Nurses' experiences in the relief of postoperative nausea and vomiting.

AIM: The aim of the study was to illuminate the experience of nurses in relieving postoperative nausea and vomiting. BACKGROUND: Postoperative nausea and vomiting has been shown to be one of the most common and distressing side effects of surgery. In spite of this, there has been little research on the role of nurses in caring for patients with postoperative nausea and vomiting. DESIGN: Qualitative approach using narratives. METHODS: Ten female nurses from two general surgical departments were interviewed. The transcribed interviews were analysed using the hermeneutic narrative method inspired by Polkinghorne. RESULTS: The nurses report that they have what may be described as a set of different tools at their disposal. These tools can be entitled 'listen and understand', 'information', 'the clinical eye' and 'availability', all of which can be used in solving several needs. However, some nurses have better skills or more opportunities to use the available tools than do others. By using these tools, the nurses can increase their possibilities for enhancing the patients' efforts to gain control over their own situation and thereby increase the quality of their care. CONCLUSION: Nurses use different types of tools to relieve postoperative nausea and vomiting and it is possible to create a positive nursing care situation if patients are given the opportunity to be in control and handle their own situation. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: When it comes to relieving postoperative nausea and vomiting, the findings of this study are important as the study highlights the practical actions taken by nurses and their experiences. When nurses have the possibility to use their nursing tools in an optimal way, together with their experience and knowledge and then follow their nursing actions by being able to reflect on them, they can further develop their approach to nursing and thereby increase their competence as nurses.

Car seat education: A randomized controlled trial of teaching methods.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if a less labor-intensive video-based program for teaching car seat installation can be as effective as the traditional didactic lecture component. METHODS: This is a randomized controlled trial of caregivers seeking car seat education. Caregivers were assigned to didactic or video-based social learning classes. The didactic class involved live lecture; the social learning class included a brief lecture and the video, Simple Steps to Child Passenger Safety, utilizing social learning principles. Proficiency in child passenger safety was evaluated pre- and post-class via: (1) 5-question confidence assessment; (2) 15-question knowledge test; and (3) 5-part car seat installation demonstration. Data were analyzed to compare post-class assessment scores between teaching modalities using pre-test scores as covariates, and correlation of participant confidence and knowledge with installation ability. RESULTS: 526 individuals registered and were randomized. A total of 213 arrived for class with 103 randomized to didactic teaching and 111 to social learning. Didactics and social learning groups showed similar increases in post-class confidence, knowledge, and installation ability. In the pre-class assessment, 16% of participants in each group installed the car seat correctly. After controlling for baseline installation ability, correct post-class car seat installation did not vary between groups (mean difference = 0.001; p = 0.964). Among participants with high scores on the knowledge assessment, only 57% could demonstrate correct car seat installation (rs = 0.160, p = 0.023). CONCLUSION: Video-based social learning methodology, which requires less time and resources, was as effective in teaching child passenger safety as didactic lecture. Both teaching methods significantly improved proficiency in child passenger restraint. Car seat installation knowledge is only weakly correlated with proper installation ability and proper installation remains a challenge, even after education.