Video streaming: Implementation and evaluation in an undergraduate nursing program

Video streaming technology enables video content, held on the web sites, to be streamed via the web. We report the implementation and evaluation of video streaming in an undergraduate nursing program in a metropolitan university in Australia. Students (n = 703) were emailed a survey with a 15% response rate. We found that 91% (n = 74) of respondents stated that video streaming assisted their learning. Forty-six percent(n = 50) of students had difficulty accessing video streaming (particularly at the beginning of the study period). Over a 97-day period there were 8440 “hits” to the site from 1039 different internet protocol (IP) addresses. There were 4475 video streaming sessions undertaken by users. Video streaming was used for reviewing previously attended lectures (52%, n = 56), examination preparation (34%, n = 37), viewing missed lectures (27%, n = 29) and class preparation (9%, n = 10). Our experience with the introduction of video streaming has met with general enthusiasm from both students and teaching staff. Video streaming has particular relevance for rural students.

Quality nephrology nursing care : beyond Kt/V

Ask nephrology nurses about the care in their hemodialysis units and they will probably say that high quality care is provided. This perception may reflect a genuine pride in their own and their colleagues' hemodialysis services, however, the meaning of high quality dialysis care remains unclear. Quality is often framed in terms of the high percentage of patients receiving a Kt/V of greater than 1.2 or 1.4. The unfortunate inference here is that high quality hemodialysis care is defined as the waste clearing service of the urea molecule. Defining quality in this narrow way conflicts with the caring and compassionate nursing ethic. Furthermore, it places a high value on a single mathematically derived formula that ignores many other indicators of quality dialysis care. In this article, the authors examine some historical, political, and technical features of Kt/V and use the metaphor of a hangover to illustrate the overuse of Kt/V, arguing that nurses have embraced Kt/V at the expense of other core elements of dialysis nursing care.

Satellite dialysis nursing : technology, caring and power

Aim. This paper is a report of an exploration of nurses’ perceptions of the quality of satellite dialysis care and how aspects of power that influenced quality nursing care.

Background. In Australia, the majority of people living with established kidney failure undertake haemodialysis in nurse-run satellite dialysis units. Haemodialysis nurses provide the majority of care, and their perceptions of what constitutes quality nursing care may influence their care of the person receiving haemodialysis.

Method. A critical ethnographic study was conducted where data were collected from one metropolitan satellite dialysis unit in Australia over a 12-month period throughout 2005. The methods included non-participant observation, interviews, document analysis, reflective field notes and participant feedback.

Findings. Three theoretical constructs were identified: ‘What is quality?’, ‘What is not quality?’ and What influences quality?’ Nurses considered technical knowledge, technical skills and personal respect as characteristics of quality. Long-term blood pressure management and arranging transport for people receiving dialysis treatment were not seen to be priorities for quality care. The person receiving dialysis treatment, management, nurse and environment were considered major factors determining quality dialysis nursing care.

Conclusion. Aspects of power and oppression operated for nurses and people receiving dialysis treatment within the satellite dialysis context, and this environment was perceived by the nurses as very different from hospital dialysis units.

Research and diabetes nursing. Part 2 : process of critical review

This article is the second in a six-part series addressing research and the DSN. Crirical review is a key aspect of research and evidencebased care and, therefore, of clinical and professional practice. Critical review is an analytical and reflective process that involves judging the quality of research publicarions and their relevance to practice. This article oudines key aspects of how to review publications and conference presentations, how critical review applies to clinical care, and how this process om help develop writing and critical thinking skills. Also addressed are the general aspects of critical review, and a list of further reading and useful websites is provided. Specific considerations for particular research methods such as quantitative, qualitative, evaluation studies and audits will be addressed in later articles in the series.

