Lesley Wilkes

Lesley Wilkes
Western Sydney University · School of Nursing and Midwifery

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421
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Introduction
Skills and Expertise

Publications

Publications (421)
Article
Aim To evaluate a nurse‐led model of supportive care in a COPD outpatient service from patient and caregiver perspectives. Design Case study methodology. Methods Data were collected from semi‐structured interviews with patients ( n = 12) and caregivers ( n = 7) conducted between April 2020 and September 2022. A purposive sampling strategy was use...
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Aim To describe a small multidisciplinary team's experience of the process of embedding nurse‐led supportive care into an existing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease outpatient service. Design Case study methodology Methods Data were collected from multiple sources including key documents and semi‐structured interviews with healthcare professi...
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Aims This paper describes practical advice for refugees aspiring to become Registered Nurses (RNs) in Australia. Design Qualitative description using a naturalistic inquiry framework. Methods Between February 2018 and September 2019, the lead author conducted semi‐structured interviews with employed RNs that are former refugees that speak English...
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Aims To explore the experience of physical restraints during mechanical ventilation in intensive care from the perspectives of patients and family members. Design This research was a qualitative study with a naturalistic inquiry framework adhering to the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research guidelines. Method In‐depth, semi‐st...
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Background: It can be challenging to recruit participants for qualitative research. Recruitment can be affected by factors such as systemic barriers, as well as potential participants being reluctant to enrol in research they view as time-consuming and burdensome - particularly research exploring sensitive topics. Aim: To analyse and describe th...
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Aims To explore the experiences of refugees who became registered nurses after arriving to Australia. Design Qualitative description using a naturalistic inquiry framework. Methods Between February 2018 and September 2019, the lead author conducted semi-structured interviews with employed registered nurses (RNs) that are former refugees and Engli...
Article
Aims and objectives This study explored the experiences of nurses using physical restraints on mechanically ventilated patients in intensive care. Background Physical restraints are frequently used to prevent treatment interference and maintain patient safety in intensive care units worldwide. However, physical restraints are found to be ineffecti...
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Objective: Advance Care Planning supports patients to share their personal values, goals, and preferences for future medical care with their family members and healthcare professionals. The aim of this review was to uncover what is known about patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and their experiences with Advance Care Planning. Me...
Article
Background Nurses and nurse practitioners (NPs) are utilising point of care ultrasound (PoCUS) in practice. PoCUS is a useful tool to enhance clinical assessments and improve patient care. There have been no published literature reviews on this topic. Aims The objective of this review is to examine the literature on PoCUS and draw conclusions to d...
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Objective: The prevalence of childhood overweight/obesity has increased in many countries worldwide. Children who are overweight/obese are at a higher risk of negative health outcomes. It is important to educate nursing students in their undergraduate studies to understand weight issues and therefore to help children manage overweight/obesity durin...
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Aims and objectives: To uncover what is known about nurse-led models or interventions that have integrated palliative care into the care of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Background: COPD is a highly symptomatic, incurable disease characterised by chronic symptoms that without appropriate palliation, can lead to unne...
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Conflict and war in countries across the world has driven the worst migration crises since WWII, with the number of refugees exceeding 25 million (Rother et al., 2016; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2016). Unlike ‘migrants’ who are able to freely travel and return home, ‘refugees’ are people who have “a well‐founded fear of persecut...
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Background: Overweight/obesity has increased worldwide in recent decades. The prevalence of children who are overweight/obese has also increased in Taiwan. Nursing professionals’ attitudes and beliefs may affect the quality of care for children who are overweight and obese.Purpose: To explore the attitudes and beliefs of nursing students about chil...
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Background Individuals who have lived with childhood parental mental illness are at increased risk of developing mental health concerns. Yet there is limited knowledge about how a person’s childhood experiences of parental mental illness may influence their subsequent parenting roles. Methods This narrative study generated parenting narratives of a...
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Background: Physical restraints (PRs) are commonly used in intensive care units (ICUs) worldwide for the prevention of treatment interference. While PRs are fundamentally used to maintain patient safety, they can negatively impact the experiences of patients and their families and cause moral and ethical dilemmas for ICU nurses. Objectives: The...
Article
Western countries working toward eradication of female genital mutilation require better inclusion of women originally from countries where the practice is prevalent. However, few authors have examined the knowledge, attitudes and experiences of circumcised African migrant women in western countries. Our findings from forty responses from self-repo...
