ObjectivesStudies of dementia knowledge (including dementia risk reduction) in health‐care traine... more ObjectivesStudies of dementia knowledge (including dementia risk reduction) in health‐care trainees highlight varying levels of understanding across countries and disciplines. This draws attention to the need for a well‐trained health workforce with the knowledge to champion and implement such strategies. This study (a) assessed dementia knowledge and health literacy among a sample of Australian health‐care students, (b) identified modality preferences of digital health interventions addressing dementia prevention and (c) examined potential relationships among health literacy, dementia knowledge, dementia prevention knowledge and a student's preferences for different digital health modalities.MethodsA cross‐sectional survey assessed dementia knowledge and health literacy in 727 health students across 16 Australian universities representing both metropolitan and regional cohorts. The All Aspects of Health Literacy Scale and the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale were administere...
An interdisciplinary research team evaluated a public housing revitalization project in northwest... more An interdisciplinary research team evaluated a public housing revitalization project in northwest Washington State to assess the effects of relocation on residents and provide recommendations on assets in the new community. Researchers used photovoice as one method to gather data, asking participants to take photographs of their neighborhood and discuss the images with interviewers. This article addresses the challenges of using photovoice in a community that included immigrants from Cambodia, Vietnam, and Russia. The practical, ethical, and social challenges of using photovoice in ethnically diverse populations and implications for practice are discussed.
AimDescribe the reported lived experiences of nurses who have participated at any stage of volunt... more AimDescribe the reported lived experiences of nurses who have participated at any stage of voluntary assisted dying (VAD), from the initial request to the end of life.DesignA qualitative meta‐synthesis.Data sourcesDatabases searched were CINAHL, MEDLINE, Emcare, Scopus and PsycInfo. The search was undertaken in September 2021 with no date limitations. Qualitative studies were considered if published in English, reported primary data analysis of nurses' experiences who had been involved in VAD and reported direct quotes from nurses.Review methodsQualitative studies meeting the selection criteria were critically appraised, then an open card‐sort method was applied. Quotes from nurses were organized to group similar experiences, constructing themes and metaphors across studies as a new understanding of nurses' experiences of VAD.ResultsEight studies were included. Three major themes were constructed: An orderly procedure, reflecting the need for structure to feel adequately pre...
Aim: Describe the reported lived experiences of nurses who have participated at any stage of volu... more Aim: Describe the reported lived experiences of nurses who have participated at any stage of voluntary assisted dying (VAD), from the initial request to the end of life.
Design: A qualitative meta-synthesis.
Data sources: Databases searched were CINAHL, MEDLINE, Emcare, Scopus and PsycInfo. The search was undertaken in September 2021 with no date limitations. Qualitative studies were considered if published in English, reported primary data analysis of nurses' experiences who had been involved in VAD and reported direct quotes from nurses.
Review methods: Qualitative studies meeting the selection criteria were critically appraised, then an open card-sort method was applied. Quotes from nurses were organized to group similar experiences, constructing themes and metaphors across studies as a new understanding of nurses' experiences of VAD.
Results: Eight studies were included. Three major themes were constructed: An orderly procedure, reflecting the need for structure to feel adequately prepared; A beautiful death, reflecting the autonomy the patient exercised when choosing VAD facilitated an exceptionally positive death; and Psychological and emotional impact, where nurses recognized the emotional and ethical weight that they carried for themselves and the team when undertaking VAD.
Conclusion: Nurses may benefit from clear policy, supervision and communication training to support them as countries transition to providing VAD services. Policy provides nurses with confidence that they are undertaking the steps of VAD correctly and provides a layer of emotional protection. Communication training specific to VAD is necessary to prepare nurses to recognize their own emotional experiences when responding to the needs of the patient and their family.
Impact: VAD is increasingly becoming a legal option that nurses are encountering in their professional practice. Understanding nurses' experiences of being involved in VAD is required to support nurses in countries where VAD is becoming available to prepare professionally and psychologically.
Keywords: end-of-life care; medical assistance in dying; nursing; palliative care; qualitative meta-synthesis; qualitative studies; systematic review; voluntary assisted dying.
