Academic literature on the topic 'Nurses Victoria Psychology Case studies'

The care of people living with HIV/AIDS in the home and community can be complex and challenging, requiring high levels of knowledge, skill, preparedness and, importantly, the ability to engage with people belonging to marginalised groups. In 2003, the Royal District Nursing Service (RDNS) HIV/AIDS Team in Victoria, Australia, developed the new role of HIV Resource Nurse at two RDNS centres in Melbourne serving high numbers of people living with HIV/AIDS. Drawing from two case studies and interviews with two HIV Resource Nurses from one of the centres, this paper describes this practice innovation. Benefits (including a positive impact on client engagement with services, client care, relationships with other health care workers and job satisfaction) are outlined, along with challenges in the implementation and evolution of the role. Strategies to sustain and develop the HIV Resource Nurse role are proposed.

The aim of the study was to answer the question as to whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is more effective in reducing burnout syndrome in nurses than the commonly used individual psychotherapy. The study included 40 nurses from various health care facilities located in the Lesser Poland and Podkarpackie Voivodeship suffering from burnout syndrome. They were assigned to the experimental group while 20 to the control group. Two different therapy models were used: the experimental group (A) included 20 of the nurses treated with the use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), four times a week for 8 weeks, in sessions that lasted initially 10, then 15, 20, 25 and finally 30 minutes and the control group (B) included 20 of the nurses treated with individual psychotherapy employed for 8 weeks, once a week for 30 minutes. To evaluate the results we used: screening with a clinical interview, the Mini–Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Beck Depression Inventory and a Polish adaptation of the Italian questionnaire created by Massimo Sentinello (LBQ). Treatment was provided. The transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) used in Group A is more effective in reducing many symptoms than is the case with individual psychotherapy. Comparing the intragroup effects, it was found that the tDCS employed in Group A significantly reduced the intensity of depressive symptoms among the surveyed nurses [F (1.38) = 57.62; p <0.001; η2 = 0.603] while the individual psychotherapy used in Group B failed to produce a statistically significant effect [F (1.38) = 1.794; p = 0.188; η2 = 0.045]. These include a reduction of depression, a reduction in chronic psychophysical exhaustion, vegetative problem reduction, and the improvement of nurse-patient relations. Neurotherapy with the use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is more effective in reducing burnout syndrome than the commonly used individual psychotherapy. It also helps to return these nurses to full professional activity. The studies presented above recommend the use of new neurotechnologies in therapy as a result of their usefulness and non-invasive character.

ABSTRACTBackground:There are no studies that have identified the ability to recognize and manage delirium among Italian health providers caring for patients at risk. Therefore, the Italian Association of Psychogeriatrics (AIP) conducted a multicenter survey among doctors, nurses, psychologists and physiotherapists to assess their competence regarding the theme of delirium and its management in the everyday clinical practice.Methods:The survey period was 1st June 2013 to 30th November 2013. The invitation to participate was sent via email, with publication on the AIP website. The survey included 14 questions and two case vignettes.Results:A total of 648/1,500 responses were collected. Most responders were doctors (n= 322/800), followed by nurses (n= 225/500), psychologists (n= 51/100), and physiotherapists (n= 30/100). Generally, doctors and psychologists correctly defined delirium, while nurses and physiotherapists did not. The most frequently used diagnostic tools were the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV. Delirium intensity was rarely assessed. Hypoactive delirium was generally managed with non-pharmacological approaches, while hyperactive delirium with a combination of non-pharmacological and pharmacological approaches. However, possible causes of delirium were under-assessed by half of doctors and by the majority of other professionals. Nurses, psychologists and physiotherapists did not answer the case vignettes, while doctors identified the correct answer in most cases.Conclusions:This is the first Italian survey among health providers caring for patients at risk of delirium. This is also the first survey including doctors, nurses, psychologists and physiotherapists. The results emphasize the importance of training to improve knowledge of this relevant unmet medical need.

