Lived Experiences of Novice Male Nurses in Taiwan.

PURPOSE: Nursing remains a female-dominated profession around the world. The masculinity and male identity of men who choose nursing careers is questioned by the general public in many countries. Few studies report the situation of novice male nurses at their first year. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of novice male nurses when they first enter the workplace. DESIGN AND METHOD: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted using purposive and snowball sampling for recruitment. Fourteen participants, 21 to 25 years old, were recruited, all of whom had at least 5 months of work experience. On average, in-depth, face-to-face interviews lasted 1 hour, with more than one follow-up telephone interview per participant. FINDINGS: The following six themes emerged from the transcribed verbatim data based on content analysis: choosing appropriate work departments based on personality and needs, facing the pressure and frustration of independent work, getting help, obtaining acceptance among female cliques, reflecting on the relationship between gender and profession, and concerns about dependents and financial needs. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This study addresses masculinity issues and gender stereotyping. In addition, male nurses were very concerned about their career options and development and the likelihood of promotion. This research not only has implications for better understanding of novice male nurses' needs and the challenges in their social life but also makes suggestions for nursing practice to attract and keep more male nurses in the nursing profession. The results illustrate how culturally congruent nursing care can be achieved when we more concern male nurses' role pressure and address traditional gender sensitivity to promote male nurses' career development.

Rebuilding Life: Investigating the Long-Term Homecare Needs of Clients With Spinal Cord Injuries.

BACKGROUND: Clients with a spinal cord injury (SCI) must learn to manage their disabilities and may never be able to resume their previous lifestyle. Therefore, receiving relevant information and support from care practitioners and institutions is essential for clients with long-term SCI. PURPOSE: This study investigated the long-term homecare needs of clients with SCIs. METHODS: A qualitative approach was used in this study. Data were collected from March to May 2013. Four SCI associations were selected using purposive sampling, and four focus group interviews were conducted in Northern, Central, Southern, and Eastern Taiwan. Each focus group was composed of 7-12 participants. In-depth interviews (1.5-2.5 hours) were conducted. A content analysis method was adopted for data analysis. RESULTS: Thirty-eight participants took part in the study. The long-term care needs of clients with SCI require the following dynamic processes for rebuilding their lives: physical care and complication prevention, life planning, social support, discovery of the value of existence, and sexual satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The results reveal the long-term care needs of clients with SCI. Nurses are expected to provide client-centered care, emphasize prevention rather than treatment of complications, initiate life planning at the early stages of a client's rehabilitation, enhance a client's social support, encourage a client's search for companionship and search for the value of existence and a life purpose, and be attentive to the sexual concerns of people with physical disabilities.

Push and pull: Exposure of young Taiwanese women to sexually explicit materials.

This study was designed to understand young Taiwanese women's perception of sexually explicit materials (SEMs). Researchers conducted six focus group discussions with 38 young women between the ages of 18 and 22 in Taiwan in 2009-2010 and used content analysis to analyze the data based on the push-pull theory. The results showed that the exposure of young women to SEMs was a sexual exploration process from no sexual activity to future sexual activity. This process was affected by the interactions of three powers: push power, pull power, and personal factors. The push power included factors, such as parents and social values, which failed to satisfy their sexual curiosity and provide them with autonomy. The pull power included SEMs and peer influence, which increased sexual arousal stimuli and curiosity to try sexual activity. The most important personal factors were young women's growth, including sexual curiosity, cognition of SEMs, and gender equity in freedom to make sexual decisions. Understanding this push-pull process regarding SEM can help health-care providers with their own discourses in addressing sex and influence young women's participation in desired, protected, and enjoyable sex when sufficiently ready.

Evaluation of super-link system theory for spinal cord injury patients using participatory action research in a rehabilitation hospital.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to integrate and evaluate the spinal cord injury rehabilitation nursing theory named Super-Link System Theory using participatory action research. METHOD: Data were collected from October 2007 to September 2008 in a rehabilitation hospital by means of interviews, participant observations, documentary resources, case conferences and reports, and participants' self-reflective inquiries. The Super-Link System Theory was introduced to 31 rehabilitation nurses. The nurses selected a key reference group including the researcher to facilitate the participatory action research process to implement and evaluate the theory. Data were analyzed using content analysis. RESULTS: The findings shows that several key concepts were clarified and specific nursing interventions were identified. Furthermore, an integrated link system from the hospital to the community through both rehabilitation nurses and discharge planners was established. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated an evidence base for an evolving theory of care, and empowered nurses to make sustainable changes to their practice.