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Aims and objectives: This scoping review presents an exploration of international literature on the factors that impact refugees' personal and professional experiences during their journey to being registered nurses in a new host country. Background: Governments of host countries receiving refugees seek to develop strategies that facilitate the...
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Children who have lived with parental mental illness experience long-standing reduced health and social outcomes, alongside ongoing personal distress. While there has been some dialogue regarding interventions to support children who are living with parental mental illness, there remains a paucity of knowledge regarding adult children's experiences...
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Hand hygiene is seen as one of the principal means of preventing hospital based infections for both staff and patients. While there are many guidelines for hand hygiene practices for health professionals, there is a scarcity of research studies about the attitudes and hand hygiene practices among patients. The aim of this study is to explore nurses...
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Objective: The aim of the paper is to describe the implementation of a peer buddy mentoring model to support the career development of Registered Nurses (RNs) seeking Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) positions.Methods: A qualitative survey design was used to collect data during the workshops, with follow-up semi-structured telephone or face-to-face...
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Background Intermittent Pneumatic Compression (IPC) is shown to improve the healing rate of Venous Leg Ulcers (VLU) in the hospital setting. The current Australian “Gold Standard” treatment according to the Australian and New Zealand Wound Management Associations’ (AWMA) Prevention & Management of Venous Leg Ulcer guidelines is compression, general...
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Background: This paper is a reflection by a PhD candidate on her qualitative study involving parents, diabetes educators and school teachers who were caring for a child with type 1 diabetes using intensive insulin therapy in primary school. Aim: To reflect on a novice researcher's experience of recruiting research participants from community, he...
Article
Background Recruitment and retention of participants, as well as response rates, can be challenging in nursing research. This can be because of the questions asked; the choice of methodology; the methods used to collect data; the characteristics of potential participants; the sample size required; and the duration of the study. Additionally, conduc...
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Objective This integrative review presents an exploration of the literature on the factors that impact on internationally educated nurses’ personal and professional experiences during their journey into the Australian health workforce. Background Over the past few decades there has been an increase in the number of internationally educated nurses...
Article
Critically ill patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) often require many invasive procedures and medical devices (Martin and Mathisen 2005). While these interventions are a necessity, they can potentially cause patients a great amount of pain and discomfort, often leading to restlessness and agitation (Langley et al. 2011).
Article
Aims and objectives: The aim of this study is to report the challenges faced by the nursing workforce in refugee health. Background: Nurses are in the forefront of care provision for refugees who are recognised as one of the most vulnerable population groups in the world. The number of refugees in Australia is increasing and more nurses are need...
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The study reviewed the published research on nurses’ knowledge and attitudes about children who are overweight/obese. A literature search of research published in English between 2000 and 2016 was conducted in CINAHL, MEDLINE, Scopus and Google Scholar. A total of 5 papers met the inclusion criteria for this review with only one paper specifically...
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p>The process of curriculum development can be informed by seeking the views of stakeholders, including employers, academics, students and recent graduates, about the skills, attributes and personal characteristics required by various professions. The views of several stakeholders may also be compared to help ensure reliability of results and ident...
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Review question/objective: The objective of this systematic review is to identify, critically appraise and synthesize the literature regarding the experiences of African women who have migrated to a developed country and have encountered domestic violence.
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Aims and objectives: To describe the role of the breast care nurse in caring for patients and families. Background: The breast care nurse is an expert clinical nurse who plays a significant role in the care of women/men and their families with breast cancer. The role of these nurses has expanded since the 1990s in Australia. Design: Descriptiv...
Conference Paper
Background: If work integrated learning (WIL) is intended by universities to meet the demand for work-ready graduates, identification of skill requirements is a necessary first step. Health services management specific employability skills (ES) perceived to be important by managers and recent graduates working in the field and their perceptions of...
Article
Aims and objectives: To develop a tool to measure the influencing nurses' enjoyment of nursing. Background: Enjoyment in the workplace is an influential aspect found to boost work morale, job satisfaction leading to higher work retention which is important in nursing given the availability of nurses in the workforce. This study looks to refine t...
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In New South Wales (NSW), Australia, the position of General Practice Liaison Nurse (GPLN) was established in the early 2000s to support integrated care of patients/clients by encouraging inter professional/inter-organisational collaboration. Other terms used for this role include liaison nurse, integrated care co-ordinator, and primary care liaiso...
