Browsing by Author "McConnell, Shelagh"

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    Compassion in Health Care: An Empirical Model
    (2016-02) Sinclair, Shane; McClement, Susan; Raffin-Bouchal, Shelley; Hack, Thomas F.; Hagen, Jack A.; McConnell, Shelagh; Chochinov, Harvey Max
    Compassion is frequently referenced as a hallmark of quality care by patients, health care providers, health care administrators, and policy makers. Despite its putative centrality, including its institution in recent health care reform, an empirical understanding based on the perspectives of patients, the recipients of compassion, is lacking -making compassion one of the most referenced yet poorly understood elements of quality care.
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    Patient and healthcare perspectives on the importance and efficacy of addressing spiritual issues within an interdisciplinary bone marrow transplant clinic: a qualitative study
    (2016-07) Sinclair, Shane; McConnell, Shelagh; Bouchal, Shelley Raffin; Ager, Naree; Booker, Reanne; Enns, Bert; Fung, Tak
    The purpose of this study was to use a qualitative approach to better understand the importance and efficacy of addressing spiritual issues within an interdisciplinary bone marrow transplant clinic from the perspectives of patients and healthcare providers. Participants were recruited from the bone marrow transplant clinic of a large urban outpatient cancer care centre in western Canada. Focus groups were conducted with patients (n=7) and healthcare providers (n=9) to explore the importance of addressing spiritual issues across the treatment trajectory and to identify factors associated with effectively addressing these needs.
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    Walking Alongside Children with Progressive Life Shortening Illnesses: Experiences of Pediatric Acute Care Nurses
    (2015-10-21) McConnell, Shelagh; Raffin Bouchal, Shelley
    Caring for children with Progressive Life Shortening Illnesses (PLSIs) in pediatric acute care is both rewarding and challenging for nurses. Despite the significant number of pediatric nurses who care for children with PLSIs and their families on general acute care units, little is known about the benefits and difficulties these nurses experience through their work. The intent of this hermeneutic study is to further understanding regarding the experiences of pediatric nurses in this context and to offer ways of better supporting them in their valuable work. Eight nurses from a general pediatric acute care unit were interviewed for this study. These data were analyzed according to the tradition of philosophical hermeneutics as described by Hans-Georg Gadamer. Findings from this research revealed nurses’ struggles to care for children with PLSIs whose lives are shrouded with uncertainty in a death-denying culture that values cure and treatment. Nurses recognized the many rewards and the beauty of their work even though they come to carry a burden and hold a great deal of darkness from the difficulty of what they see and do in their practice. Nurses’ struggles also included caring for children with PLSIs when they are excluded from the decision-making table. Nurses acknowledged that their ability to work in this area was limited as they were aware that the challenges of the work would eventually outweigh the beauty and the benefits. For their survival, nurses learned to depend on each other for support and learned from each other what it means to be a nurse in this area. The implications of this research include facilitating bedside nurses to be present at decision-making meetings and the encouragement and facilitation of nurse-to-nurse support.