Understanding the contribution of intellectual disabilities nurses. Paper 1 of 4 -Scoping literature review.

The objective of this scoping review was to summarise evidence on the contribution of intellectual disabilities nurses to improve the health and well-being of children, adults and older people with intellectual disability, now and for the future. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (for Scoping Reviews) (PRISMA-ScR) process and Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidance was used. We included 54 publications. We identified 154 interventions undertaken by intellectual disability nurses. We categorised the intellectual disability nursing interventions into three themes: effectuating nursing procedures, enhancing impact of services, and enhancing quality of life.Findings point to high quality research being essential in determining the impact and effectiveness of intellectual disability nursing interventions across the lifespan. We recommend that a searchable online compendium of intellectual disability nurse interventions be established and regularly updated. This will provide opportunities to engage more effectively in evidence-based practice.

Using Polarized Spectroscopy to Investigate Order in Thin-Films of Ionic Self-Assembled Materials Based on Azo-Dyes.

Three series of ionic self-assembled materials based on anionic azo-dyes and cationic benzalkonium surfactants were synthesized and thin films were prepared by spin-casting. These thin films appear isotropic when investigated with polarized optical microscopy, although they are highly anisotropic. Here, three series of homologous materials were studied to rationalize this observation. Investigating thin films of ordered molecular materials relies to a large extent on advanced experimental methods and large research infrastructure. A statement that in particular is true for thin films with nanoscopic order, where X-ray reflectometry, X-ray and neutron scattering, electron microscopy and atom force microscopy (AFM) has to be used to elucidate film morphology and the underlying molecular structure. Here, the thin films were investigated using AFM, optical microscopy and polarized absorption spectroscopy. It was shown that by using numerical method for treating the polarized absorption spectroscopy data, the molecular structure can be elucidated. Further, it was shown that polarized optical spectroscopy is a general tool that allows determination of the molecular order in thin films. Finally, it was found that full control of thermal history and rigorous control of the ionic self-assembly conditions are required to reproducibly make these materials of high nanoscopic order. Similarly, the conditions for spin-casting are shown to be determining for the overall thin film morphology, while molecular order is maintained.

Six ways of experiencing information literacy in nursing: the findings of a phenomenographic study.

BACKGROUND: Information literacy plays a vital role in evidence-based practice in nursing. However there is currently little evidence to show how being information literate is actually experienced by nurses and therefore information literacy educational interventions are not genuinely evidence-based. Are they promoting the appropriate knowledge and skills to help nurses find and use the research evidence they need? OBJECTIVES: To investigate how being information literate is experienced by nurses. To use the insights obtained to develop a description of the parameters of information literacy in nursing, including those of its role and value in evidence-based practice. DESIGN: Phenomenography. PARTICIPANTS: 41 UK nurses of varying experience, specialism and background. METHODS: Open-ended interviews. RESULTS: 7 contexts in which information literacy is experienced, were mapped out and 6 representative ways of being an information literate nurse, in increasing levels of depth and sophistication, were described. CONCLUSIONS: These findings may form the basis of future evidence-based information literacy education programmes.

Data-analysis issues in a phenomenographic investigation of information literacy in nursing.

AIM: To explore two contrasting methods of phenomenographic data analysis. BACKGROUND: Phenomenography is a still-uncommon but increasingly used methodology based on qualitative interviews that allows experiences to be categorised and put into a descriptive structure for use in developing educational interventions. There are two different approaches in the literature to analysing data: the Marton and Åkerlind methods. DATA SOURCES: A doctoral research project investigating the role of information literacy in evidence-based practice in nursing. REVIEW METHODS: The phenomenographic study involves open-ended interviews in which participants are asked to describe their 'life-world' where the phenomenon is experienced, covering the contexts in which it is experienced and how it is experienced. The researcher attempts to develop statements from the interview transcripts that describe representative ways of experiencing the phenomenon in the form of 'categories of description'. A category of description represents a qualitatively different way of experiencing a phenomenon. DISCUSSION: This article discusses the reasons for adopting phenomenography, phenomenography's epistemological assumptions, and the strengths and weaknesses of the two different data-analysis methods. CONCLUSION: Phenomenography's strength is its ability to develop logical structures that give a picture of the experience of a phenomenon while being able to read into the structure as much of the complexity of that experience as is consciously and practically possible. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE/RESEARCH: One method, described as the 'Åkerlind' method, emerged as the appropriate method for phenomenographic studies in nursing.

A phenomenographic investigation into Information Literacy in nursing practice - preliminary findings and methodological issues.

BACKGROUND: Information Literacy is essential to 'evidence-based practice'; without the ability to locate evidence, evidence-based practice is rendered extremely difficult if not impossible. There is currently little evidence to show how Information Literacy is experienced by nurses or what its parameters are within evidence-based practice and therefore whether Information Literacy educational interventions are actually promoting the correct knowledge and skills. OBJECTIVE, DESIGN AND METHODS: Using phenomenographic interviews the author will attempt to discover how nurses experience Information Literacy. Insights from the findings will be used to map out its parameters and to put forward a theoretical model for a course or module to develop it effectively. RESULTS: This article presents preliminary findings, including 7 draft categories of description of how Information Literacy is experienced in nursing. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study indicates that the complete findings may be of significant potential value in the promotion and development of Information Literacy education in nursing. It is argued that such insights into how nurses actually experience the phenomenon of Information Literacy can be used to develop potentially more effective, research-based, educational interventions.