King, A., & Parsons, M. (2005). An evaluation of two respite models for older people and their informal caregivers. Access is free to articles older than 6 months, and abstracts., 118(1214).
Abstract: The researchers evaluate two case-management models of respite relief care at Waitemata District Health Board. The evaluation consisted of semi-structured interviews and postal surveys for clients utilising respite care and staff members involved in both the North/West and Rodney models of respite care in Auckland. Across the two regions, a total of 2 older people and their informal caregivers, 2 respite coordinators, and the Needs Assessment Service Coordination (NASC) Manager were interviewed. In addition, postal surveys were received from 21 older people, 36 informal caregivers, 11 NASC workers, and 3 allied health professionals. Findings revealed there was generally high satisfaction with both the respite models. Caregivers believed the respite service did give them a break, although it was insufficient. Caregivers reported concerns regarding how respite facilities could improve and the older person's deterioration post respite. Staff identified improvements for each of the models.
|
Henty, C., & Dickinson, A. R. (2007). Practice nurses' experiences of the Care Plus programme: A qualitative descriptive study. The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners website, 34(5), 335–338.
Abstract: The aim of this small qualitative descriptive pilot study was to describe the experiences of practice nurses delivering the Care Plus programme within the general practice setting. Care Plus was introduced into Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) in 2004. This programme encourages more involvement from practice nurses in chronic care management. For many New Zealand practice nurses this is a new role. This study, carried out prior to the larger Care Plus implementation review (2006), provides an insight into the nursing experience of implementing Care Plus and provides a basis for future studies with regard to the nurse's role within the Care Plus programme.
|
Peach, J. (1999). The Professional Development Programme: Achievements and outcomes. Professional Leader, 5(1), 6–9.
Abstract: This article backgrounds the professional development programme instigated at Auckland Hospital in 1988, and reviews the achievements of the past 10 years. It describes PDP and distinguishes it from a clinical career pathway. Specific indicators were used to assess the achievement of the programme, and these are presented. Overall the programme achieved it's outcomes and at a reasonable cost.
|
Brinkman, A., & Caughley, B. (2004). Measuring on-the-job stress accurately. Kai Tiaki: Nursing New Zealand, 18(8), 12–15.
Abstract: The authors discuss the usefulness of a generic tool to measure job stress in New Zealand workplaces, and report on a study using one such generic tool. The study involved sending questionnaires to all staff (193) who had worked at a regional women's health service for a minimum of six months. The mailed package contained the Job Stress Survey (JSS), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), demographic questions (including cultural safety), shift work questions, and a blank page for “qualitative comment”. Over 12,000 pieces of data were collected from the study but this article focuses only on the results of the JSS. The JSS can be used to determine a “job stress index” and can also be used to measure “job pressure” and “lack of organisational support”. For this study, job stress index scores were calculated and organised by occupational groupings. Midwives, nurses and doctors all cited inadequate or poor quality equipment, excessive paperwork, insufficient personal time, and frequent interruptions, as their top stressors. Three of these four stressors fall within the job pressure index. The results of the survey prompted organisational changes, including: extensive discussions; equipment being updated; management being made aware of the depth of concern felt by staff; the creation of a place for staff to have personal time; and coping intervention strategies were initiated. The authors suggest that no generic measure of job stress can fully evaluate stressors unique to a particular work setting. They support additional items being constructed and administered to assess stressors that are idiosyncratic to a particular occupational group.
|
Hickson, E. K. (2006). Developing clinical learning environment evaluation tools using an action research methodology. Ph.D. thesis, , .
