Nursing & health sciences
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Nursing & health sciences · Dec 2011
Music as a nursing intervention: effects of music listening on blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate in abdominal surgery patients.
Contradictory results have been presented on how music listening affects patients' blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of music listening on blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate on operation day, and on the first, second, and third postoperative days in abdominal surgery patients. Using a quasi-experimental pretest-post-test design, 168 abdominal surgery patients were assigned every second week to the music group (n=83) or to the control group (n=85) for 25 months. ⋯ A significant reduction in systolic blood pressure was demonstrated in the group that received music compared with the control group on both the first and second postoperative days. Evaluation of the long-term effects of music on physiological factors showed that the respiratory rate in the music group was significantly lower compared with the control group. Nurses should offer music listening to surgery patients because of its potential benefit.
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Nursing & health sciences · Dec 2011
Use of peer assessment as a student engagement strategy in nurse education.
This paper describes how peer assessment was implemented in an undergraduate nursing program in Ireland to enhance student engagement, and reports students' (n=37) experiences of the process. The process involved second year Bachelor of Nursing Science students developing marking criteria and marking two of their colleagues' assignments anonymously. A qualitative descriptive design using focus group interviews was used to collect data on students' experiences. ⋯ The findings revealed that most students enjoyed the process, and that peer assessment facilitates and enhances student engagement. The findings also provide evidence to support the self-regulation theory of learning. A detailed account of the methods used to implement peer assessment is also provided, which might be useful for other nurse educators seeking to implement peer assessment at an undergraduate level.
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Nursing & health sciences · Dec 2011
Attitudes, beliefs, and practices of Sri Lankan nurses toward cancer pain management: an ethnographic study.
Cancer pain is a serious problem that requires specialized nursing knowledge. In the present ethnographic study, we sought to explore the experiences and cancer pain management practices of nurses working at a government hospital in Sri Lanka. Data were collected from October 2007 to January 2008, and were obtained by observing the nurses in a cancer ward, conducting semistructured interviews with 10 participants, and maintaining a research diary. ⋯ Additionally, the nurses are not autonomous, and are required to refer to medical staff for cancer pain management strategies. The nurses work in a task-oriented system that rarely acknowledges cancer patients' pain management needs. This study might improve nursing pain management practices for cancer patients and lead to changes in the curriculum of nursing courses in Sri Lanka.