McIntosh, Michele
What caring for a child who died was like for me: My experience of pediatric patient death as a new graduate nurse
I utilized analytical autoethnography to analyze and interpret my own experience of what caring for a child that died was like for me within the academic and institutional culture that I was educated and trained in (Chang, 2008). Themes of lack of preparedness, relationships, loss and emotion, death denial, and lasting impacts and growth were identified. Pediatric death and dying education and training for nurses should encompass nursing responsibilities, communication strategies, holistic assessments, symptom management, cultural awareness, and grief literacy (Bensoussan, 2024; Chew, Ang, & Storey, 2021; Kent, Anderson, & Ownes, 2012; RNAO, 2012). A system to accommodate, acknowledge, and value emotion. A platform to share, learn, and grow from the experience with death and dying. This autoethnographic account provides insights into the personal and professional impacts of pediatric patient death on nurses and the importance of associated education, training, and support to improve care for patients, families, and self.
Author Keywords: autoethnography, lasting impacts, metabolizing grief, nurse, pediatric patient death, self-transformation
IV'e Been 'BITTEN': A Semi-Structured Interview Investigating Trauma and Betrayal During Peripheral Intravenous Catheter Insertion Among DIVA Patients
Inserting a peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) can be a stressful moment in a patient's hospital stay, especially in patients with difficult intravenous access (DIVA). This study investigated the applicability of a mid-range theory of trauma-informed care (BITTEN) to PIVC insertion in DIVA patients. A qualitative, semi-structured interview was conducted with 17 DIVA patients. Data was analyzed by item and compared to the BITTEN model. Key findings include: the BITTEN model can help explain the traumatic experiences DIVA patients have with PIVC insertion, DIVA patients have experienced institutional betrayal after medical and other traumas, previous adverse PIVC experiences inform expectations for future experiences, and DIVA patients' trust in clinicians is restorative. In fact, adverse PIVC experiences have little to do with the needle itself.
Author Keywords: access, betrayal, DIVA, intravenous, peripheral, trauma
Women's Lived Experience of Risk in Pregnancy
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention, treatment and outcomes in women remain largely inequitable globally. Unique sex-specific stages of life, including pregnancy conditions, and their influence on cardiac risk is a growing area of research (Norris et al., 2020). For example, preeclampsia is strongly associated with CVD risk. This connection has led to prevention interventions such as postpartum risk clinics. Research to date on pregnancy and chronic disease is rooted in the medical paradigm of risk and lacks women's lived experience. The present study qualitatively explored illness and risk perceptions of women with risky pregnancy conditions. Some participants felt self-blame for their conditions. Consequences and severity were focused on "baby first", while maternal risk was viewed in the distant future. Aspects of the pregnancy experience, including prompt access to mental health support, was viewed as a "blessing in disguise". Risks, such as lack of agency, and benefits of healthcare risk communication and intervention and implications for practice were also explored.
Author Keywords: communication, critical, health care, phenomenology, pregnancy, risk