Past, present and future of respiratory research: A survey of Canadian health care professionals.

Background: The Canadian Respiratory Health Professionals (CRHP) is the multidisciplinary health care professional group of the Canadian Lung Association. Although the CRHP has a growing number of highly qualified researchers, the landscape of their research in Canada has not been described.

Objectives: To describe the level of respiratory research engagement; identify barriers and facilitators to research engagement; describe the experience and interest in developing research skills; and identify priority areas of future respiratory research among health care professionals.

'Do it for the kids': barriers and facilitators to smoke-free homes and vehicles.

Despite abundant evidence about the adverse effects of secondhand smoke exposure on children's health, few reports describe barriers and facilitators encountered by parents in making their homes and vehicles smoke-free. This article describes perceptions of barriers and facilitators to making homes and vehicles smoke-free among 36 parents with a child five years of age or younger. Qualitative data were collected in interviews with parents in the context of a randomized controlled trial that tested an intervention to empower parents to make their homes and vehicles smoke-free.

Testing an empowerment intervention to help parents make homes smoke-free: a randomized controlled trial.

The objective of this randomized controlled trial was to test if parents' participation in an intervention based on an empowerment ideology and participatory experiences decreased the number of cigarettes smoked in homes. Sixty families were randomized to the intervention (n = 30) or control (n = 30) group. The intervention included three weekly group sessions followed by three weekly follow-up telephone calls over six consecutive weeks.

A systematic review of questionnaires measuring health-related empowerment.

The objective of this systematic review was to identify questionnaires that measure health-related empowerment in adults or families and demonstrated the best evidence of reliability and validity. A search of nine data bases identified 8,269 abstracts that referred to empowerment. Full article review was completed for abstracts that met the inclusion criteria or that could not be excluded with certainty (n = 124).

The Joint Venture Model of Knowledge Utilization: a guide for change in nursing.

Knowledge utilization (KU) is an essential component of today's nursing practice and healthcare system. Despite advances in knowledge generation, the gap in knowledge transfer from research to practice continues. KU models have moved beyond factors affecting the individual nurse to a broader perspective that includes the practice environment and the socio-political context.

Advanced practice nursing: unification through a common identity.

Despite the wide variety of advanced practice roles in nursing and the well-documented differences among them [Hamric, A. (2000). A definition of advanced nursing practice.

Exploring nursing roles across North American borders.

Professional nurses are challenged by the increasing complexity of their own healthcare delivery systems and by the growing interconnectivity of healthcare systems worldwide. There are increasing calls for practice across boundaries; however, the role and scope of nursing practice within individual countries are often unclear, ill-defined, and misunderstood by nurses from other countries. In this collaborative educational project among six schools of nursing located in Canada, México, and the United States, nursing students and faculty are exploring the role of the nurse within each country's healthcare system while striving to develop their multicultural awareness.

Emotional intelligence: a primal dimension of nursing leadership?

Emotional intelligence, a concept well known in the world of business, is quickly gain ing recognition in the healthcare arena. Described as the primal aspect of leadership, emotional intelligence refers to the ability to monitor and discriminate among emotions, and to use the information to guide thought and action. This paper will explore the theoretical and empirical basis of emotional intelligence and its linkages to leadership.

Understanding the barriers to cervical cancer screening among older women.

Despite the fact that 90% of cervical cancers can be prevented by regular Pap screening, many women are not screened regularly, particularly older women. To understand better the barriers to screening, the authors held five focus groups during April 2000 in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada. Of the 32% of women aged 45 to 70 who had not been screened over a 5-year period (1995-2000), 60 randomly selected women participated in this research.

Empowering parents through asthma education.

Asthma is the most common chronic illness in children and has a significant impact on children and their families. Asthma management requires a multi-faceted approach, including an effective educational component. The purpose of this pilot study was to compare outcomes for parents who participated in empowering and traditional approaches to asthma education.