Repensar la formación y la práctica especializada de enfermería desde la óptica unitaria del ser humano / Rethinking specialized nursing training and practice from the unitary perspective of the human being

El propósito del presente texto es repensar la formación y la práctica especializada de enfermería desde la óptica de las ciencias humanas que estudian la subjetividad y que encuentran su sentido científico más allá del saber disciplinar. Se trata de distinguir con claridad entre las ciencias de la naturaleza y las ciencias del espíritu a partir de la óptica unitaria del ser humano. Esto debido a la creciente percepción de deshumanización y tecnificación de la práctica del cuidado de enfermería vinculada a la formación especializada para el manejo de determinados procedimientos y aparatos que parcelan el conocimiento y desvían la perspectiva y el enfoque disciplinar. Por lo tanto, pensar en cómo se puede comprender mejor el fenómeno de la salud y la enfermedad humanas desde la formación y la práctica de enfermería tiene la posibilidad de reconsiderar el perfil académico de formación básica y especializada de enfermería, congruentemente articulados los saberes de una enfermería contemporánea con los sentires y los saberes de las personas que cuidan con las otras personas a las que se cuida.

The purpose of this text is to rethink specialized nursing training and practice from the perspective of the human sciences that study subjectivity and find its scientific meaning beyond disciplinary knowledge. It is about clearly distinguishing between the sciences of nature and the sciences of the spirit from the unitary perspective of the human being. This is due to the growing perception of dehumanization and technification of nursing care practice linked to specialized training for the management of certain procedures and devices that fragment knowledge and divert the disciplinary perspective and approach. Thus, thinking about how the phenomenon of human health and disease can be better understood from nursing training and practice has the possibility of reconsidering the academic profile of basic and specialized nursing training, coherently articulated the knowledge of contemporary nursing with the feelings and knowledge of the people who care for with the other people who are cared for.

El peor enemigo de la enfermera es / The nurse's worst enemy is

Mucho se comenta en los hospitales como dicho, tal vez sin sentido, que el peor enemigo de una enfermera es otra enfermera; sin embargo, es necesario hacer una reflexión, e incluso un análisis concienzudo, sobre estas palabras ya que descontextualizan el verdadero quehacer y objetivo de la enfermería. Personalmente, considero que no es así. En primera instancia porque una persona preparada en las ciencias de la enfermería no podría considerar válida esta creencia, ya que la esencia y los valores de la enfermera dista en demasía de la palabra enemigo. El peor enemigo de la enfermera es la falta de conocimiento, ya que, al permanecer con una actitud pasiva ante los avances científicos, no dimensionamos la importancia de estar en constante entrenamiento, para que el ejercicio de nuestra profesión se lleve a cabo con los más altos estándares de calidad, tanto académica como de cuidado enfermero, con el único objetivo de reestablecer la salud de las personas. El peor enemigo de la enfermera es la falta de conocimiento, pues no se debe ejercer la enfermería basada en ocurrencias, no se debe ejercer la enfermería basada en falsas eminencias, en negligencias, en complacencias y, sobre todo, la enfermería basada en el desconocimiento. El peor enemigo de la enfermera es la falta de conocimiento, dado que al desconocer de los procesos tanto fisiológicos como patológicos, no sabremos tomar decisiones basadas en la ciencia y, por consiguiente, esas decisiones repercuten en la salud y la vida de las personas.

Much is said in hospitals as a saying, perhaps without meaning, that the worst enemy of a nurse is another nurse; however, it is necessary to make a reflection, and even a conscientious analysis, on these words since they decontextualize the true task and objective of nursing. Personally, I consider that it is not so. In the first instance, because a person trained in nursing sciences could not consider this belief valid, since the essence and values of the nurse are too far from the word enemy. The worst enemy of the nurse is the lack of knowledge, since, by remaining passive in the face of scientific advances, we do not appreciate the importance of being in constant training, so that the exercise of our profession is carried out with the most high-quality standards, both academic and nursing care, with the sole objective of restoring people's health. The worst enemy of the nurse is the lack of knowledge because nursing based on occurrences should not be practiced, nursing based on false eminences, negligence, complacency and, above all, nursing based on ignorance should not be practiced. The worst enemy of the nurse is the lack of knowledge, given that by being unaware of both physiological and pathological processes, we will not know how to make decisions based on science and, consequently, these decisions have an impact on people's health and lives.

