Empowered But Isolated: A Qualitative Research on Experiences of Family Caregivers of Patients With Acute Heart Failure in China.

BACKGROUND: Family caregivers play crucial roles in the self-management of patients with heart failure (HF). However, little is known about caregiving experiences of Chinese family caregivers during acute HF. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe Chinese family caregivers' experiences in symptom management and care-seeking during acute HF. METHODS: This is an exploratory, qualitative study using the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research guidelines. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analyzed with thematic analysis. FINDINGS: A total of 21 family caregivers of patients with acute HF were enrolled in this study. "Empowered but isolated" was identified as the overarching theme during data analysis, including 3 themes and 6 subthemes: (1) "Responsible symptom managers: leading the home-based symptom management," including 2 subthemes, "Proxy in symptom management" and "Only knowing the surface, instead of the truth"; (2) "Powerless anchors: care-seeking is a torturous journey," including 2 subthemes, "Facing discrepancies in care-seeking" and "Seeing a doctor is the last choice"; (3) "Carrying the weight forward: responsibility combing with emotional burnout," including 2 subthemes, "Living on tenterhooks" and "Submitting to fate." CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we described Chinese family caregivers' experiences in symptom management and care-seeking during acute HF. Although empowered as proxy, they were also isolated bearing a great burden, receiving insufficient support from patients, family, and the medical system.

Characteristics of workplace violence, responses and their relationship with the professional identity among nursing students in China: a multicenter cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Nursing students are one of the most vulnerable groups suffering from workplace violence. This study aimed to investigate the workplace violence incidence of Chinese nursing students during clinical practice, to describe the characteristics of violence and students' responses and to analyse the relationship between the experience of workplace violence and professional identity. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 954 nursing students in ten universities in China through convenience sampling. Workplace violence was surveyed through Hospital Workplace Violence Questionnaire for Nursing Students. Students' professional identity was measured by Professional Identity Questionnaire for Nursing Students. Statistical methods included descriptive statistics, chi-square test, independent-samples t-test, analysis of variance and linear regression analysis. RESULTS: It was found that the incidence of workplace violence among nursing students was 42.98%. The violent incidents ranking from high to low were: verbal abuse, threat, physical attack, sexual harassment, and gathering disturbance. The majority of the nursing students chose to avoid the conflict during the incident. 86.34% of the students didn't report the incidents. More than half of the victims developed post-traumatic stress disorder after the incidents. Regression analysis results showed that workplace violence experience (ß = - 0.076, P < 0.05) was a significantly negative predictor of professional identity. CONCLUSIONS: Chinese nursing students were exposed to physical and psychological violence during clinical practice with insufficient coping solutions and psychological adjustment. The professional identity of the nursing students was significantly associated with the experience of workplace violence.