High-fidelity simulation: Assessment of student nurses' team achievements of clinical judgment.

Nursing educators have the challenge of preparing nursing students to handle complex patient care situations in real life, but much remains unknown about the ability to make clinical judgments. In this study, high-fidelity simulation (HFS) was used at a Swedish university to find answers about pre-licensure nursing students' success in clinical judgment in terms of team ability and relationships with theoretical achievements, and personal and scenario circumstances. The matrix Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric (LCJR) was used to analyze and score the students' ability in teams to notice, interpret and respond to complex care situations. Overall, the results showed the student teams in their first meeting with HFS in a complex care situation achieved low clinical judgment points; most teams were in the stages of Beginning and Developing. For attaining high team achievements the majority of the students in the team should theoretically be "high performance". Being observers and having HFS experience before nursing education was significant too. However, age, health care experience, and assistant nurse degrees were of secondary importance. Further research at universities regionally, nationally, and internationally is needed.

A Family Systems Nursing Approach for Families Following a Stroke: Family Health Conversations.

Stroke in midlife is a life altering, challenging experience for the whole family thereby necessitating a family approach to intervention. The aim of this study was to describe the experiences of 17 family members living in Sweden, including seven adult stroke patients (six males; one female) under the age of 65 who participated in a series of three nurse-led family conversations that were offered in each family's home. These Family Health Conversations (FamHC) were guided by the conceptual lens of Family System Nursing. Individual, semi-structured, evaluative interviews conducted with each participant one month after the FamHC were analyzed by qualitative content analysis. The FamHC were described by family members as a unique conversation that they had not previously experienced in health care contexts. Family members described possibilities for relational sharing and meaningful conversations as well as changes in family functioning that support the suitability of FamHC for family stroke care.

Experiences With Family Health Conversations at Residential Homes for Older People.

The aim of this study was to highlight family members' experiences of participating in Family Health Conversation (FamHC), based on families in which a family member was living in a residential home for older people. A total of 10 families and 22 family members participated in evaluating family interviews 1 month after participating in FamHC. The interviews were analyzed by qualitative content analysis. The main finding was being a part of FamHC increased family members' insights, understanding, and communication within the family. Getting confirmation from nurses was essential to cope with the new life situation, which also meant that they felt comfortable to partly hand over the responsibility for the older person who moved to the residential home. By being open and expressing their feelings, a bad conscience could be relieved. These findings showed that FamHC could be helpful for family members in adapting to this novel situation.

Nurses' fidelity to theory-based core components when implementing Family Health Conversations - a qualitative inquiry.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: A family systems nursing intervention, Family Health Conversation, has been developed in Sweden by adapting the Calgary Family Assessment and Intervention Models and the Illness Beliefs Model. The intervention has several theoretical assumptions, and one way translate the theory into practice is to identify core components. This may produce higher levels of fidelity to the intervention. Besides information about how to implement an intervention in accordance to how it was developed, evaluating whether it was actually implemented as intended is important. Accordingly, we describe the nurses' fidelity to the identified core components of Family Health Conversation. INTERVENTION AND RESEARCH METHODS: Six nurses, working in alternating pairs, conducted Family Health Conversations with seven families in which a family member younger than 65 had suffered a stroke. The intervention contained a series of three-1-hour conversations held at 2-3 week intervals. The nurses followed a conversation structure based on 12 core components identified from theoretical assumptions. The transcripts of the 21 conversations were analysed using manifest qualitative content analysis with a deductive approach. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The 'core components' seemed to be useful even if nurses' fidelity varied among the core components. Some components were followed relatively well, but others were not. This indicates that the process for achieving fidelity to the intervention can be improved, and that it is necessary for nurses to continually learn theory and to practise family systems nursing. We suggest this can be accomplished through reflections, role play and training on the core components. Furthermore, as in this study, joint reflections on how the core components have been implemented can lead to deeper understanding and knowledge of how Family Health Conversation can be delivered as intended.

