The Usefulness of Brief Family Health Conversations Offered to Families Following the Diagnosis of Breast Cancer.

Currently, there are few studies which examine targeted family-focused support when a family member is diagnosed with breast cancer. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore families' experiences of participating in a family nursing intervention identified as Brief Family Health Conversations (BFamHC) following the diagnosis of breast cancer. Semi-structured family interviews were conducted with nine families (including 29 family members) 2 weeks following the family-focused intervention of three sessions of BFamHC. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Families reported the BFamHC as positive and as a unique kind of family health conversation, one that afforded them the opportunity to communicate and share their experiences as a family group. A family conversation, even one as time-limited as BFamHC, offered a sense of relational sharing and togetherness, thus preventing feelings of isolation and vulnerability. Therapeutic family-focused conversations, such as BFamHC, hold promise as a useful family nursing intervention following the diagnosis of breast cancer.

Professionals' experiences with paediatric colonoscopy: an interview study.

BACKGROUND: Colonoscopy plays a crucial role in the diagnosis of paediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), adolescents comprise 25% of all cases of IBD. Several studies have found that a safe, informative, and effective colonoscopy, performed in a child-friendly atmosphere with minimal distress to the child, is difficult to achieve.The aim of this study was to describe nurse's experiences of the pre-colonoscopy procedure prior in children. METHODS: A qualitative design with a thematic content analysis approach was used. Fifteen nurses at a children's hospital participated in interviews regarding their experiences of the bowel cleansing procedure with PEG in children. RESULTS: Four key themes were extracted from the nurses' experiences; lack of knowledge, challenges surrounding information, responsibility without control and assembly line- like procedure.. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that nurses feel that they need more time and education opportunities before involved in paediatric colonoscopies.

Swedish Children's Lived Experience of Ulcerative Colitis.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing in children. When this lifelong illness is diagnosed in childhood, especially during adolescence, it may have a negative impact on children's quality of life. The aim of the present study was to illuminate the meaning of children's lived experience of ulcerative colitis. Seven children aged between 10 and 18 years were recruited from University Hospital South Sweden and interviewed about the phenomenon under scrutiny. Data were analyzed by means of a phenomenological hermeneutical method. The meaning of the children's lived experience of ulcerative colitis was summed up as a main theme. A daily struggle to adapt and be perceived as normal consisted of 4 subthemes: being healthy despite the symptoms, being healthy despite being afraid, being healthy despite a sense of being different, and being healthy despite needing support. The children strove to perceive themselves as healthy, and they needed to be perceived as healthy, especially when experiencing symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease. Children with inflammatory bowel disease confront various problems, such as ambitions and goals that are hard to achieve, due to reduced abilities as a result of the illness or an insufficiently adapted environment.

Polyethylene Glycol- or Sodium Picosulphate-Based Laxatives Before Colonoscopy in Children.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this randomised study was to compare the quality of bowel cleansing using either polyethylene glycol (PEG) or sodium picosulphate (NaPico) (primary outcome) in relation to the tolerability and acceptance of these laxatives among children and their caregivers (secondary outcome). METHODS: The study was a randomised controlled trial that was conducted as an investigator-blinded study within the Department of Paediatrics of Skåne University Hospital in Malmö, Sweden. A total of 72 children (10-18 years of age) were randomly placed into 1 of 2 groups (PEG or NaPico). The Ottawa Bowel Preparation Quality Score was used to evaluate the quality of bowel cleansing. A total of 2 different questionnaires were used to evaluate both the acceptability and tolerability of the laxatives. RESULTS: In total, 71 children completed the bowel cleansing. Of these 71 cleanses, 67 protocols were analysed according to the Ottawa Bowel Preparation Quality Score. No significant difference in bowel cleansing quality was detected between the 2 groups. Rates of acceptability and tolerability were significantly higher in the NaPico group than in the PEG group. CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, both laxatives were found to be satisfactory in terms of aiding the performance of an uncomplicated and successful colonoscopy. NaPico was, however, more tolerable to the children than PEG, and both, the children and their caregivers, were more accepting of NaPico than of PEG. Consequently, NaPico can be recommended as the option for bowel cleansing in children ages 10 years and older.

A private affair: children's experiences prior to colonoscopy.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To illuminate children's experiences prior to colonoscopy. BACKGROUND: It is well known that children need to be well prepared before undergoing stressful medical procedures, and the goal of such preparations should focus on minimising their level of anxiety. The clinical investigation of children with suspected inflammatory bowel disease involves several steps, with colonoscopy being routinely used to investigate the colon and the lower part of the small intestine. To minimise children's anxiety during various medical procedures, it is important that information about their experiences is obtained directly from the children themselves. DESIGN: A qualitative study. METHOD: The study was designed as a qualitative interview study involving 17 children aged 10-17 years undergoing colonoscopy at a children's university hospital in Sweden. Verbatim transcripts were analysed using content analysis. RESULTS: The children's experiences prior to colonoscopy were identified as belonging to an overall theme, a private affair, and to four categories: preparing yourself, mastering the situation, reluctantly participating and feeling emotional support. CONCLUSION: This study shows that children's experiences prior to colonoscopy are a private affair and that the preparation needs to be individually adapted for the 'preprocedural' preparation to be comprehended. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The children's experiences ascertained in this study can contribute to a greater understanding of children's needs prior to a colonoscopy and may provide professional care staff with the basis for future nursing assessments.