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Aims and objectives: The purpose of this narrative review is to locate, evaluate and synthesise the evidence presented in contemporary literature, related to the experiences of older lesbian women. Background: Lesbian women have been identified as having unique health needs. In conjunction with the usual challenges associated with ageing, lesbia...
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The aim of this recent Australian study was to explore the experiences of lesbian women choosing motherhood. Participants included 30 self-identifying lesbian mothers. Data were collected via interviews, data collection sheet and online journaling. The interview and journaling data were analysed using constant comparative analysis and subsequently...
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There is a limited body of research that focuses on experiences of families of people with mental illness. While the body of knowledge concerning children of parents with mental illness is increasing, there remains limited discourse surrounding the experiences of adults who have lived with childhood parental mental illness. This paper examined one...
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Aim: To explore how intensive insulin therapy is integrated into the primary school setting, to identify support strategies in order to inform policy and practice. Data sources: Articles between 2005 and 2015, children aged 4–12 years. Review methods: A meta-ethnographic comparative approach, using reciprocal translation and line of argument synthe...
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Aims and objectives: To present findings from a qualitative study which aimed to explore and describe experiences of enjoyment in nursing. Background: The topic of 'enjoying nursing' is often part of job satisfaction surveys conducted in the workplace and in some studies it has been found to be the prime reason that nurses stay in the workforce....
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Background: Career planning in nursing is often haphazard, with many studies showing that nurses need personal motivation, education, and the support of workplaces, which are often dominated by political and fiscal agendas. Nurses often need institutional and personal support to plan their careers and make decisions regarding their career aspirati...
Article
Aims and objectives: To explore how clinical leaders enact aesthetic leadership in clinical nursing workplaces. Background: Clinical leadership is heralded as vital for safe and effective nursing. Different leadership styles have been applied to the clinical nursing workplace over recent years. Many of these styles lack an explicit moral dimensi...
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The experiences of children who live with parental mental illness are becoming increasingly recognized. However, there remains a limited body of knowledge in relation to an individual's longer term experiences. This study sought adult children's experiences of childhood parental mental illness. It generated reflections of 13 adult children who had...
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Purpose- The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a study which aimed to describe the ways a group of deans of nursing integrated their professional and personal lives in their worlds. Methods- Oral histories were collected from a group of 30 deans from three countries - Canada, England and Australia. The data from the interviews were...
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This paper reports the results of an online descriptive survey that sought to determine nurses' perceptions of aesthetic leadership among clinical leaders in nursing. Clinical leadership has been identified as an essential component to ensuring the delivery of safe, high-quality health care. Leadership has been increasingly linked in the literature...
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Clinical leadership has been identified as crucial to positive patient/client outcomes, across all clinical settings. In the new millennium, transformational leadership has been the dominant leadership style and in more recent times, congruent leadership theory has emerged to explain clinical leadership in nursing. This article discusses these two...
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Objective To determine the impact and outputs of research conducted as part of doctoral studies in nursing. Design An online survey was conducted with 27 nursing doctoral graduates from United Kingdom and Australia who had graduated between 2001 and 2012. Textual and numerical data were collected and sorted on outcomes of research for management, e...
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The Delphi technique is often used when consensus views of experts are sought in nursing education, management and clinical work. This article discusses the usefulness of the technique for research in nursing, using personal experience, past critiques and examples from contemporary nursing research.
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Background This study replicates previous research undertaken in 2013 that explored the role of the Clinical Nurse Consultant in a metropolitan health district in Sydney, Australia. Methods A descriptive survey, using Likert scales, was used to collect data from Clinical Nurse Consultants. Results Clinical Nurse Consultants are well informed abou...
Article
To explore the experiences of Australian nurses and midwives who perceived themselves as resilient. The focus of this paper is to report the strategies used by a group of nurses and midwives to develop and maintain their resilience, despite encountering serious workplace adversity. Despite the potentially adverse effects of nursing work, many nurse...
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This paper presents one major theme of findings from a doctorate study. The study used a narrative enquiry approach, to gather parenting narratives of adult children of parents with mental illness. A Partnership Model for a Reflexive Narrative for Participant and Researcher (Partnership Model) was used to invite participants into the study, while e...
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Purpose: This paper aims to describe the education and career pathways of a group of nursing deans in the late 20th and 21st centuries. The study explores nursing deans to understand the career development process and to develop recommendations for succession planning. Methods: A qualitative interview captured the oral histories of 30 nursing deans...
