Attitudes towards caring for older people in Scotland, Sweden and the United States.

AIM: To explore the attitudes of nurses and nursing students in Scotland, Sweden and the US towards working with older people. METHOD: This quantitative study used the 20-item Multifactorial Attitudes Questionnaire (MAQ) to elicit attitudes on ageism, resources, working environment, education and professional esteem. Researchers from each country distributed the questionnaires to nursing students and nurses, giving a convenience sample of 1,587 respondents. Data were entered on the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 18 and merged into one large dataset. RESULTS: Scottish participants had the highest (positive) and Swedish participants the lowest mean MAQ score. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed significant differences in mean scores across the countries in 18 of the 20 statements, even when controlling for age and experience. Most participants gave positive responses, but agreed that negative attitudes towards working with older people pervade among peers due to working conditions, poor career prospects and a perceived lack of professional esteem. CONCLUSION: Inspirational educators, excellent clinical placements and increasing the professional esteem of those working with older people are required to promote the specialty as an attractive career option.

Thai Buddhist intensive care unit nurses' perspective of a peaceful death: an empirical study.

AIM: To describe the concept of a peaceful death from Thai Buddhist intensive care unit (ICU) nurses' perspectives. METHOD: A descriptive qualitative study of data generated from individual in-depth interviews of ten intensive care nurses who practiced in adult ICUs in the southern region of Thailand. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. FINDINGS: Four core qualities of a peaceful death emerged as described by Thai Buddhist nurses who practised in the ICUs. These core qualities are: peaceful mind; no suffering; family's acceptance of patient's death; and being with others and not alone. CONCLUSION: Thai Buddhist nurses described a peaceful death as 'a situation in which persons who are dying have peace of mind, and do not show signs and symptoms of suffering. Peaceful death occurs when family members declare acceptance of their loved one's dying and eventual death. Such a death is witnessed by relatives and friends and the dying person is not alone.' The findings encourage nurses to be with, and provide palliative care for, dying patients and families.

Promoting peaceful death for Thai Buddhists: implications for holistic end-of-life care.

The conceptual model of promoting a peaceful death was synthesized from Buddhist philosophy, the theory of "Peaceful End of Life," related literature, and a story from experience. Nurses can use this model as a practical guide for the holistic care of Thai Buddhists who are dying.

Spiritual caring: end of life in a nursing home.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore spiritual care for dying nursing home residents from the perspectives of registered nurses, practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, advanced practice nurses, and physicians. Five major themes emerged: honoring the person's dignity, intimate knowing in the nursing home environment, wishing we could do more, personal knowing of self as caregiver, and struggling with end-of-life treatment decisions. Spiritual caring was described within the context of deep personal relationships, holistic care, and support for residents. Spiritual care responses and similarities and differences in the experiences of participants are presented. Education and research about how to assist residents and families as they struggle with difficult end-of-life decisions, adequate time and staff to provide the kind of care they "wished they could," and development of models that honor the close connection and attachment of staff to residents could enhance end-of-life care in this setting.

Dementia, personhood, and nursing: learning from a nursing situation.

Appreciation of the personhood of people with dementia calls for care that looks beyond the disease to the person within. In this column the author discusses the concept of personhood for people with dementia and presents a method of teaching person-centered care developed within the theoretical framework of nursing as caring. The study of an aesthetic expression of a nursing situation, written by a nurse who cares for people with Alzheimer's disease in a nursing home, is presented to assist nurses to learn to see beyond the disease to the person and to develop relationships that nurture personhood.