Critical incident: reflection on the process of terminal weaning

Advocacy in Pain Management: The Role of the Anaesthetic Nurse Specialist

Peri-operative nursing practice is constantly changing and demanding specialist knowledge, skills and expertise to embrace these changes. All patients in need of anaesthesia are entitled to the same high quality peri-operative care and therefore those assisting the anaesthetist must be competent and effective practitioners. With this in mind the authors shall give a reflective account highlighting the role of Anaesthetic Nurse Specialist (ANS) in promoting leadership within the peri-operative environment and how it can be nurtured and facilitated to achieve professional autonomy and promote patient advocacy.

Lecturers' experiences of facilitating guided group reflection with pre-registration BSc Nursing students

The development of reflective practitioners is integral to undergraduate nursing degree programmes. This study reports on lecturers' experiences of facilitating guided group reflection with pre-registration BSc Nursing students.The research purposively sampled lecturers (n=7) working in a department of nursing and midwifery at a third level institute in Ireland, all of whom were registered nurses. Using a qualitative research approach, data was collected through audio-taped semi-structured individual interviews. The data were thematically analysed using guidelines developed by Braun and Clarke (2006). Tripartite researcher discussion and further analysis of these initial individual analyses led to consensus regarding the three themes arising from the study. These were: Being a facilitator; Facilitating reflective learning and Creating structure. The discussion centred on: having knowledge and experience to effectively facilitate guided group reflection; the influence of the facilitator's personal philosophy on reflection and adult learning on group facilitation; and finally concerns regarding professional responsibility in response to students' reflective practice accounts.

Reflective practice: a learning tool for student nurses

Reflection is a vital skill in contemporary nursing with student nurses expected to engage in reflective learning from the very beginning of the nurse educational programme. This article demonstrates the meaningful learning that resulted as a consequence of using critical reflection on practice. Gibbs' (1988) cycle aided the process highlighting the practical application of this cyclical framework to the author - a first-year student nurse. Matters concerning gender issues in nursing and professional conduct emerged from the analysis and were inherently explored. The article concludes by demonstrating the personal benefits of using Gibbs' (1988) cycle to varying situations and thus promoting its excellence as a learning tool for student nurses worldwide as a consequence.

Increasing awareness of tissue donation: in the non-heart beating donor

Many healthcare professionals (nursing and medical staff) are familiar with asking families to consider organ donation in the brain-stem death patient. In contrast few healthcare professionals raise the subject of tissue donation with the newly bereaved non-heart beating donor (NHBD) families following cardiac death. The failure of healthcare professionals to approach theses families is strongly supported in the literature [Crit. Care Nurs. Clin. N. Am. 4 (1992) 63; William and Calif, 1996; Prof. Nurse 12 (1997) 482]. Coyle [Intensive Crit. Care Nurs. 16 (2000) 45] identified that for many nurses the conflict arises from the ethical principle of beneficence to do good and non-maleficence to do no harm. However, why is requesting organ and/or tissue donation an ethical issue, should it not be part and parcel of the care offered to bereaved families? Are healthcare professionals not making an issue of it? This article critically analyses the issues surrounding tissue donation and the role of healthcare professionals in raising awareness of eligibility for tissue donation. A tool of structured reflection [J. Nurse Manager 1 (1993) 9] will be used to highlight the use of reflective practice following a critical incident. On the basis of analysis of current practice consideration will be given for future theoretical arguments in development, research, and education.