ABSTRACT This study explores the post-treatment psychosocial experiences of female adult cancer patients. In particular, this study aims at identifying common themes in the nature of their experiences. This research was exploratory in nature and took place within the context of the qualitative paradigm. The focus group method was utilised in collecting data. The six participants were white Christian females between the ages of 50 and 62 who had completed treatment (either chemotherapy, radiation or both) not more than four months prior to the study. Data were analysed by means of categorical content analysis. Four out of the six participants reported relief as well as mixed emotions after discovering they had survived cancer. A major finding of this research was that all of the participants were experiencing anxiety that the cancer might recur. Five out of the six participants reported ample support from their partners and other family members. The entire group of participants admitted that their genuine friends remained supportive throughout treatment, while some friends avoided them when they had cancer, but were willing to continue the friendship after treatment. This impacted negatively on their friendship. The entire group mentioned negative social experiences due to the stigma attached to having cancer. It was also found that the participants preferred spending time with people who have insight into the meaning of life. All of the participants agreed that without their relationship with God and the social support structure including churches and acquaintances at church, they would not be able to get through their experiences during and after treatment. The entire group mentioned the experience of a greater appreciation for life after having completed treatment and survived cancer. It is evident that the experiences of cancer survivors in the South African context necessitate further research and that an understanding of these experiences plays a crucial role in the development of successful interventions for survivors, their families and the wider social community in regard to cancer.

Bronchioalveolar carcinoma (BAC), a rare lung cancer, is more common in women, has a high proportion of non-smokers, and better survival, especially in women, than other lung cancers. Study subjects were 83 BAC patients from two Kentucky counties. Mean survival differences were compared by selected variables. The results showed better survival for females (6.5 years) than males (3.0 years, p-value 0.02); for urban (4.3 years) compared to rural residents (2.6 years, p-value 0.04); and for females with history of hysterectomy (5.1 years) compared to females without such history (3.3 years, p-value 0.02); the last finding supports a hormonal role in survival. Study results support the previous findings of a female survival advantage in BAC. Additional research is needed to determine reasons for this female survival advantage.

Domestic violence is the act of violence from a family member or partner. Domestic violence counts as a social issue that one of three women globally and one of four women in Sweden has experienced. Violence can be expressed in different ways and science has revealed that women have a higher risk than men of being victims of domestic violence. Women who endure violence usually do not show any obvious signs and therefore it is of importance to ask the question about domestic violence to all female patients. Nurses need knowledge about symptoms and signs of violence in order be able to detect these women. Even though the nurses carry the responsibility of asking female patients about domestic violence, most of the time nurses do not ask. The aim of this study was to shed light on the nurse's experience of asking female patients about domestic violence. This qualitative based literary study includes eleven articles. The results of this study show that nurses want to help women who live with domestic violence, but the subject is perceived as uncomfortable which makes asking the question more difficult. Nurses experience the heavy workload and the hospital environment as barriers to asking the question during the right conditions. Nurses expressed feelings of ambiguity as to who was responsible for handling the issue and saw that as a barrier to asking the question. For more women to have the opportunity to get adequate help, nurses need to receive further training and knowledge about domestic violence.

Bakgrund: Sjukligt feta människor upplever ofta ohälsa eller minskad livskvalité i form av fysiska komplikationer, stigmatisering och diskriminering. En metod att hjälpa sjukligt feta personer att gå ner i vikt är obesitaskirurgi. Majoriteten av människorna som väljer obesitaskirurgi är kvinnor. Detta tros bero på att kvinnor blir mer stigmatiserade än män och att de blir psykiskt påverkade vid relativt lågt BMI. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att belysa kvinnliga patienters upplevelser efter obesitaskirurgi. Metod: Studien genomfördes som en allmän litteraturstudie och baserades på elva vetenskapliga artiklar. Resultat: Kvinnorna upplevde att tiden efter operationen förändrade deras liv, vilket upplevdes som både positivt och negativt. Upplevelsen att få en andra chans i livet och upplevelsen av att få en förändrad relation till mat var vanligt förekommande känslor. Slutsats: Operationen hjälper kvinnorna att äta mindre genom den förminskade magsäcken, men ingreppet botar inte de psykosociala problem som de eventuellt har innan operationen. Sjuksköterskor har en viktig uppgift i att stödja och vägleda dessa kvinnor. / Background: Obese people often experience illness and low quality of life which can be expressed in physical complications, stigma and discrimination. Obesity surgery is a method to help obese people to lose weight. The majority of people who chose obesity surgery are women. Women are thought to be more effected mentally by their obesity in lower BMI than men. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the experiences of female patients after obesity surgery. Method: The study was constructed as a general literature review based on eleven scientific articles. Results: The patients experienced that the time after surgery had changed their lives. The experience was both positive and negative. The experience of getting a second chance in life and the experience of changed relationship to food was common feelings. Conclusion: The surgery helps women to eat smaller portions because of the diminished stomach, but doesn’t cure the underlying psychosocial problems they might have before surgery. Nurses have an important task in supporting and guiding these women.