This workshop aims to develop an Indigenous cultural narrative through a dialogical approach. Aut... more This workshop aims to develop an Indigenous cultural narrative through a dialogical approach. Auto-ethnography locates the self within the context of society and culture taking form as a narrative of the self. This workshop is facilitated by two auto-ethnographers who have utilized this approach to find their Indigenous voices, healing past cultural traumas within the self. We hope that the participants will discover experiences, developing autoethnographic techniques that can be incorporated into everyday life, as well as teaching and research practice.
This workshop aims to develop an Indigenous cultural narrative through a dialogical approach. Aut... more This workshop aims to develop an Indigenous cultural narrative through a dialogical approach. Auto-ethnography locates the self within the context of society and culture taking form as a narrative of the self. This workshop is facilitated by two auto-ethnographers who have utilized this approach to find their Indigenous voices, healing past cultural traumas within the self. We hope that the participants will discover experiences, developing autoethnographic techniques that can be incorporated into everyday life, as well as teaching and research practice.
The Republic of Kiribati is under threat from climate change, leaving the growing population vuln... more The Republic of Kiribati is under threat from climate change, leaving the growing population vulnerable to the elements. Sea water inundation occurs regularly, reducing the thin water lens beneath the island. This is the main source of fresh drinking water for the I-Kiribati people. Strategies to improve future outcomes for the population include international education initiatives. This book tells the story of one such initiative. Mobilising I-Kiribati youth for the purposes of education is not without difficulties. Students are leaving their Island homes to travel to Australia in the hopes of achieving a nursing qualification. Chapter by chapter this work explores the student experience from an Indigenous perspective, following the cycle of the seasons. Go on a journey with the researcher and the students as they tell their stories of studying in Australia.
Historical and contemporary cultural trauma continues to impact on the health and well-being of I... more Historical and contemporary cultural trauma continues to impact on the health and well-being of Indigenous people globally. Located within Australia this thesis employs Kaupapa Maori theory and autoethnography to explore a process of cultural recovery and healing. This is a self-decolonising journey from cultural trauma to recovery, through the researchers cultural immersion within te ao Maori. This interwoven approach speaks to the new era of qualitative social research. Concluding that cultural recovery and the healing of cultural trauma are connected to the core of self and to subjective experiences of well-being, influencing health outcomes for Maori people.
Introduction and Background: The purpose of this paper is to explore the current position of nurs... more Introduction and Background: The purpose of this paper is to explore the current position of nursing education within the Australian academic setting. This research explores the current climate of nursing curriculum and seeks to find ways to resist the shift to discipline competency within the university setting. Methods: This research includes a systematic review of existing literature exploring the historical and contemporary aspects of nursing curriculum, work readiness indicators and university goals and aspirations for graduates. Results: The knowledge gained through this review will be synthesised into a model of curriculum design which can assist Schools of nursing to meet the competency expectations whilst enabling personal, emotional and social intelligence development of students. Discussion: The bachelor of nursing curriculum in Australia is now a highly biomedical, skills based program, designed to make work ready graduates who can 'hit the ground running' (Cabal...
Enacting Indigenous space is not only a matter of decolonisation but also a matter of anticolonia... more Enacting Indigenous space is not only a matter of decolonisation but also a matter of anticolonial resistance (Mahuika, 2008; Pihama et al, 2004; Smith, 2000). As we continue to practice the ways of knowing, being and doing of our ancestors, we bring forward the past, into the now and thus become the future. Within Kaupapa Māori many moments provide a space for the meeting of the yesterday, the now and the tomorrow. The current revival and dissemination of Māori weaving practices within Australia is focused on the restoration of the rights of Māori people and the continued development of tino rangatiratanga, self-determination and sovereignty for all Māori people beyond the shores of Aotearoa, New Zealand. This work explores the experience of the alignment of past, present and future, through relational autoethnographic moments. In particular the relational moments experienced when women weave kākahu, clothing and korowai, cloaks. Employing the writing method of threes by Richardson...