The purpose of this article is to examine the disconnect happening in relation to family–centre partnerships. Developing partnerships with families is hotly debated and provides challenges for educators teaching in the early childhood sector. Using a comparative case study analysis, several research studies conducted in the states of New South Wales and Victoria, Australia, are examined to illustrate these disconnects. These issues are examined within Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia, a national framework that is common to all programs across Australia, which identifies practice, principles and learning outcomes for young children. This disconnect is related to the language that is used by the early childhood staff and misunderstood by the parents, the ways communication occurs and its ineffectiveness. The article argues that there is a need to move beyond the current rhetoric of engaging in partnerships with families to a space that allows for transparency, reciprocity and new language.

Autonomy is considered to be one of the central ethical principles of health care practice and as such is a significantly relevant concept for health care practitioners. With the many political and ideological drivers that challenge the way health care for older people is currently delivered, it is important to consider how the autonomy of older people is facilitated in everyday practice. In this paper I challenge the dominant understanding of autonomy as ‘individualism’. Through research undertaken with nurses who work with older people, it identifies the conflicts that arise between an individualistic understanding of autonomy set alongside an emphasis on ‘person-centred’ practice.Data were collected by recording ‘naturally occurring’ conversations between nurses, patients and associated practitioners. Primary nurses recorded conversations occurring between them and four patients throughout their hospital stay. In addition, a recognised expert gerontological nurse and a community nurse specialist participated as a means of testing out initial themes generated by the primary nurses. A total of 14 case studies were recorded. The data were analysed using principles of conversation analysis and thematic analysis set within a hermeneutic interpretive framework. In order to illuminate presentations of autonomy in practice, focus group discussions with nurses and older people were used as part of the interpretative process. I discuss the factors that prevented the operationalisation of an individualised rights-based concept of autonomy for older people. Issues including information-giving, the conversation style of nurses, internal and external constraints and patients' competence to decide are considered. In addition, the role of families in decision-making is addressed. The paper ends with a discussion of an alternative view of autonomy based on ‘interconnectedness’ in the nurse-patient relationship. This perspective is not based on either the patient or nurse being the ‘final arbiter’ of decisions, but is instead set within a framework of negotiation.

BACKGROUND: A therapeutic relationship forms the basis of care of patients in psychiatric mental health nursing. However, individuals with schizophrenia have difficulty participating in these relationships. Recent research in the area of social cognitive psychology offers that deficits in this area affect the flow of perceiving and relating in interpersonal relationships. This literature has not been applied to nursing. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to review the theories underpinning therapeutic relationships from a nursing and psychological perspective, including the newest research from social cognitive psychology. DESIGN: The article presents a literature review of the theories of nursing, psychology, and social cognitive science. Two patient case studies are used as examples of application of the theories. RESULTS: This article incorporates new knowledge about the components of social cognition to inform nurses as they build therapeutic relationships with patients with chronic and persistent mental illnesses. CONCLUSIONS: The science of social cognitive psychology offers nursing a new perspective on the evolving therapeutic nurse–patient relationship with patients with chronic and persistent mental illnesses. It has implications for clinicians, educators, and nurse scientists.

Completed suicides have been shown to be associated with smoking cigarettes in cohort studies of mainly female registered nurses in the U.S.A. (Hemenway et al., 1993), both sexes in the Finnish general population (Tanskanen et al., 2000), male army recruits in the U.S.A. (Miller et al., 2000a), males in the U.S. general population (Davey Smith et al., 1992), army recruits in Sweden (Hemmingsson and Kriebel, 2003), males aged 40–69 years in the general population in Japan (Iwasaki et al., 2005), and the elderly in a retirement community in the U.S.A. (Ross et al., 1990). Also, a Swiss case-control study of army recruits reported similar findings (Angst and Clayton, 1998). Additionally, positive correlation between prevalence rates of smoking and both general population (Shah and Bhandarkar, 2008) and elderly (Shah, 2008) male suicide rates has been observed in large cross-national ecological studies. This relationship between completed suicides and smoking was “dose-dependent” (Hemenway et al., 1993; Tanskanen et al., 2000; Miller et al., 2000a; Davey Smith et al., 1992; Hemmingsson and Kriebel, 2003; Iwasaki et al., 2005). Moreover, this relationship was maintained in some studies after controlling for confounding variables including demographic characteristics, socioeconomic characteristics, levels of alcohol consumption, psychiatric symptoms and physical health (Tanskanen et al., 2000; Miller et al., 2000a), but disappeared in other studies (Hemmingsson and Kriebel, 2003; Shah, 2008; Shah and Bhandarkar, 2008).

