transcribed verbatim for analysis and coding using accepted qualitative techniques. RESULTS: Data analysis revealed student experiences to be varied in the type of cancer patient experiences. Four prevalent sub-themes emerged regarding student experiences: caring for patients and families, interactions between students and healthcare providers, student experiences with dying patients, and students' prior experiences with cancer. Further discussion with students revealed a student perspective for strengthening cancer in the curriculum. CONCLUSION: Preparing students to be comfortable with cancer patients across the cancer illness trajectory will provide students with the necessary skills to gain confidence in their cancer patient care.
Subject(s)
Attitude of Health Personnel , Empathy , Neoplasms , Nurse-Patient Relations , Students, Nursing/psychology , Clinical Competence , Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate , Fear , Female , Focus Groups , Health Services Needs and Demand , Humans , Interprofessional Relations , Male , Neoplasms/nursing , Neoplasms/psychology , Nursing Methodology Research , Oncology Nursing/education , Prejudice , Professional-Family Relations , Qualitative Research , Terminal Care/psychology , UncertaintyABSTRACT
An exciting expansion of online educational opportunities is occurring in nursing. The use of a WebQuest as an inquiry-based learning activity can offer considerable opportunity for nurses to learn how to analyze and synthesize critical information. A WebQuest, as a constructivist, inquiry-oriented strategy, requires learners to use higher levels of thinking as a means to analyze and apply complex information, providing an exciting online teaching and learning strategy. A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all of the information learners work with comes from the web. This article provides an overview of the WebQuest as a teaching strategy and provides examples of its use.
Subject(s)
Computer-Assisted Instruction/methods , Creativity , Education, Nursing, Continuing/methods , Education, Nursing, Continuing/organization & administration , Internet/organization & administration , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , HumansABSTRACT
The purposes of this study were to examine the relationships among stress, caregiver burden, and the health status of rural caregivers and assess whether caregiver burden and stress predict the physical health status of caregivers in the rural setting. A descriptive-correlational design was used to explore the caregiver health status of 63 informal caregivers in rural Alabama and Mississippi. The relationships among stress, burden, and health status in rural caregivers were significantly related (p .000) and significant variance in health status (p .000) was accounted for by the model variables of stress and caregiver burden. Rural caregivers experienced difficulty with transportation to the hospital and their physicians, and complained of experiencing uncomfortable physical symptoms.
Subject(s)
Caregivers/statistics & numerical data , Cost of Illness , Health Status , Rural Health/statistics & numerical data , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Alabama/epidemiology , Caregivers/psychology , Chronic Disease/epidemiology , Demography , Female , Health Services Accessibility , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Mississippi/epidemiology , Stress, PsychologicalABSTRACT
Caregiving can be stressful in any setting; however, some challenges and differences are unique to the rural population of caregivers. Gene and Lena Tanner The rural elderly report more chronic illness and physical impairment than their urban counterparts. This study examines the differences between self-reported health status in rural caregivers and the general population. The participants were 63 caregivers from rural southwest Alabama and southeast Mississippi. A statistically significant greater number of caregivers considered themselves to be in poor and fair health than in the general population.
Subject(s)
Caregivers , Rural Health , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Alabama , Female , Health Services Accessibility , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Mississippi , United StatesABSTRACT
The causes of nurses' exodus from acute health care delivery practice may lie more in intrinsic factors rather than the heretofore overtly expressed reasons. This article examines bureaucratic factors, issues related to the medical profession and medical/scientific discourse, and factors within the nursing profession itself that may contribute to a nurse's unhappiness and dissatisfaction that causes him or her to leave. Nursing as emotional work and the implications for the individual nurse, and nursing as moral and moral distress are discussed. Suggestions to facilitate retention are made for changing the work environment to feel valued for their skillfully applied humanness.
