Information Literacy in a Digital Era: Understanding the Impact of Mobile Information for Undergraduate Nursing Students.

Recent entry-to-practice nursing informatics competencies for Registered Nurses in Canada mean nurse educators need educational strategies to promote student competency within the rapidly evolving informatics field. A collaborative research team from three Canadian nursing programs completed a mixed method survey to describe how nursing students used mobile nursing information support and the extent of this support for learning. The Mobile Information Support Evaluation Tool (MISET) assessed Usefulness/Helpfulness, Information Literacy Support, and Use of Evidence-Based Sources. The quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed to describe students' perspectives and the ways they used mobile resources in learning situations. Findings suggest nursing students mainly accessed mobile resources to support clinical learning, and specifically for task-oriented information such as drug medication or patient conditions/diagnoses. Researchers recommend a paradigm shift whereby educators emphasize information literacy in a way that supports evidence-based quality care.

Quasi-experimental evaluation of a telephone-based peer support intervention for maternal depression.

AIMS: To evaluate the effect of telephone-based peer support on maternal depression and social support BACKGROUND: Postpartum depression is a global health concern and lack of treatment options mean many mothers are depressed beyond the first year after birth. Strong evidence has shown telephone-based peer support, provided by a mother recovered from depression, effectively improves depression outcomes. This model has not been tested with mothers with depression any time up to two years postpartum. DESIGN: Quasi-experimental, one group pre-test, posttest. METHOD: The study population was mothers in New Brunswick, Canada with depression up to 24 months after delivery. The sample (N = 64) was recruited between May 2011-October 2013. Peer volunteers recovered from postpartum depression were trained and delivered an average of 8·84 (Range 1-13) support telephone calls. Depression and social support outcomes were assessed at intervention mid-point (average 7·43 weeks, n = 37) and end (average 13·9 weeks, n = 34). RESULTS: Mean depression significantly declined from baseline, 15·4 (N = 49), to mid-point, 8·30 and end of the study, 6·26. At mid-point 8·1% (n = 3/37) of mothers were depressed and at endpoint 11·8% (4/34) were depressed suggesting some relapse. Perceptions of social support significantly improved and higher support was significantly related with lower depression symptoms. CONCLUSION: Findings offer promise that telephone-based peer support is effective for both early postpartum depression and maternal depression up to two years after delivery.

Stresses, strengths, and experiences of mothers engaged in methadone maintenance treatment.

Although methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) is the intervention of choice for addiction, unfortunately, mothers are less likely to engage in care. Greater understanding of how mothers experience the addiction and the recovery process is needed to develop strategies to effectively engage mothers in MMT. This mixed method study applied quantitative and qualitative approaches with a sample of 12 mothers who were engaged in MMT for 3 or more months. Although the results showed stresses of high depression and difficult life circumstance scores, the mothers had strengths that included positive social support and family functioning. Inductive analysis of transcribed interviews identified three themes that explained how mothers experienced addiction and recovery: diminished maternal identity, choice for mothering, and redefined maternal identity. During addiction, mothers described a sense of diminished maternal identity with two subthemes of diminished performed mothering and interrupted mothering. With the second theme, choice for mothering, mothers described making the choice to attend MMT for their children. The third theme, redefined maternal identity, consisted of two subthemes that reflected potential outcomes of MMT and addiction recovery. Whereas most mothers described positive, restored maternal identity, two mothers of older children noted continued diminished maternal identity with persistence of negative mother-child relationships despite maternal addiction recovery. Recommendations are made to assist service providers to consider maternal identity within the recovery process.

Mothers and infants exposed to intimate partner violence compensate.

