Social processes influencing nursing students in passing the nursing licensure examination: A grounded theory approach.

AIM: To explore the strategies used by nursing students in passing the nursing licensure examination. DESIGN: This study uses a classic grounded theory design to explore the social processes influencing a nursing license examination. METHODS: Eight graduate students participated in this research study and were interviewed in-depth twice. The Classic Grounded Theory method of Glaser was applied to collect and analyse the data until saturation was reached. RESULTS: The findings revealed that students who passed the nursing licensure examination described the strategies as a preliminary model comprising a core category, Reviewing (Phase 1), which consisted of two sub-categories: Entering Time and Reviewing Styles. Additionally, two other main categories emerged: the Tutoring category (Phase 2) and the Testing Practice category (Phase 3). It was observed that each course (subject) does not necessarily follow a specific order in traversing these phases; they may move back and forth between them until the conclusion of the examination. Furthermore, it was found that the time allocated to Entering Time and completing the three phases significantly influences the successful passing of the nursing licensure examination.

Effects of a brief interpersonal mindfulness program embedded in a psychiatric nursing practicum: A controlled pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Nursing school is a stressful environment that demands high performance both professionally and academically. Interpersonal mindfulness training has shown promise for its stress-reducing capacity in other contexts; however, few descriptions or tests of this method in nursing training settings exist in the literature. PURPOSE: This pilot study examined effects of a brief interpersonal mindfulness program embedded in a 4-week psychiatric nursing practicum in Thailand. METHODS: Mixed methods were used with 31 fourth-year nursing students to measure changes in mindfulness and assess their experiences of the program's impact. The control and experimental groups received the same clinical training, but the experimental group was also trained to practice interpersonal mindfulness throughout the course. FINDINGS: The experimental group reported statistically significantly greater increases in Observing, Describing, and Non-reacting subscale scores, and in scores for the overall Five-Facet Mindfulness questionnaire, Thai version, than the control group (p < .05, Cohen's d = 0.83-0.95, large effect sizes). Group interviews revealed themes: initial challenges to mindfulness practice, experiences of becoming more mindful, intrapersonal benefits, and consequences of mindfulness on interpersonal skills. CONCLUSION: Overall, an interpersonal mindfulness program embedded in a psychiatric nursing practicum was effective. Further studies are required to address limitations of the present study.

Impacts of COVID-19 on family violence in Thailand: prevalence and influencing factors.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic drastically affected societies globally, prompting rising unemployment, insufficient household incomes, and stress and undermining women's and children's health within families. This study examined family violence and identified influencing factors during the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand. METHODS: A mixed-method design was used, entailing a questionnaire followed by focus group interviews. A cross-sectional survey was administered to investigate family violence among 1285 female respondents aged 15 years and above who were recruited through stratified sampling. The Cronbach alpha and and inter-raters Kappa coefficient values for the questionnaire were 0.67 and 1.00, respectively. In addition, a descriptive qualitative instrument was employed to analyze the data sets from four focus group interviews held with 32 staff members from agencies that deal with family violence. The researchers jointly developed the focus group questions, which focused on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on family violence. They independently analyzed data using content analysis. RESULTS: The majority of the study participants were aged above 45 years (>50%), married (61.1%), lived in single-family settings (52.5%), had lost their jobs (64.4%), and had economic constraints that were moderate (37.8%) to severe (40.6%). The prevalence of family violence, which was primarily physical, was 42.2%. Family income, stress, and substance abuse were the main factors associated with family violence. These findings were correlated with those from the qualitative interviews. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic had indirect impacts through family violence. Women were subjected to family violence behaviors, which were associated with household income, economic status, stress, and substance abuse. These behaviors included psychological and physical violence, as well as sexual abuse. Future interventions should focus on financial support and stress reduction.

Family happiness among people in a Southeast Asian city: Grounded theory study.

Happiness is a fundamental human aspiration. However, many families live in places where the cost of living is high, and there is a need for people to balance their lives to maintain happiness. This study explored the characteristics of happiness for families living in a city in Thailand. A grounded theory methodology was used to collect and analyze data. Thirteen participants were recruited into the study by purposive sampling based on a set of inclusion criteria, followed by theoretical sampling. The findings demonstrated that living together without financial problems was a core category of family happiness, which involved close connections, caring for one another and financial security. Families needed to balance these components when facing stress, using coping methods to restore happiness. To enhance family happiness, health professionals should focus on caring and communication within families, including coping techniques to maintain family happiness.

Effectiveness of family interventions on psychological distress and expressed emotion in family members of individuals diagnosed with first-episode psychosis: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: A critical period for persons with first-episode psychosis is the first two years after diagnosis, when they are at high risk of suicide attempts, violent behaviors and substance abuse. This period also has a great impact on the psychological distress of family members, particularly caregivers who either provide care or live with ill family members. In addition, the families also report feelings of being overwhelmed when accessing service facilities at this critical point. These consequences impact on the affective tone/atmosphere in the family, also referred to as so-called expressed emotion. In addition, expressed emotion research has indicated that the family atmosphere contributes to recurrent psychosis and lengthy hospital stays for patients in the initial phase. Therefore, family interventions aimed at reducing psychological distress and improving expressed emotion in families during this critical time are very important. Modern research has yielded international evidence addressing these outcomes, but little is known about which interventions are the most effective. Therefore, this review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review was to examine the effectiveness of family interventions on psychological distress and expressed emotion in family members of persons with first-episode psychosis (FEP). INCLUSION CRITERIA TYPES OF PARTICIPANTS: Family members of persons with FEP and who had received treatment after being diagnosed within two years. TYPES OF INTERVENTION(S): Studies that examined interventions among family members of persons with FEP. Family interventions referred to any education, psychoeducation, communication, coping and problem-solving skills training and cognitive behavioral therapy that was provided to family members of persons with FEP. OUTCOMES: Psychological distress and expressed emotions of those family members. TYPES OF STUDIES: Randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental studies, cohort studies and case-control studies. SEARCH STRATEGY: The preliminary search was conducted in MEDLINE and CINAHL with keywords containing the title, abstract and subject description analysis as the first identification of related studies. An extensive search was conducted in other databases including ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, ScienceDirect, Scopus, PsychINFO, ThaiLIS and Thai National research databases. In addition, searches of reference lists and other manual searches were undertaken. METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY: Studies were critically appraised by two independent reviewers for methodological validity prior to inclusion in the review using standardized critical appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute. DATA EXTRACTION: Data were extracted using the standardized data extraction tools from the Joanna Briggs Institute. The mean score and standard deviation (SD) were extracted for targets outcomes relating to psychological distress and expressed emotion. DATA SYNTHESIS: Quantitative data could not be pooled due to the heterogeneity of the included studies. Data were synthesized based on the individual results from the three included studies and have been presented in a narrative format accompanied with tabulated data. RESULTS: Data synthesis of the three individual studies indicated that there were no statistically significant interventions that address psychological distress and expressed emotion in family members who live with and care for persons with FEP. There is insufficient evidence available to evaluate the effect sizes for pooled outcomes. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this review, there is insufficient evidence to validate the effectiveness of family interventions on psychological distress and expressed emotion in family members who live with and care for persons with FEP. In addition, based on the individual primary studies, the implications for practice should be carefully considered.