Objectives The purpose of this research was to systematically analyse the evidence of impact of I... more Objectives The purpose of this research was to systematically analyse the evidence of impact of Interprofessional Practice Models (IPM) on reducing health service inequities in community care for diverse ageing populations. The review informs best practice models through evidence based findings, informing future proposed Health Care Service policy and practice initiatives in community aged care throughout Australia and New Zealand. Methods A systematic review of the literature using quantitative and qualitative research databases and health service reviews was conducted. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and MetaAnalyses (PRISMA) framework was utilised to guide evidence for inclusion in the review. NVIVO software was utilised to code and extract themes from the literature. Lessons Learned A diverse range of international interprofessional education models seek to reduce inequities in diverse populations, however there is little evidence of how this translates into...
Melissa Carey too, negotiates different (and sometimes contested) worlds, moving between a coloni... more Melissa Carey too, negotiates different (and sometimes contested) worlds, moving between a colonized world, te ao Māori (the Māori world) and the spirit world, te pō. In The transformative experiences of cultural healing: An autoethnography of Kaupapa Māori, Melissa takes us with her as she heals a rupture she didn’t know existed. Raised in Australia and now in her mid-thirties, family secrets start to unravel and Melissa discovers 'a brown secret hidden beneath [her] white skin'. Her forgotten ancestors call her to action, and so begins her journey of healing. This chapter locates the inexplicable and the haunting within cultures that seemingly rely upon certainty and surety.
Introduction: Aboriginal midwife, Muriel Stanley in 1955 called for action on the need to educate... more Introduction: Aboriginal midwife, Muriel Stanley in 1955 called for action on the need to educate non-Indigenous Australians about the health of Aboriginal Australians within nursing and midwifery education. Yet, whilst the transition from Hospital to Tertiary Sector Nursing and Midwifery Education has occurred, there has been little response to her call for action. Whilst some Schools of Nursing and Midwifery have at best undertaken the objective with varying success, imminent changes to mandated curriculum content will require a paradigm shift. Purpose: The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Councils (ANMAC) moved to mandate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander History, Health and Culture as a discrete unit of study taught from an Indigenous perspective in Nursing and Midwifery Core Curriculum. This will force a paradigm shift within curriculum and Schools of Nursing and Midwifery in Australia. Little is known about how prepared Schools of Nursing and Midwifery are to...
ABSTRACT Promoting optimal academic outcomes for undergraduate nursing students studying health s... more ABSTRACT Promoting optimal academic outcomes for undergraduate nursing students studying health sociology using traditional teaching approaches is challenging. In reality student learning within the university setting is often assessment driven, reducing cognitive engagement with important transformative concepts. Consequently, this research investigates the effectiveness of collage creation as assessment, providing a medium for exploration, analysis and synthesis of the relationship between nursing health, society and culture from the sociology perspective. Collage has the ability to enhance awareness of associations previously not perceived and an appreciation for new knowledge; therefore it becomes an important tool assisting students with establishing and interpreting the relationship between concepts (Davis & Butler-Kisber, 1999). The assessment required 126 undergraduate first year nursing students to construct a collage via selection of images of nursing, health, culture and society that reflected their personal understanding utilising a sociological framework (Germov, 2005). Subsequently, the collage was deconstructed by students and re-synthesised as a graded academic essay. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected via standard course evaluation tools, semi-structured interviews and participant observation. Biggs (1999) Structure of the Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) Taxonomy was used to determine the effectiveness of the task in promoting desired learning outcomes. Results included improved mid-semester examination scores, improved overall course grades and positive course evaluations in comparison to previous years thus indicating that collage enhances positive learning experiences and has an important role in assisting with transformative learning.