Abstract: The author notes that learning nurses require real clinical experiences in order to apply learnt theory to actual practice. Clinical learning environments have consistently been found to function variably and sub-optimally for both learners and teachers. In order to improve the quality of the clinical learning environment it is necessary to first evaluate how effectively a clinical learning environment is functioning. A number of different methodologies have been used to evaluate clinical learning environments, a recent and successful method being the use of questionnaires or clinical learning environment evaluation tools. The objective of the present study was to develop clinical learning environment evaluation tools for use in a New Zealand hospital health service. Four tools appropriate to evaluate the clinical learning environment from the different perspectives of any type of clinical learner, clinical teacher, clinical manager and programme co-ordinator or nurse lecturer were developed. Six newly graduated nurses, three senior nurses, and the researcher were involved in the development of the evaluation tools over a five month period. A participatory action research methodology was employed. The resultant tools had a unique local focus and were suitably similar to other internationally developed tools. After testing the clinical learning environment evaluation tools, it is hoped that the implementation of the tools will support all stakeholders to understand and consequently optimise the functionality of their clinical learning environment.
|
Clendon, J., & Krothe, J. (2004). The nurse-managed clinic: An evaluative study. Nursing Praxis in New Zealand, 20(2), 15–23.
Abstract: Part of an international project, the aim of this study was to evaluate a nurse managed primary health care clinic (Mana Health Clinic) from the perspectives of users, funders, and providers of clinical services in order to identify factors which contribute to success. The method used was Fourth Generation Evaluation (FGE) whereby, consistent with the methodological precepts of the constructivist enquiry paradigm, there was active involvement of clients in the process and outcome of the evaluation. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 13 individuals and one focus group. The data yielded four main categories: factors that contribute to success; contrasting past experience of health care with that of nurse-managed care; the effectiveness of nurse-managed care; and suggestions for change in current practice. The authors note that the results to date support a tentative conclusion of success for the clinic. As the study is on-going, summaries of the four categories were fed back to the participants for further discussion and interpretation and eventual integration with data from the similar study being undertaken in the United States. The authors conclude that this paper demonstrates how the use of an appropriate method of evaluation can itself contribute to the success of the nurse managed clinic.
|
Horsburgh, M., Smith, V. A., & Kivell, D. (2002). South Auckland community paediatric nursing service: A framework for evaluation. Nursing Praxis in New Zealand, 18(3), 40–49.
Abstract: This paper describes the Kidz First paediatric community homecare nursing team in South Auckland. While the service was not initially planned as an integrated approach to child health, its evolution reflects the move to more community based care delivery and the expansion of nurse-led initiatives in New Zealand. The components of a community paediatric home nursing team as described by Eaton (2000) are used to provide the framework with which to describe the service. A focus group held with the Kidz First paediatric community homecare nurses has enabled definition of the key nursing components provided to children and their families living in South Auckland.
|
Holloway, K. T. (1999). Developing an evidence base for teaching nursing practice skills in an undergraduate nursing program. Nursing Praxis in New Zealand, 14(1), 22–32.
Abstract: This research seeks to determine an evidence basis for selecting content for the clinical skills curriculum in an undergraduate programme. Thirty-three senior nurse clinicians from medical-surgical areas in 2 large hospitals offering student placements were asked to rate the frequency of performance of 77 skills for the beginning registered nurse. Those skills frequently used and rated over 65% were considers for inclusion in the undergraduate programme. Clinicians were asked to list the 10 most important skills and related level of competence expected from the newly-registered nurse.
|
Giddings, D. L. S., & Grant, B. M. (2007). A Trojan Horse for positivism? A critique of mixed methods research. Advances in Nursing Science, 30(1), 52–60.
Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of mixed methods research, which the authors suggest is captured by a pragmatically inflected form of post-positivism. Although it passes for an alternative methodological movement that purports to breach the divide between qualitative and quantitative research, most mixed methods studies favour the forms of analysis and truth finding associated with positivism. The authors anticipate a move away from exploring more philosophical questions or undertaking modes of enquiry that challenge the status quo. At the same time, they recognise that mixed methods research offers particular strengths and that, although it serves as a Trojan Horse for positivism, it may productively carry other paradigmatic passengers.
|
Gallagher, P. (2000). An evaluation of a standards based portfolio [Corrected and republished article printed in NURSE EDUC TODAY 2001 Apr; 21(3): 197-200]. Nurse Education Today, 20(3), 218–226.