Ambulance nurses' experiences of using prehospital guidelines for patients with acute chest pain - A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Ambulance nurses have an important role in early recognition and treatment often being the first medical contact for patients with acute chest pain. However, there is sparse knowledge on the experiences of ambulance nurses with regard to use of Prehospital Guidelines for patients with Acute Chest Pain. AIM: To explore ambulance nurses' experiences of using prehospital guidelines for patients with acute coronary syndrome. METHOD: A qualitative descriptive study design. Semi-structured interviews with 22 ambulance nurses recruited through purposive sampling strategy. The material was transcribed and analysed using content analysis. RESULTS: Two main categories emerged from the results. The first category Sense of professional obligation included experiences of having an important role in caring for patients with acute chest pain. Understanding this role and the collaboration in the chain of care prompted ambulance nurses to adhere to the guidelines. However, not receiving enough feedback on the provided care made them uncertain whether to use guidelines. The second category Clinical difficulties using guidelines consisted of experiences of being surrounded by practical challenges while using guidelines. Ambulance nurses meet these challenges by relying on their clinical experience, which sometimes led to them deviating from the guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: The ambulance nurses experienced a mixture of feeling secure and insecure when using the guidelines. Foremost, when encountering patients with unspecific chest pain, they felt a lack of feedback and an insufficient collaboration within the chain of care, which made them deviate from guidelines. To increase adherence in guidelines, post-registration education to update the knowledge and skills about guidelines for acute chest pain is needed followed by formal inter-disciplinary feedback on the care provided.

Early Identification of Mental Illness in Primary School Pupils by School Nurses: A Qualitative Study.

INTRODUCTION: The World Health Organization has reported that one fifth of all children in the world suffer from poor mental health regardless of cultural differences. Previous studies have shown that working with mental health is an important part of the duties of school nurses in Sweden. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to describe the experiences of school nurses regarding the identification of mental illness among pupils in primary school. METHODS: In this inductive qualitative study, interviews were conducted with 11 school nurses in southern Sweden and analyzed using content analysis. RESULTS: The results indicate three major themes: (1) the need for shared responsibility, (2) feelings of uncertainty and inadequacy in school nurses, and (3) the importance of establishing relationships. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that school nurses feel responsible for their pupils' well-being, but also feel that they need support. A lack of guidance in identifying mental illness emerged from the interviews.

Pain assessment from Swedish nurses' perspective.

METHODS: This study is a qualitative interview study. The authors used the stimulated recall interview (SRI) with nurses working at a children's hospital in southern Sweden for the data collection. In total twelve nurses were interviewed and qualitative content analysis was used for the data analysis. RESULTS: The results are presented as one theme: Need for higher competencies and evidence, and three categories: Routines can enable pain assessment, Trusting one's own assessment of the whole picture, and Pain assessment scales as an extra workload. The interviewed nurses acknowledged that pain assessment tools are a vital part of the field of pain treatment. They also had trust issues with measuring and estimating pain by means of a tool such as pain scale. Furthermore, their opinion was that too many different tools and methods add up towards a more blurry and stress-related environment and due to a lack of consistent routines, pain assessment is seen as a work-related burden in the daily routines. CONCLUSION: Results from the present study indicated that nurses need clear routines in combination with continued education regarding pain assessment with pain scales, which might be the key to successful pediatric pain assessment and thus to better pain management within pediatrics.

Undergoing colonoscopy as experienced by adolescents.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to describe the phenomenon of undergoing colonoscopy as experienced by adolescents. DESIGN: This study was a qualitative study in which data were collected and analyzed in accordance with the methodological principles of Reflective Lifeworld Research with a phenomenological approach. METHODS: Face-to-face interviews were performed with 17 adolescents after undergoing the first colonoscopy. RESULTS: The phenomenon of undergoing colonoscopy as experienced by adolescents can be described as a collision between emotions and a desire to obtain answers to questions about the examination, as well as concerns about its result and the meaning of undergoing colonoscopy. The essential meaning is additionally described through its constituents: a sense of vulnerability, an opportunity for symptom explanation, and sensibility regarding information. CONCLUSIONS: The results can be concluded in terms of the knowledge that for adolescents a colonoscopy means more than an examination. Although colonoscopy is not experienced as painful, it evokes different emotions that affect adolescents. Therefore, a psychological preparation, on an individual level, is required before the colonoscopy. Our results showed that adolescents need to understand the connection between their symptoms, their body, and the colonoscopy.

The experience of polyethylene glycol (PEG) bowel preparation in adolescents undergoing colonoscopy.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe the experience of polyethylene glycol (PEG) bowel preparation in adolescents undergoing colonoscopy. RESULTS: 32 adolescents, 10-18 years of age self-reported a minimum of complications 1 week after colonoscopy when PEG was used for bowel preparation. 17 adolescents, 10-18 years were also interviewed about bowel preparation with PEG. Using qualitative content analysis, two categories were extracted from the data: "Being decisive makes it manageable" and "Be prepared for a horrible experience." The adolescents reported PEG intake difficulty; the intake was, however, manageable if they received appropriate information.

Parents' experiences when their child is undergoing an elective colonoscopy.

PURPOSE: The purpose was to illuminate parents' experiences when their children are undergoing an elective colonoscopy performed using polyethylene glycol-based regimes for bowel preparation. DESIGN AND METHODS: Individual interviews with 12 parents were performed and analysed using content analysis. RESULTS: The parents' experiences were structured into one theme: "Charged with conflicting emotions" with three categories: "Being forced to force," "Losing one's sense of being a parent" and "Standing without guidance." PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Understanding parents' experiences can help healthcare staff guide parents in helping their children undergo a colonoscopy.