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This research was conducted to describe ethnically diverse new mothers' perceptions of gestational weight gain. Forty-nine low-income women of diverse racial and ethnic origins who birthed an infant within the past year completed a semistructured interview in a pediatric clinic waiting room. The interviews were designed to elicit views on gestational weight gain, including expectations and perceived consequences. Data were analyzed using content analysis techniques. Women believed that others like themselves were concerned about pregnancy weight gain. Many focused on the effects of insufficient pregnancy weight gain on the infant but were not aware of the infant risks of excessive gain. Several had inaccurate knowledge of appropriate gestational weight gain, and many suggested an amount below the current recommendations. One-third of the women believed women will weigh more following pregnancy, yet others assumed that even with excessive weight gain there would be a return to prepregnant weight following pregnancy. Pregnancy-related weight gain is disturbing to women. Health care providers have the opportunity to intervene by acknowledging these concerns and providing information and support to help women make positive choices and achieve appropriate weight gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TOPIC: Nursing journals depend on the services of peer reviewers for their expertise in research and clinical practice. Although some research has been done with peer reviewers of biomedical journals, to date, our knowledge about reviewers of nursing journals is minimal. METHODS: In this international survey of 1,675 reviewers for 41 nursing journals, reviewers were asked 69 questions about their experiences reviewing for professional nursing journals. This article examines their answers to the survey questions about training to become reviewers and the support they receive from editors. RESULTS: Results showed that 65% wanted formal training, although only about 30% received such training in the form of orientation, manuals, practice reviews, or workshops. For most peer reviewers, it took one to five reviews before they felt comfortable with the process, although some commented that, 'I still question my reviews' and 'It took a few years.' In this sample, 31% reported getting feedback from editors about their reviews, but 87% wanted feedback. Most (80%) wanted to see the other reviews of the manuscripts they reviewed, although only about 45% actually saw them. Reviewers reported that the editor had been helpful to them by providing feedback, demonstrating appreciation of their efforts, mentoring, and being available. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded from this research that many reviewers' needs for training and support are not being met and that both reviewers and nursing editors could profit from a better understanding of the process. Editors could consider instituting programs of orientation, training, and support such as feedback on reviews, making other reviews available, and feedback on final disposition of manuscripts. Reviewers should consider discussing these issues with editors to make their needs for feedback and training known. Intervention studies to examine the effects of such programs on reviewer satisfaction could ultimately strengthen the nursing literature. Copyright © 2009 by Elsevier Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. This paper is a report of a study to assess the beliefs and preferences of reviewers for nursing journals about blinding of authors to reviewers, reviewers to authors, neither or both. Background. Blinding of author and reviewer names in the manuscript review process has been of interest to nursing editors, but reports that are based on data rather than simply opinion concern the editorial practices of biomedical rather than nursing journals. There has been no study of nursing journal reviewer beliefs and preferences related to blinding. Method. A descriptive web-based survey was conducted. The sample included 1675 anonymous reviewers, recruited through 52 editors of nursing journals from their review panels. Data were collected in 2007. Findings. Double-blinding of reviews was the most common method reported. Ninety per cent of respondents reported that the papers they received to review did not include author names. When author names were blinded, 62% of reviewers could not identify the authors of papers; another 17% could identify authors

