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Editorial
Capacity Building for Nurses Towards National and Global Health (Punitha Ezhilarasu)
Concepts and Issues
Management of common conflicts in nursing (Nahomi Clement)
Clinical Articles
Chikungunya Fever – CDC Fact Sheet
Some important facts about Bird Flu (Avian Influenza) – (Asha Abraham, O.C. Abraham, D.J. Christopher)
Research Articles
Effect of progressive muscle relaxation on anxiety level during pre-operative period (Parameswari M., Punitha Ezhilarasu, Premila Lee, Sukria Nayak)
Continuing Education Series
Pathophysiology and management of patients with Type 2 Diabetes mellitus – Part II (Shanthi Johnson, Leah Macaden)
Research in Brief
Antenatal and postnatal nursing care documentation – A comparative study. (Diana David, Ananthakumari Rajan, Alice Augustine, N. Balasubramaniam)
Abstracts
MANAGEMENT OF COMMON CONFLICTS IN NURSING
* Nahomi Clement, M.Sc.(N)
ABSTRACT
Conflict is a part of everyday experience of nurses. As part of health care team, they are expected to interact with one another constantly. Due to the nature of the complex health care environment they experience various conflicts, which can have a positive or negative influence on the individual as well as within the organization. This article explores some of the common conflicts found in nursing. Major conflict management strategies namely Win-Lose, Lose-Lose and Win-Win are explained. Specific strategies that can be applied into specific nursing situations are discussed using a scenario. Effective handling of conflicts will decrease stress and increase productivity. Proactive conflict resolution in the work environment is the essence of building a successful health care team.
EFFECT OF PROGRESSIVE MUSCLE RELAXATION ON ANXIETY LEVEL DURING PREOPERATIVE PERIOD
* Parameswari, M., M.Sc. (N)
** Punitha Ezhilarasu, M.Sc. (N), Ph.D.
*** Premila Lee, M.Sc. (N)
**** Sukria Nayak, M.S.
ABSTRACT
Patients undergoing surgery experience and verbalize feelings of fear and anxiety related to the surgery. An experimental study was conducted at Christian Medical College, Vellore to determine the effect of progressive muscle relaxation on anxiety level during the preoperative period in patients undergoing major surgeries. A total of sixty patients were included in the study. Thirty patients were assigned to the experimental group and thirty to the control group using random sampling. After the initial assessment of anxiety, both groups had an informal interaction about the preoperative preparation. Following the informal interaction, the experimental group underwent progressive muscle relaxation in four sessions and post anxiety level was measured using the Hamilton Anxiety scale. Results demonstrated that there was a significant difference in the anxiety scores among participants in the experimental group in terms of reduction in anxiety level. Findings of the study highlight a nursing intervention that can significantly reduce anxiety in patients undergoing surgical procedures.
CONTINUING EDUCATION SERIES – NO. 10
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS (DM) – PART II
* Shanthi Johnson, B. Sc (N)
** Leah Macaden, M. Sc (N)
ABSTRACT
Management of Type 2 Diabetes involves life style changes which provide enormous scope for self management of the disease. Control of blood sugar, monitoring, diet, exercise and oral hypoglycemic agents are the important aspects to be taught to clients with Type 2 Diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes is a chronic disease which commonly occurs in later life which affects many facets of the individual, his or her family and the community as well. It requires the individual affected to make major changes with their diet, have regular exercise, attend regular medical check ups, adhere to long term medications and comply with all the advice for life style changes given by health professionals. It is best managed with an interdisciplinary team approach that helps the client to manage his / her disease. This article reviews the pathophysiology and management of Type 2 Diabetes.
ANTENATAL AND POSTNATAL NURSING CARE DOCUMENTATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY
* Diana David, M.Sc (N)
** Ananthakumari Rajan, M.Sc (N), Ph.D.
*** Alice Augustine, M.Sc (N)
**** N. Balasubramaniam, M.D., FICS, M.A.A.M.S.
ABSTRACT
A comparison of two systems of documentation of antenatal and postnatal nursing care in terms of quality, cost, time and nurses’ attitude was undertaken in the obstetric wards of the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore. Records were selected from the charts of antenatal and postnatal women, who either delivered by vaginal delivery or by Caesarean section. The selected records of the existing system were assessed for one group and the newly designed nursing care documentation format, which replaced the selected records of the existing system, were assessed for the other group. A comparative study design was adopted. The study revealed a significant difference in the quality of documentation with the new system as it portrayed better quality with regard to non-repetition, completeness of content and legibility of signature. The time taken to document in this system was considerably less compared to the existing one. The nursing personnel also showed a positive attitude towards the new system but the cost of the new system was more than the existing system.