Abstract: This paper reports the three-stage development of a professional practice audit questionnaire for mental health nursing in Aotearoa/New Zealand. In Study 1, clinical indicator statements (n = 99) generated from focus group data, which were considered to be unobservable in the nursing documentation in consumer case notes, were included in a three-round Delphi process. Consensus of ratings occurred for the mental health nurse and academic participants (n = 7) on 83 clinical indicator statements. In Study 2, the clinical indicator statements (n = 67) that met importance and consensus criteria were incorporated into a questionnaire, which was piloted at a New Zealand mental health service. The questionnaire was then modified for use in a national field study. In Study 3, the national field study, registered mental health nurses (n = 422) from 11 New Zealand district health board mental health services completed the questionnaire. Five categories of nursing practice were identified: professional and evidence-based practice; consumer focus and reflective practice; professional development and integration; ethically and legally safe practice; and culturally safe practice. Analyses revealed little difference in the perceptions of nurses from different backgrounds regarding the regularity of the nursing practices. Further research is needed to calibrate the scores on each clinical indicator statement with behaviour in clinical practice.

Abstract: The authors synthesise and critically analyse parenting research in nursing. They focused on studies published between 1993 and 2004 by nurse researchers in peer-reviewed journals. Data were organised and analysed with a sample of 17 nursing research studies from core nursing journals. The majority of parenting research has been focused on mothers, primarily about parenting children with physical or developmental disabilities. Research about fathers as parents is sparse. Parenting across cultures, parenting in the context of family, and theoretical frameworks for parenting research are not well developed. The authors conclude that the scope of nursing research on parenting is limited.

Abstract: Interviews a group of Maori women who have successfully ceased smoking and asks about influences and supportive interventions that helped them quit smoking. Analyses the data using Boyatzis' (1998) approach and identifies two primary themes providing insight for nurses working with Maori women smokers: transmission of whanau values; and factors crucial in influencing change.

Abstract: The author investigates the types of questions asked of students by lecturers working within the preceptorship model in the clinical setting. A sample of five volunteer nursing lecturers had their interactions with undergraduate students recorded. The data is analysed using two auditing approaches and qualitative content analysis.

Abstract: This literature review explores some of the issues related to women's experience of cardiac rehabilitation and demonstrates that women's experience may be different to that of men. Much of the research related to coronary heart disease (CHD) has been performed using either exclusively male populations or such small numbers of women that the results from the women studied were unable to be analysed independently. The author advocates that nurses working within this area of practice require an understanding of women's experience of recovery from a heart attack in order to better meet their needs.

Abstract: Explores in depth the clinical research nurse role in the informed consent process using a qualitative descriptive approach. Interviews three clinical research nurses, identifying three themes using a thematic analysis approach. Describes the themes: preparatory partnerships, partnering the participant, and partnership with the project. Suggests that the informed consent process in trials can be a nurse-led one.

Abstract: This inquiry is an in-depth exploration of one middle aged woman's experience of strife in chronic illness and her nursing care involving four nurses (including the author) in a community context over a three-year period. The study is praxiological in that the understanding achieved is derived from practice within a 'research as praxis' methodology positioned in the disciplinary perspective of nursing as a practical human science. Five methodological premises inform the research processes: reflexivity, dialogue, moral comportment, re-presentation in narrative and critique. They emanate from an eclectic ontological praxiology based on the research framework constructed from Gadamerian philosophical hermeneutics, components of other philosophical praxiologies evolved from an exploration of the practical discourse in philosophy and my preferred health and nursing assumptions. The research processes include researcher journalling, a summary of Sarah's nursing record and dialogical meetings with Sarah and the nurse co-participants. Using the research material a narrative is then co-constructed. The narrative is structured around what Sarah viewed as the overall nursing contribution to her care; the 'sharing of her burden of illness'. This, she maintained, enabled her to live safely in the community. Finally there occurs a critique of the narrative within a discursive framework. Three themes, embedded in particular discourses, emerged from the narrative both in Sarah's and the nurses' experience; paradox, moral meaning and metaphor. Sarah's experience is interpreted as taking place in the 'in-between space' of the disease and health-illness discourses. Two main concepts which depict the tension experienced in this space are the 'the ontological assault of illness' and 'entrapment in the disease discourse'. The nurses, in this instance, 'pushed the boundaries' to create a space for the nursing as a caring practice discourse on the margins of nursing as a functional service discourse. The author notes that, within the nursing as a caring practice space, many 'fine lines' were walked with Sarah. Walking the 'fine line' of an 'intense relationship' was seen as advanced nursing practice. The research highlights important implications for a person and/or families who live with chronic illness and practice and educational issues for advanced nurse practitioners. Further, it promotes praxiological methodologies as advantageous for expanding nursing knowledge.

Abstract: Part of an international project, the aim of this study was to evaluate a nurse managed primary health care clinic (Mana Health Clinic) from the perspectives of users, funders, and providers of clinical services in order to identify factors which contribute to success. The method used was Fourth Generation Evaluation (FGE) whereby, consistent with the methodological precepts of the constructivist enquiry paradigm, there was active involvement of clients in the process and outcome of the evaluation. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 13 individuals and one focus group. The data yielded four main categories: factors that contribute to success; contrasting past experience of health care with that of nurse-managed care; the effectiveness of nurse-managed care; and suggestions for change in current practice. The authors note that the results to date support a tentative conclusion of success for the clinic. As the study is on-going, summaries of the four categories were fed back to the participants for further discussion and interpretation and eventual integration with data from the similar study being undertaken in the United States. The authors conclude that this paper demonstrates how the use of an appropriate method of evaluation can itself contribute to the success of the nurse managed clinic.