Governing therapy choices: power/knowledge in the treatment of progressive renal failure

Using Foucault to (re)think localisation in chronic disease care: Insights for nursing practice

Ageing populations and rising rates of chronic disease globally have shifted key elements of disease management to ideas of integrated care and self-management. The associated policies and programmes often focus on intervention and support beyond the sites of the hospital and clinic. These shifts have significantly impacted the delivery and practice of nursing for both nurses and the clients with whom they work. This article argues that Foucault's comments on space, place and heterotopia (1986) are useful in exploring these changes from a philosophical perspective, to draw out the complexity of these programmes and add texture to discussions on the ways these shifts to localisation and the dominant discourses of self-management and responsibility have reconfigured nursing practices. The theoretical discussion is augmented with illustrations from an Australian integrated health care programme.

A Systematic Literature Review of Relational Autonomy in Dialysis Decision Making

Nephrology interdisciplinary guidelines, professional codes of ethics, principle-based ethical standards, and literature promote patient autonomy and self-determination through shared decision making as ethical practice. Healthcare professionals are accountable for practice that is mindful of the impact of cultural diversity and community on the values and beliefs of the patient, an important part of shared decision making (SDM). Despite previous research regarding dialysis decision making, relational autonomy in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage kidney disease SDM conversations is not well understood. This systematic literature review used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses framework for identifying peer-reviewed literature on SDM for CKD. The findings were summarized into four broad themes: (1) promoting autonomy is a foundation of medical caring; (2) providers have a responsibility to respond to their asymmetrical social power; (3) autonomy is situated within the context of the patient; and (4) dialogue is a tool that negotiates clinical recommendations and patient goals. The caring practices of promoting autonomy with a dialogical resolution of a conflict acknowledging the interdependence of the parties and the patient's social-relational situatedness support a perspective of relational autonomy in dialysis decision-making practice and research.

The Full Spectrum of Clinical Ethical Issues in Kidney Failure. Findings of a Systematic Qualitative Review

BACKGROUND

When treating patients with kidney failure, unavoidable ethical issues often arise. Current clinical practice guidelines some of them, but lack comprehensive information about the full range of relevant ethical issues in kidney failure. A systematic literature review of such ethical issues supports medical professionalism in nephrology, and offers a solid evidential base for efforts that aim to improve ethical conduct in health care.

AIM

To identify the full spectrum of clinical ethical issues that can arise for patients with kidney failure in a systematic and transparent manner.

METHOD

A systematic review in Medline (publications in English or German between 2000 and 2014) and Google Books (with no restrictions) was conducted. Ethical issues were identified by qualitative text analysis and normative analysis.

RESULTS

The literature review retrieved 106 references that together mentioned 27 ethical issues in clinical care of kidney failure. This set of ethical issues was structured into a matrix consisting of seven major categories and further first and second-order categories.

CONCLUSIONS

The systematically-derived matrix helps raise awareness and understanding of the complexity of ethical issues in kidney failure. It can be used to identify ethical issues that should be addressed in specific training programs for clinicians, clinical practice guidelines, or other types of policies dealing with kidney failure.

Community health promotion with people who are experiencing homelessness

Homelessness is an experience of being displaced. Once removed from their personal places, homeless people are barred access to healthy places in which to be. Health clinics for people who are experiencing homelessness offer an opportunity to create health-promoting places. In this study, we explore how place is experienced within a community health clinic for people who are experiencing homelessness. A critical ethnographic methodology was used. Results illustrate how clients and providers contested the space of the clinic. Discourses of safety, health promotion, and privacy were enacted, altered, and resisted in a constant practice of culture-making. Physical components of the space became conceptual components of how place and power in place were understood by clients and providers. Results point to the importance of conceptualizing service users as the key stakeholders in their care, considering how places may be more or less health promoting, and rethinking how safety is conceptualized.

Produção da subjetividade do enfermeiro e a tomada de decisão no processo de cuidar

O estudo teve como objetivo compreender a relação entre a produção da subjetividade do Enfermeiro e a tomada de decisão no processo de cuidar, em Enfermagem. Foi adotado o delineamento qualitativo de pesquisa. O cenário investigativo foi um hospital filantrópico do estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Os participantes do estudo foram doze Enfermeiros atuantes nessa instituição. Para a coleta de dados, foi utilizada a técnica do grupo focal, com três encontros focais, realizados em dezembro de 2011. Os resultados foram apresentados em categorias temáticas: Sistema Capitalista: a manutenção do vínculo empregatício; Sistema de submissão: cultura institucional e visão da sociedade; Sistema de hierarquias na Enfermagem; e Sistema de valores: sentimento de culpa e falta de valorização profissional. O sistema capitalista é o principal mediador do comportamento que prevalece na tomada de decisão na prática de cuidados de Enfermagem.