Bakgrund: Kvinnan har historiskt sett alltid varit underordnad mannen, vilket har haft en stor påverkan på kvinnans roll i samhället samt inom hälso- och sjukvården, vilket än idag påverkar den kvinnliga patienten. Genusbias kan leda till medicinskt relevanta skillnader och ojämlikt bemötande för den kvinnliga patienten. I Sverige finns lagar, riktlinjer och konventioner för att nå visionen om jämställd vård och främja hälsa.Syfte: Syftet var att belysa kvinnliga patienters upplevelser av genusbias inom svensk hälso- och sjukvård.Metod: En litteraturstudie med induktiv ansats genomfördes. Tio vetenskapliga artiklar valdes ut från två olika databaser och artiklarna granskades flertalet gånger och analysen resulterade i fyra teman.Resultat: Fyra kategorier identifierades om kvinnans upplevelser av genusbias. “upplevelsen av okunskap hos vårdgivare”, “att inte bli lyssnad på”, ”att behandlas annorlunda” samt “upplevelsen av en ojämlik vård”.Konklusion: Genusbias förekommer inom hälso- och sjukvården och kan påverka den kvinnliga patienten negativt vilket kan leda till sämre ochojämlik vård för kvinnor. Kommunikationen är av betydelse i omvårdnadsrelationen och bristande kommunikation kan skapa barriärer medan en god kommunikation leder till ökad trygghet och tillit hos den kvinnliga patienten. / Background: Historically, women have always been subordinated to men, which has had a significant impact on women’s roles in both society and within healthcare, still affecting the female patient as of today. Gender bias can lead to medically relevant differences and unequal treatment for female patient. In Sweden, there are laws, guidelines and conventions aimed at achieving the vision of gender-equal care and promoting health.Aim: The aim was to illuminate female patient’s experiences of gender bias in Swedish healthcare.Method: A literature review with an inductive approach was performed. Ten scientific articles were selected from two different databases and the articles were reviewed multiple times, resulting in four categories.Result: Four categories were identified regarding women’s experiences of gender bias:” the perception of insufficient knowledge from healthcare providers”, “not being listened to”, “being treated differently” and “the perception of unequal care”.Conclusion: Gender bias exists in healthcare and can negatively impact female patients, which can lead to poorer and unequal care for woman.Communication is crucial in the nurse-patient relationship and poor communication can create barriers, while good communication enhances the trust and confidence of female patients