Tendências contemporâneas em saúde. O desenvolvimento da enfermagem no quadro das profissões de saúde – que caminho, que sentido? / Tendencias contemporáneas en salud. El desarrollo de la enfermería en el marco de las profesiones de la salud: ¿qué camino, qué dirección? / Contemporary trends in health. The development of nursing within the framework of health professions – which path, which direction?

This Editorial seeks to encourage reflection on the role of the nursing profession in anever-challenging context. The challenges, opportunities and how we can respond to them. (AU)

Esta Editorial busca incentivar la reflexión sobre el papel de profesión de enfermeira enun contexto cada vez más desafiante. Los desafios, oportunidades y cómo podemos responder a ellos. (AU)

Este Editorial procura estimular a reflexão acerca do papel da profissão da enfermagemnum contexto sempre desafiante. Os desafios, as oportunidades e como lhes podemos responder a ellos. (AU)

Original Research: Nurses' Experiences of Caring for Patients and Families During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Communication Challenges.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the perceptions and experiences of nurses caring for patients and families under the COVID-19 pandemic's socially restrictive practices and policies. BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 global pandemic has affected the delivery of health care to patients and their families, with many aspects altered because of the need for social distancing, social isolation, and visitation restriction policies. These policies have created communication challenges for interdisciplinary health care teams, patients, and families. As frontline caregivers, nurses have felt strongly the impact of these challenges. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted among 17 RNs who were caring for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and were recruited via social media posts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Watson's theory of human caring served as the conceptual framework for the study. RESULTS: Several themes emerged regarding nurses' experiences of communication with patients and families. These include communication challenges and barriers, prioritization, integration of group communication, nurse self-reflection, and acceptance of gratitude. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings underscore the importance of nurses' communication with patients and families under the pandemic's restricted conditions. They demonstrate the value of nurses' ability to innovate in fostering all parties' participation in the plan of care, and highlight the comfort nurses provide to patients who are isolated from loved ones. Strategies that fostered communication were identified, as were areas for further research.

2020: What a Time to Become a Nurse.

A new nurse learns focus and grace under pressure.

Cardiology providers' recommendations for treatments and use of patient decision aids for multivessel coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND: Rates of recommending percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) vary across clinicians. Whether clinicians agree on preferred treatment options for multivessel coronary artery disease patients has not been well studied. METHODS AND RESULTS: We distributed a survey to 104 clinicians from the Northern New England Cardiovascular Study Group through email and at a regional meeting with 88 (84.6%) responses. The survey described three clinical vignettes of multivessel coronary artery disease patients. For each patient vignette participants selected appropriate treatment options and whether they would use a patient decision aid. The likelihood of choosing PCI only or PCI/CABG over CABG only was modeled using a multinomial regression. Across all vignettes, participants selected CABG only as an appropriate treatment option 24.2% of the time, PCI only 25.4% of the time, and both CABG or PCI as appropriate treatment options 50.4% of the time. Surgeons were less likely to choose PCI over CABG (RR 0.14, 95% CI 0.03, 0.59) or both treatments over CABG only (RR 0.10, 95% CI 0.03, 0.34) relative to cardiologists. Overall, 65% of participants responded they would use a patient decision aid with each vignette. CONCLUSIONS: There is a lack of consensus on the appropriate treatment options across cardiologists and surgeons for patients with multivessel coronary artery disease. Treatment choice is influenced by both patient characteristics and clinician specialty.

