With an ageing population comes an increasing risk of illnesses such as dementia and a growing need for care. There are 670,000 informal, unpaid carers in the UK, reducing costs for health and social care services but presenting other concerns for healthcare professionals. Carer burden and carer stress are well-documented concepts, and can lead to depression and a risk of suicide in some individuals. It is important that this risk is considered when supporting informal carers of people living with dementia. Admiral Nurses work with families living with dementia to provide the one-to-one support and expert guidance they need to manage. This article discusses a case study that highlights how caring can affect an individual, leading to thoughts of suicide. It also demonstrates how an Admiral Nurse could support the carer in a relationship-centred way, using appropriate interventions to avoid crisis. The article offers implications for practice and provides recommendations for nurses working in this field.

Nursing is at the interface of science and patient care, and this study contributes to nursing knowledge by focusing on a previously unresearched topic, namely embodied interactions between war veterans and invasive cardiac pacemakers. Within a highly technical area such as cardiology, nurses can still work around the technology and keep patients as their primary focus, thus promoting quality care. A humanistic rather than a technological focus locates nurses between patients and cardiac technology. In this in-between location, nurses are not an extension of cardiac technology but a valuable source of information, education, and counselling.

No abstract

Problem. The purpose of this study was to ascertain if there is any relationship between the unique aspects of the pastoral family, the relationships of the PK, and his or her adult religious commitment. Method. The population included Seventh-day Adventist pastors' children (PKs) who were age 25 or older and whose fathers were ministers for at least 10 years before subjects were 18 years old. A survey was completed by 487 subjects. Data were analyzed using multiple-regression, correlational, and qualitative methods. Results. All variables unique to the pastoral home correlated significantly with measures of religious commitment--feelings towards moving (not actual number ofmoves), consistency of parental behavior, family time, ability to be oneself without being noticed, expectations perceived as greater than for others, the status of having a pastor as a father, and support of church and members. The strongest predictor ofweak religious commitment was the PK's perception that more was expected of him/her. Intimacy with each parent correlated positively with religious commitment. A satisfying parental marriage and relationships with friends and extended family correlated positively with some of the measures of religious commitment, although most correlations were extremely low. Qualitative analysis was consistent with the quantitative analysis and lent further support. Perception of expectations was the most frequently mentioned dislike, whereas people and friendships was the most liked. Attendance at special church events or meetings of the SDA church was viewed positively. Conclusion. The unique aspects of the clergy home and the experience of being a PK seem to be related to the religious commitment of the adult child of a minister, although not strongly. Influences other than being a PK appear to have a greater impact. Pastors' children have shared, strong feelings about their experience. Those PKs who were more religiously committed came from homes characterized by apositive parental relationship with positive spiritual role models, quality family time, freedom to be themselves, and boundaries between church and home.

No abstract