ObjectivesStudies of dementia knowledge (including dementia risk reduction) in health‐care traine... more ObjectivesStudies of dementia knowledge (including dementia risk reduction) in health‐care trainees highlight varying levels of understanding across countries and disciplines. This draws attention to the need for a well‐trained health workforce with the knowledge to champion and implement such strategies. This study (a) assessed dementia knowledge and health literacy among a sample of Australian health‐care students, (b) identified modality preferences of digital health interventions addressing dementia prevention and (c) examined potential relationships among health literacy, dementia knowledge, dementia prevention knowledge and a student's preferences for different digital health modalities.MethodsA cross‐sectional survey assessed dementia knowledge and health literacy in 727 health students across 16 Australian universities representing both metropolitan and regional cohorts. The All Aspects of Health Literacy Scale and the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale were administere...
An interdisciplinary research team evaluated a public housing revitalization project in northwest... more An interdisciplinary research team evaluated a public housing revitalization project in northwest Washington State to assess the effects of relocation on residents and provide recommendations on assets in the new community. Researchers used photovoice as one method to gather data, asking participants to take photographs of their neighborhood and discuss the images with interviewers. This article addresses the challenges of using photovoice in a community that included immigrants from Cambodia, Vietnam, and Russia. The practical, ethical, and social challenges of using photovoice in ethnically diverse populations and implications for practice are discussed.
AimDescribe the reported lived experiences of nurses who have participated at any stage of volunt... more AimDescribe the reported lived experiences of nurses who have participated at any stage of voluntary assisted dying (VAD), from the initial request to the end of life.DesignA qualitative meta‐synthesis.Data sourcesDatabases searched were CINAHL, MEDLINE, Emcare, Scopus and PsycInfo. The search was undertaken in September 2021 with no date limitations. Qualitative studies were considered if published in English, reported primary data analysis of nurses' experiences who had been involved in VAD and reported direct quotes from nurses.Review methodsQualitative studies meeting the selection criteria were critically appraised, then an open card‐sort method was applied. Quotes from nurses were organized to group similar experiences, constructing themes and metaphors across studies as a new understanding of nurses' experiences of VAD.ResultsEight studies were included. Three major themes were constructed: An orderly procedure, reflecting the need for structure to feel adequately pre...
Aim: Describe the reported lived experiences of nurses who have participated at any stage of volu... more Aim: Describe the reported lived experiences of nurses who have participated at any stage of voluntary assisted dying (VAD), from the initial request to the end of life.
Design: A qualitative meta-synthesis.
Data sources: Databases searched were CINAHL, MEDLINE, Emcare, Scopus and PsycInfo. The search was undertaken in September 2021 with no date limitations. Qualitative studies were considered if published in English, reported primary data analysis of nurses' experiences who had been involved in VAD and reported direct quotes from nurses.
Review methods: Qualitative studies meeting the selection criteria were critically appraised, then an open card-sort method was applied. Quotes from nurses were organized to group similar experiences, constructing themes and metaphors across studies as a new understanding of nurses' experiences of VAD.
Results: Eight studies were included. Three major themes were constructed: An orderly procedure, reflecting the need for structure to feel adequately prepared; A beautiful death, reflecting the autonomy the patient exercised when choosing VAD facilitated an exceptionally positive death; and Psychological and emotional impact, where nurses recognized the emotional and ethical weight that they carried for themselves and the team when undertaking VAD.
Conclusion: Nurses may benefit from clear policy, supervision and communication training to support them as countries transition to providing VAD services. Policy provides nurses with confidence that they are undertaking the steps of VAD correctly and provides a layer of emotional protection. Communication training specific to VAD is necessary to prepare nurses to recognize their own emotional experiences when responding to the needs of the patient and their family.
Impact: VAD is increasingly becoming a legal option that nurses are encountering in their professional practice. Understanding nurses' experiences of being involved in VAD is required to support nurses in countries where VAD is becoming available to prepare professionally and psychologically.
Keywords: end-of-life care; medical assistance in dying; nursing; palliative care; qualitative meta-synthesis; qualitative studies; systematic review; voluntary assisted dying.
This workshop aims to develop an Indigenous cultural narrative through a dialogical approach. Aut... more This workshop aims to develop an Indigenous cultural narrative through a dialogical approach. Auto-ethnography locates the self within the context of society and culture taking form as a narrative of the self. This workshop is facilitated by two auto-ethnographers who have utilized this approach to find their Indigenous voices, healing past cultural traumas within the self. We hope that the participants will discover experiences, developing autoethnographic techniques that can be incorporated into everyday life, as well as teaching and research practice.
