Nordic Journal of Nursing Research

There is much research about district nurses’ preventive work, effects of it and their perceptions of the preventive work. Less is known about how district nurses perceive their preventive work in relation to structural conditions for this work.

The aim was to describe district nurses’ perceptions of their preventive work in daily practice; and structural conditions for this using Kanter’s theory of structural empowerment.

Interviews were conducted 2012 with nine Swedish district nurses. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.

The analysis resulted in one theme; ‘To experience stimulation versus frustration; a consistency versus a discrepancy between will and structural conditions’. District nurses who worked with specialized tasks felt that they mostly had the structural conditions required to work in a preventive manner and that they could prioritize which unhealthy living habits to discuss with their patients. District nurses without specialized tasks described that their structural conditions for preventive work was limited in the present streamlined organization. This in turn led to a feeling of frustration.

Preventive work is described as stimulating when district nurses have the conditions required, yet the conditions required are sometimes lacking and especially for district nurses without specialized tasks. There is a will to work in a preventive manner but structural conditions need to be improved.

The aim was to identify how ethical issues have been handled in theses written by undergraduate students in the field of nursing.

The act of gathering information online to become an ‘expert’ by locating useful advice for oneself – and others – is a fairly new phenomenon. How virtual caring and nursing can contribute to people’s health as a resource is growing as an area of interest within the field of caring sciences.

A qualitative content analysis of 21 bachelor theses in nursing science was conducted. The analysis focused on how ethical issues concerning gathering data in cyberspace were handled.

The results show that the students chose very complex health issues when gathering data in cyberspace. The results reveal asymmetries between the researcher and subjects behind the data (the bloggers), both in terms of knowledge as well as in relation to the resources available to them.

There is a need to discuss cyberspace as a source of data, including ethical, ontological, and epistemological issues. Based on the findings, we provide a tentative outline of how data from cyberspace can be used by nursing researchers and instructors at all levels in the field.

This article explores the ethical dilemmas nurses in nursing homes experience when caring for malnourished patents with dementia. The background for the study is the increasing number of patients with dementia in nursing homes in Norway, and the growing awareness of malnutrition amongst these patients.

The study has a qualitative, descriptive design. Data came from four focus group interviews with 15 nurses working with patients with dementia from six different nursing homes. The transcribed interviews were analysed and five ethical dilemmas were identified.

The ethical dilemmas were: ‘Guilty conscience or abuse against patient’, ‘To take account of patient or relatives’, ‘Professional judgment or national guidelines’, ‘Busy times lead to weight loss for patients’ and ‘Reflection with colleagues or professional uncertainty’.

By understanding and articulating ethical dilemmas nurses experience in caring for undernourished patients with dementia, these challenges can be better dealt with. By reflecting upon the various forms of pressure nurses face in every day practice, they can be better prepared to act for the benefit of malnourished patients with dementia.

To get an insight into 1) how Norwegian intensive care registered nurses (RNs) assess patients’ sleep and sedative needs, and 2) to survey factors of importance for critically ill patients in Norwegian intensive care units to promote sleep.

Patients in intensive care units suffer from sleep disturbances. The lack of sleep may cause physical and psychological disturbances, increased morbidity and prolonged stay. The nurses evaluate patients’ sleep mainly based on their own perception.

All nurse managers of the adult intensive care units in Norway were contacted to answer a survey. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, and teaching and non-teaching hospitals were compared.

RNs were aware of sleep disturbances and used several strategies to promote sleep. The most commonly used interventions were to turn off lights, to shield the patient with curtains, to reduce noise from staff, to use a clock and to reduce nursing interventions during the nights. Nurses felt that they had a great influence on patients’ sleeping practices.

RNs reported to have an influence on sleep practice and to actively promote sleep in the intensive care unit. Sleep-assessment tools were not routinely used, but the use of sedation-assessment tools were common.

To describe and discuss factors contributing to information preparation of hospitalized and outpatient patients coming for investigations at a medical outpatient ward.

Information and practical preparation before medical investigations aids patients to prepare accurately for the investigation. Hospitalized and outpatient patients have different conditions for information access prior to investigations. Clinical experience raised questions to how well these two groups of patients were prepared for medical investigations.

Both groups of patients; 127 hospitalized patients and 163 outpatients, were surveyed at the outpatient ward just before the investigation was performed. Descriptive and correlation analyses were carried out.

The outpatients report being prepared to a much greater extent for medical investigations than hospitalized patients. In total, 94% of the outpatients report having received information, however, just 54% of the hospitalized patients indicate that they have received any information at all about the investigation.

The results indicate that information to hospitalized patients ahead of medical investigations must be improved. Increased focus on providing information to patients from health care professionals is required. Brochures providing information about the individual investigation is one helpful way forward.