Factors Influencing Nurses' Work Interruption in Wuhan Isolation Wards During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND Through January 2021, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continued to create significant pressure on medical staff who have worked to treat patients with the disease and control its spread. This study aimed to increase understanding of the situation and influencing factors of nurses' work interruption in Wuhan's isolation ward during the COVID-19 pandemic. MATERIAL AND METHODS A self-designed general situation questionnaire and work interruption questionnaire were used to survey 160 nurses from Beijing, Chongqing, and Jilin who worked during the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan in March 2020. The questionnaire could only be answered once by each nurse via a WeChat account. The submitted answers were verified by 2 researchers. RESULTS The results showed that the rate of interruption of work among nurses in the isolation ward was 25%, and the rate of nurses experiencing a negative experience was 96.9%. The results of univariate analysis showed that the following factors were related to the work interruption of the nurses in the isolation ward (all P<0.05): emergency public incident training; emergency public incident treatment experience; knowledge of COVID-19 pneumonia; hours worked per shift in the quarantine area; and negative physiologic experience. Logistic regression analysis showed that negative experience, hours worked per shift, and emergency public incident training were the independent factors influencing work interruption among nurses in the isolation wards. CONCLUSIONS The incidence of interruption of work among nurses in the isolation ward was 25%. Negative experiences, long working hours per shift, and lack of emergency public incident training made the nurses more prone to work interruption.

The Value of Recognition: The DAISY Award.

With increasing demands and diminishing nurse resources in the health care landscape today, it is even more important for health care leaders to understand the value that meaningful recognition brings to their organizations. Meaningful recognition is an integral component of a healthy work environment, supporting nurse satisfaction and the patient experience. The DAISY Award as a form of meaningful recognition for the past 21 years is an evidence-based practice used in more than 4600 health care organizations worldwide. This article discusses the evidence and provides a case study for the application of The DAISY Award as a value-added strategic tool for health care leaders and their organizations.

Touch: knowledge and considerations for nursing practice.

Social distancing has reduced the amount of touch in everyday life. This article summarises the current state of knowledge regarding the biological underpinnings of touch, varied preferences for touch, including cultural norms, and its potential psychological and physical benefits for recipients. The lack of nursing research and related evidence are noted, and suggestions are made regarding the use of consensual touch as part of non-verbal communication within community nursing practice to express compassion and help build authentic relationships between nurses and their clients.

Developing a Culture of Support to Advance and Accelerate Nursing Innovation.

Nurses everywhere are called to seek new and better ways of providing care in the complex and dynamic environments where they practise. The core of innovation is the creation of new ideas and use of existing ideas in new ways or in new settings. Today, innovation and fresh thinking are more important than ever as the world is changing rapidly and complexity is the norm. Nurse leaders are called to action to create the insights, cultures, structures and methodologies needed to promote the development and uptake of innovative ideas in nursing practice and interdisciplinary team work. This paper highlights three successful examples of nursing leadership in the development of a culture of innovation at the national (SE Health), provincial (Registered Nurses Foundation of Ontario's Nurse Innovator Awards) and local (Sinai Health) levels. The goal of these initiatives is to cultivate innovation as a way of being, thinking and doing, ensuring that it is inherent in nursing culture and visible in nursing practice, education and research that enhances patients' and care partners' experiences.

Professional Development Associate: Resource Update.

Data from a 2017 survey of the Association for Nursing Professional Development members informed the development of resources to support the role of the professional development associate. Competency-based educational programming, a position description and evaluation templates, and other professional development resources were developed in response to this need. A follow-up survey in 2019 validated the need for continued support of this vital role in professional development departments.

Exploring the relation between modelled and perceived workload of nurses and related job demands, job resources and personal resources; a longitudinal study.

AIM: Calculating a modelled workload based on objective measures. Exploring the relation between this modelled workload and workload as perceived by nurses, including the effects of specific job demands, job resources and personal resources on the relation. DESIGN: Academic hospital in the Netherlands. Six surgical wards, capacity 15-30 beds. Data collected over 15 consecutive day shifts. METHODS: Modelled workload is calculated as a ratio of required care time, based on patient characteristics, baseline care time and time for non-patient related activities, and allocated care time, based on the amount of available nurses. Both required and allocated care time are corrected for nurse proficiency. Five dimensions of perceived workload were determined by questionnaires. Both the modelled and the perceived workloads were measured on a daily basis. Linear mixed effects models study the longitudinal relation between this modelled and workload as perceived by nurses and the effects of personal resources, job resources and job demands. ANOVA and post-hoc tests were used to identify differences in modelled workload between wards. RESULTS: Modelled workload varies roughly between 70 and 170%. Significant differences in modelled workload between wards were found but confidence intervals were wide. Modelled workload is positively associated with all five perceived workload measures (work pace, amount of work, mental load, emotional load, physical load). In addition to modelled workload, the job resource support of colleagues and job demands time spent on direct patient care and time spent on registration had the biggest significant effects on perceived workload. CONCLUSIONS: The modelled workload does not exactly predict perceived workload, however there is a correlation between the two. The modelled workload can be used to detect differences in workload between wards, which may be useful in distributing workload more evenly in order prevent issues of over- and understaffing and organizational justice. Extra effort to promote team work is likely to have a positive effect on perceived workload. Nurse management can stimulate team cohesion, especially when workload is high. Registered nurses perceive a higher workload than other nurses. When the proportion of direct patient care in a workday is higher, the perceived workload is also higher. Further research is recommended. The findings of this research can help nursing management in allocating resources and directing their attention to the most relevant factors for balancing workload.

