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Posts from the ‘Featured Articles’ Category

Aug 24

From the author: Denise Drevdahl


Meet Denise Drevdahl (right in the photo), with her co-author Kathleen Shannon Dorcy (left) with one of their “buddies” on the Oregon coast!  Denise and Kathleen wrote the current featured article  “Transitions, decisions, and regret: Order in chaos after a cancer diagnosis”.  Their research explores the dilemma of entering an experimental treatment in the midst of a life-changing illness.  I was particularly inspired by the closing sentences in their article: “It is not so much the ability to remain stable and unchanged that should be the goal of care encounters, rather the goal should be flexibility and responsiveness to new paths and ways to traverse the unknown terrain and transitions together. Chaos, it seems, does give us the opportunity to see the world differently.” In reflecting on their ANS article, Denise wrote:

Kathleen and I are honored that our article was selected as an Editor’s Pick for the current issue of ANS. I have had the pleasure of teaching with Dr. Shannon Dorcy since 1996 and then working with her since 2004 on the research project that generated the data for the present manuscript. It has been a collaboration that has endured over time even though we come from different clinical backgrounds and expertise (mine in community/population health; Kathleen’s in cancer and cancer research). Despite (or perhaps because) of these differences, we share many commonalities, including an abiding interest in issues of social justice, as well as an ongoing commitment to examining concerns central to nursing through “a different lens.” A prime example is Kathleen’s inspiration to use a model of epigenetics to illustrate the transitions that occur in those participating in cancer research. This line of research has generated an interest in examining how physician/researchers, research nurses, and IRB members understand the differences between research and treatment. That, along with our continuing work on bringing social justice to nursing practice, education, and research promises to keep us working together far into the future.

Aug 22

From the Author: Lynn Rew


It is a pleasure to introduce Lynn Rew, lead author on one of my Edtitor’s Picks for the current issue.  I suspect that most ANS readers have had some connection to the experience of adolescence, either personally or professionally!  The current “Editor’s Pick” article by Lynn Rew and her colleagues Diane Tyler, Nina Fredland and Dana Hannah reports a research study that sheds light on changes that occur during this highly-charged experience.  Their research provides significant evidence that can guide nursing practice, research and theory development.  Their article is titled “Adolescents’ Concerns as They Transition Through High School”, and while it is featured you can download it for free from the ANS Web site!

Here is a message from Dr. Rew about her experiences of working with adolescents, and some background on the experience of conducting this study:

Not everyone shares my enthusiasm for studying adolescents. Having been an adolescent and parenting two adolescents, I am always curious about how they  change so rapidly and adapt (or not) to these changes. I want to know what adolescents are thinking and doing and why. I began with a longitudinal study of pre-adolescents (4-6thgraders) and found that, for the most part, they engaged in health and safety behaviors; however, when they made the transitions from grade school to middle school and then to high school, many of these behaviors were replaced with what I called health-risk behaviors.

Data for this article came from a longitudinal study of over 1200 adolescents who reside in rural areas in central Texas. For the analysis, I assembled a team that included two family nurse practitioners and a pediatric nurse practitioner.  We met often to determine how we would analyze the written responses of these kids to the prompt, “My main concern is . . .” This writing experience was fun and exciting, not only because we enjoyed reading and interpreting these responses, but also we began to recognize strengths and talents in each other that we hadn’t known before.

Faculty often complain that there is never enough time to write, but when you have a team of nurses who are willing to learn, not only from analyzing the data, but also from each other, writing becomes a joy! I was blessed to be part of such a team.

Aug 18

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From the Authors: Riegel, Jaarsma & Strömberg


This message inaugurates our new blog feature – messages from the authors of our “Editor’s Picks” articles.  Here is a message from Barbara Riegel, Tiny Jaarsma, Anna Strömberg, authors of the featured article “Middle-Range Theory of self-care of chronic illness”

We are delighted to learn that our article is an Editor’s Pick of the current issue of ANS and provided for free to readers. The preparation of this article is the product of 3 years of collaboration during the time when Barbara Riegel was a Guest Professor at Linköping University in Sweden with Professors Tiny Jaarsma and Anna Strömberg. We brought to this collaboration years of individual research in the area of self-care and a growing recognition that comorbid illness complicates self-care for patients. We realized that  if patients and clinicians could be helped to see similarities in the self-care performed for various diagnoses, they might manage their self-care responsibilities  with more ease. Writing this article helped us integrate our prior research in self-care, our efforts to devise methods of measurement for self-care, and our devotion to teaching the next generation of scientists.

Currently, Anna Strömberg is leading a team primarily made up of faculty from Linköping University writing an article in which the theory is applied to a variety of chronic illnesses. As a team, we are teaching a graduate course on self-care of chronic illness at Linköping University. We have plans to develop a family of instruments that can be used to measure patients’ self-reports of self-care. These efforts should keep us busy for the years ahead.

Tiny Jaarsma, Anna Strömberg, Barbara Riegel,

Tiny Jaarsma, Anna Strömberg & Barbara Riegel

Aug 15

“Editor’s Picks” available now!


We have added a new feature to the ANS web site … Editor’s Picks from the current issue.  The Editor’s Picks will change every couple of weeks, and while an article is featured, it will be available for a free download!  Each week I will post information on this blog about one of the articles on the current “Editor’s Picks” list, giving some background and information about the article that I believe makes the article important for our readers.

Barbara Reigel (University of Pennsylvania), with her colleagues from Sweden Tiny Jaarsma and Anna Strömberg (Linköping University) are the authors of one of our first features, titled “A Middle-Range Theory of Self-Care of Chronic Illness.”  The theory was developed from self-care studies that the authors have conducted in several countries around the world; the article cites the studies so that you can trace the specific evidence on which the theory is based.

The authors address a central concern of nursing practice – the nature of the relationship between a nurse and a patient.  They explain the connection between that relationship and self-care of chronic illness as follows:   “When providers interact with patients their intention is that the partnership they form will motivate patients to engage in self-care that can be incorporated into their lifestyle. It is within this context of a mutually rewarding relationship that the self-care of chronic illness takes place.”

This theory was developed from sound research evidence, and in turn it provides an important resource to guide nursing practice.  It is based on deep analysis and clarification of some of the most persistent challenges that nurses face in building relationships with people living with chronic illness. This article  is an exemplar of one approach to the development of nursing theory that serves to guide nursing practice.

Check out the article now and add your ideas and thoughts about this article by replying to this post!  I look forward to hearing from you!

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