Abstract: This study is an evaluation of student perceptions of a standards based portfolio, which is a is a series of student work that seeks to address pre-determined learning outcomes. Of interest to the study was the relationship between theory and practice, the availability of resources to complete the assignment and the contribution the portfolio made to the process of learning. For a particular unit of learning, 'Nursing Business', second year undergraduate students in the Bachelor of Nursing programme were required to complete a portfolio. The assessment directed the students to meet specific criteria which in turn reflected the learning outcomes.
|
Kaviani, N., & Stillwell, Y. (2000). An evaluative study of clinical preceptorship. Nurse Education Today, 20(3), 218–226.
Abstract: A preceptorship programme of 100 hours duration was developed and delivered by a nurse education institute, in consultation with a health care organisation. The purpose of the study was to examine preceptors, preceptees, and nurse managers' preceptions of the preceptor role and factors which influenced the performance of preceptors. Using focus groups, participants were each asked to identify the outcomes of the programme in practice. Study findings highlighted the importance of formal preceptor preparation, personal and professional development of the preceptors, and the promotion of positive partnerships between nurse educators and nurse practitioners. The need for formal recognition of the preceptor role in practice, particularly in relation to the provision of adequate time and resources, emerged from the study. The research findings enabled the development of an evaluative model of preceptorship, which highlights the intrinsic and extrinsic factors impacting on the preceptor role
|
van Rooyen, P., Dixon, D. A., Dixon, G., & Wells, C. C. (2006). Entry criteria as predictor of performance in an undergraduate nursing degree programme. Nurse Education Today, 27(7), 593–600.
Abstract: This research explored the relationship between entry criteria and academic performance in the first and second year bioscience papers at Otago Polytechnic School of Nursing. The School's inclusion of a bioscience requirement varies from the Nursing Council criteria for acceptance into undergraduate nursing programmes. Six hundred and nineteen academic records of 1994-2002 graduates were sampled. Chi-square and correlational analyses found a relationship between entry qualifications and students' academic performance in the two papers. The entry criteria had a stronger relationship with the students' performance in the first year bioscience paper than the second year paper. Performance in the first year was predicative of second year performance. Age was also found to be a useful predictor of grades. These findings support the School's Bioscience entry criteria and provide important information for admission committees.
|
McKillop, A. M. (2004). Evaluation of the implementation of a best practice information sheet: Tracheal suctioning of adults with an artificial airway. JBI Reports, 2(9), 293–308.
Abstract: This report presents an evaluation of the implementation of a best practice information sheet related to tracheal suctioning of adults with an artificial airway. The Centre for Evidence-Based Nursing Aotearoa, based in Auckland, conducted a systematic review of the evidence and produced the best practice information sheet. A survey of 105 nurses was conducted at three sites, in New Zealand and Australia. Using a before/after design, data were collected at the time of release of the information sheet and then approximately 12 months later. The study suggests a trend towards a modest uptake of best practice recommendations into nursing practice demonstrated by some behavioural changes within a 12-month period in the context of an implementation plan and the best practice information sheet.
|
Gage, J., Everrett, K. D., & Bullock, L. (2006). Integrative review of parenting in nursing research. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 38(1), 56–62.
Abstract: The authors synthesise and critically analyse parenting research in nursing. They focused on studies published between 1993 and 2004 by nurse researchers in peer-reviewed journals. Data were organised and analysed with a sample of 17 nursing research studies from core nursing journals. The majority of parenting research has been focused on mothers, primarily about parenting children with physical or developmental disabilities. Research about fathers as parents is sparse. Parenting across cultures, parenting in the context of family, and theoretical frameworks for parenting research are not well developed. The authors conclude that the scope of nursing research on parenting is limited.
|
Manning, J. (2005). Formative assessment: Using feedback to enhance learning. In J. McDrury (Ed.), Nursing matters: A reader for teaching and learning in the clinical setting (pp. 47-65). Dunedin: Otago Polytechnic.
Abstract: This paper explores the literature surrounding the development, definition, process and value of formative feedback. In particular, this review considers how formative assessment can be used by a clinical educator in the practice setting. At the end of the chapter, discussion questions are provided by Rebecca Hennephof.
|