Reasons for the developmental variability in children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) are unclear and under studied. This article presents exploratory findings on (a) the potential impact of IPV on mother-child relationships and child development and (b) the association between these maternal-child relationship impacts and child development. The fit of findings with compensatory, spillover, and compartmentalization hypotheses was explored. Participants were 49 mothers and 51 children younger than 3 years of age affected by IPV. Data were collected on maternal-child interactions, child development, social support, difficult life circumstances, family functioning, child temperament, and parental depression. The findings suggested developmental impacts on children in the sample, along with children's high sensitivity and responsiveness to their caregivers. Although some spillover effects were observed, the predominant observation was of mothers and infants compensating for exposure to IPV in their interactions.

Social support needs identified by mothers affected by intimate partner violence.

In order to offer optimal supports and services for mothers affected by intimate partner violence (IPV), an understanding of these mothers' perceptions of support needs, resources, barriers to support, and preferences for support intervention is warranted. Moreover, the growing recognition of the effects of IPV on maternal-infant relationships and of the importance of these early relationships to long-term child health outcomes suggests interventions are needed to support optimal maternal-infant relationships in these families. Thus, 64 mothers exposed to IPV when their infants were below 12 months of age participated in a retrospective qualitative study to identify mothers' support needs, resources, barriers to support, and preferences for specific support interventions to promote optimal mother-infant relationships. Participants identified both personal needs (including needs for leaving or staying with the violent partner), along with intertwined needs to care for, and help, their infants cope with the experience of violence. Mothers reported that integrated services that include information and practical support from professionals with emotional and affirmation support from peers would promote positive, nurturing mother-infant relationships and healthy child development.

Supporting mothering: service providers' perspectives of mothers and young children affected by intimate partner violence.

Although negative outcomes from intimate partner violence (IPV) are not inevitable, IPV is recognized to have profound negative effects on child development. We conducted a qualitative descriptive study of service providers' understandings of the impact of IPV on mothers, young children (birth to 36 months), and mother-infant/child relationships, and of the support needs of these mothers and young children. Service providers suggested that IPV negatively influenced caregiving and identified a pressing need for information and strategies to help mothers promote and protect their young children's development. Although service providers struggled to articulate ideal forms of assistance to promote maternal-infant/child relationships, they agreed that mothers and young children experiencing IPV required more support than is currently available.

Living in a world of our own: the experience of parents who have a child with autism.

In this article, we discuss findings of a hermeneutic phenomenological study that sought to describe the experiences of parents who have a child with autism. Qualitative interviews were conducted with parents from 16 families of children with autism residing in a western Canadian province. "Living in a world of our own" emerged as the essence of the parents' experiences. In "living in a world of our own," parents described a world of isolation. Three themes representing the essential challenging elements of the parents' experiences included vigilant parenting, sustaining the self and family, and fighting all the way. Although much is known about the fundamental importance of support to parents of children with chronic conditions and/or disabilities, findings from this study indicate that knowledge has not been adequately transferred to the care of children with autism.

The infant care questionnaire: assessment of reliability and validity in a sample of healthy mothers.

Few instruments are available to assess perceptions of competence in the specific maternal role function of infant care provider. This article reports on a methodological study of the development and evaluation of the Infant Care Questionnaire (ICQ), a self-report scale designed to measure the mother's perceptions of her abilities and competence as an infant care provider. The sample consisted of healthy low-risk primiparous and multiparous mothers (N = 164) of term infants. Principal components factor analysis with a Varimax rotation produced a three factor solution that explained 42% of the total variance. The three factors were Mom&Baby, Emotionality, and Responsiveness with Cronbach alpha coefficients of .86, .79, and .58, respectively. Validity evidence included higher Mom&Baby scores for multiparous mothers, F (1, 139) = 10.78, p = .001; those with greater time in the mothering role, F (2, 138) = 21.78, p = .000; and a significant correlation with the similar Maternal Confidence Scale, r (155) = .48, p = .000. Acquisition of competence was shown in a greater proportion of mothers rated "competent" at five weeks compared with one week postnatal, chi 2 (1, N = 156) = 22.77, p = .000. While the ICQ demonstrated adequate reliability and validity, establishment of clinical relevance and appropriateness with other groups is required.