While the compensation for many nursing roles is published and accessible, no data have heretofore been available on monetary compensation for nurse editors.Answers to questions about compensation contained in a 108-question international survey of 88 editors of nursing journals, which was designed to learn about all aspects of the role of editor, are described.This study provides a first look at editor compensation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nurse editors lead the nursing profession by shaping the literature on which practice is based. This qualitative descriptive study was designed to explore nurse editors' perceptions of the most important aspects of their role and its best and worst qualities. An email survey was returned by 88 editors of 90 journals. Responses to 3 open-ended questions were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The most commonly cited important aspects of the editor role were to maintain scientific and editorial quality and provide vision and direction. The most commonly noted benefits were helping nurses become authors and influencing nursing knowledge and practice. The worst aspects were constant demands on their time and the scarcity of good writing. These nurse editors' goals of moving the profession forward through mentoring are congruent with contemporary theories of leadership. Employer support for both editors and writers would enhance the production of published evidence and reduce the burdens on editors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of research challenges the inter-rater reliability of peer reviewers and the value of reviewer training or blinding in improving the quality of manuscript reviews, but double-blinded peer review of papers remains a relatively unexamined standard for nursing journals. Using data from a larger emailed survey, the views of 88 nurse editors on peer review were analyzed using content analysis. The majority of nurse editors reported that blinding was important in peer review, to maintain objectivity and avoid negative personal or professional consequences. The minority who saw potential benefits of open review valued increased transparency in the reviewing and editorial decision-making process. An excellent review was viewed as containing specific instructions on how the deficits in a manuscript might be remedied. Common weaknesses of reviews were lack of specificity and inappropriate focus. Virtually all editors provided some form of preparation or guidance to reviewers. Peer review has an impact on nurses' workload and careers, and training in writing and critique should be included in nursing education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to construct a theory of women's experiences in violent relationships that would be grounded in diverse qualitative reports and relevant across geographic and sociocultural contexts.DESIGN: Qualitative, grounded formal theory analysis.SETTING: Analysis of 13 research reports.POPULATION: Women were originally recruited from a variety of rural and urban settings across the United States and Canada, including a courthouse, women's shelters, support groups, etc. Ages ranged from 16 to 67 years. The total number of women in the samples was 282.INTERVENTIONS: Following procedures described elsewhere for grounded formal theory development, data were collected systematically from each report. Each report was characterized and the data were summarized in an extensive grid to facilitate cross-case comparison. Constant comparative analysis was conducted.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Across sociocultural contexts, violence against women was invisible and accepted by the women themselves, the couple, their families of origin, and their acquaintances and community in order to preserve the values of commitment and social stability. The basic process by which women sought to reconcile these internal and external conflicts within violent relationships was enduring love, a continual struggle to redefine partner violence as temporary, survivable, or reasonable. Many women moved through four phases, which began with discounting early violence for the sake of their romantic commitment, progressed to immobilization and demoralization in the face of increasingly unpredictable violence, shifted to a perspective that redefined the situation as unacceptable, and finally moved out of the relationship and toward a new life.RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: Enduring love is a model of women's experience in violent relationships that draws from a variety of context and integrates psychological, sociocultural, and practical conditions. The contribution of the present analysis is the consolidation of conceptual components from different studies and the bringing together of a broad spectrum of data in support of this analysis. Future research should include further investigation of shrinking of self, demoralization, and immobilization as increasing women's health risks in violent relationships, with the eventual testing of interventions to reduce these high-risk conditions. [CINAHL abstract] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This grounded formal theory study was designed to develop a midrange theory of women's addiction recovery from multiple substantive reports. Ten research reports from diverse contexts were analyzed using theoretical sampling and constant comparison. The basic problem of addiction was found to be self-destructive self-nurturing. The basic process of recovery was truthful self-nurturing, which required a painful awareness shift in which addiction gained meaning as a problem. Subsequent recovery involved three areas of social-psychological change: abstinence work, self-work, and connection work. Consequences were enjoying simple pleasures, growing self-understanding, self-acceptance, and sense of belonging, and empowered connectedness. The theory was supported by findings of other qualitative studies of the same phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women who use crack cocaine have been characterized as promiscuous and careless about unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases. To evaluate the validity of these claims, we used the grounded theory approach to analyze transcripts from 100 interviews with women crack users, exploring their experiences and views on sexuality, fertility, contraception, and pregnancy-related decisions. Many women told of unforeseen events in the social world of crack cocaine use, such as pressures to trade sex for drugs, in a cultural and economic milieu already restrictive of women's reproductive and personal goals. The women accommodated shrinking control over their reproductive lives through 'learning by losing,' finding out through failure how to protect their remaining options for selfhood. This process included stages of reappraising, limiting, and settling for less, as choices diminished over time. Women's actions were tied to their changing attitudes on motherhood, fertility, and sexuality issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pragmatic clinical trials (PCTs) are an important research approach for nurse researchers seeking to bring efficacious interventions to the real world of clinical practice. These approaches take into account the complex and often messy conditions of clinical care, involving patients with comorbid conditions, many providers providing the intervention, and limited evaluation data with which to judge effectiveness., Purpose: The purposes of this paper are to describe the challenges for PCT manuscript writer and to review the various guidelines that may be used to assist in manuscript development., Discussion: Describing the design and results of a PCT in a manuscript for publication is challenging due to the complexity and unique context of these important trials. Guidelines and other resources are available to assist researchers in preparing manuscripts reporting PCTs., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Although many older adults suffer from dysphagia and are required to eat texture-modified diets, little is known about the experiences and challenges faced in doing so at home. In this study, we explored the perspectives of community-dwelling older adults as they struggled to balance dysphagia symptoms and recommended diet modifications with their preferred lifestyles., Design and Methods: Using an interpretive descriptive design, we conducted 37 in-home semi-structured interviews and 5 member-checking interviews, participant observations during a meal, and reviewed the medical charts of 20 participants recruited through maximum variation purposeful sampling. Meaning units and codes were identified and synthesized into 4 themes., Results: Participants faced a frightening choice between eating and breathing. Hiding dysphagia symptoms from the public eye was important to preserve self-identity. Following the recommended diet created a feeling that life was "falling apart." We also found that adhering to the diet was not an "all or none" phenomenon., Implications: Given that correct adherence to the restrictive diet is rare, to effectively manage dysphagia symptoms, clinicians must appreciate the full range of impact of dysphagia and texture-modified diets on the lives of older adults.