Correlations Between Clinical Judgement and Learning Style Preferences of Nursing Students in the Simulation Room.

BACKGROUND: Health care educators account for variables affecting patient safety and are responsible for developing the highly complex process of education planning. Clinical judgement is a multidimensional process, which may be affected by learning styles. The aim was to explore three specific hypotheses to test correlations between nursing students' team achievements in clinical judgement and emotional, sociological and physiological learning style preferences. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with Swedish university nursing students in 2012-2013. Convenience sampling was used with 60 teams with 173 nursing students in the final semester of a three-year Bachelor of Science in nursing programme. Data collection included questionnaires of personal characteristics, learning style preferences, determined by the Dunn and Dunn Productivity Environmental Preference Survey, and videotaped complex nursing simulation scenarios. Comparison with Lasater Clinical Judgement Rubric and Non-parametric analyses were performed. RESULTS: Three significant correlations were found between the team achievements and the students' learning style preferences: significant negative correlation with 'Structure' and 'Kinesthetic' at the individual level, and positive correlation with the 'Tactile' variable. No significant correlations with students' 'Motivation', 'Persistence', 'Wish to learn alone' and 'Wish for an authoritative person present' were seen. DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION: There were multiple complex interactions between the tested learning style preferences and the team achievements of clinical judgement in the simulation room, which provides important information for the becoming nurses. Several factors may have influenced the results that should be acknowledged when designing further research. We suggest conducting mixed methods to determine further relationships between team achievements, learning style preferences, cognitive learning outcomes and group processes.

Organizing safe transitions from intensive care.

Background. Organizing and performing patient transfers in the continuum of care is part of the work of nurses and other staff of a multiprofessional healthcare team. An understanding of discharge practices is needed in order to ultimate patients' transfers from high technological intensive care units (ICU) to general wards. Aim. To describe, as experienced by intensive care and general ward staff, what strategies could be used when organizing patient's care before, during, and after transfer from intensive care. Method. Interviews of 15 participants were conducted, audio-taped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results. The results showed that the categories secure, encourage, and collaborate are strategies used in the three phases of the ICU transitional care process. The main category; a safe, interactive rehabilitation process, illustrated how all strategies were characterized by an intention to create and maintain safety during the process. A three-way interaction was described: between staff and patient/families, between team members and involved units, and between patient/family and environment. Discussion/Conclusions. The findings highlight that ICU transitional care implies critical care rehabilitation. Discharge procedures need to be safe and structured and involve collaboration, encouraging support, optimal timing, early mobilization, and a multidiscipline approach.

The meaning of middle-aged female spouses' lived experience of the relationship with a partner who has suffered a stroke, during the first year postdischarge.

Stroke consequences present a great long-term challenge to the spouses of the stroke sufferer. A longitudinal study with a phenomenological hermeneutic approach was used to illuminate the meanings of middle-aged female spouses' lived experience of their relationship with a partner who has suffered a stroke, during the first year postdischarge. Four middle-aged female spouses of stroke sufferers participated in the study. Narrative interviews were conducted 1, 6 and 12 month postdischarge (total of 12 interviews), audio-taped and transcribed verbatim to a text and interpreted by a phenomenological hermeneutic method inspired by Ricoeur. The findings showed a process over time during which spouses come to know, recognize and acknowledge the residual changes in their partners' cognitive and emotional conditions and the impact on their relationship. Spouses showed grief due to the loss of the marital relationship they once had and anxiety that they would not be able to continue in an undesired relationship in the future. Even if the partner is still alive, there is a loss to grieve and to be understood, an important meaning of the transition process in the relationship during the first year after the partner's discharge.

The experience of being a middle-aged close relative of a person who has suffered a stroke--six months after discharge from a rehabilitation clinic.

