The state of mixed methods research in nursing: A focused mapping review and synthesis.

AIMS: To consider the scope and quality of mixed methods research in nursing. DESIGN: Focused mapping review and synthesis (FMRS). DATA SOURCES: Five purposively selected journals: International Journal of Nursing Studies, Journal of Nursing Scholarship, Journal of Advanced Nursing, Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, and Journal of Mixed Methods Research. REVIEW METHODS: In the target journals, titles and abstracts from papers published between 2015-2018 were searched for the words or derivative words 'mixed methods'. Additional keyword searches were undertaken using each journal's search tool. We included studies that investigated nursing and reported to use a mixed methods approach. Articles that met the inclusion criteria were read in full and information was extracted onto a predetermined pro forma. Findings across journals were then synthesized to illustrate the current state of mixed methods research in nursing. RESULTS: We located 34 articles that reported on mixed methods research, conducted across 18 countries. Articles differed significantly both within and across journals in terms of conformity to a mixed methods approach. We assessed the studies for the quality of their reporting as regard the use of mixed methods. Nineteen studies were rated as satisfactory or good, with 15 rated as poorly described. Primarily, a poor rating was due to the absence of stating an underpinning methodological approach to the study and/or limited detail of a crucial integration phase. CONCLUSIONS: Our FMRS revealed a paucity of published mixed methods research in the journals selected. When they are published, there are limitations in the detail given to the underpinning methodological approach and theoretical explanation.

The role of healthcare support workers in providing palliative and end-of-life care in the community: a systematic literature review.

Despite the widespread use of Health Care Support Workers (HCSWs) in providing palliative and end-of-life care, there is little information available about their contributions towards supporting patients who want to be cared for at home or to die at home. Between January and April 2011, a systematic review was conducted to address two questions: (i) What particular tasks/roles do HCSWs perform when caring for people at the end of life and their families to comply with their desire to remain at home?; (ii) What are the challenges and supporting factors that influence HCSWs' ability to provide palliative and end-of-life care in the community? Databases searched for relevant articles published between 1990 until April 2011 included CINAHL, EMBASE, PsychINFO, British Nursing Index, Web of Science, Medline and ASSIA. In total, 1695 papers were identified and their titles and abstracts were read. Ten papers met the eligibility criteria of the study. After the methodological quality of the studies was appraised, nine papers were included in the review. Judgements regarding eligibility and quality were undertaken independently by the authors. The findings indicate that HCSWs invest a great deal of their time on emotional and social support as well as on assisting in the provision of personal care. They are also involved in providing care for the dying, respite care for family members and offer domestic support. Although it is important to acknowledge the many positive aspects that HCSWs provide, the findings suggest three challenges in the HCSWs role: emotional attachment, role ambiguity and inadequate training. Support factors such as informal peer grief-support groups, sense of cohesiveness among HCSWs and task orientation enabled HCSWs to overcome these challenges. To conclude, induction and training programmes, a defined period of preceptorship, appropriate support, supervision and clearly defined role boundaries may be helpful in reducing the challenges identified in HCSWs' roles.

Assessing acute coronary syndrome patients' cardiac-related beliefs, motivation and mood over time to predict non-attendance at cardiac rehabilitation.

AIM: This research protocol describes and justifies a study to assess patients' cardiac-related beliefs (i.e. illness representations, knowledge/misconceptions, cardiac treatment beliefs), motivation and mood over time to predict non-attendance at a cardiac rehabilitation programme by measuring weekly/monthly changes in these key variables. BACKGROUND: Heart disease is the UK's leading cause of death. Evidence from meta-analyses suggests that cardiac rehabilitation facilitates recovery following acute cardiac events. However, 30-60% of patients do not attend cardiac rehabilitation. There is some evidence from questionnaire studies that a range of potentially modifiable psychological variables including patients' cardiac-related beliefs, motivation and mood may influence attendance. DESIGN: Mixed-methods. METHODS: In this study, during 2012-2013, electronic diary data will be gathered weekly/monthly from 240 patients with acute coronary syndrome from discharge from hospital until completion of the cardiac rehabilitation programme. This will identify changes and interactions between key variables over time and their power to predict non-attendance at cardiac rehabilitation. Data will be analysed to examine the relationship between patients' illness perceptions, cardiac treatment beliefs, knowledge/misconceptions, mood and non-attendance of the cardiac rehabilitation programme. The qualitative component (face-to-face interviews) seeks to explore why patients decide not to attend, not complete or complete the cardiac rehabilitation programme. DISCUSSION: The identification of robust predictors of (non-)attendance is important for the design and delivery of interventions aimed at optimizing cardiac rehabilitation uptake. Funding for the study was granted in February 2011 by the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office (CZH/4/650).