In this qualitative descriptive study, 30 young, unmarried, low-income African American mothers in Memphis, TN, were interviewed in 2011-2012 about their discipline strategies with their 12- to 19-month-old children. Using content analyses, their strategies were described and compared with those from a similar sample in 1992. Findings suggest both continuity and change during that 20-year period. More mothers in 2011-2012 described the use of distraction and time out, suggesting a wider variety of strategies than were used in 1992. These findings may help clinicians to better understand disciplinary methods in young low-income African American mothers such as these in Memphis. Approaching mothers in a respectful and culturally sensitive manner will help them focus on effective, developmentally appropriate strategies consistent with their own parenting goals., (Copyright © 2015 National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

HIV vaccine trials with minors will likely require parental permission and informed assent from adolescents. For this to be a valid process, the information needs to be presented in a manner that promotes adolescent comprehension. Previous studies suggest that adolescent comprehension of assent is often insufficient. We developed an interactive web-based assent that included interspersed quiz questions for a hypothetical HIV vaccine trial. Efficacy of the web-based assent was compared to a standard paper assent with and without interspersed questions. One hundred twenty teen participants, ages 15-17 years, from five community organizations were randomized to self-administered web-based assent (n=60) or investigator-administered paper assent with (n=29) or without (n=31) interspersed quiz questions. After reviewing the assent, participants completed a 27-item comprehension test. Comprehension scores were compared between groups. The mean number of correctly answered questions were 21.2 for the full paper group and 21.1 for the web-based group (t118=-0.08, p=0.94). Scores were 20.2 for the paper without interspersed questions sub-group and 22.1 for the paper with interspersed questions sub-group (t58=1.96, p=0.055). Participants in the web-based group performed as well on the comprehension test as those in the paper group, and those in the paper with questions sub-group performed better than those in the paper without questions sub-group, suggesting that interspersed quiz questions may improve understanding of a traditional paper assent. The minimal investigator time and standardized administration of the web-based assent as well as ability to tailor the assent discussion to topics identified by incorrect comprehension test responses are advantages worthy of further investigation.

