Abstract: The researchers conducted a study to compare self-reported changes in both frequency and quality of performance of nursing behaviours in a cohort of recently graduated nurses undertaking a one year entry to practice programme. Thirty-three nurses were surveyed, seven weeks after beginning the programme and again seven months later, using a modified version of Schwirian's (1978) Six-Dimension Scale of Nursing Performance (6-DSNP). Over the study period participants reported significant increases in frequency of performance for the domains of leadership, critical care, teaching/collaboration, and planning/evaluation. Significant increases in the quality of nurse behaviours in the domains of critical care, planning/evaluation and interpersonal relations/communication were also reported. The modified Schwirian 6-DSNP was found to be a useful instrument for measuring nurses' self reporting of performance during periods of transition.

Abstract: In New Zealand the clinically focused postgraduate papers and programmes, available through universities and polytechnics, are evaluated from an educational perspective but little evaluation of the implications for practice has been undertaken. This paper is Part One of a report on a study that sought to illuminate the impact of clinically focused postgraduate education on advancing nursing practice. Hermeneutic methodology provided a framework for analysing both the perspectives of nurses who had undergone such education and those who had directly employed and worked alongside these nurses. Emerging themes are described here. In a second article the findings will be discussed in relation to literature. Constraining factors will be identified and strategies designed to maximise the benefits of education for advancing nursing practice will be recommended.

Abstract: A study exploring the following hypotheses: 1. That full time Nurses and part time Nurses are satisfied by different things, therefore the two groups will exhibit different reasons for leaving the Hospital. Full time Staff will leave because of lack of satisfiers, part time Staff will leave because of lack of Dis-satisfiers.. 2. The reasons for the psycopaedic assistants leaving will be different from those for Professional Staff as the presence of promotional opportunities and the acceptance of responsibilities do not apply to the non-professional staff. 3. Salary will not be a significant factor for Staff leaving. 4, The lack of job satisfaction has had little to do with staff terminating. 5. That the absence of a School of Nursing has been the reason for a significant number of Staff leaving to Nurse elsewhere

Abstract: This article describes the development, delivery and evaluation of a pilot programme designed to help nursing and midwifery students from Asian and non-English speaking backgrounds improve their conversational skills in practice settings. Many such students, although previously assessed as competent in English, find that communication with patients and their families, and other health professionals is difficult. The study was conducted in a large tertiary educational institution in a major metropolitan centre. Each week for a period of 11 weeks students participated in an interactive session. Content for these was based on areas highlighted by a needs assessment involving interviews with both students and lecturers, and was subject to ongoing modification in response to feedback from participants. Evaluation questionnaires completed at the conclusion of the series indicated that students perceived the impact as positive. Students who attended regularly and were actively involved in the practice activities described gains in communication skills. From this it was concluded that further development of the pilot scheme was warranted in order to benefit English as an additional language (EAL) students enrolled in nursing and midwifery courses

Abstract: This paper reports the result of a fast-track referral service in treating deformational auricular anomalies using moulding therapy, by employing nurses who were familiar with the indications and technique, working in close liaison with plastic surgeons. The type and severity of the auricular anomaly were documented both clinically and photographically before and three months following cessation of treatment. Assessment of the results was made by comparing the pre- and post-treatment photographs and by a postal questionnaire, which was dispatched to the parents of the patients three months after treatment was discontinued. All parents of the 30 infants felt that auricular moulding was worthwhile. The authors conclude that this is an effective treatment strategy that will largely negate the need for surgical correction of deformational auricular anomalies.

Abstract: The subject of nursing leadership is approached by reviewing the literature of two prominent nursing theorists, Patricia Benner and Jean Watson, and the literature of transformational leadership. Common themes are identified. An exhortation is offered to nurses to consider that the caring characteristics of nurses are what is required in the corporate world of management. Chapter 1, questions whether nursing and management are different worlds or shared realities. It outlines the author's experience of practising as a manager in a complex organisation and the seeming barriers that exist between managers and nurses and management and nursing. A questioning of those barriers became the impetus for the review. Chapter 2, outlines the work of Patricia Benner and Jean Watson. Caring is identified as a core concept which is said to differ significantly from a conventional understanding of helping and is inextricably linked to a profound understanding of what it means to be human. Chapter 3, reviews the literature of contemporary managers who are exploring a transformed approach to leadership and management. Six themes are identified that are common to nursing theory and transformational leadership theory. Chapter 4, acknowledges that despite the similarities between nursing and contemporary management thought, there remains a gap between nurses and management. Rather than feeling optimistic about the future, and confident in assuming leadership roles, many nurses feel defeated and fearful about the future. It is suggested that this may be a consequence of bad experience of leadership, of loss of joy of caring and of failure to value the strength residing in the collective community of nurses. Nurses are encouraged to recognise that their knowledge and experience of caring and wholeness, healing, sharing and enabling, are the attributes that equip them to be leaders of the future health and corporate world.

Abstract: The author examines how writing shapes her practice and how she nurses, her way of being and doing. She notes that “as human beings we cannot be broken into subsets, my personal and professional being inform each other, therefore you will find woven into the fabric of this paper my personal and professional becoming united by the dominant thread of nursing”. The paper is structured using the different phases of her career as a staff nurse, nurse practitioner and charge nurse. In each section she has linked the stories of children and young adults with reflections on her writing and how it has impacted her practice. She goes on to say that question and reflection are vital adjuncts to nurses' development as individual practitioners and to the profession. They facilitate journeying past the superficial into the deep of a relationship with patients and colleagues. She identifies a responsibility as nurses is to engage with the individual and help them find a space where they can regain a sense of hope and personal power. This paper follows the author's journey, leaving her with a clearer understanding of who she is and how she nurses.