Recruitment rates and reasons for community physicians' non-participation in an interdisciplinary intervention study on leg ulceration.

BACKGROUND: This article describes the challenges a research team experienced recruiting physicians within a randomised controlled trial about leg ulcer care that seeks to foster the cooperation between the medical and nursing professions. Community-based physicians in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, were recruited for an interdisciplinary intervention designed to enhance leg ulcer patients' self-care agency. The aim of this article is to investigate the success of different recruitment strategies employed and reasons for physicians' non-participation. METHODS: The first recruitment phase stressed the recruitment of GPs, the second the recruitment of specialists. Throughout the recruitment process data were collected through phone conversations with GP practices who indicated reasons for non-participation. RESULTS: Despite great efforts to recruit physicians, the recruitment rate reached only 26 out of 1549 contacted practices (1.7%) and 12 out of 273 (4.4%) practices during the first and second recruitment phase respectively. The overall recruitment rate over the 16-month recruitment period was 2%. With a target recruitment rate of n = 300, only 45 patients were enrolled in the study, not meeting study projections. Various reasons for community physicians' non-participation are presented as stated spontaneously during phone conversations that might explain low recruitment rates. The recruitment strategy utilised is discussed against the background of factors associated with high participation rates from the international literature. CONCLUSION: Time, money, and effort needed during the planning and recruitment phase of a study must not be underestimated to avoid higher than usual rates of refusal and lack of initial contact. Pilot studies prior to a study start-up may provide some evidence on whether the target recruitment rate is feasible. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN42122226.

Developing a nurse-led education program to enhance self-care agency in leg ulcer patients.

Patients with leg ulceration face changing self-care demands associated with the consequences of the disease and treatment. Often patients can manage their self-care for some time, but new therapeutic self-care demands may emerge that require more complex self-care actions. The purpose of this article is to describe the development of a nurse-led education program in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany, that aims to help patients with leg ulcers to meet their therapeutic self-care demands. Orem's self-care deficit nursing theory is used as a framework to provide the conceptual context for this supportive-educative nursing system that is being tested in a multi-site clinical trial.

A systematic review on the impact of leg ulceration on patients' quality of life.

BACKGROUND: A systematic review was conducted to analyse journal articles that describe or measure the impact of leg ulceration on patients' quality of life (QoL) in order to improve the content of an educational programme that aims to enhance self-care agency in leg ulcer patients. METHOD: Original articles published in English and German between 1990 and 2006 were included if the findings were analysed at the level of patients. Articles were excluded if (1) they investigated the impact of specific treatments or settings on QoL or (2) focused mainly on arterial ulcers or diabetic foot ulcers. RESULTS: Twenty-four original research articles met the inclusion criteria; 11 studies used a quantitative, 11 studies a qualitative, and 2 used a mixed method approach. The findings were collapsed into 5 core domains. Quantitative studies commonly investigated the parameters of pain, sleep, social isolation, and physical mobility. Patients had significantly more pain, more restrictions regarding social functioning, less vitality, and limitations with respect to emotional roles compared to the respective controls. Other problem areas identified were restrictions in work capacity, recreation, social interaction, psychological well-being, as well as problems caused by treatment regimes. Inconclusive results were obtained regarding pain intensity, physical restrictions, and gender effects. LIMITATIONS: Numerous original studies neither undertook a differentiation of participants by ulcer aetiology nor did they analyse the results according to gender differences. CONCLUSION: As leg ulceration has an impact on QoL, national guidelines on the treatment of leg ulceration need to more specifically address these far-ranging effects identified in this review.