Journal of Research in Nursing

Therapeutic horticulture is a nature-based method that includes a range of green activities, such as gardening, to promote wellbeing. It is believed that therapeutic horticulture provides a person-centred approach that can reduce social isolation for people with mental health problems.

The aim of the project was to evaluate the impact of a mental health recovery programme that used therapeutic horticulture as an intervention to reduce social inclusion and improve engagement for people with mental health problems.

A mixed-methods approach was used and data from four semi-structured focus group interviews, 11 exit interviews and 20 ‘recovery star' datasets were collected from September 2015 to October 2017. Qualitative data from the interviews were thematically analysed, and quantitative data based on a recovery star outcomes tool were analysed using descriptive statistics to demonstrate trends and progression. The findings were then triangulated to provide a rich picture of the impact of the mental health recovery programme.

The recovery star data indicated that participants were working towards self-reliance. Qualitative data from the exit interview and semi-structured focus groups found similar results. The triangulated findings highlight that the mental health recovery programme enabled participant integration into the community through providing a space to grow and build self-confidence while re-engaging with society. The results suggest that using therapeutic horticulture as an intervention within the mental health recovery programme can support people with mental health problems to re-engage socially. Nature-based activities could be used within the ‘social prescribing’ movement to encourage partnership working between the NHS and voluntary sector organisations which can complement existing mental health services.

The use of therapeutic horticulture as an intervention within a mental health recovery programme can support people with mental health problems to re-engage with the community and is integral to the rehabilitation process. The mental health recovery programme should be promoted within the social prescribing movement as an evidence-based opportunity to support people in the community.

A new paediatric hospital-in-the-home nursing service required evaluation.

To determine whether the education and training provided for nursing staff employed in the service was effective.

This paper presents the way in which a training evaluation model supported the design and evaluation of a training programme for registered nurses working in an out-of-hospital, home-based nursing service for paediatric patients.

The Kirkpatrick model provides a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of workforce training for any industry including healthcare (Kirkpatrick, 2009).

That the Kirkpatrick model is an appropriate framework to evaluate a nursing training programme, but it is imperative to evaluate all levels of the model to be able to ascertain the success of the training and the impact on clinical practice.

Testicular self-examination is important for the early diagnosis and treatment of testicular cancer; the nature of the examination itself influences individuals’ health beliefs about testicular self-examination.

This descriptive research study was carried out using 152 individuals working at Amasya University between August and November 2016. A personal information form and Champion’s Health Belief Model Scale were used for the data collection stage of this research. Descriptive statistical tests, Mann–Whitney U test, Kruskal–Wallis variance analysis and Cronbach’s alpha were used in the data analysis stage.

Analysis of respondents’ sociodemographic data revealed that the study participants’ mean age was 38.88 ± 9.36, and that 112 participants (73.7%) were married and 76 participants (50.0%) had a graduate degree at the time the study was conducted. Of the research participants, 134 (88.2%) had no training on testicular self-examination; a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) was found between participants’ consciousness of their capability to perform testicular self-examination on their own and the mean factor scores of the Champion’s Health Belief Model Scale’s ‘barriers of testicular self-examination’ and ‘self-effectiveness’ items.

The study found that health beliefs play a part in individuals’ positive health behaviours regarding testicular self-examination.

The aim of this study was to identify and categorise the nursing practices of Portuguese nurses in the context of primary healthcare services.

A scoping review was undertaken using the Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences literature database; Spanish Bibliographic Index of Health Sciences; Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online; Cochrane Library; Scientific Electronic Library Online; El Banco de Datos de Enfermería nursing database; and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature databases. The search strategy included articles of original research, which involved nurses or nursing practices in the context of Portugal’s primary healthcare, published in Portuguese, Spanish and/or English. The review involved the analysis of 11 studies published in Latin American, Brazilian and Portuguese journals, therefore all were available in Portuguese, published between 2007 and 2013.

From the analysis it was possible to establish four categories of primary healthcare nurses’ work: technical procedures, health promotion, independent actions, and management and training practices.

Primary healthcare nursing in Portugal is challenged in the context of making more effective use of its own competences, investing more in actions of health promotion and disease prevention and less in technical curative procedures, thus contributing to better performance in the Portuguese National Health System.

The organisational characteristics of the nursing practice environment play a crucial role in nurses’ job satisfaction, job retention, quality-of-care service provision and patient outcomes. The widely used Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index assesses the favourability of these traits, showing the grade of magnetism of these factors in the workplace.

This study aims to assess the nurse working environment at five public hospitals in Greece, and to compare these data with those of Magnet and non-Magnet hospitals. The Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index was completed by 532 nurses.

Findings have shown that all five hospitals were assessed by nurses as unfavourable working environments. Four of five subscales were identified as unfavourable by the participants and only Collegial Nurse-Physician Relations were evaluated as a positive organisational trait. The mean scores in all five subscales of favourability were significantly lower than the corresponding scores of non-Magnet hospitals in the US.

The present study shows the favourability grade of Greek hospitals. When compared with Magnet and non-Magnet hospitals in the US, Greek hospitals were perceived as more unfavourable than non-Magnet hospitals. Action to improve the current situation must be taken by hospital management, supporting nurse involvement, continuous education, changing human resources management and adopting evaluation procedures.