A Scoping Research Literature Review to Identify Contemporary Evidence on the Incidence, Causes, and Impacts of End-of-Life Intra-Family Conflict.

When someone is terminally ill, it is often a very stressful time for the dying person and their family. It would not be unusual for intra-family conflict, involving one or more family members and even the dying person, to occur. However, this type of conflict has not been identified as an end-of-life issue needing to be noticed and addressed or prevented when possible. This lack of attention could be because it is not known how common or how impactful this type of conflict is. A scoping research literature review was conducted for available 2004-2019 evidence on the incidence or prevalence of intra-family conflict, factors contributing to it or causing it, and the outcomes or impact of it. A search for published peer-review articles identified 18 research reports for a scoping review. The 18 studies, all conducted in developed countries, revealed intra-family conflict is often present; and with a range of harmful effects for the dying person, the family as a whole or individual family members, and other persons and organizations. The identified factors contributing to or predisposing intra-family conflict were grouped into three categories: (a) family disagreements over curative treatment and/or end-of-life care and decisions, (b) previous family conflict and other family dynamic matters, and (c) the dying process itself. The evidence identified through this scoping review, although relatively minimal, should be useful for planning future research and for raising awareness of end-of-life intra-family conflict to improve social services and palliative programs or services.

Determining if nurses are involved in political action or politics: A scoping literature review.

BACKGROUND: There is much current as well as long-standing concern that nurses need to be more involved in and also more adept at politics and political action for the advancement of the profession, and for the health and wellbeing of the public. OBJECTIVES: An historical scoping literature review was carried out to identify if, as well as why, when, and how nurses become involved in government or meso-level political action or politics, and what is or has been gained through this involvement. DESIGN: Scoping literature review. SETTINGS (INCLUDING GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION): Worldwide published literature. PARTICIPANT: Nil. METHODS: Research and non-research articles on the topic were identified in a decade-by-decade search of the CINAHL database, all relevant ones were retained, and the per-decade findings in them were compared over time. RESULTS: Only 25 research reports, published 1988-2019, were identified. These studies were conducted in a few, mostly developed, countries. They provide a varied picture of nurse or nursing association involvement in political action and policy circles. In contrast, the opinion and theory articles demonstrate increased nurse and nursing association involvement in, as well as rising skill in political action and public policy engagement, although primarily in the United States and Canada. CONCLUSIONS: Research and case reports are needed now in all countries to correct the view that nurses and nursing associations are apolitical, and to gain information on how and why nurses and nursing associations become politically active and also determine what is gained through this activity.