Nurses--Attitudes

This study explored the attitudes of emergency department nurses toward the care of the attempted suicide patient. The independent variables were the ages of nurses and their length of work experience in the emergency department. One-hundred and one surveys were collected from emergency department nurses employed in three Broward County hospitals. In general, there were no significant differences between the two study groups; however, variances did appear in several areas relating to knowledge about attempted suicide. The less experienced group and the younger group rated lower on these items. The nurses responding to this survey expressed generally favorable attitudes toward the care of the attempted suicide patient.

The purpose of this study was to explore, through a descriptive method, views of registered nurses and unlicensed assistive personnel about their roles. Data sources included interviews with three registered nurses and three unlicensed assistive workers practicing in partnership on an acute patient care unit. Study findings supported role theory assertions that role strain and stress, manifested as role ambiguity, role confusion, role overlapping, and role overload occur when the role transition process and role expectations are not clarified or nurtured among role partners. Implications for nursing practice include the following: (1) Nurses in clinical and administrative practice need to be sensitized to the importance of nurses and ancillary personnel being active participants in the work redesign process, and must support the value of caring that transpires in the nurse-patient relationship. (2) Role theory can be utilized to understand dynamics that occur in work settings of nurses and assistive partners.

This qualitative study of the phenomenon of nurse providing care to a client that the nurse does not like or determines to be unpopular was conducted with five professional nurses, who had experienced the phenomenon. Phenomenological method guided the inquiry through the narrative descriptions, from which essential descriptive themes of secrecy, avoidance, internalized conflict, specialness, and unfinishedness were uncovered and revealed by dwelling with the material. The implications for nursing education, nursing practice and nursing research are discussed.

Patients and nurses have been found to perceive support differently. This exploratory study was undertaken to: (a) identify those nursing behaviors perceived by emergency department patients as supportive, and (b) to identify the importance emergency room patients give to various nursing behaviors on a checklist. A sample of 30 emergency department patients completed a guided interview and the Supportive Nursing Behavior Checklist. The perceived attitude of the nurse toward the patient and the availability of the nurse to the patient were the most important factors influencing patients' perceptions of support. The nurse being friendly and cheerful were the most important behaviors. The study has implications for nursing practice, nursing administration and nursing education. Suggestions are also given for further research.

The aim of this investigation is twofold: first, to describe the lived experience of hearing the call for nursing, from the perspective of the nurse; and, second, to illuminate nursing knowledge through an interpretation of the phenomenon's meaning in nursing practice. Phenomenological hermeneutical inquiry, as applied by van Manen (1990) and modified by Munhall (1990) guided the investigation. Expressions of the lived experience of seven participants were ultimately captured by the researcher in the form of hermeneutic phenomenologic writings. The findings of the research are discussed with their subsequent relevance, implications, and significance for the art and science of nursing practice. Hearing being mutually sharing meaning with human vulnerability revealing feeling nursing.

The purpose of this study was to examine nursing's values as they are lived day-to-day in nursing practice. A nurse's story, a reflective remembrance of a nursing situation, was explored for the illumination of nursing's values embedded in the service activities of the nurse. Using qualitative descriptive content analysis, the story was studied for significant statements depicting activities of the nurse and for the values guiding those activities. The analysis revealed three transcendent values, reflected in every activity: Caring, respect for the dignity of the other, and inner harmony. The analysis further revealed eight actualizing values, individually embodying the transcendent values: compassion, competence, courage, humility, honesty, commitment, trust and hope. The wholeness of the inquiry is presented using metaphor to illuminate the meaning of nursing's values in nursing practice.

This study analyzes the impact of a selected associate degree
nursing program upon the attitudes of students toward death. An
instrument, "Attitudes Towards Death," was developed for use in the
study and was administered to a randomly selected sample of 122 freshmen,
84 sophomore and 46 graduate nurses. Analysis of each group's
responses and comparisons among the group were made using several
statistical procedures. The results were as follows:
1. There were no significant differences in attitudes towards
death of beginning freshman associate degree nursing students, graduating
sophomore associate degree nursing students, and graduate associate
degree nurses working in nursing.
2. There were no significant differences between freshman and
sophomore nursing students in the following subscales: fear of death
of self, fear of death of others, fear of dying of others, general
attitude, and inconsistency of attitude. There was a significant difference on the fear of dying of self.
3. There were no significant differences between freshman
nursing students and graduate nurses on any of the six death attitude
subscales.
4. There were no significant differences between sophomore
nursing students and graduate nurses on any of the six death attitude
subscales. 5. Among the demographic variables the following chi-square
subscale correlations were significant: personal meaning that the
subject attached to the concept of death, and the fear of death of
self, fear of dying of self, general attitude, and inconsistency of
attitude; degree of religiosity and fear of death of self, fear of
dying of others, general attitude, and inconsistency of attitude;
desire to be told of a terminal illness and fear of death of self,
fear of dying of self, and fear of dying of others; amount of nursing
experience and inconsistency of attitude; marital status and fear of
death of others, and area of clinical specialization and fear of death
of others. The variables of age , income, and first personal involvement
with death had no significant chi-square subscale correlations.