RN Salaries Hold Steady; LPNs Gain.

Male nurses continue to earn more than female counterparts.

A preliminary evaluation of full practice authority of advance practice registered nurses in the Veterans Health Administration.

BACKGROUND: Responding to National Academy of Medicine and National Council of State Boards of Nursing recommendations, the Department of Veterans Health Affairs (VHA) implemented full practice authority (FPA) for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses in VHA medical centers (VAMCs) in 2017. PURPOSE: To evaluate FPA policy implementation's impact on quality indicators including access to care as measured by new patient appointments in primary, specialty and mental health services. METHODS: Linear growth models compared early (n = 85) vs. late (n = 55) FPA implementing VAMCs on the trajectories of each of the three quality indicators. FINDINGS: Early FPA implementing VAMCs showed greater rates of improvement over time in new patient appointments completed within 30 days of preferred date for primary care (p = .003), specialty care (p = 0.05), and mental health (p = 0.001). DISCUSSION: VAMCs that started implementation of FPA policy early showed greater improvement in access to care for Veterans over time than VAMCs that did not.

Is It Possible for Registered Nurses and Physicians to Combine Research and Clinical Work to Facilitate Evidence-Based Practice?

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based patient care requires clinicians to make decisions based on the best available evidence and researchers to provide new scientific knowledge. Clinician-scientists (i.e., registered nurses [RNs] and physicians with a PhD) make important contributions to health care; yet, their roles are not fully understood, supported, or recognized by healthcare leaders. Only a few studies have addressed the factors that enable RNs and physicians to simultaneously pursue both clinical work and research after earning a PhD. AIM: To explore what factors have a bearing on the ability of RNs and physicians to pursue research and clinical work simultaneously after earning a PhD. METHODS: The study used a qualitative design based on open-ended, in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed using conventional content analysis. RESULTS: Analysis of the data yielded a broad range of factors that RNs and physicians perceived to either facilitate or hinder continued research while simultaneously undertaking clinical work. Most of the perceived barriers were due to factors external to the individual. Several factors applied to both professions yet differed in impact. Factors mentioned as fundamental to continued research were financial support and allocated time for research. Maintenance of a good relationship with academia and support from management were also considered to be important. In addition, personal factors, such as motivation to pursue a research career after obtaining a PhD, were influential. LINKING EVIDENCE TO ACTION: A supportive infrastructure is important for enabling clinician-scientists to pursue research after earning a PhD. Creating favorable conditions for RNs and physicians to combine research with clinical work can facilitate evidence-based practice. This information can be used for interventions aimed at improving the conditions for clinician-scientists.

Four Years Later: Examining Nurse Perceptions of Electronic Documentation Over Time.

OBJECTIVE: To examine changes in registered nurse (RN) perceptions of electronic documentation over a 4-year period. BACKGROUND: The investigators previously reported differences in RN perceptions prior to and 1 year after adoption of a comprehensive electronic health record (EHR). METHODS: Investigators repeated the study 4 years after adoption, using the Nurses' Perceptions of Electronic Documentation tool and interviews with a subset of RNs. RESULTS: Nurses scored higher on ease of use domain and lower on concern about the EHR domain and showed no difference on the impacts of the EHR domain. Interviews revealed that 4 years later, some aspects of documentation were easier; the tool was comprehensive, but not without risk, and nurses remained ambivalent about the EHR. CONCLUSIONS: Use of EHR technology impacts nursing work. It is important to understand how nurses' perceptions change over time. This study gives nursing leaders insight into adoption and acceptance of an EHR.