Social Contact and Belonging Among Older People Receiving Home Care Nursing.

Purpose: Support of social contact and a sense of belonging may be essential for older persons who need help, to take care of their wellbeing and reduce the feeling of loneliness. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the features that influence social contact and belonging among older persons who received home care nursing. Patients and Methods: The study involved nine individual in-depth interviews with older persons residing in Norway. The interviews were analyzed in accordance with a model of content analysis. Findings: Social contact and belonging among the older persons depended on the availability of necessary resources that foster social activity, contact with family and friends, and housing quality. Interaction with helpers and accommodation of their needs as necessary were important for these persons. Reflecting on the past and considering life in context may be essential as a basis for their present and future life. Conclusion: The results of the present study indicated that a sense of being cared for and supported are important for social contact and belonging. Social activity, engagement in family and contact with friends and neighbors are valued. However, a proportion of older persons are not engaged in such activities. Volunteer help may be a key factor for improving social contact. Moreover, contact and communication with home care nurses are important for recognition as valued persons and as a link to the community.

This study gave older persons who are dependent on help in their daily life at home the opportunity to express the experiences regarding their social contact and belonging.Social contact and belonging depended on the availability of necessary resources and support, relationships with family and friends, and the quality of their homes. Furthermore, personal contact with helpers and accommodation of their needs were important for those older persons. Reflecting on the past and considering life in context was also important as a basis for their present and future life. Volunteer help may be important for improving social contact. Good communication with home care nurses may be essential for recognition as valued persons and as a connection to the healthcare system in the community. To enhance the sense of belonging, the healthcare system and community must manage the dependencies of older persons in a manner that recognizes their value.

Factor analysis of the Chinese version of the Self-care Ability Scale for the Elderly: A multi-centre cross-cultural validation study.

AIM: This study aimed to explore and confirm the factor structure and item distribution of the Chinese version of Self-care Ability Scale for the Elderly among older Chinese people. METHODS: A cluster random sampling method was used to collect 2856 older people from five different cities of China from July 2018 to July 2019. A questionnaire comprised of socio-demographic information and the Chinese version of the Self-care Ability Scale for the Elderly was administered, and SPSS 21.0 and Mplus 7.4 were used for analyses. RESULTS: Participants were aged 60 to 92 years, with a mean age of 71.52 (SD = 7.68) years. In the Exploratory Factor Analysis, the three-factor structure and item distribution of the Chinese version of the Self-care Ability Scale for the Elderly were verified to be better than other options. The factor loadings varied from 0.428 to 0.800, and the communality values ranged from 0.426 to 0.792. The modified model showed a good fit in the Confirmatory Factor Analysis. CONCLUSION: The Chinese version of the Self-care Ability Scale for the Elderly has a clear three-factor structure and a good item distribution. It serves as a convenient and accurate assessment tool to assess the self-care ability of older Chinese people.

Experiences of using the ISBAR tool after an intervention: A focus group study among critical care nurses and anaesthesiologists.

OBJECTIVE: The ISBAR tool is a structured approach to communication between healthcare professionals and refers to Identity, Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation. The objective of this study was to explore how critical care nurses and anaesthesiologists experience using the ISBAR tool in clinical practice. DESIGN: Three focus groups were conducted with a total of three anaesthesiologists and 14 critical care nurses from two hospitals in Norway after they had attended an intervention. SETTING: The intervention consisted of two days at a university, with a four-month interval between, attending resource lectures and simulation exercises focusing on the ISBAR tool. The focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically to understand the participants' experiences. FINDINGS: Three major themes emerged from the data: (1) predictability and security, (2) usability and (3) recommendations for further use. A feeling of predictability and security was identified through increased awareness of communication and professional roles. Usability included identifying appropriate situations to use the ISBAR tool in clinical practice, the importance of tailoring the use to each situation and some physicians were not interested in using it. Finally, recommendations for further use of the ISBAR tool were identified. CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the importance and need to improve the use of the ISBAR tool to increase patient safety. It is essential that healthcare professionals work together to ensure that everybody has the same situational awareness and that good clinical handover practices are developed and maintained.

