International journal of nursing studies
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Nurses have been involved in prescribing in England since 1996, and to date over 41,000 nurses are registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council as prescribers. The majority of evaluative research on nurse prescribing is descriptive and relies on self-report and assessment of patient satisfaction. ⋯ The effects of social and institutional factors are important in the decision-making process. The lack of appropriate pharmacological knowledge coupled with lack of confidence in prescribing was demonstrated. The scenarios used in this study indicate that nurses are perhaps knowledgeable in their small area of practise but flounder outside this. Further research could be conducted with a larger sample and with more scenarios to explore the decision-making and the pharmacological knowledge base of nurse prescribers, particularly in the light of government policy to extend prescribing rights to non-medical prescribers, including pharmacists.
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Studies addressing nurses' traits to improve the quality of nurse-physician communication exist, whereas only a few studies exploring physicians' traits as communication barriers are conducted. ⋯ The questionnaire survey confirmed that opinions provided by interviewees in the pilot study were widely shared by other Japanese nurses. The study revealed that communication barriers between nurses and physicians are caused by the physicians' reluctance to communicate with nurses and the doctors' emotional difficulties.
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Frail elderly people admitted to hospital often receive help from relatives in managing their daily lives. These relatives are likely to continue to feel responsible after admission, and to hold valuable knowledge, which may contribute to decision-making related to care and treatment. ⋯ Although the nurses could be seen as mere victims of conflicting values, there appeared to be potential for improving collaboration practice within the restrictions of macro level factors by interventions at the micro level.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine and synthesise the literature on alternating pressure air mattresses (APAMs) as a preventive measure for pressure ulcers. ⋯ Taking into account the methodological issues, we can conclude that APAMs are likely to be more effective than standard hospital mattresses. Contact interface pressure and blood perfusion give only a hypothetical conclusion about APAMs' effectiveness. Additional large, high-quality RCTs are needed. No conclusions can be drawn regarding the comfort of APAMs. A number of technical problems associated with APAMs are related to nurses' improper use of the devices.
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Accurate assessment of family health need is a core health visiting skill, requiring considerable knowledge and expertise. To date, there has been only limited empirical examination of the types of knowledge and ways of knowing which are likely to influence health visiting practice during family health needs assessments. ⋯ This paper will explicate some of the many elements associated with the processes of identifying and assessing family health needs. It endeavours to unravel some of the complexity and intricacies of these processes and provide insights into health visitors' practical 'know-how'.