Thesis (D.N. Sc.)--Catholic University of America. / Typescript. Bibliography: leaves 106-109.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Rhode Island, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-165).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Research project (M.S.N.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 43-47)

Proefschrift Universiteit Maastricht. / Met lit. opg. - Met samenvatting in het Engels.

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1993. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-91).

Resumo: A humanização é vista como um conjunto complexo de atitudes e ações motivadas por pensamentos éticos, humanísticos, sociais e holísticos. Hoje, a proposta de humanização em UTI tem um horizonte mais amplo, englobando desde o ambiente físico até as relações entre as equipes de saúde. Dessa forma, valorizar a presença de acompanhantes na instituição hospitalar e apreender sua percepção é um processo fundamental para o alcance de uma prática assistencial realmente humanizada. Assim, esse estudo tem o objetivo de analisar a percepção do acompanhante de pacientes que estão em processo de hospitalização, na busca da assistência humanizada em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva. É uma pesquisa de abordagem qualitativa, sendo entrevistados os acompanhantes nas UTIs pediátrica e coronariana do HC da Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu - UNESP. Os depoimentos foram analisados através da Técnica de Análise de Conteúdo proposta por Bardin (96). As categorias identificadas foram: acolhimento e ambiente da UTI: estrutura física e profissionais de saúde. As percepções dos familiares em ser acompanhante refletem uma não diferenciação em ser acompanhante e ser visitante, porém enfatizam que a presença da família, mesmo nos horários de visitas, auxilia na recuperação do paciente, como também os tranqüilizam. Os acompanhantes consideram as informações fornecidas pelos profissionais de saúde, adequadas e verdadeiras. O atendimento das unidades é percebido como satisfatório, porém revelam ser necessário um repensar sobre as normas e rotinas das unidades, principalmente em relação aos horários de visitas. A percepção sobre acomodação reflete a possibilidade de estar próximo ao paciente, porém revelam a dificuldade por não ter um local apropriado para se acomodar que se localize próximo a UTI. Percebem ainda... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Humanization is viewed as a set of complex attitudes and actions motivated by ethical, humanistic, social and holistic thoughts. Today, the proposal of humanization at ICUs has a broader horizon which includes the physical environment as well as relations between health care teams. Hence, valuing the presence of companions in hospitals and apprehending their perceptions is a fundamental process for accomplishing an actually humanized care provision practice. Therefore, this study aimed at analyzing the perceptions of companions of patients undergoing the hospitalization process in the search for humanized care at an Intensive Care Unit. It is a qualitative study in which companions of patients hospitalized at the pediatric and coronary ICUs of the Botucatu School of Medicine University Hospital - UNESP were interviewed. The reports were analyzed through the Content Analysis Technique proposed by Bardin (96). The identified categories were: patient reception and the ICU enviroment - physical structure and health care professionals. Family members' perceptions of being companions reflected a non-differentiation between being a companion and being a visitor; however, they emphasized that the presence of relatives, even if only at visiting hours, helped patients' recovery as well as made them calm. Companions considered the information provided by health care professionals to be adequate and truthful. The care given at the units was perceived as satisfactory although the respondents reported the need to reconsider the units' rules and routine, especially as concerns visiting hours. The perception concerning acommodation reflected the possibility of being close to the patient; however, they revealed the difficulty of not having an appropriate accomodation area near the ICU. They also perceived that the University Hospital... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Orientador: Maria de Lourdes da Silva Marques Ferreira / Coorientador: Ione Correa / Banca: Ilda de Godoy / Banca: Maria José Sanches Marin / Mestre

