The governance of specialist nursing education and professional practice

Researching the governance frameworks supporting specialist nursing education and practice attests to deficiencies with the frameworks, and incongruence between expectations of academics, regulators and the profession for performance outcomes. The thesis argues for an evidence based governance infrastructure for national application and establishment of functional cross sectoral partnerships.

Canadian nursing students' coping strategies for learning online

This research reports on the experiences of Canadian nursing students as they coped with learning online, exploring the strategies that they used to learn effectively. The findings identified aspects of course design and online facilitation that will help students cope with the lack of social presence in the online environment.

Nurses tell their stories about the art of nursing using a feminist process

Explores what the Art of Nursing was perceived to be by a group of experienced nurses as identified in stories from their practice. Feminist principles were used in the project.

Ritual and nursing

The literature reveals that much of nursing comprises ritualized activity and behaviour and that these rituals have a significant impact on nursing practice. This study uses an ethnographic approach to uncover the meaning of ritual and its impact on nursing practice by examining the rituals embedded in Intravenous therapy management of four registered nurses working in two surgical wards in South Australia.

Exploration of the current scope and future direction of perioperative nursing practice in Victoria

The study was descriptive and exploratory utilising survey methodology. The major outcome was a list of recommendations encompassing educational, professional, and management issues.

The learning experience of nursing students in a clinical setting

Analysed the experiences of nine baccalaureate degree nursing students in their final year of a School of Nursing in a small provincial acute hospital setting in New Zealand. The findings draw attention to the factors influencing the nursing student's learning experience, and create an awareness for favourable change.

Nursing care of clients treated with atypical antipsychotics who have a risk of developing metabolic instability and/or type 2 diabetes

Objective : The aim of this article is to present a current discussion related to the nursing care of clients treated with atypical antipsychotic medicines and who have a risk of developing metabolic instability and/or Type 2 diabetes. The importance of such a discussion is to provide both the novice and the experienced nurse with additional knowledge of this current health issue with which to inform their nursing practice.

Discussion : The potential for psychosis to be a chronic condition is very high, and often people require antipsychotic medicine for lengthy periods throughout their lives. Sometimes, treatment is for life. The second generation of antipsychotic medicines was greeted with much enthusiasm since it was better tolerated than the first generation. However, each medication has desired and adverse effects and, when taken for lengthy periods, these effects may produce physical illness. Studies show that the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome was significantly higher in clients with a chronic psychiatric disorder, particularly schizophrenia.

Conclusions : Metabolic instability, especially weight gain, is associated with some psychotropic medicines. Nursing interventions need to include care assessment, planning, intervention, and evaluation for clients treated with antipsychotic medicines in terms of risk minimization strategies in routine nursing care.