Journal of advanced nursing
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This paper presents a literature review examining the implications of previous research in order to make evidence-based decisions about the possible use of breathing exercises with adult patients with burns for pain management during wound care. ⋯ It is not possible at this time to base decisions about the use of breathing exercises during wound care in adult patients with burns on research specific to the procedure and patient group. The most suitable relaxation technique for future investigation is concentration on breathing, in combination with jaw relaxation.
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This paper reports a study investigating hospital nurses' experiences of death and dying. ⋯ There is a need to improve communication with patients and families about diagnosis and prognosis to ensure that effective communication takes place and 'blocking behaviour' is avoided. The findings also challenge practitioners to focus attention on death as a process, and to prioritize patients' needs above those of the organization. Moreover, there is the need for guidelines to be developed enabling patients to have a role in shaping events at the end of their lives.
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Comparative Study
Treatment advice in primary care: a comparative study of nurse practitioners and general practitioners.
This paper reports a study comparing the content of talk about treatments by nurse practitioners and general practitioners in order to understand how this might be related to satisfaction. ⋯ Nurses offered more holistic care to these patients and it is likely that this, and the greater provision of information, led to the higher levels of satisfaction found by other investigators. General practitioners are more focused on gathering information directly relevant to diagnosing and treating the immediate presenting complaint. Both types of practitioner may benefit from seeing the detailed illustrations of different approaches provided.
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This paper reports a study of the perceptions of patients and nurses of palliative care and, in particular, the concept of the expert palliative nurse. ⋯ Although the study was conducted in the United Kingdom, the findings have relevance for palliative care practice globally in terms of dependence, issues of patient choice, nurses being interpersonally skilled and building therapeutic relationships with patients.