Despite known advantages, the use of biobehavioral approaches in nursing research remains limited. The purposes of this article are to (1) present applications of stress and inflammation in various health conditions as examples of biobehavioral concepts and (2) stimulate similar applications of biobehavioral concepts in future nursing research. Under a biobehavioral conceptual framework, studies on stress and selective inflammatory biomarkers in cardiovascular, cancer, and pulmonary health are reviewed and summarized. Inflammation underlies many diseases, and stress is a significant source of increased inflammation. Biobehavioral concepts of stress and inflammation are highly relevant to nursing research concerned with health-related issues. Diverse biobehavioral concepts are readily applicable and should be utilized in nursing research with children and adults. To stimulate further biobehavioral research, more training and resources for nurse scientists, more unified conceptual definitions and biobehavioral conceptual frameworks, rigorous and expanded methodologies, and more collaboration are essential.
The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover ways in which nurses describe themselves as health-promoting role models. Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with nurses working in a variety of settings. Transcribed interviews were analyzed thematically. Nurses defined themselves as role models of health promotion according to the meaning they gave the term, their perceptions of societal expectations, and their self-constructed personal and professional domains. The term role model evoked diverse interpretations ranging from negative perceptions of the idealized image to a humanized, authentic representation. Nurses perceived that society expected them as role models to be informational resources and to practice what they preached. Nurses defined themselves independently of societal expectations according to personal and professional domains. Valuing health, accepting imperfections, and self-reflecting were aspects of the personal domain, whereas gaining trust, caring, and partnering were facets of the professional domain.
Since the 1997 mandate from the U.S. National Institutes of Health that investigators provide justification for excluding children, researchers have become more willing to include children. Whether all parts of the research process pertain to children without careful consideration and adaptation is unclear. One area lacking clarity is the use of incentives to encourage participation in research. The issue of incentives for children or parents should be considered early in the design of the research proposal, with attention to developmental age, ethical considerations, purpose of the research, and burden to the child and family.
This study contributed new information by examining the role of finding meaning in caregiving, conceptualized from an existential perspective, as a mediator in the stress-coping process. Caregiver burden had an indirect effect on caregiver mental health that was partially mediated by finding meaning. Results underscore the importance of the positive aspects of caregiving such as finding meaning as potential buffers of the burden of caregiving.
Historically, nurses have been expected to be role models of health promotion, conceptualized and operationalized narrowly and indirectly as the practice of healthy behaviors. The purpose of the current study was to develop and test an instrument (The Self as Role Model for Health Promotion [the SARMHEP]) to measure nurses' perceptions of themselves as role models. Data were collected from nurses working in public health, nursing education, and general practice with a 56% return rate. A series of exploratory factor analyses elicited a five-factor solution that accounted for 44% of the variance and approximated the theoretical dimensions that guided the instrument's development. Cronbach's alpha for the total scale was .91. The new multidimensional SARMHEP was shown to have beginning validity and reliability.
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