Journal of advanced nursing
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Comparative Study
Patients' experiences of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia.
The purpose of the study was to investigate retrospectively whether patients (n = 73) who had suffered another disease and/or experienced psychosocial stress at the time of the onset of herpes zoster had experienced a more severe clinical course of herpes zoster, and were more subject to the development of postherpetic neuralgia than other patients (n = 45) with herpes zoster. The interview questionnaire included questions about changes in the patients' daily lives due to neuralgia, and their current living circumstances. ⋯ More of these patients reported that their habits and activities had been negatively affected and they also experienced their current situation as unsatisfactory. These results must, however, be interpreted with caution as the patients' recollection of other diseases and/or psychosocial stress and the patients' current mood due to postherpetic neuralgia at the time of the interview may have influenced the memory and the answers.
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Comparative Study
Developing a translation of the McGill pain questionnaire for cross-cultural comparison: an example from Norway.
The ability to measure pain across diverse cultures is important for understanding the universal aspects of pain and expediting nursing intervention. The McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) is the most valid and reliable single multidimensional pain instrument available for measuring pain. Although it has been translated in several languages, most efforts, including two Norwegian translations, have resulted in a variety of new versions, all lacking sufficient faithfulness to the original MPQ to allow qualitative or quantitative cross-cultural comparisons. ⋯ A visual analogue scale was used to check for converging validity, and Spielberger's state anxiety scale was used to assess discriminate validity. The initial testing of the NMPQ with adult surgical patients suggests that the NMPQ is culturally acceptable, relevant, sensitive to fluctuations in pain and numerically consistent with the original MPQ. The moderate levels of validity attend lend considerable assurance to the instruments readiness for use in cross-cultural studies of pain.
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Comparative Study
Career aspirations, job satisfaction and gender identity in female student nurses.
This study examines the gender-role orientation, gender-role conflict, job commitment and work motivation of female student nurses in the Republic of Ireland. Career aspirations, year of nurse training and geographical area of upbringing were examined as potential concomitants of these dependent measures. Subjects completed self-report measures of job involvement, work motivation, gender-role orientation and gender-role conflict. ⋯ Year of training had a significant and negative influence on work motivation and job commitment. Finally, nurses from rural areas aspiring towards a traditionally female area of nursing had significantly more feminine gender-role orientations than either their urban counterparts or rural colleagues with non-traditional career aspirations. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.