Nordic Journal of Nursing Research

Interprofessional education (IPE) is of central importance to health and social care students if they are to acquire the ability and willingness to collaborate across professional boundaries. There is disagreement about when such an educational intervention should be introduced. The aim of this study is to examine how students from different studies, or student groups at different stages in their study, describe their experiences with workshop and online IPE. This qualitative study consists of two sets of data. The dataset from the first year of study consists of data from 92 health students, and the dataset from the second year of study comprises 20 health and social care students. The intervention consists of a workshop and online IPE. Students’ discussions online and their assignments were the basis for text analysis. The findings show that students describe IPE somewhat differently. Students in their first year of study seem to have acquired knowledge of the roles of the professions involved. Students in their second year give more positive and conscious descriptions of IPE, compared with first-year students.

A hospital round is a long tradition in which nurses and physicians communicate to develop an integrated plan of care together with the patient. There is insufficient knowledge of care professionals’ experiences of communication during hospital rounds, particularly in surgical units, where the physician is frequently absent during daily care. Hence, the aim of this study was to describe nurses’ experiences of communication with physicians during hospital rounds in a surgical unit. Nine qualitative unstructured interviews with nurses were conducted and analysed using Burnard’s description of content analysis. ‘An encounter involving opportunities for and challenges to teamwork’ was found to be the predominant theme. The hospital round in a surgical unit is a short encounter that can be challenged by missing patient care goals, difficulties in transmitting messages and frustration over unshared information. Further studies are needed to overcome existing knowledge gaps about communication during hospital rounds.

The aim of this article was to explore whether expectant parents’ attitudes to termination or continuation of pregnancy, both in general and in case of fetal abnormality, are affected by previous experiences of miscarriage and whether attitudes change after ultrasound screening with normal findings. It was also of interest to investigate differences in attitudes in relation to age, parity and gender. A prospective one-year cohort study was carried out. Questionnaires were administered before and after the ultrasound examination. Analyses included 1258 women and 925 men. A comparison between the results pre- and post-ultrasound showed that after the ultrasound examination, there were significant changes towards a more positive attitude to give birth to a baby with an abnormality. Men were significantly more willing to terminate for a fetal abnormality and significantly less hesitant towards abortion in general than women. Women aged 35 years or older were significantly less willing to give birth to a baby with an abnormality and significantly more positive to termination for fetal abnormality than younger women. Parents showed understanding attitudes towards other parents’ decisions no matter what these were. We conclude that parents need individualized information and support in connection with prenatal diagnosis, due to parental hesitancy. Midwives play an important role in this.

The aim of this study was to describe the content of school nurses’ health dialogues with pupils regarding food habits. A qualitative content analysis of 24 recorded health dialogues resulted in five categories describing the content of the dialogues, regarding food habits. Current food habits covered food, mealtimes and food related to physical activity. Social context and food habits showed that social groups in the pupils’ surroundings affected their food habits. Society and food habits included external factors that affected food habits, such as school and laws. School nurses’ advice and support regarding food habits described how nurses offered advice, support and information. Pupils’ understanding of health in connection to food habits comprised the pupils’ knowledge, participation and willingness to change. The results showed a variety of interacting factors which affected the pupils’ food habits, upon which health-promotional work can be based.

Students with type 1 diabetes (T1D) need to take responsibility for their T1D and need professional support from school nurses. This study describes school nurses’ experiences in supporting students with T1D in school. A qualitative approach was used. After purposive sampling, six school nurses were interviewed and data were analyzed with qualitative content analysis. For professional support, a network around the student was enabled constituting of a continuous dialogue and responsibility and preparedness. For professional support a mutual commitment from the student, parents, and the school nurse was needed which was built from initiating participation and security, the school nurse’s ability to be present and available and on school nurse’s perceived competence. The conclusion of the study, and its practical implication, is that school nurses’ ability for professional support of students with T1D varied in relation to their perceived competence in nursing science as well as their ability to enable, strengthen and sustain teamwork and family–school team meetings.

The first intraoperative meeting between the nurse anaesthetist and the patient is usually brief. The short encounter requires nursing competence and it is important to build rapport with the patient. Organizational aspects such as shortage of time can affect the first encounter. The aim of the study was to elucidate nurse anaesthetists’ experiences of the first intraoperative meeting with anxious adult patients. A qualitative content analysis was conducted. Ten nurse anaesthetists were interviewed using open-ended questions. The theme ‘To address’ emerged from three categories: Situations that can affect how to address patient anxiety, Strategies on how to address patient anxiety and Experiences of addressing patient anxiety. The study showed that it became easier with professional experience to address patient anxiety. The most prominent findings were the differences in how to address patient anxiety, with either medical or nursing interventions.

Mental illness is a growing problem in numerous industrialized countries. Young women in particular report problems such as anxiety, worry and depression. The aim of this study was to evaluate a cognitive educational program offered to young women with mental illness by listening to how they discussed their own social skills and capability to obtain work or education. Five women in the age range of 18–26 years, who had been unemployed for at least four months, diagnosed as suffering from mental illness, and who also participated in a cognitive educational program were interviewed. The text from the interviews was analyzed using content analysis. The analysis resulted in the construction of the following theme: ‘Being together in an inspiring educational program supports the women’s own ability to devise a holistic life puzzle’. The participants’ answers were grouped into the following categories: ‘Perceptions of the educational program’ and ‘Social network’ with four subcategories. Being together with others in the same situation would appear to support the women’s own abilities, especially in an environment characterized by strict routines and nearness. These findings indicate the need to develop interventions for young women with mental illness which encourage spaces for collective support.

The aim of this study was to gain increased understanding about lived experiences of teenagers participating in PIS-divorce groups (programme for implementation of divorce groups in school). From the perspective of caring science and based on an ontological assumption of human interdependence, as well as earlier research that showed lack of consensus on the effect of divorce on children, the question that we felt needed to be asked was how teenagers experienced PIS-divorce groups, and the meaning of this experience in the time after. The methodological approach was phenomenological-hermeneutical. The sample is based on interviews with five teenagers. The analysis uncovered two themes: To be in between and To be there for each other. Teenagers viewed the offer of support as important. PIS-divorce groups enabled them to increase their understanding of their life situation. The caring science concepts of suffering, love, and interdependence have contributed to give new and deeper understanding to teenagers’ lived experience.

The aim of this article is to describe the Umeå ageing and health research programme that explores person-centred care and health-promoting living conditions for an ageing population in Sweden, and to place this research programme in a national and international context of available research evidence and trends in aged care policy and practice. Contemporary trends in aged care policy includes facilitating ageing in place and providing person-centred care across home and aged care settings, despite limited evidence on how person-centred care can be operationalised in home care services and sheltered housing accommodation for older people. The Umeå ageing and health research programme consists of four research projects employing controlled, cross-sectional and longitudinal designs across ageing in place, sheltered housing, and nursing homes. The research programme is expected to provide translational knowledge on the structure, content and outcomes of person-centred care and health-promoting living conditions in home care, sheltered housing models, and nursing homes for older people and people with dementia.