This workshop aims to develop an Indigenous cultural narrative through a dialogical approach. Aut... more This workshop aims to develop an Indigenous cultural narrative through a dialogical approach. Auto-ethnography locates the self within the context of society and culture taking form as a narrative of the self. This workshop is facilitated by two auto-ethnographers who have utilized this approach to find their Indigenous voices, healing past cultural traumas within the self. We hope that the participants will discover experiences, developing autoethnographic techniques that can be incorporated into everyday life, as well as teaching and research practice.
The Republic of Kiribati is under threat from climate change, leaving the growing population vuln... more The Republic of Kiribati is under threat from climate change, leaving the growing population vulnerable to the elements. Sea water inundation occurs regularly, reducing the thin water lens beneath the island. This is the main source of fresh drinking water for the I-Kiribati people. Strategies to improve future outcomes for the population include international education initiatives. This book tells the story of one such initiative. Mobilising I-Kiribati youth for the purposes of education is not without difficulties. Students are leaving their Island homes to travel to Australia in the hopes of achieving a nursing qualification. Chapter by chapter this work explores the student experience from an Indigenous perspective, following the cycle of the seasons. Go on a journey with the researcher and the students as they tell their stories of studying in Australia.
Historical and contemporary cultural trauma continues to impact on the health and well-being of I... more Historical and contemporary cultural trauma continues to impact on the health and well-being of Indigenous people globally. Located within Australia this thesis employs Kaupapa Maori theory and autoethnography to explore a process of cultural recovery and healing. This is a self-decolonising journey from cultural trauma to recovery, through the researchers cultural immersion within te ao Maori. This interwoven approach speaks to the new era of qualitative social research. Concluding that cultural recovery and the healing of cultural trauma are connected to the core of self and to subjective experiences of well-being, influencing health outcomes for Maori people.
Introduction and Background: The purpose of this paper is to explore the current position of nurs... more Introduction and Background: The purpose of this paper is to explore the current position of nursing education within the Australian academic setting. This research explores the current climate of nursing curriculum and seeks to find ways to resist the shift to discipline competency within the university setting. Methods: This research includes a systematic review of existing literature exploring the historical and contemporary aspects of nursing curriculum, work readiness indicators and university goals and aspirations for graduates. Results: The knowledge gained through this review will be synthesised into a model of curriculum design which can assist Schools of nursing to meet the competency expectations whilst enabling personal, emotional and social intelligence development of students. Discussion: The bachelor of nursing curriculum in Australia is now a highly biomedical, skills based program, designed to make work ready graduates who can 'hit the ground running' (Cabal...
Enacting Indigenous space is not only a matter of decolonisation but also a matter of anticolonia... more Enacting Indigenous space is not only a matter of decolonisation but also a matter of anticolonial resistance (Mahuika, 2008; Pihama et al, 2004; Smith, 2000). As we continue to practice the ways of knowing, being and doing of our ancestors, we bring forward the past, into the now and thus become the future. Within Kaupapa Māori many moments provide a space for the meeting of the yesterday, the now and the tomorrow. The current revival and dissemination of Māori weaving practices within Australia is focused on the restoration of the rights of Māori people and the continued development of tino rangatiratanga, self-determination and sovereignty for all Māori people beyond the shores of Aotearoa, New Zealand. This work explores the experience of the alignment of past, present and future, through relational autoethnographic moments. In particular the relational moments experienced when women weave kākahu, clothing and korowai, cloaks. Employing the writing method of threes by Richardson...
