Contemp Nurse
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Review
Mechanisms and classifications of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: a literature review.
COPD is a prevalent chronic health condition secondary to only heart disease and stroke. A review of the literature reveals whilst smoking is the most common aetiological factor, environmental and occupational pollutions, genetic predisposition, hyper-responsive airways and respiratory infections are additional mechanisms to the development of COPD in susceptible individuals. ⋯ However, there are inconsistent parameters of disease severity between each of the international respiratory bodies, which must influence reporting of outcomes. This paper reviews the literature reports of the mechanisms; systemic effects, disease-staging systems used in COPD and the relationship between disease severity and health outcomes.
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Domestic violence against women within their childbearing years can lead to serious injury and death of both the mother and infant. Evidence suggests that women are particularly vulnerable to domestic violence during pregnancy and the post-natal period. During pregnancy and the post-natal period women are more likely to come into contact with health workers who are uniquely positioned to identify and support women experiencing domestic violence. ⋯ Identified within this review is that there is a paucity of literature that explores domestic violence against women throughout the childbearing years, in particular the postnatal period. This is especially so in relation to women's experiential accounts. Examination of the literature also reveals that the issue of domestic violence against childbearing women is poorly addressed by health care professionals.
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Resilience refers to a dynamic process that results in adaptation in the context of significant adversity (Margalit 2004). The concept of resilience has been of interest to various professional groups for many years; however, it is only recently that the nursing profession has begun to recognise its potential contribution in diverse clinical contexts. ⋯ Further theoretical clarification of the ways in which individuals transform stressful experiences into opportunities for increased growth may contribute to nursing knowledge in the form of better understanding of the resilience concept in the context of identifying strategies that build it.
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A research study was conducted to investigate women's experience of being well during the peri-menopause because much of the research investigating the experience of menopause has concentrated on its problematic and pathological aspects. For the majority of western women the reproductive transition of menopause is not problematic, however, the nature of the unproblematic or healthy menopause has not been investigated. The aim in conducting this research was to enhance understanding of the experience of being healthy or well during menopause. ⋯ It is elusive because it is a non-problematic state, thus difficult to mark out by measurement, events or experiences. In wellness, nothing 'stands out' to notice, observe or disrupt as it does in illness (van Manen 1990). Nevertheless, the term wellness describes a particular and recognisable state of being which, in this study, is revealed through interpretative analysis of post-menopausal women's descriptions of their experiences.
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In an era when patient safety and quality of care are a daily concern for health care professionals, it is important for nurse managers and other clinical leaders to have a repertoire of skills and interventions that can be used to motivate and engage clinical teams in risk assessment and continuous quality improvement at the level of patient care delivery. This paper describes how a cohort of clinical leaders who were undertaking a leadership development program used a relatively simple, patient-focused intervention called the 'observation of care' to help focus the clinical team's attention on areas for improvement within the clinical setting. ⋯ The observations of care also provided the CLs with many opportunities to acknowledge and celebrate exemplary practice as it was observed as a means of enhancing the development of a quality and safety culture within the clinical setting. The 'observation of care' intervention can be used by Clinical Leader's to engage and motivate clinical teams to focus on continuously improving the safety and quality of their own work environment and the care delivered to patients within that environment.