Palliative care knowledge, attitudes and perceived self-competence of nurses working in Vietnam

AIM: To explore palliative care knowledge, attitudes and perceived self-competence of nurses working in oncology settings in Hanoi, Vietnam. METHOD: The study employed a cross-sectional descriptive survey design. The self-administered questionnaires consisted of three validated instruments: the Expertise and Insight Test for Palliative Care, the Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale B and the Palliative Care Nursing Self Competence Scale. The sample consisted of 251 nurses caring for cancer patients in three oncology hospitals in Vietnam. RESULTS: The responses identified low scores in nurses' palliative care knowledge related to pain and other symptom management and psychological and spiritual aspects. Nurses' responses reflected discomfort in communicating about death and establishing therapeutic relationship with oncology patients who require palliative care. Additionally, nurses reported low scores in perceived self-competence when providing pain management and addressing social and spiritual domains of palliative care. The findings also revealed that nurses who had higher palliative care knowledge scores demonstrated attitudes which were more positive and expressed greater perceived self-competence. CONCLUSION: Nurses working in oncology wards need more education to develop their knowledge and skills of palliative care, especially in the areas of pain management, psychological and spiritual care, and communication

A survey of radiographers' confidence and self-perceived accuracy in frontline image interpretation and their continuing educational preferences

Introduction The provision of a written comment on traumatic abnormalities of the musculoskeletal system detected by radiographers can assist referrers and may improve patient management, but the practice has not been widely adopted outside the United Kingdom. The purpose of this study was to investigate Australian radiographers’ perceptions of their readiness for practice in a radiographer commenting system and their educational preferences in relation to two different delivery formats of image interpretation education, intensive and non-intensive. Methods A cross-sectional web-based questionnaire was implemented between August and September 2012. Participants included radiographers with experience working in emergency settings at four Australian metropolitan hospitals. Conventional descriptive statistics, frequency histograms, and thematic analysis were undertaken. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test examined whether a difference in preference ratings between intensive and non-intensive education delivery was evident. Results The questionnaire was completed by 73 radiographers (68% response rate). Radiographers reported higher confidence and self-perceived accuracy to detect traumatic abnormalities than to describe traumatic abnormalities of the musculoskeletal system. Radiographers frequently reported high desirability ratings for both the intensive and the non-intensive education delivery, no difference in desirability ratings for these two formats was evident (z = 1.66,P = 0.11). Conclusions Some Australian radiographers perceive they are not ready to practise in a frontline radiographer commenting system. Overall, radiographers indicated mixed preferences for image interpretation education delivered via intensive and non-intensive formats. Further research, preferably randomised trials, investigating the effectiveness of intensive and non-intensive education formats of image interpretation education for radiographers is warranted.

Estimating the burden of disease attributable to interpersonal violence in South Africa in 2000

Violence, previously considered a social issue, is now an acknowledged public health problem. It is defined as the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against another person, against oneself, or against a group or community, that results in injury, death or deprivation.1 In this study we focus on exposure to the interpersonal type of violence, which includes acts of family violence and community violence. Family violence is further categorised by victim: child, intimate partner, or elder. Community violence occurs among unrelated individuals and includes sexual assault and rape by strangers as well as youth violence...

Interpersonal violence : an important risk factor for disease and injury in South Africa

Background Burden of disease estimates for South Africa have highlighted the particularly high rates of injuries related to interpersonal violence compared with other regions of the world, but these figures tell only part of the story. In addition to direct physical injury, violence survivors are at an increased risk of a wide range of psychological and behavioral problems. This study aimed to comprehensively quantify the excess disease burden attributable to exposure to interpersonal violence as a risk factor for disease and injury in South Africa. Methods The World Health Organization framework of interpersonal violence was adapted. Physical injury mortality and disability were categorically attributed to interpersonal violence. In addition, exposure to child sexual abuse and intimate partner violence, subcategories of interpersonal violence, were treated as risk factors for disease and injury using counterfactual estimation and comparative risk assessment methods. Adjustments were made to account for the combined exposure state of having experienced both child sexual abuse and intimate partner violence. Results Of the 17 risk factors included in the South African Comparative Risk Assessment study, interpersonal violence was the second leading cause of healthy years of life lost, after unsafe sex, accounting for 1.7 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) or 10.5% of all DALYs (95% uncertainty interval: 8.5%-12.5%) in 2000. In women, intimate partner violence accounted for 50% and child sexual abuse for 32% of the total attributable DALYs. Conclusions The implications of our findings are that estimates that include only the direct injury burden seriously underrepresent the full health impact of interpersonal violence. Violence is an important direct and indirect cause of health loss and should be recognized as a priority health problem as well as a human rights and social issue. This study highlights the difficulties in measuring the disease burden from interpersonal violence as a risk factor and the need to improve the epidemiological data on the prevalence and risks for the different forms of interpersonal violence to complete the picture. Given the extent of the burden, it is essential that innovative research be supported to identify social policy and other interventions that address both the individual and societal aspects of violence.