What matters to older adults? Exploring person-centred care during and after transitions between hospital and home.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore person-centred care provided to a group of older adults (65+) by understanding their experiences of care received, their participation in care and what matters to them during and after the transition process between hospital and home. BACKGROUND: Although facilitating person-centred care (PCC) has gained increasing importance globally over the last few decades, its practical implementation has been challenging. This has caused difficulties in determining its core elements and best practices. Person-centred care aims to deliver healthcare services based on individuals' preferences. Several approaches have been developed to better implement person-centred care practices. The Norwegian transitional and follow-up model, 'Holistic Continuity of Patient Care', chooses the 'What Matters to You?' APPROACH: Other approaches include 'Shared Decision Making' and 'Continuity of Care'. DESIGN: This study employed a qualitative design. METHODS: Individual repeated interviews were conducted among eight participants. A hermeneutic exploratory research method was chosen. The COREQ checklist was followed. RESULTS: Three main themes related to person-centred care emerged: what matters in meetings with the individual healthcare worker, mobilising health-promoting capabilities and resources and what matters when being in the organisational healthcare system. CONCLUSION: To participate in their own health issues, older people need to be empowered and better informed about the importance and scope of person-centred care. 'What Matters to You?' is a good focus for the direction of care but can lead to a simplified understanding of individuals' preferences. Increased focus on how care recipients' capabilities and resources affect their responding is needed. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Ensuring that person-centred aspects are incorporated into the entire healthcare system requires better methods of engaging and empowering older adults in healthcare settings; more focus on PCC competence and skills of healthcare professionals as well as better integration of PCC practices into healthcare administration and policies.

Loneliness Among Older Home-Dwelling Persons: A Challenge for Home Care Nurses.

AIM: To explore how nurses working in the home care service sector perceived the loneliness experienced by older people living at home, and how they met these lonely individuals' needs. BACKGROUND: Loneliness is a well-known phenomenon among groups of older home-dwelling people and has been shown to be a health-related problem. Health care professionals working in the primary care sector, such as home care nurses, may be in the position to identify loneliness among at-home seniors. Identifying and addressing loneliness must become important issues in home care nursing. DESIGN: A qualitative study. METHODS: Focus group interviews were performed with 11 home care nurses in Norway. The interviews were analyzed in accordance with manifest and latent content analysis. The Coreq checklist was followed. FINDINGS: Home care nurses identified loneliness among older people as being a complex and sensitive phenomenon that activated conflicted thoughts, feelings and solutions in a system where older people's loneliness was generally not considered as a need requiring nursing care. CONCLUSION: Loneliness among older people challenged the nurses with regard to communicating older people's feelings of loneliness and meeting their social needs. Organizational structures were perceived as being the main barriers to meeting these needs. Older people's feelings of loneliness stimulated nurses' reflections about the purpose of their nursing role. It is important to address loneliness among older home-dwelling people and include the issue in home care nursing in order to meet their need for social contact. Home nursing leaders must pay attention to the nurses' experiences, promote the nurses' acquisition of knowledge about this kind of loneliness and learn how to meet an older individual's needs. There should be a special focus on communicating with lonely older people in order to address their feelings loneliness.

Exploring the experiences of being an ethnic minority student within undergraduate nurse education: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Students studying in a country where another language is spoken face multiple challenges including their ability to fully integrate with peers and academic pressures in trying to obtain an undergraduate nursing degree. The aim of the study was to explore the lived experiences of students, from varying cultural and ethnic backgrounds, undertaking an undergraduate nursing degree. METHODS: The study adopted a qualitative design and eight individual semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interviews were analysed using manifest content analysis according to Graneheim and Lundman. RESULTS: Students reported feelings of isolation and the lack of opportunities to integrate with native students within academia and practice. The need for personal support was a crucial factor that was independent of gender and students reported challenges related to both language and culture during the programme. CONCLUSIONS: Suggestions arising from this study includes appropriate support systems within academia and practice. It is imperative that universities and practice settings promote and integrate cultural awareness within academia and practice in meeting the needs of students and providing culturally appropriate nursing care, thereby providing opportunities for all students to become competent and professional practitioners.

Intensive care nurses' implicit and explicit attitudes and their behavioural intentions towards obese intensive care patients.