Objectives The purpose of this research was to systematically analyse the evidence of impact of I... more Objectives The purpose of this research was to systematically analyse the evidence of impact of Interprofessional Practice Models (IPM) on reducing health service inequities in community care for diverse ageing populations. The review informs best practice models through evidence based findings, informing future proposed Health Care Service policy and practice initiatives in community aged care throughout Australia and New Zealand. Methods A systematic review of the literature using quantitative and qualitative research databases and health service reviews was conducted. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and MetaAnalyses (PRISMA) framework was utilised to guide evidence for inclusion in the review. NVIVO software was utilised to code and extract themes from the literature. Lessons Learned A diverse range of international interprofessional education models seek to reduce inequities in diverse populations, however there is little evidence of how this translates into...
Melissa Carey too, negotiates different (and sometimes contested) worlds, moving between a coloni... more Melissa Carey too, negotiates different (and sometimes contested) worlds, moving between a colonized world, te ao Māori (the Māori world) and the spirit world, te pō. In The transformative experiences of cultural healing: An autoethnography of Kaupapa Māori, Melissa takes us with her as she heals a rupture she didn’t know existed. Raised in Australia and now in her mid-thirties, family secrets start to unravel and Melissa discovers 'a brown secret hidden beneath [her] white skin'. Her forgotten ancestors call her to action, and so begins her journey of healing. This chapter locates the inexplicable and the haunting within cultures that seemingly rely upon certainty and surety.
Introduction: Aboriginal midwife, Muriel Stanley in 1955 called for action on the need to educate... more Introduction: Aboriginal midwife, Muriel Stanley in 1955 called for action on the need to educate non-Indigenous Australians about the health of Aboriginal Australians within nursing and midwifery education. Yet, whilst the transition from Hospital to Tertiary Sector Nursing and Midwifery Education has occurred, there has been little response to her call for action. Whilst some Schools of Nursing and Midwifery have at best undertaken the objective with varying success, imminent changes to mandated curriculum content will require a paradigm shift. Purpose: The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Councils (ANMAC) moved to mandate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander History, Health and Culture as a discrete unit of study taught from an Indigenous perspective in Nursing and Midwifery Core Curriculum. This will force a paradigm shift within curriculum and Schools of Nursing and Midwifery in Australia. Little is known about how prepared Schools of Nursing and Midwifery are to...
ABSTRACT Promoting optimal academic outcomes for undergraduate nursing students studying health s... more ABSTRACT Promoting optimal academic outcomes for undergraduate nursing students studying health sociology using traditional teaching approaches is challenging. In reality student learning within the university setting is often assessment driven, reducing cognitive engagement with important transformative concepts. Consequently, this research investigates the effectiveness of collage creation as assessment, providing a medium for exploration, analysis and synthesis of the relationship between nursing health, society and culture from the sociology perspective. Collage has the ability to enhance awareness of associations previously not perceived and an appreciation for new knowledge; therefore it becomes an important tool assisting students with establishing and interpreting the relationship between concepts (Davis & Butler-Kisber, 1999). The assessment required 126 undergraduate first year nursing students to construct a collage via selection of images of nursing, health, culture and society that reflected their personal understanding utilising a sociological framework (Germov, 2005). Subsequently, the collage was deconstructed by students and re-synthesised as a graded academic essay. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected via standard course evaluation tools, semi-structured interviews and participant observation. Biggs (1999) Structure of the Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) Taxonomy was used to determine the effectiveness of the task in promoting desired learning outcomes. Results included improved mid-semester examination scores, improved overall course grades and positive course evaluations in comparison to previous years thus indicating that collage enhances positive learning experiences and has an important role in assisting with transformative learning.
Sacred spaces exist in-between the human experience of living and dying, yet these spaces are oft... more Sacred spaces exist in-between the human experience of living and dying, yet these spaces are often forgotten within the Western biomedical health care paradigm where there is a long history of mind and body separation. However, a new trend is appearing which is akin to an awakening of a spiritual focus moving towards a partnership with clients and their families. This chapter explores the registered nurse’s experience of caring for people towards the end of their lives. Through the nurses stories we explore the notion of the sacred spaces and places as people move from diagnosis to the end of their life journey. Findings from this exploration indicate that there is a need for nurses to initiate and encourage end of life conversations, which honour the sacred spaces and places of the dying. Thus raising awareness for the inclusion of spiritual concepts within the Western health care paradigm as advocates for the dying.