Article
To explore how aesthetic leadership is embodied by clinical leaders in the nursing workplace. A number of different leadership styles have been developed, theorised and applied to the nursing workforce over the years. Many of these styles lack an explicit moral dimension in their identified leader attributes, due to a shift in theorising of leaders...
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In this paper, we present A Dynamic Cycle of Familial Mental Illness; an innovative framework, which considers family members' experiences and responses to mental illness. There is an acknowledged discourse noting parental experiences of mental illness alongside a growing body of knowledge acknowledging children's needs while living with parental m...
Article
Studies drawing on observational methods can provide vital data to enhance healthcare. However, collecting observational data in clinical settings is replete with challenges, particularly where multiple data-collecting observers are used. Observers collecting data require shared understanding and training to ensure data quality, and particularly, t...
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AimThis study aimed to gain undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of the essential qualities of the professional nurse.Background An essential component of undergraduate nursing programmes is to educate the student to become qualified as a professional/registered nurse. These characteristics will determine curricula and students' perceptions....
Article
As a parent of their own children, balancing home and work for child protection workers (CPWs) can be difficult. This may contribute to the sustainability of the CPW role for those workers who are also parents, and to the complexity of establishing viable child protection services (CPSs). This paper explores CPWs experiences of being both a parent...
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AimThe paper describes and interprets the experiences of transcriptionists employed to translate recorded auditory research, medical, court data into text and specifically when the research is sensitive and the audio source material may be traumatic to hear.Background This study highlights the ongoing need for transcriptionists to be recognized in...
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The increasing pervasiveness of the internet and social networking globally presents new opportunities and challenges for empirical social science researchers including those in nursing. Developments in computer-mediated communication are not static and there is potential for further advances and innovation in research methods embracing this techno...
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Background: Workplace violence is one of the most complex and significant occupational hazards experienced by nurses in healthcare settings. Verbal abuse and physical violence are particularly prevalent in older person assessment wards, owing to the prevalence of illnesses involving cognitive dysfunction; the high frequency and nature of contact w...
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Increasingly, lesbian women are choosing to have children in the context of a same-sex relationship, and their journey to conception and on to motherhood involves a range of decisions that are unique to lesbian couples. While creating a de novo family is burdened with decisions, choosing to be parents was a deliberate and conscious decision made by...
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Background Foster carers have a significant responsibility in caring for children who are unable to live with their birth families and represent a key determinant in child outcomes. Difficulties in recruiting and retaining quality foster carers have resulted in an increase in research investigating foster carers and their experiences in recent year...
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The prevalence of violent acts in the health care environment has been the cause of increasing concern. Several cues associated with violence towards nurses in the acute care setting have been identified qualitatively. However, larger scale observational studies to determine the potential of these cues to predict physical violence, are lacking in t...
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Background Determining the reasons people choose to study nursing may help educators and managers develop student-focussed and enticing nursing programmes. In Australia, little research has been undertaken with students entering nursing programmes and the reasons for their choice. Objectives The aim of this study was to determine why new students...
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This paper presents stories of adversity, as voiced by those that live and work with panic attacks. Respondents of this exploratory, phenomenological study, conducted in Sydney, Australia, shared their experiences of living and working with panic attacks. Two themes (and five sub-themes) of their reported lived experiences are presented here, inclu...
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AimTo determine which characteristics of academic leadership are perceived to be necessary for nursing deans to be successful. Background Effective leadership is essential for the continued growth of the discipline. MethodA qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with 30 deans (academics in universities who headed a nursing faculty and d...
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Abstract Effective clinical leadership is offered as the key to healthy, functional and supportive work environments for nurses and other health professionals. However, as a concept it lacks a standard definition and is poorly understood. This paper reports on an integrative review undertaken to uncover current understandings of defining attributes...
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Abstract Nurses and midwives commonly face a variety of challenges and difficulties in their everyday work. Stress, pressure, fatigue and anxiety are acknowledged sources of workplace adversity, which causes decreased perceptions of health and wellbeing. This study reports the effects of a work-based, educational intervention to promote personal re...
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There is a scarcity of research published on clinical scholarship. Much of the conceptualisation has been conducted in the academy. Nurse academics espouse that the practice of nursing must be built within a framework of clinical scholarship. A key concept of clinical scholarship emerging from discussions in the literature is that it is an essentia...