AIMS: To examine qualified intensive care nurses' implicit and explicit attitudes towards obese intensive care patients and whether their attitudes are associated with their behavioural intentions towards these patients. BACKGROUND: Obese intensive care patients may experience more stress than do normal-weight patients. Intensive care nurses' attitudes and the way they address their care are thus vital. Despite a range of studies revealing that health professionals hold anti-fat attitudes towards obese patients, there is a lack of knowledge about intensive care nurses' implicit and explicit attitudes and if such attitudes are associated with behavioural intention. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey. METHODS: From November 2017 - January 2018, a web-based survey was conducted with 159 qualified intensive care nurses (84.3% women, mean age 45.52 years) recruited through 16 intensive care units and Facebook. The survey consisted of implicit attitude tests, explicit bias scales, the Anti-fat Attitude questionnaire, vignettes measuring behavioural intention, and demographic questions. RESULTS: Intensive care nurses reported implicit preferences for thin over thick people and found obese individuals slightly 'worse' and 'lazy', comprising less willpower than thin individuals. Attitudes were not associated with behavioural intention. CONCLUSION: This study provides new knowledge about qualified intensive care nurses' anti-fat attitudes and behavioural intention towards obese intensive care patients. These findings should be acknowledged by policymakers, clinical healthcare providers and educators to secure optimal care for these patients. IMPACT STATEMENT: These results should be used in nursing attitude change programmes, in intensive care units, and among nursing educators, focusing on increasing nurses' knowledge of the complexities of obesity. Further research on obese intensive care patients' healthcare experiences and the impact that healthcare providers' anti-fat attitudes and behaviours has on patients' perceived care quality is needed.

A sense of belonging: A meta-ethnography of the experience of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease receiving care through telemedicine.

AIM: To synthesize the qualitative research in the literature addressing how patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease experience care received by telemedicine. DESIGN: Meta-ethnography. DATA SOURCES: Twelve studies, published from 2013 - 2018, were identified by a search of relevant systematic databases in June 2017, including updated searches performed in June 2018. REVIEW METHODS: The studies were reviewed and critically appraised independently by three researchers. The review followed the seven steps of meta-ethnography developed by Noblit and Hare, including a line-of-argument synthesis. RESULTS: The synthesis revealed three second-order constructs: presence, transparency, and ambivalence. Using a line-of-argument synthesis, a model was developed that showed patients' experience of a sense of belonging when receiving care by telemedicine. CONCLUSION: This meta-ethnography contributes to the existing and contradictory evidence base of telemedicine to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. It addresses and adds renewed understanding of who would benefit from telemedicine and why, by illustrating the interrelationship between the conditions of telemedicine care, the severity of COPD, and the need for connectedness and emphasizes that the need to belong in telemedicine care increases with the progression of illness burden and severity. IMPACT: The present study endorses the view that the patients with a severe illness burden are likely to benefit the most when receiving care by telemedicine. However, the benefits rely on the fact that the telemedicine interventions involve emotional, social, and clinical support, including regular contact with healthcare professionals, to meet the requirements to belong.

Facilitating holistic continuity of care for older patients: Home care nurses' experiences using checklists.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore home care nurses' experiences of implementation and use of checklists developed for improving continuity of care for older patients (65+ years). BACKGROUND: The Norwegian Coordination Reform was implemented to improve coordination between hospitals and communities and facilitate a quicker return to home community after hospital discharge. To follow-up, national learning networks were initialised to improve pathways for chronically ill older patients, including the development and use of standardised checklists. DESIGN: An explorative qualitative design was chosen. METHODS: Three focus group interviews were conducted, including 18 registered nurses from eight municipalities in southern Norway. Systematic text condensation was used to analyse the interview texts. The COREQ checklist was followed. RESULTS: Three categories emerged from the analysis. (a) "The implementation process" included the experiences of a chaotic beginning, the importance of involvement, the leaders' role and resource allocation. (b) "Pros and cons of checklists in use" included the informants' experiences of checklists' usefulness for nurses and the patients. (c) "Competence needed" included the need for a comprehensive set of formal, experiential and social competences. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The leaders' role, support and engagement are decisive for a successful implementation. To succeed and establish solid routines, allocating resources when implementing new laborious routines, such as checklists, is important. To improve holistic continuity of care to chronically ill older patients, checklists should be customisable to each patient's needs, be comprehensive enough to grasp the essence in what to be done at several time points, but at the same time brief enough to be operational. Checklists can be a useful tool for home care nurses, if customised to the individual municipality and the staffs' working routines. It is important that the staff have versatile and extensive competencies enabling them to use the checklists appropriately.

