|
|
Touch in nursing-therapeutical or risk intervention
HYNKOVÁ, Miroslava
A touch is an inseparable part of the mutual contact between a nurse and a patient.The more a patient depends on the assistance of the others in common daily activities, the more a nurse uses physical contact in the care, not only in relation to the professional ortherapeutic acts, but also to the expression of compassion, sympathy, encouragement or calming a patient.Despite the fact that a touch is so important in patient care, it only receives a marginal attention.The goal of the thesis was to examine the reasons for and the obstacles to the application of a touch in nursing care, and if a touch belongs to the present nursing care.Research questions were set to achieve the goals:How do nurses perceive a touch in the present nursing care?How do patients perceive a nurse's touch in the treatment?Three hypotheses were formulated in dependence on the above set goals:H1:Nurses perceive a touch more as a part of the direct (physical)care than a therapeutic intervention.H2:Nurses rather use a touch as an unintentional method than as an intentional therapeutic intervention.H3:Nurses use a touch rather intuitively, not realizing the risk that a touch can be perceived negatively.The theoretical part of the thesis was elaborated on the base of literature sources.The empiric part was implemented on the base of a qualitative and quantitative research.The data for the qualitative research was gained by means of semi-structured interviews with ten patients.A questionnaire research for general nurses was used for the data collection in the quantitative research.On the base of the results the hypotheses were evaluated as follows:H1 Nurses perceive a touch more as a part of the direct (physical) care than a therapeutic intervention unconfirmed.H2:Nurses rather use a touch as an unintentional method than as an intentional therapeutic intervention unconfirmed.H3:Nurses use a touch rather intuitively, not realizing the risk that a touch can be perceived negatively unconfirmed. It is obvious from the results we achieved in the research that a touch has been and will always be an inseparable part of the mutual relation between a nurse and a patient.The research has shown that nurses perceive a touch as a part of the direct care as well as a therapeutic intervention.And if nurses use a touch as a therapeutic intervention, they do it intentionally, mostly to build confidence, to calm a patient, to create the feeling of safety, certainty and understanding.More than a half of the nurses replied that they used a touch instinctively, not realizing that they are touching the patient, on the other hand, more than a half of the nurses replied that they cared about at what points a patient perceived a touch negatively.Although the nurses replied that a therapeutic touch was not time consuming, it is not applied frequently in the therapeutic care.The research has also shown that patients accept a touch within the care and they accept it resignedly.When nurses touch patients, the patients are glad if such a touch is accompanied by words.The interviews revealed that a nurse should not underestimate a handshake at the first contact, as patients perceive this act as a feeling of interest and creation of confidence.The research shows indisputably that a touch is a very important holistic nursing interventionin patient care. It has confirmed that although a touch and its perception is something so intimate, individual and indispensable in nursing care, it only receives a marginal attention.This thesis might serve as study material for numerous nurses, so that a touch is used as an effective intervention by a nurse that perceives a patient as a holistic being and has a sympathy for him/her in his/her uneasy life situation.This thesis might initialize a more extended research combining more research methods.An application of hidden observation for deeper understanding of the use of a touch in nursing care might be particularly interesting.
|
|
|
Position and function of general nurses at senior homes
HYNKOVÁ, Miroslava
Social residential facilities are obliged to provide their clients with nursing and rehabilitation care. They are however not obliged to provide the care through their own competent healthcare staff. This is why provision of nursing care to users of senior homes by general nurses is a frequently discussed topic, particularly because of nursing care funding. Founders of residential social services more and more often reduce the numbers of healthcare staff and substitute them with cheaper workforce, social service workers. However as Malíková (2011) says such a social service would not be complex and complete without quality nursing care. A general nurse in a senior home can only provide medical care to the extent specified by a physician, who duly and completely enters the required care into a special form. Only health problems may be the reason for indication of medical care. The present structure of users of numerous senior homes would definitely deserve the status of healthcare facility, as the health condition of seniors often corresponds to the long-term treatment hospital. The work of a nurse in such facilities is very responsible and demanding as a physician that might assess a change in health condition of a client and solve acute changes is not permanently present in a senior home. A nurse is usually the only healthcare staff member and at the highest position. However a nurse can only measure physiological functions and perform basic examination of a client within her competence without presence of a physician. She evaluates the situation upon this base and has to decide on further proceeding. She bears responsibility for her decisions. Recognition of symptoms and assessment of situation requires a lot of knowledge and experience. The goal of the thesis was to find how the position and function of a general nurse in a senior home is perceived by physicians, general nurses, seniors and the general public and whether a general nurse is irreplaceable in the care of seniors in residential social services. Four research questions were set for these goals. How does a physician perceive the role of general nurses in a senior home? How do general nurses perceive the role of general nurses in a senior home? How do representatives of the general public perceive the role of general nurses in a senior home? What is the importance of a general nurse for seniors in provision of medical care? Qualitative research in the form of semi-structured interview was chosen for data collection. Before each interview the respondents were assured that their anonymity would be preserved and that all the information obtained would only be used for the purposes of this bachelor thesis. The research was conducted in March ? April 2013. Physicians and nurses providing medical care to users of senior homes perceive the position of a nurse in the healthcare team as necessary and irreplaceable. For the general public the nursing and medical care in a senior house is a commonplace. There is still the model from the times when general nurses and attendants worked in senior homes in the awareness of the public. In fact they are not interested in who provides the care, but mainly how. Worsened health condition and subsequent worsened self sufficiency is the reason why seniors go to senior homes. They do not think about who will care about them in the senior home, but they expect that nurses and attendants. They trust the nurses that provide them with care and have the feeling of safety and security that in the case of sudden health condition change qualified medical care will be provided to them at their presence. The information obtained from this bachelor thesis might be useful for managements of social care providers and officers of health insurers in deciding whether healthcare staff is necessary in this sphere of social services or not.
|
guest ::
RSS feed.