Congratulations! The Journal of Nursing Research is now part of Thomson Reuter's products and services. JNR articles published from Volume 17, Number 1 (2009) forward will be indexed and abstracted in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition (SCI), Journal Citation Reports/Social Sciences Edition (SSCI), Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), Current Contents/Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Current Contents/Clinical Medicine. JNR deeply appreciates all the fine work done by its contributors. We will strive to do even better on the editorial side and continue to improve the quality of our journal.
This issue features quantitative and qualitative studies that investigate the status and needs of populations with a variety of health issues. Lim and Mackey used a qualitative design to explore the transitional experiences of 14 menopausal and postmenopausal Chinese Singaporean women. Two main themes identified included (1) experiencing symptoms (e.g., abnormal bleeding, hot flushes, and emotional changes) and (2) experiences of managing symptoms during the menopause transition (e.g., using Western and traditional Chinese medical interventions and seeking support from family and friends). Vijayalakshmi et al. investigated gender differences in perceived human rights needs among mentally ill individuals in India. This descriptive study found that men were less satisfied than women in terms of perceived human rights needs fulfillment in the emotional dimension, whereas women were less satisfied than men in the social and ethical dimensions. More importantly, men felt more discriminated against than women due to mental illness perceptions in the community domain.
Farsi et al. conducted a longitudinal qualitative grounded theory study in Iran that elicited the coping process of 10 adult acute leukemia sufferers who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation therapy. Five categories emerged from the data including (1) perceived threat, (2) suspension between fear and hope, (3) rebirth, (4) contextual factors, and (5) coping strategies. "Finding meaning" was identified as the final outcome of their experience that indicated effective coping. Lin et al. used a retrospective study to investigate correlations between nutritional status and physical function, admission frequency, hospital stay duration, and mortality in 174 elderly long-term care facility residents in Taiwan. They found significant changes over the study year in subject nutritional status, physical function, and calf circumference. In an instrument testing study, Wang et al. developed and tested the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Diabetes Health-Promotion Self-Care Scale on patients with type 2 diabetes. Their study found this scale, with 26 items in seven subscales, to have satisfactory psychometric properties.
A further three articles examined the competence of professional nurses and learning experiences of nursing students. Ryan and Jezewski completed a systematic synthesis of three survey studies examining oncology, critical care, and emergency nurses' knowledge, attitudes, experience, and confidence with regard to advance directives. Results found nurses' knowledge to be about 60% correct, and nurses reported a moderate level of confidence toward advance directives. Nurses stated they were experienced in advance directive discussions and agreed with attitude statements indicating support of advance directives. Chen et al. examined differences in teaching competence by preceptor background, the influence of locus of control on self-evaluated teaching competence, the association between self-directed learning and self-evaluated teaching competence, and predictors of self-evaluated teaching competence among clinical nurse preceptors. Results indicated that clinical nurse preceptors scored moderately above average. Higher teaching competence was associated with older age, being married, over 10 years of work experience, voluntary assignment to the position, and good internal locus of control. Self-directed learning correlated significantly with teaching competence. Finally, Jiang et al. used Colaizzi's phenomenological methodology to explore the learning experiences of 13 senior nursing students who worked with preceptors during their clinical practicum. Four themes emerged: (1) information and new experience overload, (2) feelings of loneliness and stress, (3) questioning whether strict preceptors achieve the best results, and (4) beginning to feel like a nurse. Findings suggest that it is important for nurse educators to be clear and precise about their expectations of the preceptorship experience. Orientation for both preceptors and students is essential.
We welcome international scholars to submit their manuscripts as we continue to develop The Journal of Nursing Research into a high quality international professional journal.
Kuei-Min Chen