Reflections on communication of disease prognosis and life expectancy by patients with colorectal cancer undergoing palliative care: a qualitative study.

OBJECTIVES: Patients with colorectal cancer undergoing palliative treatment receive extensive treatment-related information throughout their disease trajectory. We aimed to explore the experiences of patients with incurable colorectal cancer while in palliative care and their reflections on the information provided by physicians and nurses. Our main focus was the patients' thoughts about how information about disease status and life expectancy was communicated, from the first time that they were informed about the incurable nature of their disease through to postsurgery palliative treatment. SETTINGS: Patients with colorectal cancer receiving palliative chemotherapy. RESEARCH DESIGN: We used a qualitative approach, and the data were analysed by qualitative content analysis. PARTICIPANTS: 20 patients (34-75 years of age) were included in the study; 12 received first-line chemotherapy and 8 received second-line chemotherapy. Eleven patients were treated by oncologists, and nine were treated by junior physicians. RESULTS: Data-driven empirical analysis identified three themes: (1) inadequate information during the initial phase of the disease trajectory; (2) hope and information further into the disease trajectory and (3) personal, professional and organisational factors that influenced information and communication throughout the disease trajectory. CONCLUSION: The participants' experience of being told for the first time that they had an incurable disease was perceived as inadequate, while postsurgery palliative chemotherapy, physicians and nurses offered hope. The participants preferred customised information about their treatment and likely future prospects and physicians and nurses who took a holistic and compassionate approach focusing on their lifeworld. To be a sensitive, holistic and compassionate physician or nurse requires knowledge and confidence. To achieve this requires training and guidance at universities and in hospitals.

Design and psychometric testing of instruments to measure qualified intensive care nurses' attitudes toward obese intensive care patients.

The purpose of this pilot study was to design and test research instruments to measure qualified intensive care nurses' implicit and explicit attitudes and behavioral intentions toward obese intensive care patients. In previous studies researchers have demonstrated that some health professionals hold negative attitudes toward obese patients; however, little is known about qualified intensive care nurses' attitudes toward these patients. Our cross-sectional pilot study involved Implicit Association Tests, the Anti-fat Attitude questionnaire, an explicit bias scale comprising ratings of explicit beliefs and feelings, assessment of behavioral intentions based on vignettes, and demographic questions. Thirty qualified intensive care nurses from a general intensive care unit in Norway (80% female; age range 31-62 years) completed the study. Nurses reported implicit and explicit preferences for thin over thick patients and found obese patients lazier than normal-weight patients. Measures of behavioral intentions and anti-fat attitudes were reliable. Generally, the nurses intended to help obese patients immediately. Nevertheless, explicit anti-fat attitudes (rho = -0.49) as well as implicit anti-obese stereotypes (rho = -0.40) were negatively correlated with such intentions. Data supported satisfactory face validity, and convergent and discriminant validity within and between implicit and explicit attitudes and stereotypes. The set of research instruments were reliable, valid, and suitable tools to measure qualified intensive care nurses' implicit and explicit attitudes; however, the present findings need to be replicated in a larger-scale study.

Perceived stress and depression amongst older stroke patients: Sense of coherence as a mediator?

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the relationship between perceived stress, sense of coherence, and depression among older stroke patients. METHODS: A demographic questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) were distributed to 3000 older stroke patients from Neurology wards in six large general hospitals, and 2907 individuals completed the survey. Data analysis consisted of correlation, multiple linear regression, and structural equation modeling. RESULTS: The total score of the SOC and perceived stress showed a negative correlation (r = -0.80, P ＜ 0.01), the total SOC of coherence and depression also resulted in a negative correlation (r = -0.77, P ＜ 0.01), and the total score of the perceived stress and depression resulted in a positive correlation (r = 0.82, P ＜ 0.01). The results of multiple regression analyses indicated that SOC mediated the association between perceived stress and depression, and the influence of perceived stress on depression was decreased by 16.0%with in the sense of being out of control dimension and was decreased by 12.3% within the feeling of tension dimension when sense of coherence was added to the model. The structural equation model confirmed that the sense of coherence had a partial mediation effect between perceived stress and depression. CONCLUSION: SOC is the mediating variable between perceived stress and depression, and can reduce the influence of perceived stress on depression.