The Republic of Kiribati is under threat from climate change, leaving the growing population vuln... more The Republic of Kiribati is under threat from climate change, leaving the growing population vulnerable to the elements. Sea water inundation occurs regularly, reducing the thin water lens beneath the island. This is the main source of fresh drinking water for the I-Kiribati people. Strategies to improve future outcomes for the population include international education initiatives. This book tells the story of one such initiative. Mobilising I-Kiribati youth for the purposes of education is not without difficulties. Students are leaving their Island homes to travel to Australia in the hopes of achieving a nursing qualification. Chapter by chapter this work explores the student experience from an Indigenous perspective, following the cycle of the seasons. Go on a journey with the researcher and the students as they tell their stories of studying in Australia.
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Design: A qualitative meta-synthesis.
Data sources: Databases searched were CINAHL, MEDLINE, Emcare, Scopus and PsycInfo. The search was undertaken in September 2021 with no date limitations. Qualitative studies were considered if published in English, reported primary data analysis of nurses' experiences who had been involved in VAD and reported direct quotes from nurses.
Review methods: Qualitative studies meeting the selection criteria were critically appraised, then an open card-sort method was applied. Quotes from nurses were organized to group similar experiences, constructing themes and metaphors across studies as a new understanding of nurses' experiences of VAD.
Results: Eight studies were included. Three major themes were constructed: An orderly procedure, reflecting the need for structure to feel adequately prepared; A beautiful death, reflecting the autonomy the patient exercised when choosing VAD facilitated an exceptionally positive death; and Psychological and emotional impact, where nurses recognized the emotional and ethical weight that they carried for themselves and the team when undertaking VAD.
Conclusion: Nurses may benefit from clear policy, supervision and communication training to support them as countries transition to providing VAD services. Policy provides nurses with confidence that they are undertaking the steps of VAD correctly and provides a layer of emotional protection. Communication training specific to VAD is necessary to prepare nurses to recognize their own emotional experiences when responding to the needs of the patient and their family.
Impact: VAD is increasingly becoming a legal option that nurses are encountering in their professional practice. Understanding nurses' experiences of being involved in VAD is required to support nurses in countries where VAD is becoming available to prepare professionally and psychologically.
Keywords: end-of-life care; medical assistance in dying; nursing; palliative care; qualitative meta-synthesis; qualitative studies; systematic review; voluntary assisted dying.
Design: A qualitative meta-synthesis.
Data sources: Databases searched were CINAHL, MEDLINE, Emcare, Scopus and PsycInfo. The search was undertaken in September 2021 with no date limitations. Qualitative studies were considered if published in English, reported primary data analysis of nurses' experiences who had been involved in VAD and reported direct quotes from nurses.
Review methods: Qualitative studies meeting the selection criteria were critically appraised, then an open card-sort method was applied. Quotes from nurses were organized to group similar experiences, constructing themes and metaphors across studies as a new understanding of nurses' experiences of VAD.
Results: Eight studies were included. Three major themes were constructed: An orderly procedure, reflecting the need for structure to feel adequately prepared; A beautiful death, reflecting the autonomy the patient exercised when choosing VAD facilitated an exceptionally positive death; and Psychological and emotional impact, where nurses recognized the emotional and ethical weight that they carried for themselves and the team when undertaking VAD.
Conclusion: Nurses may benefit from clear policy, supervision and communication training to support them as countries transition to providing VAD services. Policy provides nurses with confidence that they are undertaking the steps of VAD correctly and provides a layer of emotional protection. Communication training specific to VAD is necessary to prepare nurses to recognize their own emotional experiences when responding to the needs of the patient and their family.
Impact: VAD is increasingly becoming a legal option that nurses are encountering in their professional practice. Understanding nurses' experiences of being involved in VAD is required to support nurses in countries where VAD is becoming available to prepare professionally and psychologically.
Keywords: end-of-life care; medical assistance in dying; nursing; palliative care; qualitative meta-synthesis; qualitative studies; systematic review; voluntary assisted dying.