Browsing by Author "Lind, Candace"
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- ItemOpen Access“Complicated and Overwhelming”: Examining the Mental Health and Well-being of Undergraduate Nursing Students(2019-09-19) Odoko, Oghenekome; Lind, Candace; Szeto, Andrew C. H.; Smith, Jacqueline M.Many students report feeling overwhelmed and stressed as they complete their academic programs given their developmental stage. Within nursing education, there are many factors that may affect the mental health and well-being of undergraduate nursing students. The literature regarding mental health and well-being in undergraduate nursing students indicates that academic pressures and poor coping skills often results in high levels of stress and anxiety. This mixed methods study explored the mental health concerns and levels of flourishing of undergraduate nursing students at the University of Calgary. Using an online survey, 159 participants completed the CCAPS-34 questionnaire and Flourishing Scale questions. Participants also answered open ended questions on what aspects of their nursing experiences affected their well-being and what the Faculty of Nursing could do to improve student mental health and well-being outcomes. Overall, undergraduate nursing students showed higher levels of flourishing despite also identifying moderate levels of concerns including depression, anxiety, and stress. Predominant themes related to well-being were that: the high academic workload led to high levels of stress and anxiety, the order of theory and clinical courses negatively impacted students’ learning experiences, the learning environment was often not supportive of students experiencing mental health concerns, and that more could be done by the faculty to increase student wellness. With the implications and considerations of this study, it is possible to make changes in academic programming and curriculum that will increase resiliency and positive copings skills in nursing students.
- ItemOpen AccessExploring the role of the nurse in opioid use disorder treatment: A focused ethnographic study(2022-09) Kerber, Amie; Donnelly, Tam; Lind, Candace; dela Cruz, AnielaOpioid use disorder (OUD) affects people across the continuum of life, in all geographic locations, irrespective of gender, age, nationality, and socioeconomic status. From January to March 2021, 1792 opioid toxicity deaths occurred in Canada. As front-line healthcare professionals, nurses make substantial contributions toward the prevention, treatment, and management of OUD. However, little research has been conducted regarding the role and impact of the nurses working in these unique practice settings. Using focused ethnography, this qualitative study aimed to explore the understanding of the role and impact of the nurse working in OUD treatment. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with ten registered nurses who worked across the spectrum of OUD treatment. Analysis of the qualitative data revealed six themes to better understand the role and impact of the nurse: (a) the art of addiction nursing, (b) direct patient care, (c) indirect patient care, (d) the shared experience of stigma, (e) perceived barriers, and (f) looking to the (uncertain) future. The present study offered several implications for nursing practice, education, and research. Study results identify similarities and differences of the role of the nurse working across a variety of treatment programs; future research opportunities exist to explore the role of the nurse in specific OUD treatment programs, and the role of the nurse in OUD treatment transnationally. Nurses working in this practice area are hardworking, compassionate, and deeply committed to providing high-quality healthcare to patients with OUD across various practice areas. Despite this, nurse participants emphasized perceived challenges and barriers that negatively impacted their ability to meet patient’s needs.
- ItemOpen AccessHow rural and urban parents describe convenience in the context of school-based influenza vaccination: a qualitative study(BioMed Central Health Services Research, 2015-01-22) Lind, CandaceBackground Seasonal influenza vaccine uptake among school-age children has been low, particularly among rural children, even in jurisdictions in Canada where this immunization is publicly funded. Providing this vaccination at school may be convenient for parents and might contribute to increased vaccine uptake, particularly among rural children. We explore the construct of convenience as an advantage of school based influenza vaccination. We also explore for rural urban differences in this construct. Methods Participants were parents of school-aged children from Alberta, Canada. We qualitatively analyzed focus group data from rural parents using a thematic template that emerged from prior work with urban parents. Both groups of parents had participated in focus groups to explore their perspectives on the acceptability of adding an annual influenza immunization to the immunization program that is currently delivered in Alberta schools. Data from within the theme of ‘convenience’ from both rural and urban parents were then further explored for sub-themes within convenience. Results Data were obtained from nine rural and nine urban focus groups. The template of themes that had arisen from prior analysis of the urban data applied to the rural data. Convenience was a third level theme under Advantages. Five fourth level themes emerged from within convenience. Four of the five sub-themes were common to both rural and urban participants: reduction of parental burden to schedule, reduction in parental lost time, decrease in parental stress and increase in physical access points for influenza immunization. The fifth subtheme, increases temporal access to influenza immunization, emerged uniquely from the rural data. Conclusions Both rural and urban parents perceived that convenience would be an advantage of adding an annual influenza immunization to the vaccinations currently given to Alberta children at school. Improving temporal access to such immunization may be a more relevant aspect of convenience to rural than to urban parents.