Unlocking the limitations: Living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and receiving care through telemedicine-A phenomenological study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To describe the lived experiences of quality of life among a group of patients living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who were included in a telemedical intervention after hospitalisation for disease exacerbation. BACKGROUND: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have high symptom burden, poor control of symptoms and a need for greater requirements in care. Telemedicine can provide benefits for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by improving self-management. DESIGN: Descriptive phenomenological approach. METHODS: Ten in-depth interviews were conducted with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients participating in a telemedical intervention. The collected data were analysed using a descriptive phenomenological research method. RESULTS: Living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was experienced as creating physical and mental limitations of the diseased body and an increasing identity as a patient, which led to impaired quality of life. Being included in the telemedicine intervention increased accessibility to healthcare services and support from telemedicine nurses. Self-measurement of health data increased participants' clinical insight and created a mutual clinical language in dialogue with telemedicine nurses, which led to increased quality of life. However, receiving care through telemedicine was also experienced as a dual chore. CONCLUSIONS: Telemedicine can reduce the perceived limitations imposed by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease through four key elements: (i) improving accessibility to healthcare services, (ii) increasing support from health professionals, (iii) strengthening clinical insight and (iv) developing a mutual clinical language, thus increasing quality of life. The transparency facilitated through telemedicine in this healthcare context encourages open decision-making, where the participants can increase their knowledge and improve acknowledgement of and collaboration with telemedicine nurses. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Telemedicine can be beneficial when rethinking care for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by providing knowledge on how living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can affect the experience of receiving care through telemedicine and further determine for whom telemedicine is useful.

Intensive care nurses' experiences of caring for obese intensive care patients: A hermeneutic study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To obtain a deeper understanding of qualified intensive care nurses' experiences of caring for obese patients in intensive care. BACKGROUND: Admission of obese patients with complex healthcare needs to intensive care units is increasing. Caring for obese critically ill patients can be challenging and demanding for the intensive care nurse because of the patients' weight, critical situation and physical challenges. There is a gap in knowledge at present about qualified intensive care nurses' experiences of caring for obese patients in intensive care units. DESIGN: A qualitative hermeneutic approach. METHOD: The study took place in 2016 at intensive care units of two different hospitals. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 13 qualified intensive care nurses. The interviews were analysed according to a Gadamerian-inspired research method. RESULTS: Intensive care nurses perceived caring for obese intensive care patients as emotionally demanding owing to these patients' vulnerability, dissimilarity and physical challenges compared to normal weight patients. They experienced ambivalent feelings caring for these patients: while they endeavoured to provide good and equal care to all patients, they simultaneously held negative beliefs and attitudes towards obese patients. Furthermore, frustration arose among the intensive care nurses relating to the physically demanding care situations and an unwillingness to care for such patients among some colleagues. CONCLUSION: The qualified intensive care nurses' experiences of caring for obese patients revealed ambivalent feelings, attitudes and beliefs towards these patients, which must be considered in intensive care unit practice as well as in the education of these nurses. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The results have implications for clinical practice with respect to increasing intensive care nurses' awareness of their attitudes and beliefs towards obese intensive care patients and to improve the education of these nurses.

Self-care Ability of Older People Living in Urban Areas of Northwestern Iran.

BACKGROUND: Self-care ability was considered as a mechanism to improve the quality of life and reducing the high costs of medical services for elder people. Iran is experiencing increased elder people and healthy aging is one of the challenges. This study aimed to investigate self-care ability of elder people in Shahid Chamran and Dr. Shadpour health complexes, Tabriz- Iran. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study done in 2015. "The Self-care Ability Scale for the Elderly (SASE)" valid and reliable questionnaire (Persian version) was used for data collection. Totally, 220 samples were selected using G-Power 3.1.5 software. Sampling was conducted through systematic random method. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21 software. Descriptive statistics and independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis test and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test were used. RESULTS: The mean of self-care ability in elder people was calculated as 56.69± 15.07 (out of 100). 96.8% of participating elderlies, had poor self-care ability. Significant relations were found between elder people self-care ability and their educational level, life status, employment status, and marital status (P<0.05). However, gender, income source, and insurance status had no relations with self-care ability of the elder people (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Self-care ability of elder people in Tabriz was at weak level. Regarding, health providers must employ the programs to promote older people self-care ability including improving self-esteem, receiving family help, improved nutrition and mental health improving elderly's quality of life.

