Nursing and midwifery - Collected Works

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    How do nurses keep children safe from abuse and neglect, and does it make a difference? A scoping review
    (Elsevier, 2018-01-29) Lines, Lauren ; Grant, Julian ; Hutton, Alison Elly
    Objectives: To explore the extent of child protection work performed by nurses and identify which interventions hold the strongest evidence for future practice. Design: This scoping review was guided by Arksey and O'Malley's framework for scoping reviews. Data Sources: Electronic databases (CINAHL, Medline, Scopus, Web of Science) and grey literature were searched in August 2017. Further studies were identified through manual literature searching. Results: Forty-one studies from seven countries met the inclusion criteria. The studies showed nurses keep children safe primarily through the prevention of abuse (n = 32), but also through detection of abuse (n = 1) and interventions to mitigate the effects of abuse (n = 8). Nurses' specific interventions most frequently involved post-natal home visiting (n = 20), parent education (n = 10) and assessment and care of children or adolescents following sexual abuse (n = 4). The main findings showed that although nurses did have positive impacts upon some measures of abuse and neglect, results were not consistent across studies. In addition, some studies used indirect measures of abuse and neglect, which may not impact children's experiences of abuse. It is difficult to extrapolate these findings to the broader nursing profession as literature did not accurately represent the range of ways that nurses keep children safe from abuse and neglect. Conclusions: This review demonstrated nurses prevent, detect and respond to abuse and neglect in many ways. However, given mixed evidence and absence of some nurse interventions in the literature, further research is needed to represent the range of ways that nurses keep children safe and determine their effectiveness.
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    Integrative review: Nurses' roles and experiences in keeping children safe
    (Wiley, 2016-08-10) Lines, Lauren ; Hutton, Alison Elly ; Grant, Julian
    Aim To identify nurses' role and experiences of keeping children safe. Background Approaches to preventing, identifying and responding to child abuse and neglect have moved towards a multidisciplinary approach where all professionals are expected to contribute to the goal of keeping children safe. Frequently in contact with children and families, nurses well positioned to contribute to keeping children safe from abuse and neglect. Much has been published around nurses' experiences of their role in keeping children safe, but this literature has not yet been synthesized to determine the challenges and potential scope of this role. Design Integrative review following an Integrative Review framework. Data sources Studies were identified through a search of the electronic databases CINAHL, Medline, Web of Science, Scopus and Informit to identify literature published between 2005‐2015. Review methods All the studies were critically appraised for methodological quality using the Critical Skills Appraisal Programme. Data from each study were extracted and categorized according to the review aims and the study's major findings. Results Inclusion criteria were met in 60 studies. Three main findings were identified including nurses' insufficient knowledge, need for validation and improved communication and balancing surveillance and support for vulnerable families. Conclusions Nurses have many roles and experiences in keeping children safe but often felt they did not have the knowledge, skills and support to take action in this area. Further research is needed to understand why nurses feel inadequate and disempowered to advocate and intervene on the behalf of children at risk of abuse or neglect.
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    Development and validation of the Australian Midwifery Standards Assessment Tool (AMSAT) to the Australian Midwife Standards for Practice 2018
    (Elsevier, 2019-09-09) Sweet, Linda Phyllis ; Fleet, Julie-Anne ; Bull, Angela ; Downer, Terri ; Fox, Deborah ; Bowman, Rebekah ; Ebert, Lyn ; Graham, Kristen ; Bass, Janice ; Muller, Amanda ; Henderson, Amanda
    Background The Australian Midwifery Standards Assessment Tool (AMSAT) was developed against the Competency Standards for the Midwife in 2017 to enable consistent assessment of midwifery student performance in practice-based settings. The AMSAT requires revision and re-validation as the competency standards have now been superseded by the Midwife Standards for Practice 2018. Objective This research revised and validated the AMSAT to assess performance of midwifery students against the Midwife Standards for Practice 2018 and assessed its sensitivity. Design A mixed-methods approach was used in a two-phase process. Phase one involved the re-wording of the AMSAT and behavioural cue statements in an iterative participatory process with midwifery academics, assessors and students. The tool was field-tested in different assessment environments in phase two. Completed assessment forms were statistically analyzed, whilst assessor surveys were analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. Findings Analysis of AMSAT (n = 255) indicates the tool as: internally reliable (Cronbach alpha > .9); valid (eigenvalue of 16.6 explaining 67% of variance); and sensitive (score analysis indicating increased levels of proficiency with progressive student experience). Analysis of surveys (n = 108) found acceptance of the tool for the purpose of summative and formative assessment, and in the provision of feedback to midwifery students on their performance. Conclusion This study demonstrates that the re-developed AMSAT is a valid, reliable and acceptable tool to assess midwifery students’ performance against the Australian Midwife Standards for Practice This user-friendly tool can be used to standardize midwifery student assessment in Australia and enable continued benchmarking across education programs.
