Edinburgh Napier University

About: Edinburgh Napier University is a education organization based out in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 2665 authors who have published 6859 publications receiving 175272 citations.

Care and compassion: the experiences of newly qualified staff nurses

Abstract: Aims and objectives To explore newly qualified staff nurses' perceptions of compassionate care and factors that facilitate and inhibit its delivery. Background It is known that the transition from student to staff nurse is challenging due to a variety of factors including increased expectations of competence, inadequate staffing levels and eclectic support. Methods A qualitative approach was taken. Data from newly qualified staff nurses (within first year post registration) were collected by focus groups (n = 6, total participants = 42), using a flexible agenda to guide discussion. Data were analysed to locate codes and themes. Results Support for newly qualified staff was eclectic rather than systematic. Participants felt they were ‘flung in at the deep end’ and ‘left to sink or swim’. Some staff were perceived as ‘ingrained in the woodwork’ and resistant to change of even a minor nature, creating an environment of ‘institutionalised negativity’. Clinical supervision was considered a support when available. Compassionate care was a tautology for most participants, that is, care would not be care in the absence of compassion. Compassion as a concept was described frequently with reference to situations in which it was absent. Nursing was ‘more than just a job’, but an occupation in which ‘emotional engagement’ is not only desirable but a prerequisite for provision of high-quality care. Conclusion Findings indicated a tension between ‘agency’ (the ability of individuals to act) and ‘structure’ (physical, social, managerial and cultural environments within which care takes place). Supportive environments facilitate provision of compassionate care although individuals remain accountable for their own practice. This study adds depth to existing literature about newly qualified staff nurses, with specific reference to compassionate care. Relevance to clinical practice Undergraduate nursing programmes should prepare students for the reality of delivering compassionate care despite competing commitments. Managers of care settings should ensure that a formalised supportive framework is in place for registered nurses throughout their first year of practice

Reshaping Social Movement Media for a New Millennium

Abstract: This article contextualizes Indymedia, the Internet-based network of Independent Media Centres (IMCs) that has developed since the 30 November protests in Seattle against the World Trade Organization talks there in 1999. In a short space of time this network has become the backbone of communication for the broad coalition of groups that comprise the anti-capitalism movement. Context is sought from three perspectives: first, through a consideration of new social movement use of the Internet as a radical, socio-technical paradigm to challenge the dominant, neoliberal and technologically determinist model of information and communication technologies (ICTs). This perspective is approached through Paschal Preston's recent work on ICTs in late modernity ('Reshaping Communications: Technology, Information and Social Change', London: Sage, 2001). Second, the article regards Indymedia as the most current manifestation of radical Internet use. It examines the (inevitably) brief history of such use, exploring examp...

The impact of short periods of match congestion on injury risk and patterns in an elite football club

Abstract: Background The effect of fixture congestion on injury rates and patterns has received scarce attention in elite football and existing investigations have not accounted for player rotation or examined the temporal distribution and potential cause of injuries. Aim To prospectively investigate the epidemiology of injury during short periods of fixture congestion in a professional football club. Methods Over a six-season period, exposure time and injury data were compared in the same players (n=25 (14 individuals)) when participating in two frequently occurring short congested fixture cycles in comparison to match-play outside these cycles. (1) two successive matches separated by an interval totalling ≤3 days calculated immediately from the end of play in match 1 to the beginning of play in match 2; (2) three successive matches separated by ≤4-day intervals starting the day immediately after each match. Results In two-match congestion cycles, incidence rate ratios (IRR) showed that there was a higher risk of injury in the final 15 min of play in the second match in comparison to match-play outside the cycles (IRR: 3.1 (95% CI 1.1 to 9.3), p=0.0400). A greater risk of injury overall (IRR: 2.0 (95% CI 1.1 to 3.8), p=0.0345) and in the first-half of play (2.6 (1.1 to 6,5), p=0.0386), and risk of ankle sprains (10.4 (95% CI 1.9 to 57.9), p=0.0068) and non-contact injuries due to a ‘change in direction’ (IRR: 7.8 (1.3 to 46.8), p=0.0243) were observed in the final match of three-match congestion cycles in comparison to match-play outside the cycles. Conclusions Injury rates and patterns were affected in the same elite football players when competing in short congested fixture cycles in comparison to match-play outside the cycles.

Adaptive neural network tracking control for underactuated systems with matched and mismatched disturbances

Abstract: This paper studies neural network-based tracking control of underactuated systems with unknown parameters and with matched and mismatched disturbances. Novel adaptive control schemes are proposed with the utilization of multi-layer neural networks, adaptive control and variable structure strategies to cope with the uncertainties containing approximation errors, unknown base parameters and time-varying matched and mismatched external disturbances. Novel auxiliary control variables are designed to establish the controllability of the non-collocated subset of the underactuated systems. The approximation errors and the matched and mismatched external disturbances are efficiently counteracted by appropriate design of robust compensators. Stability and convergence of the time-varying reference trajectory are shown in the sense of Lyapunov. The parameter updating laws for the designed control schemes are derived using the projection approach to reduce the tracking error as small as desired. Unknown dynamics of the non-collocated subset is approximated through neural networks within a local region. Finally, simulation studies on an underactuated manipulator and an underactuated vibro-driven system are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control schemes.

Current-induced instability in Cr–p+ a-Si:H–V thin film devices

Abstract: Experimental results on the constant current stressing in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) Cr–p+–V thin film devices are presented. With increasing injection of charge via either increasing bias or time, the current-voltage characteristics of devices exhibit instability, as shown by a decrease in the reverse current. This is interpreted in terms of the creation of defects in the a-Si:H. The defect generation rate. as measured by the voltage shift ΔV at a constant reverse current in the J-V curve, is found to follow a square-root time dependent law. In addition, a decrease in device conductance after stressing is also observed, which is described by a mechanism of dopant equilibrium during and after stressing.