Nurses' experiences, expectations, and preferences for mind-body practices to reduce stress.

Background: Most research on the impact of mind-body training does not ask about participants' baseline experience, expectations, or preferences for training. To better plan participant-centered mind-body intervention trials for nurses to reduce occupational stress, such descriptive information would be valuable.

Methods: We conducted an anonymous email survey between April and June, 2010 of North American nurses interested in mind-body training to reduce stress.

Ethical decision making in neurosurgery: a case study.

Neurosurgical patients often challenge their caregivers with moral issues that arise during their care. As the population ages, end-of-life decision making and flexible planning need to be stressed so patients can be included in their care decisions and better communicate with the healthcare team. This case study illustrates how one team of nurses used an ethical decision-making model and a caring perspective to help a patient successfully navigate a complex healthcare system as they advocated for her increased involvement in her care.