BackgroundA systematic review was conducted to analyse journal articles that describe or measure the impact of leg ulceration on patients' quality of life (QoL) in order to improve the content of an educational programme that aims to enhance self-care agency in leg ulcer patients.MethodOriginal articles published in English and German between 1990 and 2006 were included if the findings were analysed at the level of patients. Articles were excluded if (1) they investigated the impact of specific treatments or settings on QoL or (2) focused mainly on arterial ulcers or diabetic foot ulcers.ResultsTwenty-four original research articles met the inclusion criteria; 11 studies used a quantitative, 11 studies a qualitative, and 2 used a mixed method approach. The findings were collapsed into 5 core domains. Quantitative studies commonly investigated the parameters of pain, sleep, social isolation, and physical mobility. Patients had significantly more pain, more restrictions regarding social functioning, less vitality, and limitations with respect to emotional roles compared to the respective controls. Other problem areas identified were restrictions in work capacity, recreation, social interaction, psychological well-being, as well as problems caused by treatment regimes. Inconclusive results were obtained regarding pain intensity, physical restrictions, and gender effects.LimitationsNumerous original studies neither undertook a differentiation of participants by ulcer aetiology nor did they analyse the results according to gender differences.ConclusionAs leg ulceration has an impact on QoL, national guidelines on the treatment of leg ulceration need to more specifically address these far-ranging effects identified in this review.

Background: In contrast to a growing body of research on the situation of adult family care givers, in Germany hardly anything is known about the situation of children and teenagers who are involved in the care of their relatives.

BackgroundSince the introduction of electronic nursing documentation systems, its implementation in recent years has increased rapidly in Germany. The objectives of such systems are to save time, to improve information handling and to improve quality. To integrate IT in the daily working processes, the employee is the pivotal element. Therefore it is important to understand nurses’ experience with IT implementation. At present the literature shows a lack of understanding exploring staff experiences within the implementation process.MethodsA systematic review and meta-ethnographic synthesis of primary studies using qualitative methods was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, and Cochrane. It adheres to the principles of the PRISMA statement. The studies were original, peer-reviewed articles from 2000 to 2013, focusing on computer-based nursing documentation in Residential Aged Care Facilities.ResultsThe use of IT requires a different form of information processing. Some experience this new form of information processing as a benefit while others do not. The latter find it more difficult to enter data and this result in poor clinical documentation. Improvement in the quality of residents’ records leads to an overall improvement in the quality of care. However, if the quality of those records is poor, some residents do not receive the necessary care. Furthermore, the length of time necessary to complete the documentation is a prominent theme within that process. Those who are more efficient with the electronic documentation demonstrate improved time management. For those who are less efficient with electronic documentation the information processing is perceived as time consuming. Normally, it is possible to experience benefits when using IT, but this depends on either promoting or hindering factors, e.g. ease of use and ability to use it, equipment availability and technical functionality, as well as attitude.ConclusionsIn summary, the findings showed that members of staff experience IT as a benefit when it simplifies their daily working routines and as a burden when it complicates their working processes. Whether IT complicates or simplifies their routines depends on influencing factors. The line between benefit and burden is semipermeable. The experiences differ according to duties and responsibilities.

BackgroundWhen receiving palliative care, patients and their families experience altered life situations in which they must negotiate challenges in daily life, increased care and new roles. With limited time, they also experience emotional changes that relate to their uncertain future. Transitions experienced in such situations are often studied by focusing on individual aspects, which are synthesized in the following study. The aim was to conduct a qualitative meta-synthesis to explore the experiences patients and their families gain during transitions in palliative care circumstances.MethodsA qualitative meta-synthesis was conducted following an inductive approach as proposed by Sandelowski and Barroso. Inclusion criteria were studies with adult persons in palliative situations and articles published in English or German. Relevant articles were identified by researching the Pubmed and Cinahl databases, as well as by hand searches in journals and reference lists for the period 2000–2015. The findings of each study were analyzed using initial coding, followed by axial and selective coding in this order. Consequently, a conceptual model was derived from the categories.ResultsIn total 2225 articles were identified in the literature search. Finally, 14 studies were included after the selection process. The central phenomenon observed among palliative care patients and their families was maintaining normality during transitions. Transitions are initially experienced unconsciously until a crisis occurs and responsive actions are necessary, which encourages patients and families to perceive the situation consciously and develop strategies for its negotiation. Patients remain caught between hopelessness and valuing their remaining time alive. As the illness progresses, informal caregivers reprioritize and balance their roles, and after death, family members inevitably find themselves in changed roles.ConclusionsIn palliative care situations, transitions are experienced differently by patients and their families in a constant phenomenon that oscillates between unconscious and conscious perceptions of transitions. The derived conceptual model offers an additional perspective to existing models and helps to clarify the phenomenon in practical settings. The study promotes a differentiated conceptual view of transitions and emphasizes patients’ and families’ perspectives.

With a growing body of research on the situation of adult family caregivers in Germany, hardly anything is known about the situation of children who are involved into the care of their relatives. This literature study is part of a research project that intends to close this gap. Primarily, English literature of the last 15 years was analysed to gain insight into specific characteristics of young carers and their families. There is no standard definition of young carers. The prevalence of young carers has been underestimated for a long time; for Great Britain it is 1.5% of all children under the age of 18. Children provide caregiving tasks at any age, and the amount of their help grows with their age. The majority of young carers live in single-parent families, and the single parents are mostly mothers. More than half of the family members in need of care suffer from chronic illnesses that affect the body. There is a wide range of caregiving tasks described in the literature; young carers do the same as adult informal carers. However no uniform categorical system could be found, which makes comparisons between studies almost impossible. This might be due to a lack of a theoretical framework in most of the studies. Since it can be assumed, that children in Germany may become young carers as well, their situation needs to be studied under the specific circumstances of the German health care system.