Being a close relative brings with it a large number of consequences, with the life situation changing over time. The aim of this study was to illuminate the experiences of being a middle-aged close relative of a person who has suffered a stroke 6 months after being discharged from a medical rehabilitation clinic. Narrative interviews were conducted with nine middle-aged close relatives and analysed using a content analysis with a latent approach. The analysis revealed that being close to someone who had suffered a stroke 6 months after discharge meant; a struggling for control and a renewal of family life in the shadow of suffering and hope. The middle-aged close relatives began to perceive the changed reality. They were struggling to take on something new, become reconciled and find a balance in their family life. Their ability to work, relief from caring concerns and having support and togetherness with others seemed to be essential for the close relatives in their efforts to manage their life situation and maintain their well-being. Having reached the 'halfway point' in their lives and still with half of their life in front of them created worries. They felt dejected about their changed relationships and roles, experience a sense of loss of shared child responsibilities, a negative impact on their marital relationships and sexual satisfaction. They felt trapped in a caring role and they worried about how to endure in the future. The middle-aged close relatives' experiences were of being alone and neglected, in an arduous and complex life situation filled with loss and grief. The findings highlights that health professionals need to see and listen to the close relatives' experiences of transition in order to provide appropriate support adjusted to their varying needs during a time of renewal.

The experience of being a middle-aged close relative of a person who has suffered a stroke, 1 year after discharge from a rehabilitation clinic: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Living in close emotional and physical proximity to a person who has suffered a stroke may alter almost every aspect of daily living and will inevitably impact family life. Age seems to be a factor in the experiences of stroke sufferers' close relatives after the stroke. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to illuminate the experience of being a middle-aged close relative of a person who has suffered a stroke; 1 year after the stroke sufferer's discharge from a rehabilitation clinic. PARTICIPANTS: Nine middle-aged close relatives of persons with a confirmed diagnosis of a first-time stroke were consecutively included in the study and interviewed. METHODS: The narrative interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a thematic content analysis. The study was part of a longitudinal study. RESULTS: Four themes emerged from the data, intertwined and in conflict with one another. A turning point was reached, and the inevitability of an altered future became self-evident, so much so that the middle-aged close relatives felt forced to accept and become reconciled to a changed way of living, even if feelings of grief from loss were still present. The middle-aged close relatives' process of coming to awareness and recognition of their own needs was part of a complex interplay of emotions, in which they learned to leave feelings of shame and guilt behind. They experienced movement from self-denial to self-recognition in their search for their own well-being and the recovery of their strength for a functioning family life. Even if they experienced a greater sense of freedom, they still face living life within limits. A significant challenge appears to be the effects of the personality changes among the person with a stroke, and the resulting sense of being an outsider. Relatives struggled with health care providers for visibility and confirmation. Their experiences were ones of standing alone, outside a closing door to the rehabilitation. Their ability to work, the benefits of functioning home care, and support from their family helped them through these challenges. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the middle-aged relatives' realization that they will live an inevitability altered future. Individually, the stroke sufferer's relatives need support in their relationships within the family for emotional confirmation and to help them recognize and verbalize their needs without feeling guilt; gaining these supportive factors may help the relatives to recover their sense of well-being and give strength for a future, properly functioning family life.

The meaning of being a middle-aged close relative of a person who has suffered a stroke, 1 month after discharge from a rehabilitation clinic.

The sudden and unexpected impact of stroke may have a stressful affect on close relatives. To illuminate the essential meaning in the lived experience of a middle-aged close relative of a person who has suffered a stroke, narrative interviews were conducted with 10 close relatives of people who had suffered their first stroke where both parties were aged over 18 and under 65. A phenomenological-hermeneutic interpretation of the narratives was then conducted. Three intimately intertwined themes emerged during the analysis: 'being called to mission', 'feeling lost and set adrift' and 'struggling to keep going'. The middle-aged close relatives felt unreflectively duty bound. There was a struggle with suffering and enduring the process of coping with life and overcoming a feeling of helplessness. Life turned out to be a struggle with overwhelming feelings. They felt alienated in a restricted life situation, disconnected from themselves and others, and from a world that supports feelings of being lost and set adrift (i.e. feeling homeless). Strength was found in moments when the situation improved, in being related to oneself and others, and when feelings of normality were regained.