Abstract: Conducts a mixed-methods descriptive survey to ascertain information needs of stroke families, as part of a longitudinal research programme, Stroke Families Whanau Programme. Asks 19 family members and 23 practitioners via interviews their opinions on current resources, and the appropriateness, accessibility, timeliness or omissions in the information provided, following a stroke. Identifies barriers to information provision.

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 aim of this cross-cultural study was to collect stories of difference and fairness within nursing. The study used a life history methodology informed by feminist theory and critical social theory. Life story interviews were conducted with 26 women nurses of varying racial, cultural, sexual identity, and specialty backgrounds in the United States (n = 13) and Aotearoa New Zealand (n = 13). Participants reported having some understanding of social justice issues. They were asked to reflect on their experience of difference and fairness in their lives and specifically within nursing. Their stories were analysed using a life history immersion method. Nursing remains attached to the ideological construction of the “White good nurse.” Taken-for-granted ideals privilege those who fit in and marginalise those who do not. The nurses who experienced discrimination and unfairness, survived by living in two worlds, learned to live in contradiction, and worked surreptitiously for social justice. For nurses to contribute to changing the systems and structures that maintain health disparities, the privilege of not seeing difference and the processes of mainstream violence that support the construction of the “White good nurse” must be challenged. Nurses need skills to deconstruct the marginalising social processes that sustain inequalities in nursing and healthcare. These hidden realities-racism, sexism, heterosexism, and other forms of discrimination-will then be made visible and open to challenge.

Abstract: The parents of 238 children in standard one (7 – 8 year olds) in two localities in New Zealand (one group chosen randomly, the other a census of a small community) were interviewed about health matters. Objectives of the study were:1. To describe parents understanding of the nature of health.2. Their understanding of threats to their health.3. To describe actions they take to promote their own and their children's health.Few respondents describe health as being just the absence of illness: the concept of energy is important in many descriptions of health. Threats to the health of children are seen as coming more from the environment as compared with adults, for whom more threats are seen as having a physiological origin. Only 13% of adults thought that they put a lot of effort into keeping healthy. The underlying rationale is the recognition of the importance of people's own actions in the attainment and maintenance of health

Abstract: This thesis presents a grounded theory study following Glaser's methodological stance. It explores nursing of the 10-24 year old client through interviews with thirteen registered nurses. The participants worked in a variety of clinical settings including community, hospital and specific adolescent services. From the analysis of the data emerged the complexity of the nurses work with the chosen age group. The study identifies that the quality of the nurse/client encounter may enable the young person to feel accepted and to be empowered to make their own health choices.This thesis identifies how Having Attitude is seen by the nurse participants as critical in the care of the young person. Having Attitude is about the nurse balancing the dependence/independence needs of the young person with their family and peers, and about being acceptable to the client. This results from the work of the nurse which is characterised by the nurse being competent' and 'being supportive whilst taking into account all of the socio-political factors that effect the nurses working situation. The socio-political context impacts upon the young persons life in terms of the types of health issues they have, and the availability and affordability of appropriate health services. It also impacts on the environment in which the nurse works, in terms of the complexity of the concerns with which young people present, current health reforms and funding issues. The nurse needs to have a broad knowledge base and ability to work within a complex situation. Nurses believe they can make a difference to the young persons health experience when they are supportive, competent and have attitude

Abstract: In the acute hospital setting, nurses provide care twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Due to the ever-changing nature of the patient's situation, nurses need quality information at the beginning of each eight-hour shift to plan and implement patient care effectively. It is claimed that handover is central for maintaining the continuity and the quality of patient care. This qualitative descriptive study was undertaken to identify what core information needs to be exchanged at nursing handover to ensure quality and continuity of patient care. Five consumers who had experience of recurrent hospital admissions shared their perceptions of handover practice through individual interviews. Three focus group meetings of seven nurses from a secondary care setting discussed handover practice from their professional perspectives. Both nursing and consumer voices are integral to the overall understanding of this study but the consumer voice is the privileged and dominant voice. Through the process of thematic content analysis the central themes of communication, continuity and competence emerged for the consumers. Consumers expect to be kept informed and involved in their healthcare. They want continuity of nurse, information and care and expect that nurses involved in the delivery of healthcare are competent to manage their situation. The 'importance of knowing' is the overarching construct generated in this research. Knowing is identified as the foundation on which quality and continuity of care is built and is discussed under the subheadings of: not knowing, knowing the patient as a person, knowing takes time, hidden knowing, knowing consumers' rights, oral knowing, knowing involves more than handing over patient care and knowing the economics. Recommendations have been developed for future research, nursing practice, education and management. These centre on ways to develop a more consumer-focused approach to contemporary healthcare.