Abstract: Abstract
Aim. This paper is a report of a study to explicate the phenomenon of ginger
compresses for people with osteoarthritis.
Background. Osteoarthritis is claimed to be the leading cause of musculoskeletal
pain and disability in Western society. Management ideally combines non-pharmacological
strategies, including complementary therapies and pain-relieving
medication. Ginger has been applied externally for over a thousand years in China
to manage arthritis symptoms.
Method. Husserlian phenomenological methodology was used and the data were
collected in 2007. Ten purposively selected adults who had suffered osteoarthritis
for at least a year kept daily diaries and made drawings, and follow-up interviews
and telephone conversations were conducted.
Findings. Seven themes were identified in the data: (1) Meditative-like stillness
and relaxation of thoughts; (2) Constant penetrating warmth throughout the
body; (3) Positive change in outlook; (4) Increased energy and interest in the
world; (5) Deeply relaxed state that progressed to a gradual shift in pain and
increased interest in others; (6) Increased suppleness within the body and (7)
More comfortable, flexible joint mobility. The essential experience of ginger
compresses exposed the unique qualities of heat, stimulation, anti-inflammation
and analgesia.
Conclusion. Nurses could consider this therapy as part of a holistic treatment for
people with osteoarthritis symptoms. Controlled research is needed with larger
numbers of older people to explore further the effects of the ginger compress
therapy.

Abstract: This article looks at the concept of autonomy particularly in relation to the population of older persons living in residential care settings. It examines the values underpinning the exercise of personal autonomy and notes how individual autonomy may be enhanced or restricted. The implications for gerontological nursing practice are outlined and suggestions offered as to how personal autonomy for older persons living in residential care may be preserved and promoted.

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis has been to explore the discursive production of delirium in people over the age of 65 years. The philosophical approaches underpinning the study were derived from the field of critical gerontology, postmodernism and the utilisation of a Foucauldian understanding of discourse and power/knowledge. Data sources included published documents on delirium, interviews with people over the age of 65 years who had been delirious (as well as their clinical notes), family members, registered nurses and a doctor. Textual analysis revealed the presence of two contesting and contradictory discourses that impacted on being an older person who had delirium. These were identified as the discourse of delirium as a syndrome and a personal discourse of delirium. The discourse of delirium as a syndrome is underpinned by the biomedicalisation of the ageing process. This process utilises scientific methods as the foundation from which to understand, research and provide a health service to older people with delirium. Any personal perspectives on delirium are rendered unimportant and relegated to marginalised positions. Nursing through its vicarious relationship to medicine is interpellated into deploying the discourse of delirium as a syndrome and has largely ignored the personal dimensions associated with this phenomenon. Consequently, the older delirious 'body' is known and inscribed as unruly, problematic, physically unwell, cognitively impaired and at risk. Conversely, a personal discourse of delirium privileges the individual narratives of people who have been delirious and provides a different perspective of delirium. The deployment of a personal discourse of delirium offers another position that views this group of older people as bringing to the health care setting a rich tapestry of life experiences that are more than a cluster of signs and symptoms. It is these varied life experiences that need to be included as a legitimate source of knowledge about delirium. This thesis demonstrates how nursing needs to espouse a critical gerontological position when working with older people who have delirium. Critical gerontology provides nurses with the theoretical tools to challenge the status quo and uncover the multiple, varied, contradictory and complex representations of delirium in older people.

Abstract: People working in aged care settings in New Zealand spend approximately 30% of their lives in their workplace. There is a challenge for workplaces to support people to maintain and improve their health status. This project investigated the question: How can workplaces support staff to maintain health in an aged care environment? The project concerned two considerations: primarily what people can do for themselves and how the organisation can assist their interest and maintain their investment in health based activities and secondly what workplaces can do to make the organisations more healthy. The philosophy and the realities of the workplace were reviewed and the project addressed the strategies that could be adopted by the workplace. The study identifies a series of practical activities and outcomes that aged care facilities can undertake for nurses/caregivers or other members of staff working in the workplace. The findings lead to recommendations about healthy outcomes and managing health and creating a positive climate for health within the workplace.

Abstract: The author has taken a broad approach to this research to explore the views of Generation Y New Zealand Registered Nurses towards the nursing profession, the work itself and their career plans. This study arose out of the author?s interest in health care workforce planning for nursing and in particular the retention of young nurses given the current national and global shortage of nurses. Because of the broad and descriptive nature of the research, a wide variety of topics are included in the literature reviewed.
Chapter one provides background to the study and an overview of generational cohorts.
Chapter two explores selected literature relevant to the concept of work and the characteristics of the Generation Y workforce.
Other topics included in this chapter include Herzberg?s work motivation hygiene/maintenance theory and a selection of literature about key workforce recruitment and retention issues.
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Health Sciences

Abstract: Uncovers the significance for nurses who were trained within the 1970s apprenticeship model in NZ hospitals, in their present understanding of themselves as nurses. Confirms that the 1970s heralded the beginning of the end of the apprenticeship system of nurse training, and that literature related to this era of general student nurse training is limited. Uses philosophical hermeneutics to guide interviews with 15 former student nurses who trained within the Auckland Hospital Board School of Nursing, and who reflect 40 years afterward, on how their apprenticeship training influenced the type of nurses they became.

Abstract: This study explores the experiences of men who are nurses in Aotearoa New Zealand. Utilising discourse analysis a social constructionist reading of men, masculinity and nursing is provided to offer an alternative reading to much of the extant literature with respect to men in nursing. The study draws upon a number of different sources of “text”, including over 600 written works, two films and interviews with eighteen men who currently are, have been or are intending to be, nurses. Drawing primarily upon the “literary” textual sources a number of themes were identified for further exploration in interview with the co-researchers. These themes were the construction of masculinity, the construction of images of the nurse, the reaction to men who are nurses, sexuality issues, career development, and men and caring. The findings of this thesis reveal that the literature pertaining to men in nursing is replete with paradox and contradiction and fails to adequately account for the male experience. It is argued that the images and arguments provided in the literature with respect to men in nursing are based on out-of-date models and understandings of gender relations, masculinity and nursing. It is suggested that rather than enjoying patriarchal privilege, men who enter nursing must contend with being constructed as both an inferior man and inferior nurse. Their careers are not, as is alleged in the literature, based on developing “islands of masculinity” and male privilege, nor upon the avoidance of the emotional labour of nursing but reflect a belief that career is one way of doing care. It is argued in this work that men in nursing have fewer “taken-as-givens” upon which to base work and that they work to develop trusting relationships with their patients that are based on communication and empathy within a context defined by the patients' circumstances.