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    Parent’s Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Body Mass, and Chronic Disease Status Is Associated with Metabolic Syndrome in Young Adults: A Preliminary Study
    (MDPI, 2019-05-19) Nolan, Paul B ; Carrick-Ranson, Graeme ; Stinear, James W ; Reading, Stacey A ; Dalleck, Lance C
    We sought to determine if there was an intergenerational association between parental weight, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and disease status, with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) in their young adult o spring. Young adults (n = 270, 21 1 years, 53.3% female) were assessed for MetSyn and self-reported parent’s CRF, body mass status, and disease status. MetSyn was present in 11.9% of participants, 27.4% had one or two components, and 58.5% had no components. A significantly higher percentage (93.9%) of young adults with MetSyn identified at least one parent as being overweight or obese, 84.8% reported low parental CRF and 87.9% reported a parent with disease (all p < 0.017). MetSyn in o spring is more likely when parents are perceived to have low CRF, increased body mass, and a diagnosis of disease. Evaluating the o spring of people with low CRF, elevated body mass, or who have a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or diabetes should be considered to promote early identification and treatment of young adults to reduce future premature CVD in these at-risk individuals.
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    Developing clinical teaching capacities of midwifery students
    (Elsevier, 2016-06) Rance, Sharon ; Sweet, Linda Phyllis
    Background Competency Standards in Australia articulate that the midwife must be able to contribute to the professional development of themselves and others. Few undergraduate health professional curricula currently incorporate content for the development of specific knowledge and skills required for clinical teaching. This project aimed to understand and enhance midwifery students’ preparedness to assume their future clinical teaching responsibilities. Methods Design-based research was used to implement an educational intervention aimed at developing clinical teaching skills through a peer education session between 1st and 3rd year students. The perspectives of 30 undergraduate midwifery students about their preparedness for their teaching role and the intervention were obtained through 3 focus groups. A thematic analysis of the data was undertaken. Findings Three themes were identified encompassing the research aims and objectives; ‘Co-creating a culture for learning’, ‘reciprocal teaching and learning’ and ‘developing clinical teaching capacities’. The findings indicate that the midwifery students had a holistic understanding of their responsibilities in clinical teaching in the workplace. They were able to identify ways in which their teaching capacities were being developed through their clinical experiences and the curriculum, both intended and hidden. Conclusions Despite limited educational activities for clinical teaching, the midwifery students made explicit connections of the relational interdependence of workplace-based experiences and their learning. Students were clearly able to identify ways in which their own learning experiences and the culture in which this learning is embedded, assists them to develop clinical teaching skills, ready to support the next generation of midwifery students.
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    Breastfeeding initiation and support: A literature review of what women value and the impact of early discharge
    (Elsevier, 2017-04) James, Lucy ; Sweet, Linda Phyllis ; Donnellan-Fernandez, Roslyn Elizabeth
    Problem Early discharge following birth has become an emerging phenomenon in many countries. It is likely early discharge has an impact on the establishment of breastfeeding. Objective To critically appraise the evidence on what women value in relation to breastfeeding initiation and support, and investigate the impact early discharge can have on these values. Method A literature search was conducted for publications since 2005 using the following databases: Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Medline, Scopus and PsycINFO; 21 primary articles were selected and included in the review. Findings There is no standard definition for ‘early discharge’ worldwide. Due to inconsistent definitions worldwide and minimal literature using a 24 h definition, research defining early discharge as up to 72 h postpartum is included. Seven key factors in relation to breastfeeding initiation and support following early discharge were identified, namely trust and security, consistent advice, practical breastfeeding support, breastfeeding education, comfortable environment, positive attitudes and emotional support, and individualised care. Conclusion The findings suggest individualised postnatal lengths of stay may be beneficial for the initiation of breastfeeding. Five values were not impacted by early discharge, but rather individual midwives’ practice. There is consensus in the literature that early discharge promoted a comfortable environment to support breastfeeding initiation. Wide variations in the definition of early postnatal discharge made it difficult to draw influential conclusions. Therefore, further research is required.