Environments for nursing scholarship and journal impact factor in five countries.

BACKGROUND: Universities worldwide are seeking objective measures for the assessment of their faculties' research products to evaluate them and to attain prestige. Despite concerns, the impact factors (IF) of journals where faculties publish have been adopted. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The study aims to explore conditions created within five countries as a result of policies requiring or not requiring faculty to publish in high IF journals, and the extent to which these facilitated or hindered the development of nursing science. DESIGN: The design was a multiple case study of Brazil, Taiwan, Thailand (with IF policies, Group A), United Kingdom and the United States (no IF policies, Group B). Key informants from each country were identified to assist in subject recruitment. METHODS: A questionnaire was developed for data collection. The study was approved by a human subject review committee. Five faculty members of senior rank from each country participated. All communication occurred electronically. FINDINGS: Groups A and B countries differed on who used the policy and the purposes for which it was used. There were both similarities and differences across the five countries with respect to hurdles, scholar behaviour, publishing locally vs. internationally, views of their science, steps taken to internationalize their journals. CONCLUSIONS: In group A countries, Taiwan seemed most successful in developing its scholarship. Group B countries have continued their scientific progress without such policies. IF policies were not necessary motivators of scholarship; factors such as qualified nurse scientists, the resource base in the country, may be critical factors in supporting science development.

Stress, but not Helicobacter pylori, is associated with peptic ulcer disease in a Thai population.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the relation between psychological and other risk factors, notably helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, in contributing to the occurrence of peptic ulcer (PU) disease. A retrospective case-control study was conducted at Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok from March to December 2000. Seventy endoscopically diagnosed patients with new PU or peptic perforation were compared with 70 patients with other diseases as well as blood donors control matched for age and sex. Historical risk factors, H. pylori Immunoglobulin G antibody (H. pylori IgG Ab), stress (Perceived Stress Questionnaire) and hostility (MMPI Hostility Scale) were assessed. Data were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The results showed that PU was associated with chronic stress (aOR 2.9, p = 0.01; 95% CI, 1.3-6.5) and family history of PU (aOR 2.4, p < 0.03; 95% CI, 1.1-5.1), with an interaction effect between stress and irregular mealtimes (aOR 4.8, p = 0.01; 95% CI, 1.3-16.9). The incidence rate of H. pylori infection in PU patients was similar to the control group (61.4% and 50.0%, respectively, OR 1.2). The authors conclude that stress and family history, not H. pylori infection, are important risk factors for PU in this population. This finding supports previous studies in Thailand, showing a high prevalence of H. pylori in the population but a low association with PU, in contrast to developed countries. It remains to be seen whether the impact of a family history is due to genetic factors or shared life-style patterns.

The development of advanced practice roles: implications in the international nursing community.

This article examined the critical elements that have been identified in the development of advanced practice roles of nurses in four countries: Brazil, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Several sociopolitical and professional forces were examined for possible insights and ways in which they may have shaped the development and evolution of the roles of advanced practice nurses (APNs). These forces were: the socio-political environment; the health needs of society; the health workforce supply and demand; governmental policy and support; intra- and interprofessional collaboration; the development of nursing education; and documentation of effectiveness of the advanced role. The development of APN roles in the four social systems was reviewed to illustrate how socio-political and professional forces may have shaped nursing roles in each health care delivery system. Commonalities and distinguishing features across the four health and social systems were analysed to assess the predictive forces that may be identified as advanced roles in nursing have evolved in the global community.

Comparative analysis of Orem's and King's theories.

Dorothea Orem and Imogene King are two nursing theorists who are contributing significantly to the development of nursing knowledge. This paper compares the similarities and differences in their strategies for theory development, their views of nursing metaparadigm concepts, and their theories of nursing system and goal attainment in terms of scope, usefulness, and their unique contribution to nursing science.

Predictors of self-care in cancer patients receiving radiotherapy.

The purpose of this study was to examine, within a theoretical framework derived from Orem's conceptual model of nursing, whether self-care can be predicted jointly by social support and the selected basic conditioning factors of age, marital and socioeconomic status, living arrangements, and stage and site of cancer. A convenience sample of 112 adult cervical and head/neck cancer patients receiving radiotherapy was obtained from radiotherapy outpatient clinics in three hospitals located in Bangkok, Thailand. Multiple regression was used to analyze the data. Socioeconomic status and social support were significant predictors of self-care, whereas stage and site of cancer seemed to predict self-care indirectly through social support. The findings are discussed in terms of the validity of Orem's self-care model. Implications for practice and further study are explored.