No abstract

The work organization should provide opportunities for ethical competence-building, where ethical dilemmas in telenursing are highlighted and discussed. Such a strategy might lead to decreased moral uncertainty and distress among telenurses, with positive consequences for callers.

This article presents the development, validation and application of an instrument to measure everyday moral distress in different health care settings. The concept of moral distress has been discussed and developed over 20 years. A few instruments have been developed to measure it, predominantly in nursing. The instrument presented here consists of two factors: level of moral distress, and tolerance/openness towards moral dilemmas. It was tested in four medical departments and three pharmacies, where 259 staff members completed a questionnaire. The two factors were found to be reliable. Differences in levels of moral distress were found between pharmacies and clinical departments, and between the youngest and oldest age groups; departmental staff and the youngest group experienced higher levels of moral distress. Departments reported less tolerance/openness towards moral dilemmas than pharmacies. The instrument needs to be tested further, but its strengths are the focus on everyday ethical dilemmas and its usefulness in different health care settings.

Increased work complexity and financial strain in the health care sector have led to higher demands on staff to handle ethical issues. These demands can elicit stress reactions, that is, moral distress. One way to support professionals in handling ethical dilemmas is education and training in ethics. This article reports on a controlled prospective study evaluating a structured education and training program in ethics concerning its effects on moral distress. The results show that the participants were positive about the training program. Moral distress did not change significantly. This could be interpreted as competence development, with no effects on moral distress. Alternatively, the result could be attributed to shortcomings of the training program, or that it was too short, or it could be due to the evaluation instrument used. Organizational factors such as management involvement are also crucial. There is a need to design and evaluate ethics competence programs concerning their efficacy.

Despite intensive marketing directed at potential vaccine consumers, knowledge of HPV and of HPV vaccines was very low among first year upper secondary school students. Their attitude towards vaccination was positive but most of them wanted more information before considering vaccination.

If patient participation is to be achieved in all phases of MI care, patients need to be made aware of their right to participate. Health care professionals need to develop appropriate communication skills for each phase of the MI patient's hospitalization.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an educational intervention concerning human papillomavirus (HPV) directed at Swedish first year high school students. The intervention consisted of a class room lesson, a website and a folder. Outcome variables were knowledge of HPV and attitudes to preventive methods such as HPV vaccination, condom use and Pap smear testing. An intervention group (n = 92) was matched with two comparison groups (n = 184). At baseline, the median score for HPV knowledge was one out of 10 in both groups. At follow-up, the median knowledge score had increased to six in the intervention group, but was still one in the comparison group (P < 0.001). Attitudes to HPV vaccination, condom use and Pap smear testing remained the same (P > 0.05). In conclusion, a short school-based intervention can greatly increase the students' knowledge about HPV, but attitudes and behaviours are less easy to influence.

The aim of the study was to investigate knowledge of and attitudes to sexually transmitted infection (STI) and STI prevention with special focus on human papillomavirus (HPV) and the new vaccine against HPV, among 16-year-old high school students in a Swedish context. A study-specific questionnaire was distributed to 572 first year high school students from five different high schools in a medium-sized town in Sweden. The students lacked knowledge of HPV and its association with cervical cancer. Similarly, their knowledge of the new vaccine was limited. Their attitude to condom use when having sex with a new partner was positive, but decreased if oral contraceptives were used and if they were vaccinated against an STI. The main source of information was the school, followed by youth clinics and the media. The results highlight the clinical importance for school nurses and personnel at youth clinics to inform adolescents about HPV and its association with cancer.