Tactics for teaching evidence-based practice : improving self-efficacy in finding and appraising evidence in a master's evidence-based practice unit

Universal application of evidence-based practice (EBP) is far from a reality with many clinicians feeling ill equipped to adopt this approach in their clinical practice (Melnyk Fineout- Overholt, Feinstein, Sadler, & Green-Hernandez, 2008; Sherriff, Wallis, & Chaboyer, 2007) and, thus, to be an intelligent consumer of evidence (Ciliska, 2005). While recognizing the benefit of EBP, many health professionals have low confidence in their skills for using evidence in clinical settings (Nagy, Lumby, McKinley, &Macfarlane, 2001). Educational initiatives are often recommended for promoting adoption of EBP with much of the focus being on providing knowledge of associated processes. Levin, Melnyk, Fineout-Overholt, Barnes, and Vetter (2011) demonstrated that providing knowledge of EBP process alone does not increase clinicians’ confidence in their ability to apply EBP to their practice...

Fusion of worlds : consumers’ self-narrative in a hybrid physical/digital world

As the Internet becomes deeply embedded into consumers’ daily life, the digital virtual world brings significant influence to consumers’ self and narrative. Prior studies look at consumer self from either from a certain online space or comparing consumers’ physical and digital virtual selves but not the integration of the physical/digital world. This paper aims to explore the meanings of the digital virtual space on consumers’ narrative as a whole (their interests, dreams, or subjectivity). We utilise a postmodern concept of the cyborg to understand the cultural complexity, subjective meanings of, and the extent to which the digital virtual space plays a role in consumers’ self-narrative. We conducted in-depth interviews and gathered three consumer narratives. Our findings indicate that consumers’ narrative contains important fragments from both physical and digital virtual worlds and their physical and digital virtual selves form a feedback loop that strengthen their overall narrative.

Implementing the self-management threshold learning outcome for law : some intentional design strategies from the current curriculum toolbox

There is a growing awareness of the high levels of psychological distress being experienced by law students and the practising profession in Australia. In this context, a Threshold Learning Outcome (TLO) on self-management has been included in the six TLOs recently articulated as minimum learning outcomes for all Australian graduates of the Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB). The TLOs were developed during 2010 as part of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council’s (ALTC’s) project funded by the Australian Government to articulate ‘Learning and Teaching Academic Standards’. The TLOs are the result of a comprehensive national consultation process led by the ALTC’s Discipline Scholars: Law, Professors Sally Kift and Mark Israel.1 The TLOs have been endorsed by the Council of Australian Law Deans (CALD) and have received broad support from members of the judiciary and practising profession, representative bodies of the legal profession, law students and recent graduates, Legal Services Commissioners and the Law Admissions Consultative Committee. At the time of writing, TLOs for the Juris Doctor (JD) are also being developed, utilising the TLOs articulated for the LLB as their starting point but restating the JD requirements as the higher order outcomes expected of graduates of a ‘Masters Degree (Extended)’, this being the award level designation for the JD now set out in the new Australian Qualifications Framework.2 As Australian law schools begin embedding the learning, teaching and assessment of the TLOs in their curricula, and seek to assure graduates’ achievement of them, guidance on the implementation of the self-management TLO is salient and timely.

