Journal of advanced nursing
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Cultural safety is a concept which has been developed by Maori nurses in New Zealand in order to reflect on nursing practice from their point of view as the indigenous minority in our country. The paper contrasts this new concept critically with Leininger's well-known model of transcultural nursing in order to suggest its potential significance. ⋯ The paper concludes that until the effects on the health care system of inequalities in power between groups in society are addressed we cannot ensure that the needs of persons from minority cultures will be met. Because it illuminates this dimension of nursing care, cultural safety is a concept of general significance for all nurses.
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This review aims to document the effectiveness of relaxation techniques, when used alone for the management of acute pain, after surgery and during procedures. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was undertaken. Seven studies involving 362 patients were eligible for this review. ⋯ However, this was not conclusive and many of both the positive and the negative studies suffered from methodological inadequacies. Well designed and executed randomized controlled trials are needed before the clinical use of relaxation in acute pain management can be firmly underpinned by good quality research evidence. Until this evidence is available we recommend that the clinical use of relaxation in acute pain settings is carefully evaluated and not used as the main treatment for the management of acute pain.
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This study was a replication of an earlier Cochran & Ganong study that investigated the perception of nurses and patients regarding the stressors faced by patients in the intensive care unit environment. As the original study was American in origin, one of the aims of the present study was to discover if the results would be replicated in a United Kingdom (UK) intensive care unit. Data collection was by the use of an environmental stress questionnaire that was an adaptation of the original data collection tool modified for use in a UK intensive care unit. ⋯ Similarities were noted between subject groups as to the nature of the stressors, although nurses tended to rate items over which they believed they had control as being more stressful than did the patients. Patients tended to rate items related to their illness and physical comfort as being most stressful. The results are in keeping with those from the Cochran & Ganong study.