"It's Like Your Whole Body Hates You": Experiences of Withdrawal, Distress, and Barriers to Relief Among Adults Receiving Methadone for Opioid Use Disorder.

ABSTRACT: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted concurrent with a larger study investigating the effects of hyperbaric oxygen treatment on withdrawal symptoms for adults receiving daily methadone for opioid use disorder. The aims of this study were to (a) evaluate the perceptions of withdrawal symptoms and sleep characteristics of study participants and (b) explore the experiences of participation in the parent trial of hyperbaric oxygen treatment.Adults with opioid use disorder can experience distressing symptoms related to withdrawal as well as co-occurring symptoms; sleep impairment is frequently reported. Few studies have examined how adults who receive medication for opioid use disorder experience sleep. A preliminary study of adults receiving daily methadone found that withdrawal symptoms were improved after hyperbaric oxygen treatment. This study explores the narrative of opioid users who report their overall experiences with withdrawal and sleep as well as their experiences of hyperbaric therapy.A convenience sample of six participants was recruited, who represented a small subgroup of participants who completed the larger hyperbaric treatment study. Data were collected via semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed using the qualitative content analysis guidelines proposed by Schreier (2012). All participants described poor overall sleep hygiene and disturbed sleep. More than half of the respondents reported improved or eliminated withdrawal symptoms, and all reported improvement in sleep quality after participation in the sleep study.This companion study confirms that subjective sleep disturbance may be prevalent for adults with opioid use disorder. Participants felt the experience of hyperbaric oxygen treatment produced a positive effect on sleep.

"Permission to Touch": Nurses' Perspectives of Interpersonal Contact during Patient Care.

The purpose of this study was to describe nurses' perceptions about the use of interpersonal touch in their clinical practice. A qualitative descriptive approach with content analysis method was used to identify common themes. Registered nurses (N = 22) participated in focus groups and individual interviews. Three themes emerged from the analysis: (a) touch and massage as a resource, (b) individualized boundaries, and (c) professional role conflict. While the approach to touch varied, stories about the positive impacts that touch can have on patient care were consistently evident throughout the data. Implications for practice include incorporating areas from the themes into the development of educational programs focusing on how to integrate touch into practice as a comforting resource, while keeping individual's preferences in mind.

Registered Nurses' Experiences Taking Breaks on Night Shift: A Qualitative Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Fatigue mitigation strategies among night shift workers can include deliberate use of restful work breaks, taking naps, and consuming caffeine. However, nurses have frequently reported missing break opportunities, and the rationale for missed breaks remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to describe and interpret the lived experience of hospital night shift nurses taking breaks and the meaning of this phenomenon as it relates to the workplace. METHODS: Registered nurses (n = 16) from a U.S. community hospital were interviewed about how they took rest breaks during their shift. Data were analyzed with methods consistent to interpretive phenomenology. FINDINGS: Identified themes about the breaks included (a) breaks are a time to eat, (b) breaks are inconsistently supported by unit-level structures and processes, and (c) breaks are a luxury, not a right. CONCLUSIONS/APPLICATIONS TO PRACTICE: Nurses in this study reported an absence of consistent and restorative breaks. Organizations should analyze gaps within systems and processes to optimize a consistent, restorative nature of the break experience among nurses working night shift.

National Study on Faculty and Administrators' Perceptions of Civility and Incivility in Nursing Education.

BACKGROUND: Incivility among nursing faculty and administrators lowers morale, damages relationships, and threatens workplace health and productivity. PURPOSE: This national study examined nursing faculty and administrators' perceptions of civility and incivility in nursing education, ways to address the problem, and psychometric properties of the Workplace Incivility/Civility Survey (WICS). METHODS: A convergent mixed-methodological study was used to conduct the study. A factor analysis and other reliability analyses were conducted on the WICS. RESULTS: Respondents included 1074 faculty and administrators who identified types and frequency of incivility, severity and contributors to the problem, reasons for avoiding incivility, and strategies to improve civility. Eight themes of uncivil behaviors were garnered. The WICS was shown to be a psychometrically sound instrument to measure civility and incivility. CONCLUSION: This study reported faculty and administrators' perceptions of civility and incivility in nursing education and provided evidence-based strategies to prevent and address the problem.

Professional identity and hospital-based registered nurses: A phenomenological study.

INTRODUCTION: Nurses continue to struggle to define their role as professionals in the hospital-setting often being represented in media as less competent than other health care providers. Paradoxically, an annual poll of the public consistently identifies nursing as the most trusted profession. This dichotomy of simultaneously being considered incompetent yet holding a high level of trust leads nurses to question their own professional identity. A gap exists in the literature about the professional identity of nurses who work directly with patients in the hospital environment. METHODOLOGY: Therefore, the aim of this interpretive phenomenology study was to describe the lived experience of nurses working with patients in the hospital environment and the meaning of this phenomenon as it relates to their professional identity. RESULTS: Four themes were identified: (a) being validated as an expert by providers within the healthcare system; (b) working well as a valued member of a team; (c) advocating for the patient's needs despite opposition; and (d) Valuing human-ness in the patient. IMPLICATIONS: The findings provide a deeper representation of the practice of hospital-based nurses and implications for Anchornurses to be empowered in their workplace.