AbstractObjective:In Canada, friends and family members are becoming increasingly responsible for providing palliative care in the home. This is resulting in some caregivers experiencing high levels of stress and burden that may ultimately surpass their ability to cope. Recent palliative care research has demonstrated the potential for caregiver resilience within such contexts. This research, however, is primarily focused on exploring individual-level factors that contribute to resilience, minimizing the inherent complexity of this concept, and how it is simultaneously influenced by one's social context. Therefore, our study aims to identify socio-environmental factors that contribute to palliative family caregiver resilience in the Canadian homecare context.Methods:Drawing on ethnographic fieldnotes and semistructured interviews with family caregivers, care recipients, and homecare nurses, this secondary analysis employs an intersectionality lens and qualitative case study approach to identify socio-environmental factors that facilitate family caregivers' capacity for resilience. Following a case study methodology, two cases are purposely selected for analysis.Results:Findings demonstrate that family caregiver resilience is influenced not only by individual-level factors but also by the social environment, which sets the lived context from which caregiving roles are experienced. Thematic findings of the two case studies revealed six socio-environmental factors that play a role in shaping resilience: access to social networks, education/knowledge/awareness, employment status, housing status, geographic location, and life-course stage.Significance of Results:Findings contribute to existing research on caregiver resilience by empirically demonstrating the role of socio-environmental factors in caregiving experiences. Furthermore, utilizing an intersectional approach, these findings build on existing notions that resilience is a multidimensional and complex process influenced by numerous related variables that intersect to create either positive or negative experiences. The implications of the results for optimizing best homecare nursing practice are discussed.

In contemporary American society, the nursing profession is predominantly made up of white women. Currently, males make up only 6.8 percent of the three million nursing professionals in the U.S. and they are considered gender minorities within the nursing profession and within nursing education. As gender minorities, male students are identified as experiencing nursing programs and the practice of nursing differently than their female counterparts.

The purpose of this single instrumental, within site case study was to explore the learning environment for male nursing students and to investigate the nature of the interactions between nursing faculty and male undergraduate students in a Pacific Northwest medical university nursing program. Data was collected in the educational setting through observations, participant interviews, and document analysis. In addition, this study used Kanter's theoretical framework of tokenism to uncover if male nursing students were perceived as tokens in the educational environment. The findings showed that the faculty-student interactions were largely positive; they also revealed that having other males in the class was an instrumental factor in their positive perception of their educational experience. However, the male nursing students also identified areas of discomfort in the educational setting, specifically when practicing clinical skills with female peers, feeling pressured to volunteer and to expose skin during in-class demonstrations, and anticipating that they would be excluded from certain clinical situations. This research indicated that gender differences are present within nursing education and contributed to instances of discomfort for male students. Specific barriers occurred most often when men engaged with female peers and were in clinical settings. These findings provide new insight into when and where men begin to experience gender barriers in the educational environment and are pertinent to understanding the educational environment for men in nursing. Recommendations specifically geared towards assisting students in their first term are suggested for nursing faculty and administrators to ensure that the learning environment is welcoming for men. These recommendations include consciously placing males together in cohort groups and in clinical experiences, reducing instances of visibility and pressure on men in the clinical setting, building faculty awareness of perceived and real barriers for men in the educational setting, and providing faculty with tools to assess and address barriers that are present in the classroom environment.