Die Public Health-Studie zur Analyse der Versorgungssituation gynäkologisch erkrankter einheimischer und zugewanderter Patientinnen im Krankenhaus konzentrierte sich auf die türkischsprachige bzw. türkischstämmige Migrantinnengruppe, da diese in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und Berlin sowie korrespondierend damit auch unter den Patientinnen in der untersuchten Frauenklinik zahlenmäßig am stärksten vertreten ist. Bedingt durch den seit 30 Jahren einhergehenden Niederlassungsprozeß türkischstämmiger Migranten in Deutschland lassen sich innerhalb dieser Gruppe darüber hinaus Differenzierungen im Hinblick auf unterschiedliche Aufenthaltsdauer, Migrationsstatus, Kenntnisse der deutschen Sprache u. a. vornehmen, die Beobachtungen zu Einflußfaktoren und Entwicklungen ermöglichen. Bei der Untersuchung handelte es sich um eine zweizeitge, prospektive, nicht randomisierte Vergleichsstudie von zwei Patientinnengruppen im Prae- (Aufnahmetag) Post- (Entlassungstag)-Vergleich. Die Querschnittsuntersuchung konzentrierte sich auf die Befragung türkischer (n=262) und deutscher (n=320) Patientinnen der gynäkologischen Stationen des Virchow-Klinikums mittels Fragebogenpaket. Auf der Grundlage soziodemographischer und migrationsbezogener Daten wurden 14 Unterkollektive bezüglich Ethnizität, Altersgruppen, Bildungsgrad, Ort der Schulbildung, Erwerbsstatus, Verbundenheit mit Religion, deutsche Sprachkenntnisse, Lese- und Schreibfähigkeit, Erkrankungsgruppe, Lebenszufriedenheit, Wissen über Körperfunktionen, Akkulturationsgrad und dem Migrationsstatus gebildet. Der Vergleich der sozio-demographischen bzw. sozio-ökonomischen Daten zeigt deutliche Unterschiede zwischen den beiden Studienkollektiven. Die türkischen Patientinnen bewerteten ihre Wohnsituation, ihre Einkommenslage und ihre berufliche Situation ebenso wie ihre gesamte allgemeine Lebenssituation deutlich schlechter als die Frauen der deutschen Vergleichsgruppe. Die Mehrheit der befragten Migrantinnen türkischer Herkunft läßt sich hinsichtlich ihres Akkulturationsgrades im mittleren Spektrum einordnen. Die türkischen Frauen in der Migration bleiben also weder türkisch, noch passen sie sich der umgebenden deutschen Mehrheitsgesellschaft völlig an. Etwa ein Drittel der befragten Türkinnen bewertete die eigenen deutschen Sprachkenntnisse mit gut und sehr gut, ein Drittel spricht nur wenig oder gar kein deutsch. Signifikant mehr deutsche als türkische Patientinnen konnten bei der Krankenhausaufnahme bzw. bei der Entlassung sowohl über ihre Diagnose als auch über die während des Klinikaufenthaltes durchgeführten Behandlungsmaßnahmen detaillierte und korrekte Auskünfte geben. Bei der Beantwortung aller Fragen zum Thema "Wissen über den eigenen Körper und seine Funktionen" gab es im deutschen Patinetinnenkollektiv deutlich mehr richtige Antworten. Patientinnen türkischer Herkunft wählten auch wesentlich häufiger als die deutschen Frauen die Antwortmöglichkeit "weiß ich nicht". Die Untersuchungsergebnisse sowie die kritische Durchsicht der vorhandenen Literatur zeigen, daß Krankenhäuser und Praxen strukturell an die Situation zunehmender Zuwanderung nach Deuschalnd angepaßt, die interkulturelle Kompetenz des medizinischen Personals verbessert und die Forschung auf diesem Gebiet intensiviert werden sollten. / The Public Health Study on the analysis of care situation of native and immigrant patients in hospital suffering from gynecological diseases was concentrated on the Turkisch-speaking resp. ethnic Turkish group of female immigrants, since this group is numerically the largest represented one in the Federal Republic of Germany and Berlin and therefore among the patients in the examined gynecological department too. Because of the 30 years lasting settling process of ethnic Turkish immigrants in Germany, in addition this group allows to make differentiations with regard to different duration of stay, immigration status, knowledge of the German language and other things which enable observations on influence factors and developments. This investigation was about a two-times, prospective, not randomised comparison study of two groups of patients in pre- (day of admission) and post- (day of discharge) comparison. The short-term investigation was concentrated on the questioning of Turkish (n=262) and German (n=320) patients of the gynecological department of Virchow Hospital by means of a questionnaire package. On the basis of socio-demographic and immigration related data, 14 subcollectives regarding ethnicity, age-groups, level of education, education place, employment status, attachment to religion, knowledge of the German language, capability of reading and writing, group of illness, life contentedness, knowledge about bodily function, acculturation degree and immigration status were set up. The comparison of socio-demographic resp. socio-economic data shows significant differences between both study collectives. The Turkish patients judged their living conditions, their income situation and their professional situation as well as their whole general life situation clearly worse than the women of the German comparison group. With regard to their acculturation degree, the majority of the asked immigrants of Turkish origin can be classified into the middle spectrum. So the Turkish women in immigration do not remain neither Turkish, nor they adapt themselves completely to the surrounding German majority society. About one third of the asked Turkish women marked their own knowledge of the German language "good" and "very good", one third speaks only little or no German at all. At the admission into hospital resp. at the discharge significantly more German than Turkish patients could give detailed and correct information both about their diagnosis and the treatment during the stay in hospital. Answering all questions regarding the topic "Knowledge about the own body and its functions", the German patients' collective gave clearly more right answers. Patients with Turkish origin also chose much more frequently than the German women the possible answer "I don't know". The results as well as the critical examination of the available literature show that hospitals and practices should be structurally suited to the situation of increasing immigration to Germany, the intercultural competence of the medical staff should be improved and the research in this field should be intensified.