M.Cur. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Cur. (Nursing Science) / The purpose of the research study was to explore and describe the experiences of critical care nurses working in adult critical care units of a private hospital in Gauteng, following their involvement in a sentinel event. This information could enable the researcher to formulate guidelines for support of these nurses. Health care professionals aim to deliver safe, high quality care, but unfortunately, all humans can, and do make mistakes (Wakefield, 2007: 12). Since the report To err is human was released by The Institution of Medicine at Havard University (Kohn, Corrigen & Donaldson,1999), more authors have concluded that it is human to make mistakes (Erasmus, 2008:5). Mistakes in the nursing environment can be seen as sentinel events which could result in unintended harm to the patient (Muller, Bezuidenhout & Jooste, 2006:456). Sentinel events in health care, could lead to the devastating concepts of negligence, malpractice, or unprofessional practice, as nurses are held accountable for their acts and omissions according to Erasmus (2008: 5-6). The following research questions emerged:  What are the experiences of critical care nurses, following their involvement in a sentinel event, which harmed, or could have resulted in unintended harm to the patient?  What guidelines for support of these nurses could be formulated? This study was planned in two phases and the objectives of the study were: Phase 1: To explore and describe the lived experiences of nurses, working in the adult critical care units in a private hospital in Gauteng, following their involvement in a sentinel event, which harmed, or could have resulted in unintended harm to the patient. Phase 2: To formulate guidelines for support of these nurses, following their involvement in a sentinel event. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual phenomenological research design was used to gain more information regarding critical care nurses` lived experiences, following their involvement in a sentinel event. The study was done in two adult critical care units, in a private hospital in Gauteng. Data was collected by means of six individual in - depth interviews and three naive sketches. Data analysis was done according to Tesch`s open-coding qualitative data analysis method (Creswell, 2007:156). Two main categories emerged from the data, namely the nurses` experiences following their involvement in a sentinel event and the recommendations towards guidelines for support of these nurses. The first main category was sub categorized as being personal, emotional, social and professional experiences and were found as being positive, as well as negative experiences. In the second main category, recommendations towards guidelines for support of nurses, following their involvement in a sentinel event, were proposed and these recommendations were sub- categorised as being at a personal, professional and organizational level of the nurse. In view of the findings of this study, the recommended guidelines for support of nurses, following their involvement in a sentinel event included communication, debriefing, in-service training, root cause analysis and organizational support. Consequently, the intent should be to implement these proposed guidelines for support in the hospital under study. If nurses were supported to follow these guidelines, it may help the nurses who had been involved in a sentinel event, to restore their strive for wholeness in body mind and spirit (University of Johannesburg, 2009:1) and these nurses could be able to render holistic nursing care.

Nurses who work in the intensive care settings (or units, ICU) in Canada encounter a growing number of patients living with obesity (PLWO) in clinical practice. Many authors suggest that the number of PLWO who are admitted to the ICU has increased significantly because obesity is on the rise in Canada. PLWO are thought to be at a higher risk for developing chronic illnesses and life-threatening complications that require an admission to the ICU. They are also more likely to develop postoperative complications that require life-sustaining treatments, invasive hemodynamic monitoring and evaluation, assistive devices, pharmacological interventions, parenteral nutrition, fluid and electrolyte management, and prolonged admission with associated risks of complications. Yet, there is limited research on the experience of nurses providing care to PLWO. The goal of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of ICU nurses who work with PLWO and how these experiences affect the way they provide care. More specifically, this study was designed to describe and explore the inclusionary and exclusionary practices developed by nurses providing care to PLWO by drawing Canales’ (2000) Othering framework. Lastly, an additional goal of this study was to document the needs of ICU nurses with respect to the care of PLWO and areas of improvement in the ICU. A total of 11 ICU nurses were interviewed for this study. Data analysis followed the principles of Applied Thematic Analysis (ATA) and revealed four themes. The first theme describes how the PLWO become “Other” in the ICU context. The second theme focuses on exclusionary Othering and how it manifests itself in the way PLWO are differentiated, cared for, and viewed in the ICU context. The third theme sheds light on inclusionary Othering in the form of strategies that are used by ICU nurses to engage with PLWO in a way that is inclusive and transformative. Finally, the last theme concentrates on the ICU environment itself and the resources available (or not available) to nurses, with a particular emphasis on the needs of nurses who provide care to PLWO.