Objective: To describe mothers' reasons for leaving a home visiting program early., Design: Qualitative descriptive study using semistructured interviews of mothers who dropped out of the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) and two focus groups with nurses and nurse supervisors at an NFP site., Setting: A New York State site of a NFP home visitation program for low-income new mothers designed to improve the physical and emotional care of children., Participants: Participants included 21 mothers, 8 nurses, and 3 nurse-supervisors., Methods: Semistructured interviews and focus groups were used to collect data, which were analyzed using content analysis., Results: The program was not perceived to fit a mother's needs when she was overwhelmed with other responsibilities, the nurse did not meet her expectations, the content was not of interest, or the mother did not desire visits after the infant was born. Nurses and mothers described the need for mothers to have organizational and communication skills, such as keeping track of appointments, calling to reschedule, articulating needs, and asking for assistance. Disruptive external influences included nurse turnover and unstable living situations, including frequent moves and crowded housing. Each of these types of barriers had potential to interact with the others, creating complex combinations of challenges to retention., Conclusion: NFP retention might be improved by reframing program relevance to individual mothers and increasing maternal organizational and communication skill development., (© 2013 AWHONN, the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.)

Low-income and African American patients in women's health clinics are at risk for depression and under-treatment of their depression. This study aimed to understand women's health patients' experiences of depressive symptoms and perspectives on the low uptake of psychotherapy. Twenty-three women with depressive symptoms from a women's health clinic completed individual qualitative interviews. Women reported risk of harm in the therapeutic relationship as the primary barrier; physical and mental health symptoms and doubt that psychotherapy will help were also described. Women also reported psychotherapy can be helpful by allowing women to express their feelings, gain insight, and make life changes.

Background: Internet searches on health topics are common, but not enough is known about online use during serious health concerns. The aim of this study was to investigate parents' internet use and responses to online information following the referral of their newborn screen-positive infants., Methods: Forty-four parents were interviewed about their internet use during their infants' evaluations for a potential metabolic disorder. Responses to open-ended questions were audio taped and transcribed. Content analysis was used in analyzing the interview data., Results: An overwhelming majority of parents (89%) accessed the internet and most went online before meeting with genetic providers at metabolic treatment centers. Primary and genetic providers did not routinely recommend websites to parents. Online descriptions of metabolic disorders increased parents' anxieties. Some parents allayed their distress by enlisting others to search and filter information for them and by seeking optimistic internet content about the disorders. Parents with fewer years of education were often baffled by complex disease information. Parents found limited information about treatments or what to expect during the clinical evaluations of their infants., Conclusions: The internet is an integral part of health care and an important source of information for newborn screening parents. Parents may benefit from recommendations of credible websites and discussions of internet information with health care providers.

Objective: To understand single Black adolescent mothers' perspectives on the sexual and parenting-related aspects of their relationships with the biological fathers of their children., Methods: The study was a qualitative description of perspectives from a convenience sample of Black single (nonmarried) adolescent mothers. Data were generated through focus groups and interviews. Participants were recruited using self-referral and health provider referrals., Setting: The study was conducted in a county public health department sexually transmitted diseases clinic in Rochester, New York., Participants: Single mothers (N = 31) ages 15 to 19 participated in the study. The mean age of participants was 17.5 years (SD = 1.4)., Findings: Four themes were identified that reflected the major characteristics of the relationships between the mothers and the biological fathers of their children: (a) You will always care about your "baby daddy" because of your child, (b) Negative behavior is tolerated to keep the family together, (c) The "baby daddy" can get sex as long as we are not on bad terms, and (d) He will always be part of our lives., Conclusion: Black adolescent mothers have complex relationships with the biological fathers of their children that may include ongoing sexual activity. The intersection of coparenting and sexual health needs among adolescent mothers highlights the importance of integrating sexually transmitted infections prevention with perinatal health programs. It is important to consider this unique coparenting relationship when providing risk-reduction counseling to young mothers., (© 2012 AWHONN, the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.)

Our purpose in this study was to describe Black adolescent mothers' decisions regarding condom use and non-use with their male sex partners, including their children's fathers. Research on partner type and condom use has been insufficiently focused on understanding the specific influence that the biological father of the baby has on condom use among adolescent mothers. We conducted five focus groups and three interviews with 31 predominantly African-American mothers. We found that their decisions to use condoms always, never, or sometimes were based on partner type and on emotional and relationship factors. The "baby daddy" was the only partner with whom they never used condoms. HIV/STI prevention interventions for adolescent mothers must address risk taking with their children's biological fathers., (Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)