Sannolikheten att manliga sjuksköterskor väljer att avsluta sin yrkeskarriär är fyra gånger större än för kvinnliga sjuksköterskor – en anledning kan vara svårigheterna att utföra intim omvårdnad på kvinnliga patienter. Syftet med studien var att belysa manliga sjuksköterskors upplevelser av intim omvårdnad på kvinnliga patienter samt vilka strategier som användes i omvårdnadssituationerna. Intim omvårdnad innebär omvårdnadsåtgärder som involverar patientens kroppsfunktioner, personlig hygien samt blottning av könsdelar. Studien genomfördes som en litteraturstudie där tio resultatartiklar granskades och sammanställdes i subteman. Resultatet visar att manliga sjuksköterskor upplever den intima omvårdnaden av kvinnliga patienter som genant samt känner oro för att bli missförstådda och anklagade för sexuella trakasserier. För att undvika det har manliga sjuksköterskor utvecklat särskilda strategier. Dessa strategier har erfarits genom praktisk erfarenhet, inte från evidensbaserad utbildning. Manliga sjuksköterskor upplever att deras sjuksköterskeutbildningar inte tillhandhåller nödvändig kunskap om hur intim omvårdnad ska utföras på kvinnliga patienter, vilket resulterar i att de känner sig dåligt förberedda inför det praktiska arbetslivet. Studiens resultat rekommenderas vara till grund för en implementering av problemet i sjuksköterskeutbildningen men även i den kliniska vårdverksamheten för att förbättra den kvinnliga patientupplevelsen och arbetsmiljön för manlig hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal.

Bakgrund: Yrket sjuksköterska har bland personalen präglats av kvinnodominans och själva yrkestiteln i sig har en feminin ändelse. När män i större utsträckning väljer att utbilda sig till sjuksköterskor så uppstår nya situationer som inte förekommit tidigare när det bara funnits kvinnlig personal att förhålla sig till. Syfte: Att undersöka och beskriva manliga sjuksköterskors erfarenhet av att vårda och bemöta kvinnliga patienter i nära vårdsituationer inom den somatiska vården, samt kvinnliga patienters emotionella erfarenhet av att ha blivit vårdade av manliga sjuksköterskor. Metod: Studien bedrevs som en litteraturstudie med sökningar i databaser för omvårdnadsforskning. Både kvalitativa och kvantitativa granskningsmallar användes vid kvalitetsgranskning. En beprövad innehållsanalysmodell användes till att finna gemensamma teman ur artiklarna som till skulle bli resultatet. Resultat: Studien visade att manliga sjuksköterskor ofta är rädda för att bli anklagade för sexuella olägenheter av kvinnliga patienter. För att undvika missförstånd och tvetydigheter använde manliga sjuksköterskor sig av olika strategier som hjälp till att klara av att utföra intim vård. Intima samtal kunde enligt den manliga sjuksköterskan upplevas som lika intimt som intimberöring. Ur ett patientperspektiv framkom det att yngre kvinnliga patienter önskade att få vård av samma kön, medan äldre kvinnliga patienter inte hade samma preferenser för könet på sjuksköterskan som utförde vården. Beröring av intim karaktär var något som kunde väcka starka känslor hos den kvinnliga patienten. / Background: Nursing has traditionally been predominantly staffed by women and the work title itself has had a female connotation. When men to a larger degree enter nursing, new situations arise which didn’t before when the patients only had female staff to take into consideration. Aim: To investigate and describe the experience of nurses who are male in their care and treatment of women patients in intimate care situations in a hospital setting, as we as the emotional experience of the women clients of having been cared for by nurses who are male. Method: The study was carried out as a literature review through searches in databases containing nursing sciences. Both qualitative and quantitative review templates were used to carry out the quality review. A proven method for content analysis was used to find common themes in the articles, which eventually formed the basis for the result. Result: The study found that male nurses often were afraid of being accused of improprieties by the female patients. In order to avoid misunderstandings, male nurses used different strategies in order to be able to perform intimate care. Conversations of an intimate nature were seen as an equally sensitive matter to the male nurses. From a patient perspective it was discovered that younger female patients preferred to be cared for by nurses of the same gender, while older female patients did not specify the same preference. Intimate touch was something that could evoke strong feelings in the female patient.

A non-experimental quantitative, descriptive and contextual study which sought to examine the level of awareness about Diabetic Retinopathy (DR), and how aware female diabetic patients were about retinal screening as a preventative measure to eye complications and blindness was conducted. The objective of the study was to explore and describe the variables related to the awareness level of female diabetic patients about Diabetic Retinopathy and diabetic retinal screening. A convenient sample of 149 respondents was obtained. A questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), 13.0 computer software program. Results evidenced a good level of awareness about DR. Recommendations based on the findings were made for consideration in clinical practice, education and research. / Health Studies / M.P.H.