Assessing Infant Feeding Attitudes of Expectant Women in a Provincial Population in Canada: Validation of the Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale.

Background: Maternal attitudes to infant feeding are predictive of intent and initiation of breastfeeding.

Objectives: The Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IIFAS) has not been validated in the Canadian population. This study was conducted in Newfoundland and Labrador, a Canadian province with low breastfeeding rates.

Infant-feeding among low-income women: the social context that shapes their perspectives and experiences.

This article explores the perspectives of low-income women in order to better understand the social context that shapes their infant-feeding perspectives and experiences. The authors used purposive sampling to conduct 3 focus groups with 19 women who were formula-feeding their infants in 1 urban and 2 rural communities in the eastern region of the island of Newfoundland in Canada. Elements of the social context for infant-feeding included the prevalence of myths and misinformation about breastfeeding; cultural expectations about infant behaviour; the postnatal experience, including the medicalization of birth and breastfeeding; partner support and child-care workload; cultural stigma of breastfeeding; and a moralizing ideology that equates breastfeeding with "good mothering.

A qualitative study exploring factors associated with mothers' decisions to formula-feed their infants in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Background: Breastfeeding has numerous health benefits. In 2010, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador had the lowest breastfeeding initiation rate (64.0%) in Canada.

Development and preliminary testing of the psychosocial adjustment to hereditary diseases scale.

Background: The presence of Lynch syndrome (LS) can bring a lifetime of uncertainty to an entire family as members adjust to living with a high lifetime cancer risk. The research base on how individuals and families adjust to genetic-linked diseases following predictive genetic testing has increased our understanding of short-term impacts but gaps continue to exist in knowledge of important factors that facilitate or impede long-term adjustment. The failure of existing scales to detect psychosocial adjustment challenges in this population has led researchers to question the adequate sensitivity of these instruments.

Lynch syndrome: barriers to and facilitators of screening and disease management.

Background: Lynch syndrome is a hereditary cancer with confirmed carriers at high risk for colorectal (CRC) and extracolonic cancers. The purpose of the current study was to develop a greater understanding of the factors influencing decisions about disease management post-genetic testing.

Methods: The study used a grounded theory approach to data collection and analysis as part of a multiphase project examining the psychosocial and behavioral impact of predictive DNA testing for Lynch syndrome.

Buttonhole cannulation in hemodialysis: improved outcomes and increased expense--is it worth it?

Background: Access to an adequate blood flow is a requirement for successful hemodialysis (HD). This often means repeated cannulation of an arteriovenous fistula (AVF), which can lead to damage that needs repair and revision. The Buttonhole (BH) method offers a successful cannulation with minimal damage.

The design of a hemodialysis nursing orientation program.

With the ever-increasing number of persons requiring treatment for kidney disease, the need for competent hemodialysis (HD) nurses continues. Professional organizations support the use of nursing orientation programs, which have been shown to decrease staff turnover. An instructor's manual, student's handbook and learner's manual for HD orientation were developed in response to this need.