Psychometric properties of the Persian version of the nutritional form for the elderly (NUFFE) in nursing home residents.

Background: The Nutritional Form for the Elderly (NUFFE) is a newly developed tool. This study aimed to carry out a psychometric evaluation of the Persian version of NUFFE (NUFFE-P) among nursing home residents. Methods: Nursing home participant's aged ≥ 60 years (n=97) were enrolled. The inclusion criteria were residency for at least 6 months in the nursing home, and ability to communicate. Exclusion criteria included cognitive impairment, having depressed mood, severe hearing loss, problems in upper and lower extremities also, history of hospital admission during 6 months before enrollment. Anthropometric measures, laboratory tests, three-day food intake, NUFFE-P version, Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), Barthel Index (BI) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) were assessed. The relationship between the NUFFE-P and MNA scores was considered as concurrent validity. Results: The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of NUFFE-P tool was 0.76. The intraclass correlation coefficient for the total score between two raters obtained 0.98 (CI 0.97-0.99). The correlation coefficient between the NUFFE-P and the MNA scores was -0.75 (p<0.01). Four factors were extracted for the NUFFE-P in an exploratory factor analyses. Sensitivity 69.8% and 100% and specificity 75.7% and 85.6% were achieved to detect elderly at medium risk (cutoff=6), and at high risk of under-nutrition (cutoff=11) respectively. Conclusion: The NUFFE-P has sufficient psychometric properties in nutritional status screening among the Iranian elderly nursing homes residents.

Advancing beyond the system: telemedicine nurses' clinical reasoning using a computerised decision support system for patients with COPD - an ethnographic study.

BACKGROUND: Telemedicine is changing traditional nursing care, and entails nurses performing advanced and complex care within a new clinical environment, and monitoring patients at a distance. Telemedicine practice requires complex disease management, advocating that the nurses' reasoning and decision-making processes are supported. Computerised decision support systems are being used increasingly to assist reasoning and decision-making in different situations. However, little research has focused on the clinical reasoning of nurses using a computerised decision support system in a telemedicine setting. Therefore, the objective of the study is to explore the process of telemedicine nurses' clinical reasoning when using a computerised decision support system for the management of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The factors influencing the reasoning and decision-making processes were investigated. METHODS: In this ethnographic study, a combination of data collection methods, including participatory observations, the think-aloud technique, and a focus group interview was employed. Collected data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: When telemedicine nurses used a computerised decision support system for the management of patients with complex, unstable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, two categories emerged: "the process of telemedicine nurses' reasoning to assess health change" and "the influence of the telemedicine setting on nurses' reasoning and decision-making processes". An overall theme, termed "advancing beyond the system", represented the connection between the reasoning processes and the telemedicine work and setting, where being familiar with the patient functioned as a foundation for the nurses' clinical reasoning process. CONCLUSION: In the telemedicine setting, when supported by a computerised decision support system, nurses' reasoning was enabled by the continuous flow of digital clinical data, regular video-mediated contact and shared decision-making with the patient. These factors fostered an in-depth knowledge of the patients and acted as a foundation for the nurses' reasoning process. Nurses' reasoning frequently advanced beyond the computerised decision support system recommendations. Future studies are warranted to develop more accurate algorithms, increase system maturity, and improve the integration of the digital clinical information with clinical experiences, to support telemedicine nurses' reasoning process.

Testing and comparing two self-care-related instruments among older Chinese adults.

