Nursing and Midwifery - Journal Articles

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    Instruments measuring practitioner performance of the complete examination and screening of neonates: A systematic review.
    (Wiley, 2023-04-03) Greene, Liz M.; Hegarty, Josephine; O'Connell, Rhona; Connaughton, Breda; Coveney, Kate; Hardie, Philip; Horton, Sally; Szafranska, Marcelina; Murphy, Margaret
    Aim: The complete examination and screening of the neonate is a recommended assessment of neonatal well-being conducted by appropriately trained medical, midwifery and nursing personnel at specific intervals during the first 6-week post-birth. Our aim was to identify and critically evaluate instruments that measure practitioner performance of this important assessment of neonatal health. Methods: Using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) methodology, a systematic review was undertaken. Results: Four studies were identified as suitable for data extraction and analysis. This paper briefly describes the four instruments, discusses and compares the COSMIN analysis and ratings of each instrument. A recommendation for the instrument identified as the most suitable to measure practitioner performance is provided. Conclusion: Most instruments were designed by educators to measure the performance of practitioners developing competence in the complete examination and screening of the neonate. Further development and piloting of instruments designed to measure the performance and continuing competence of qualified practitioners of the newborn examination are required.
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    Smartphones and mobile applications (apps) in clinical nursing education: A student perspective
    (Elsevier Ltd., 2018-08-07) O'Connor, Siobhan; Andrews, Tom; University College Cork
    Background: Nurse educators are exploring how mobile technology can support students in clinical practice. However, the view of nursing students on the use of smartphones and mobile applications (apps) to enhance clinical education has not been explored. Their opinions are vital to capture if the right technology is to be designed, evaluated, implemented and used. Method: A self-reported questionnaire, based on a review of the literature, was used to understand the opinions of undergraduate nursing students towards the use of smartphones and mobile apps to support learning in clinical environments. Descriptive statistics were utilised to describe participants and the mobile devices and apps they currently use. Thematic analysis was employed to code open-ended questions and explore students' perspective on how mobile apps can support learning and how best to implement and use them in practice. Results: Two hundred nursing students across a four-year Bachelor of Nursing programme responded to the questionnaire. Most reported owning a smartphone but just under half used mobile apps to help them learn in clinical practice. A range of educational apps such as calculators, drug reference guides and medical dictionaries were used with varying frequency. Nursing students reported numerous benefits of mobile technology such as better access to educational material, improvements in knowledge and confidence, and reduced levels of anxiety around learning in practice. Barriers such as negative attitudes of nursing staff, poor Wi-Fi connectivity, and the quality of educational content available on mobile apps were identified as some of the issues preventing the adoption of mobile learning in clinical nursing education. Conclusions: Nursing students have a unique perspective on how smartphones and mobile apps can support learning in clinical practice. Nursing faculty need to undertake more rigorous research to determine if mobile technology can improve learning outcomes, how best to personalise mobile apps to students needs and ensure both hardware devices and educational software can be integrated in practice to support clinical training.
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    A review of the current management of postpartum haemorrhage in the Republic of Ireland, using a case study approach
    (MIDIRS, 2022-12) Fitzgerald, Imelda; O'Connell, Rhona; Hughes, Paul; Lyons, Priscilla; McKernan, Joye; Greene, Richard; Corcoran, Paul
    Objective: To get a better understanding of the steps taken during a postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) in the Republic of Ireland. Design: Population-based retrospective cohort study. Hospital births in Ireland during 2020. Methods: A PPH proforma data collection tool was used to understand what occurred during each PPH, the management provided to the woman and the medication received. Main outcomes: Escalation of care to multidisciplinary team (MDT), mode of birth, quantifying blood loss. Results: The 53 PPH proformas collected from two maternity units were comprised of: 43 per cent (23) mild PPH (500–1000ml); 34 per cent (18) moderate PPH (1000–1500ml); and 22 per cent (12) severe PPH (over 1500ml). The blood volume ranged from 500ml to 4.1litres. The most immediate response on recognition of a PPH, by midwives or obstetric doctors who diagnosed the blood loss following childbirth as excessive, was to administer a Syntocinon infusion as the first line of treatment. Conclusions: Potential improvements for care during a PPH include: the first treatment of ‘hand on fundus, call for help’; midwives managing the PPH with use of other treatments and medications while escalating care; timely escalation of emergency phone; an MDT approach to manage the PPH; and quantification of blood loss.