Using relationship-building in event profiling for digital forensic investigations

In a forensic investigation, computer profiling is used to capture evidence and to examine events surrounding a crime. A rapid increase in the last few years in the volume of data needing examination has led to an urgent need for automation of profiling. In this paper, we present an efficient, automated event profiling approach to a forensic investigation for a computer system and its activity over a fixed time period. While research in this area has adopted a number of methods, we extend and adapt work of Marrington et al. based on a simple relational model. Our work differs from theirs in a number of ways: our object set (files, applications etc.) can be enlarged or diminished repeatedly during the analysis; the transitive relation between objects is used sparingly in our work as it tends to increase the set of objects requiring investigative attention; our objective is to reduce the volume of data to be analyzed rather than extending it. We present a substantial case study to illuminate the theory presented here. The case study also illustrates how a simple visual representation of the analysis could be used to assist a forensic team.

Good lives model applied to a forensic population

According to the good lives model (GLM) all human beings seek primary goods (i.e., activities or experiences that benefit them) and offending reflects attempts to pursue these goods in ways that are unacceptable to society and damaging to the individual and others. The aim of this article was to explore how the GLM can be developed for use with a forensic population, a heterogeneous group of individuals whose common feature is the interface of the criminal justice and mental health systems. The conceptual, clinical and philosophical implications of using the good lives model of forensic mental health (GLM-FM) are explored. Three case studies are used to illustrate the ways in which the enriched model can provide a holistic approach to conceptualizing offending that occurs in the context of mental illness and in guiding treatment planning. It is suggested that the augmented model provides a clinically flexible and ethically sound framework for formulating treatment issues for forensic patients.

Rehabilitation frameworks in forensic mental health

This paper examines current rehabilitation approaches to Forensic Mental Health Care. On this basis the authors identified three broad approaches to forensic mental health assessment and treatment: (1) Risk/Needs/Responsivity; (2) therapeutic models targeting individual psychopathologies; and (3) strength based models. Following a review of each model the authors conclude that strength based approaches such as the Good Lives Model has theoretical and practical advantages over the other two rehabilitation frameworks.

Human rights and forensic psychology

Objectives. Human rights serve to orientate practitioners to the necessary conditions for a minimally worthwhile life for service users, the prerequisites for a life of dignity and a chance at happiness, and the opportunity to incorporate into their life plans cherished values and goals. In this introduction to the special section paper, I discuss the basic concept of human rights and outline their relevance for clinical practice with offenders.

Method. I explore the core values associated with human rights and suggest that one of their primary functions is to protect the internal and external conditions of individuals' agency and their pursuit of better lives.

Conclusion. I briefly outline the three articles comprising this special section of LCP on human rights that address issues of risk, therapeutic jurisprudence, and the rights of detained persons.

Human dignity and vulnerable agency : an ethical framework for forensic practice

In this paper, we present an integrated ethical framework that covers the different levels of ethical tasks inherent in forensic and correctional work. First, we briefly give an overview of the ethical framework and its component notion of human dignity. Second we analyze in depth the concept of dignity and its relationship to normative theories and ethical concepts that are particularly relevant for forensic practitioners. Third, we explore the capacity of the conceptions of human dignity and vulnerable agency to integrate principles typically contained in ethical codes and practice, such as beneficence, autonomy, and justice. Fourth, we discuss how conflict between ethical codes or duties of station adhered to by practitioners can be effectively addressed in light of the model of dignity and agency outlined earlier. Fifth, we explain how individuals' specific ethical judgments and actions should proceed in light of our framework model.

Ethical issues in forensic and correctional research

It is surprising that while the literature on ethical issues associated with social science research is burgeoning and becoming increasingly sophisticated very few papers have been written on the ethics of forensic or correctional research. The literature that exists is disappointingly narrow and superficial, and relies on professional ethical codes to a considerable degree. In this paper we present an ethical framework developed by Ward and Syversen to help with ethical decision making in research contexts. We then discuss some of the specific ethical challenges for researchers working in forensic and correctional domains, and consider how best to deal with ethical problems drawing from this framework. Our aim will be to provide researchers with some general ideas of how to proceed in certain situations rather than come up with a final set of answers to every conceivable problem.