Haemodynamic instability after cardiac surgery: nurses' perceptions of clinical decision-making.

Background: Cardiac surgical patients are distinguished by their potential for instability in the early postoperative period, highly invasive haemodynamic monitoring technologies and unique clinical presentations as a result of undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass. Little is known about nurses' perceptions of assuming responsibility for such patients. An understanding of nurses' perceptions may identify areas of practice that can be improved and assist in determining the adequacy of current decision supports.

Staying well with bipolar disorder.

Objective: The research aimed to investigate how people diagnosed with bipolar mood disorder avoided episodes of illness and managed to stay well. The research also examined the role that personal, social and environmental factors played in helping people with bipolar mood disorder to stay well.

Method: This project used a combination of qualitative research methods.

Understanding the new context of the male sex work industry.

The article reviews past and recent research on male sex work to offer a context to understand violence in the industry. It provides a critical review of research to show, first, the assumptions made about male sex workers and violence and, second, how such discourses have shaped thinking on the topic. The article presents a case study and original findings from two studies conducted by the authors in Australia and Argentina on violence in the male sex industry.

Patient approaches to clinical conversations in the palliative care setting.

Aim: The aim of this paper is to report a study exploring patients' understanding of their discussions about end-of-life care with nurses in a palliative care setting.

Background: It is assumed that nurses are central players in patients' major decisions about their care, yet minimal information is available about the complexity of patient-nurse interaction in palliative care, and patients' views of the impact of such interactions on decisions that are made.

Method: A modified version of grounded theory was used to collect and analyse interview data collected in 2001-2002 with a convenience sample of 11 patients in a palliative care setting.

Hemodynamic team decision making in the cardiac surgical intensive care context.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the extent and sources of variability of critical care nurses' hemodynamic decision making as a function of contextual factors in the immediate 2-hour period after cardiac surgery.

Methods: A qualitative exploratory design with observation and interview was used. Eight critical care nurses were observed on different occasions in clinical practice for a 2-hour period.

Guided reflection: transcending a routine approach in the management of sexually transmissible infections.

This paper describes a distinctive approach to the sexually transmissible infections (STI) clinical consultation: 'the guided reflection approach'. The authors coined this term and identified the guided reflection approach through analysis of 22 in-depth interviews with practitioners who provide care for people with STI, and 34 people who had attended a healthcare facility in Australia for screening or treatment of an STI. A grounded theory method was used to collect and analyse this information.