Journal of advanced nursing
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The concept of the lecturer practitioner arose in one health authority in Britain in the late 1980s. Since its inception there, the concept has been widely adopted across the country suggesting that there is a perceived need for this role. ⋯ Through a review of all the available literature on this concept, the attributes, antecedents and consequences are identified and their implications discussed. Rodgers' evolutionary method is described and critiqued throughout the paper and is shown to be a suitable method for clarifying a complex concept.
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Fatigue is a frequently reported symptom by persons with HIV infection and one that has an adverse impact on activities of daily living and overall quality of life. Although the concept of fatigue has been studied extensively and discussed in the literature, little is known about the experience of fatigue by persons with HIV infection. A hermeneutic phenomenological study was conducted to investigate the subjective experience of HIV-associated fatigue and to describe the management of fatigue in the context of daily life. ⋯ A second concern was 'The mind, the body, the social experience of fatigue'. The third concern was 'Choosing ways to live with fatigue and addiction'. The findings provide insights for nursing practice regarding the subjective meaning of fatigue for patients with HIV and the need for nurses to explore this topic with patients.
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While surveys of Australian nurses' attitudes to active voluntary euthanasia (AVE) have found that the majority are in favour, there may be important differences between subgroups of nurses. This paper investigates the role of the following nurse characteristics on nurses' attitudes to AVE: age, gender, religion, amount of contact with terminally ill patients, area of specialty, and degree of interest taken in the issue of AVE. A postal survey on AVE was carried out in late 1996 of 2000 randomly selected registered nurses from the Australian Capital Territory. ⋯ Palliative care nurses were the only subgroup without a majority in favour (33%). There is other evidence in the euthanasia literature, that nurses and doctors are less in favour of AVE than the general public. Taken together with the present findings, it can be concluded that attitudes towards AVE are more favourable in people who have less contact with the terminally ill.
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Historical Article
Analgesia and anaesthesia in childbirth: obscurantism and obfuscation.
The terms 'analgesia' and 'anaesthesia' have been defined by emphasizing differing aspects of their effects. The distinction between these interventions has not been clarified by their definitions. ⋯ This lack of clarity is apparent in the introduction of chloroform in childbirth, which has much in common with the introduction and effects of epidural analgesia. The reasons for and benefits of this lack of clarity are examined.
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Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) is a method of assessing the sensitivity and specificity of a classification at a variety of thresholds. It allows a quantitative comparison of several classifiers. It was used in this study to compare doctors and nurses with respect to their ability to diagnose X-rays. ⋯ The interpretations of doctors and nurse practitioners were compared with the gold standard of the consultant radiologist. No significant differences were seen between the two groups. This study is based on work done for a master's thesis by one of the authors (Overton) supervised by the other author.