This phenomenological study describes the experiences of twelve registered nurses who have nursed a dying or dead patient. These registered nurses come from a variety of backgrounds, not only personally, but also educationally and socially. The study primarily focuses on these registered nurses' most significant experience with death in a professional capacity. Twelve registered nurses were invited to share their stories by means of taped interviews and/or written narrative which attempted to discover the underlying meaning of their experiences. However, in relating their stories, many of the registered nurses wished to describe other death experiences which were of significance for them. The study is grounded in Heideggerian phenomenology and analysis of the transcripts revealed the emerging essences of connectedness, aloneness, questioning and accepting. The study further reveals that these essences align themselves to the four fundamental existentials of spatiality, corporeality, temporality and relationality as described by Merleau-Ponty (1962). Additionally, these essences are related back to the principles of Parse's (1987) theory of Human-Becoming and provide some insights for nursing practice when caring for the dying or the dead patient. Some discussion on how these insights may be related to contemporary nursing practice in Australia is highlighted. Each participant's transcript is followed by a poem which intends to capture the essence of their relationship with the situation(s) they have shared with the author.
Master of Science (Hons) (Social Ecology)

The Australian Catholic University (ACU National at www.acu.edu.au) is a public university funded by the Australian Government. There are six campuses across the country, located in Brisbane, Queensland; North Sydney, New South Wales; Strathfield, New South Wales; Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT); Ballarat, Victoria; and Melbourne, Victoria. The university serves a total of approximately 27,000 students, including both full- and part-time students, and those enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Through fostering and advancing knowledge in education, health, commerce, the humanities, science and technology, and the creative arts, ACU National seeks to make specific and targeted contributions to its local, national, and international communities. The university explicitly engages the social, ethical, and religious dimensions of the questions it faces in teaching, research, and service. In its endeavors, it is guided by a fundamental concern for social justice, equity, and inclusivity. The university is open to all, irrespective of religious belief or background. ACU National opened its doors in 1991 following the amalgamation of four Catholic tertiary institutions in eastern Australia. The institutions that merged to form the university had their origins in the mid-17th century when religious orders and institutes became involved in the preparation of teachers for Catholic schools and, later, nurses for Catholic hospitals. As a result of a series of amalgamations, relocations, transfers of responsibilities, and diocesan initiatives, more than twenty historical entities have contributed to the creation of ACU National. Today, ACU National operates within a rapidly changing educational and industrial context. Student numbers are increasing, areas of teaching and learning have changed and expanded, e-learning plays an important role, and there is greater emphasis on research. In its 2005–2009 Strategic Plan, the university commits to the adoption of quality teaching, an internationalized curriculum, as well as the cultivation of generic skills in students, to meet the challenges of the dynamic university and information environment (ACU National, 2008). The Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) Program at ACU Canberra Situated in Australia’s capital city, the Canberra campus is one of the smallest campuses of ACU National, where there are approximately 800 undergraduate and 200 postgraduate students studying to be primary or secondary school teachers through the School of Education (ACT). Other programs offered at this campus include nursing, theology, social work, arts, and religious education. A new model of pre-service secondary teacher education commenced with the introduction of the Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) program at this campus in 2005. It marked an innovative collaboration between the university and a cohort of experienced secondary school teachers in the ACT and its surrounding region. This partnership was forged to allow student teachers undertaking the program to be inducted into the teaching profession with the cooperation of leading practitioners from schools in and around the ACT. In the preparation of novices for the teaching profession, an enduring challenge is to create learning experiences capable of transforming practice, and to instill in the novices an array of professional skills, attributes, and competencies (Putnam & Borko, 2000). Another dimension of the beginning teacher experience is the need to bridge theory and practice, and to apply pedagogical content knowledge in real-life classroom practice. During the one-year Graduate Diploma program, the student teachers undertake two four-week block practicum placements, during which they have the opportunity to observe exemplary lessons, as well as to commence teaching. The goals of the practicum include improving participants’ access to innovative pedagogy and educational theory, helping them situate their own prior knowledge regarding pedagogy, and assisting them in reflecting on and evaluating their own practice. Each student teacher is paired with a more experienced teacher based at the school where he/she is placed, who serves as a supervisor and mentor. In 2007, a new dimension to the teaching practicum was added to facilitate online peer mentoring among the pre-service teachers at the Canberra campus of ACU National, and provide them with opportunities to reflect on teaching prior to entering full-time employment at a school. The creation of an online community to facilitate this mentorship and professional development process forms the context for the present case study. While on their practicum, students used social software in the form of collaborative web logging (blogging) and threaded voice discussion tools that were integrated into the university’s course management system (CMS), to share and reflect on their experiences, identify critical incidents, and invite comment on their responses and reactions from peers.