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to test and compare the reliability and validity, including sensitivity and specificity of the two self-care-related instruments, the Self-care Ability Scale for the Elderly (SASE), and the Appraisal of Self-care Agency Scale-Revised (ASAS-R), among older adults in the Chinese context. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was used to conduct this study. The sample consisted of 1152 older adults. Data were collected by a questionnaire including the Chinese version of SASE (SASE-CHI), the Chinese version of ASAS-R (ASAS-R-CHI) and the Exercise of Self-Care Agency scale (ESCA). Homogeneity and stability, content, construct and concurrent validity, and sensitivity and specificity were assessed. RESULTS: The Cronbach's alpha (α) of SASE-CHI was 0.89, the item-to-total correlations ranged from r = 0.15 to r = 0.81, and the test-retest correlation coefficient (intra-class correlation coefficient, ICC) was 0.99 (95% CI, 0.99-1.00; P<0.001). The Cronbach's α of ASAS-R-CHI was 0.78, the item-to-total correlations ranged from r = 0.20 to r = 0.65, and the test-retest ICC was 0.95 (95% CI, 0.92-0.96; P<0.001). The content validity index (CVI) of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI was 0.96 and 0.97, respectively. The findings of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA and CFA) confirmed a good construct validity of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI. The Pearson's rank correlation coefficients, as a measure of concurrent validity, between total score of SASE-CHI and ESCA and ASAS-R-CHI and ESCA were assessed to 0.65 (P<0.001) and 0.62 (P<0.001), respectively. Regarding ESCA as the criterion, the area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve for the cut-point of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI were 0.93 (95% CI, 0.91-0.94) and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.80-0.86), respectively. CONCLUSION: There is no significant difference between the two instruments. Each has its own characteristics, but SASE-CHI is more suitable for older adults. The key point is that the users can choose the most appropriate scale according to the specific situation.

Who often feels lonely? A cross-sectional study about loneliness and its related factors among older home-dwelling people.

AIM AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence of individuals who often feel lonely among a sample of Norwegian older home-dwelling people aged ≥65 years old, as well as to identify any possible factors explaining their loneliness. BACKGROUND: Loneliness is known to be common among older people. To identify those older adults who are lonely, and to acquire knowledge about the complexity of their loneliness, is important to provide them with adequate help and support. DESIGN: This study employed a cross-sectional design. METHOD: A questionnaire was mailed to a randomised sample of 6,033 older home-dwelling persons aged ≥65 years. A total of 2,052 persons returned the questionnaire and were included in the study. The questionnaire consisted of questions asking whether the subjects often felt lonely or not, as well as health-related and background questions and instruments to measure the participants' sense of coherence, mental problems, nutritional screening and self-care ability. The data were analysed using univariate and multivariate statistical methods. RESULTS: A total of 11.6% of the participants reported often feeling lonely. Six factors emerged to be independently associated with often feeling lonely among the respondents: Living alone, not being satisfied with life, having mental problems, a weak sense of coherence, not having contact with neighbours and being at risk for undernutrition. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows that often feeling lonely among older home-dwelling persons is a health-related problem that includes social, psychological and physical aspects. Moreover, these persons have limited resources to overcome feelings of loneliness. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Lasting loneliness among older home-dwelling persons requires an overall, person-centred and time-consuming approach by nurses. Nurses with advanced knowledge on geriatric nursing may be required to offer appropriate care and support. Healthcare leaders and politicians should offer possibilities for adequate assessment, support and help.

To be a trained and supported volunteer in palliative care - a phenomenological study.

BACKGROUND: It has been found that including volunteers in palliative care is a positive contribution to seriously ill patients. It is, however, recommended that the volunteers are trained and supported. The aim of this study was to describe a group of trained and supported volunteers' lived experiences as volunteers in palliative care within the community health care services. METHODS: This study adopted a descriptive phenomenological approach featuring individual interviews with nine volunteers. The interviews were analysed using the descriptive phenomenological research method according to Giorgi. RESULTS: Being a volunteer in palliative care was both a positive and meaningful experience. It was a privilege being able to help those in need, which yielded positive returns. As a volunteer, it was important to be present for the ill persons and to follow them in their various physical and psychical states, which also implied that the volunteer had to face and deal with challenging situations. However, volunteers stated it was crucial to possess knowledge and life experience, as well as a clarified role, and they stressed the importance of being followed up by a mentor. CONCLUSIONS: The findings showed that trained and supported volunteers among seriously ill or dying people within the realm of community health care services play an independent and important role in the palliative care team. A coordinator in palliative care is especially suitable for training and supporting the volunteers.