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    Barriers and facilitators to the choice of active surveillance for low-risk papillary thyroid cancer in China: A qualitative study examining patient perspectives
    (Mary Ann Liebert Inc., 2023-01-31) Zhu, Pingting; Zhang, Qianqian; Wu, Qiwei; Shi, Guanghui; Wang, Wen; Xu, Huiwen; Zhang, Li; Qian, Meiyan; Hegarty, Josephine; National Natural Science Foundation of China; Yangzhou University
    Background: Internationally, several clinical practice guidelines recommend active surveillance as a non-surgical management strategy for select patients with low-risk papillary thyroid carcinoma. However, patient's decision making when choosing active surveillance as a management approach is not well understood. Thus, our aim was to examine the barriers and facilitators to selecting active surveillance amongst patients with low-risk papillary thyroid carcinoma in China. Methods: Thirty-nine participants diagnosed with low-risk papillary thyroid carcinoma were purposively recruited between July-Nov 2021 for semi-structured interviews; 24 of whom rejected and 15 patients chose 'active surveillance' as a management approach in our sample. Inductive content analysis illustrated emerging themes. Audit trails, member checks and thematic discussions were used to assert rigor. Results: Barriers and facilitators were classified as patient-related, disease-related, and external factors. Patient-related factors included patient's knowledge, attitudes and emotions. Disease-related factors included the response to having cancer, the constant state of being diseased and perceived value of the thyroid gland. External factors included the residual effects of surgery, the active surveillance protocol and physicians' recommendations. Conclusions: Patient's the acceptability of the active surveillance as a management approach are complex with many influencing factors. The public acceptance of active surveillance as a disease management approach needs to be improved, through the presentation of active surveillance as an evidence-based and optimized dynamic management strategy. Clinicians must address their patients' psychological struggles when patients choosing active surveillance and patients require more attention and supportive intervention.
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    Creating a community of praxis: integrating global citizenship and development education across campus at University College Cork
    (UCL Press, 2022-12-13) Cotter, Gertrude; Bonenfant, Yvon; Butler, Jenny; Caulfield, Marian; Doyle Prestwich, Barbara; Griffin, Rosarii; Khabbar, Sanaa; Mishra, Nita; Hally, Ruth; Murphy, Margaret; Murphy, Orla; O'Sullivan, Maeve; Phelan, Martha; Reidy, Darren; Schneider, Julia C.; Isaloo, Amin Sharifi; Turner, Brian; Usher, Ruth; Williamson Sinalo, Caroline; Irish Aid
    The Praxis Project, established at University College Cork (UCC), Ireland, in 2018, seeks to assess possible models of best practice with regard to the integration of global citizenship and development education (GCDE) into a cross-disciplinary, cross-campus, interwoven set of subject area pedagogies, policies and practices. This study – the first part of an eventual three-part framework – asserts that the themes, theories, values, skills, approaches and methodologies relevant to transformative pedagogical work are best underpinned by ongoing staff dialogue in order to build communities of support around such systemic pedagogical change. This article is based on a collaborative study with the first cohort of UCC staff (2020–1), which demonstrates many ways in which staff and students realised that smaller actions and carefully directed attention to specific issues opened doors to transformative thinking and action in surprising ways. From this viewpoint, the striking need emerged for taking a strategic approach to how GCDE is, and should be, integrated into learning across subject areas.