- ItemOpen AccessInspiring Change: A Hermeneutic Phenomenology Exploring the Lived Experience with Emotional Labor by Female Health Champions Implementing Comprehensive School Health Reforms(2018-07-09) Kendrick, Astrid Helene; Lund, Darren E.; Kowch, Eugene Gary; Sengupta, Pratim; Francis, Nancy; Lind, CandaceThis hermeneutic phenomenological study explored the lived experience with emotional labor of five female Health Champions as they navigated through flux and systemic instability while implementing Comprehensive School Health initiatives. Framed by complex adaptive systems theory, the purpose of this study was to discover the immediate emotional and embodied experiences identified by five change agents having horizontal differentiation of roles including: pre-service student teacher, educational assistant, teacher, school leader, and system leader while undertaking educational reforms introduced between 2009 and 2016 in Alberta, Canada. This study uncovered insights into their common understanding the phenomenon of emotional labor while implementing the Comprehensive School Health framework, a reform to Physical and Health Education that coincided with the Inspiring Education movement. The findings of this study include: insight into the unique nature of the emotional work of change agents in educational settings; a phenomenological example of a possible lived experience with emotional labor; and suggestions for areas of future study for educational leaders interested in implementing Comprehensive School Health initiatives.
- ItemOpen Access"Kicking Down Doors" and "Turning Over Stones": Front-line Youth Workers Engaging in Policy Analysis as an Active Advocacy Process(2017) Huntingford, Stasha; Wulff, Dan; Fehr, Linda; Lind, Candace; Karabanow, Jeff; Steinberg, ShirleyIn this research, front-line youth workers analyzed policy pertaining to youth homelessness. This analysis catalyzed further reflections and actions informed by what we learned in the research, such as the establishment of the School of Social Play. The research process was composed of the following phases: the Preparing the Ground phase, the Immersion phase, as well as the Reflection and Action phases. Focus groups and participant observation were some of the methods used to answer research questions during these phases. One participant in this research identified as a co-researcher at a one-year follow up after the research concluded. This person engaged in a reflective dialogue with me about the research, which is included in the discussion chapter. Workers identified four key principles that would contribute to ending youth homelessness. The first principle concerns the relationship between stigma and homelessness. The second principle emphasizes the importance of relationships, and the third focuses on harms caused by the charity model. The final principle states that services and policies should be directed by youth, as they are the people best able to define what the problem is. In the discussion, I justify my conclusion that youth have much to teach us about challenging authority, critical thinking, and the pursuit of social justice.
- ItemOpen AccessNurses’ Perceptions of Discrimination Towards People Living with Mental Illness in General Medical Hospital Settings(2021-08-11) Rutherford, Alanna; Ewashen, Carol; Lind, Candace; de la Cruz, AnielaThe research aims were to explore registered nurses’ perceptions of discrimination towards people with mental illness admitted to general medical hospital settings and to better understand the conditions that gave rise to discrimination. An interpretive feminist phenomenological design guided by Merleau-Ponty (1962) philosophy of perception was chosen. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted in one Canadian urban hospital with registered nurses who cared for people with mental illness and who were admitted to a general medical unit primarily for non-psychiatric health concerns. Interviews were analyzed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Five major themes emerged: (a) dichotomy of the mind and body, (b) discriminatory nursing practices, (c) tensions between ideals and realities, (d) othering, and (e) gendered perceptions. Discrimination occurred in situations where nurses struggled with balancing the demands of physical nursing care and mental health nursing care, where professional mental health nursing education and training was perceived as lacking, and where work time was insufficient to adequately address patients’ mental health concerns. Consequently, nurses expressed less confidence and feelings of competence in mental health nursing as compared to medical nursing, deferring to more specialized professionals for mental health care. Physical care was prioritized over mental health nursing care with nurses actively and/or passively avoiding, even dismissing psychosocial assessments and interventions. The study findings highlight the challenges of caring for people with mental illness in general medical hospital settings and RN perceptions towards discrimination. A holistic model of health care that emphasizes the importance and contributions of mind body connection to health could guide nursing practices to reduce discrimination towards people living with mental illness. Furthermore, increased mental health training in the workplace and more supportive resources could help foster a non-discriminatory work environment.
- ItemOpen AccessPredictors of Depression and Anxiety in Mothers of Moderate and Late Preterm Infants in Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Units(2019-11) Kearl, Julie; Benzies, Karen Marie; Lind, Candace; Nelson, Andrea L.Postpartum depression (PPD) and postpartum anxiety (PPA) affect up to 19% and 17% of women, respectively. In mothers of preterm infants, depression (68%) and anxiety (72%) symptoms may be increased due to the stressful neonatal intensive care (NICU) environment. In 2015, 8.7% of infants, born in Alberta, were born preterm requiring hospitalization in the NICU, with 86% categorized as moderate or late preterms. Preterm birth, together with PPD and PPA, may have serious consequences for mother and infant outcomes. This observational correlational study included 197 mothers with data collected at admission and discharge from the NICU. The aim was to explore the prevalence, time course, comorbidity and predictors of postpartum maternal depression and anxiety in the moderate and late preterm population. Mothers reported depression (18%) and anxiety (42%) symptoms at admission to the NICU, a slight decrease of symptoms from admission to discharge, comorbidity of depression and anxiety symptoms with no identifiable maternal, infant, or pregnancy-related risk factors on the admission survey for depression or anxiety symptoms. These results suggest that universal screening may be critical for early identification of PPA and PPD. Psychological support and evidence-based interventions have the potential to decrease maternal depression and anxiety to improve long-term outcomes of mother and infant.
- ItemOpen AccessThe power of adolescent voices: interpretations of adolescent participation as co-researchers in mental health promotion(2005) Lind, Candace; Anderson, Beverly