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Aim: To describe the challenges related to being an 'insider' researcher in a study that uses a feminist-informed storytelling research design and to discuss practical strategies to manage these challenges. Background: The positioning of the researcher in qualitative research has numerous methodological implications. Often, qualitative researche...
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The need for foster-carers has significantly increased in recent decades as growing numbers of children are in need of out-of-home care. However, despite their importance to the foster-care system, the foster-carer role is imbued with ambiguity. The perceptions and expectations of the foster-carer role differ greatly between child protection worker...
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Full-text available
Abstract Effective clinical leadership is offered as the key to healthy, functional and supportive work environments for nurses and other health professionals. However, as a concept it lacks a standard definition and is poorly understood. This paper reports on an integrative review undertaken to uncover current understandings of defining attributes...
Article
Full-text available
Abstract Nurses and midwives commonly face a variety of challenges and difficulties in their everyday work. Stress, pressure, fatigue and anxiety are acknowledged sources of workplace adversity, which causes decreased perceptions of health and wellbeing. This study reports the effects of a work-based, educational intervention to promote personal re...
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To define and validate the role of the community nurse in a multidisciplinary team caring for clients with chronic and complex needs. A key factor in optimising care for clients with chronic and complex conditions in the community is the use of multidisciplinary teams. A team approach is more effective as it enables better integration of services....
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Abstract Nurses and midwives commonly face a variety of challenges and difficulties in their everyday work. Stress, pressure, fatigue and anxiety are acknowledged sources of workplace adversity, which causes decreased perceptions of health and wellbeing. This study reports the effects of a work-based, educational intervention to promote personal re...
Article
This study aimed to explore the experiences of other mothers in de novo or planned lesbian-led families in Australia to elaborate on one theme: legitimizing our families. Little is known or understood about how lesbians construct mothering within their families. Even less is understood about the experiences of the often marginalized and invisible o...
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Background Clinical scholarship has been conceptualised and theorised in the nursing literature for over 30 years but no research has captured nurses’ clinicians’ views on how it differs or is the same as clinical expertise and clinical leadership. The aim of this study was to determine clinical nurses’ understanding of the differences and similari...
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Abstract Foster carers have a significant responsibility in caring for vulnerable children. In order to support and facilitate foster carers it is important to understand how they perceive and fulfil this responsibility. A qualitative story-telling study, informed by feminist perspectives, was used to conduct in-depth, semi-structured interviews wi...
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Abstract Lesbian mothers share mainstream existence with other mothers by virtue of their motherhood, but remain marginalised by their non-heterosexual identity. This paper will draw on the qualitative findings of a recent Australian study that examined the experiences of lesbian mothers. Using a story-sharing method, data were collected using thre...
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To identify characteristics of enabling and disabling research cultures. 'Research culture' is a term that is taken for granted and seldom defined. However, the need for an enabling and sustaining culture for conducting research is emphasised in nursing and other disciplines. The characteristics of this culture have been suggested but no empirical...
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Abstract Lesbian mothers share mainstream existence with other mothers by virtue of their motherhood, but remain marginalised by their non-heterosexual identity. This paper will draw on the qualitative findings of a recent Australian study that examined the experiences of lesbian mothers. Using a story-sharing method, data were collected using thre...
Article
Aims and objectives: To explore West African migrant women's knowledge, attitude and usage of cancer screening in Australia. Background: Despite strong evidence that cancer screening saves lives through early detection and treatment, there is lack of empirical studies on West African migrant women's knowledge, attitude and usage of cancer screen...
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To report observational data collected as part of a multi-phased study examining violence in the health sector. The findings presented detail the nature of verbal abuse experienced by nurses during their everyday interactions with patient, their families, or companions. Nurses have unacceptably high levels of exposure to violence, which commonly in...
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This paper reports a research capacity building exercise with a group of CNCs practicing in the speciality of paediatrics in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It explores the first step in building a research culture, through identifying the research priorities of members of the NSW Child Health Networks Paediatric Clinical Nurse Consultant group,...
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Over the past two decades, the number of clinical trials conducted globally has increased thereby increasing demand for nurses working as Clinical Trial Nurses (CTNs), sometimes known as Clinical Research Nurses. The role and professional issues for these nurses in Australia has not been empirically formulated. Sixty-seven clinical trial nurses wer...