The applicability of the Precaution Adoption Process Model for understanding self-regulatory driving behaviour among older drivers

1. Introduction The success of self-regulation, in terms of enhancing older drivers’ safety and maintaining their mobility, depends largely upon older drivers’ awareness of the declines in their driving abilities. Therefore, interventions targeted at increasing older drivers’ safety should aim to enhance their awareness of their physical, sensory and cognitive limitations. Moreover, previous research suggests that driving behaviour change may occur through stages and that interventions and feedback may be perceived differently at each stage. 2. Study aims To further understand the process of driving self-regulation among older adults by exploring their perceptions and experiences of self-regulation, using the PAPM as a framework. To investigate the possible impact of feedback on their driving on their decision making process. 3. Methodology Research tool: Qualitative focus groups (n=5 sessions) Recruitment: Posters, media, newspaper advertisement and emails Inclusion criteria: Aged 70 or more, English-speaking, current drivers Participants: Convenience sample of 27 men and women aged 74 to 90 in the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane city, Queensland, Australia. 4. Analysis Thematic analysis was conducted following the process outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006) to identify, analyse and report themes within the data. Four main themes were identified.

How Gordon Ramsay appeals to consumers : effects of self-concept clarity and celebrity meaning on celebrity endorsements

How do celebrities like Gordon Ramsay appeal to consumers? This article examines one explanation. We study how celebrities appeal to consumers in the context of celebrity chefs. We examine how a consumer's self-concept clarity (SCC) interacts with their perception of the meaning that a celebrity endorser possesses. An experiment comparing fictional ads endorsed by different celebrity chefs yields the surprising result that consumers with a clear sense of who they are (high-SCC consumers) are more influenced by an ad featuring a celebrity high in meaning (Ramsay), whereas low-SCC consumers are influenced to slightly higher levels by a celebrity with lower levels of celebrity meaning.

Consumer’s persistence in solving their own problem with self‐service technology

An increasing range of technology services are now offered on a self-service basis. However, problems with self-service technologies (SSTs) occur at times due to the technical error, staff error, or consumers’ own mistakes. Considering the role of consumers as co-producers in the SST context, we aim to study consumer’s behaviours, strategies, and decision making in solving their problem with SST and identify the factors contributing to their persistence in solving the problem. This study contributes to the information systems research, as it is the first study that aims to identify such a process and the factors affecting consumers’ persistence in solving their problem with SST. A focus group with user support staff has been conducted, yielding some initial results that helped to conduct the next phases of the study. Next, using Critical Incident Technique, data will be gathered through focus groups with users, diary method, and think-aloud method.

Exercise barriers self-efficacy : development and validation of a subcale for individuals with cancer-related lymphedema

Background No tool exists to measure self-efficacy for overcoming lymphedema-related exercise barriers in individuals with cancer-related lymphedema. However, an existing scale measures confidence to overcome general exercise barriers in cancer survivors. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop, validate and assess the reliability of a subscale, to be used in conjunction with the general barriers scale, for determining exercise barriers self-efficacy in individuals facing lymphedema-related exercise barriers. Methods A lymphedema-specific exercise barriers self-efficacy subscale was developed and validated using a cohort of 106 cancer survivors with cancer-related lymphedema, from Brisbane, Australia. An initial ten-item lymphedema-specific barrier subscale was developed and tested, with participant feedback and principal components analysis results used to guide development of the final version. Validity and test-retest reliability analyses were conducted on the final subscale. Results The final lymphedema-specific subscale contained five items. Principal components analysis revealed these items loaded highly (> 0.75) on a separate factor when tested with a well-established nine-item general barriers scale. The final five-item subscale demonstrated good construct and criterion validity, high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha=0.93) and test-retest reliability (ICC=0.67, p< 0.01). Conclusions A valid and reliable lymphedema-specific subscale has been developed to assess exercise barriers self-efficacy in individuals with cancer-related lymphedema. This scale can be used in conjunction with an existing general exercise barriers scale to enhance exercise adherence in this understudied patient group.

Domestic violence and family law : criminological concerns

The battered women’s movement in the United States contributed to a sweeping change in the recognition of men’s violence against female intimate partners. Naming the problem and arguing in favor if its identification as a serious problem meriting a collective response were key aspects of this effort. Criminal and civil laws have been written and revised in an effort to answer calls to take such violence seriously. Scholars have devoted significant attention to the consequences of this reframing of violence, especially around the unintended outcomes of the incorporation of domestic violence into criminal justice regimes. Family law, however, has remained largely unexamined by criminologists. This paper calls for criminological attention to family law responses to domestic violence and provides directions for future research.