Celebrating excellence and innovation in gerontological nursing

Senior researchers, known across the world and widely regarded for their high-quality science; clinical nurses creating action from personal experience; new investigators submitting their original research report with the goal of making a difference for others; collaborative teams who strive to improve care and share their experience with others. International Journal of Older People Nursing (IJOPN) draws authors from dozens of countries around the world, all sharing the same objective – make life for older people better by advancing nursing care they receive. The IJOPN paper awards, new to the journal for 2015 and beyond, recognise excellence and innovation. When authors select IJOPN as a potential venue for their work, they join us in creating a community of gerontological nurses – clinicians and academics alike – who are guided by exemplary contributions to the literature, contributions recognised here. Awards in each of the two categories are presented for research by an author at any career stage and for research led by a first author who was a degree student at the time the research was conducted. In keeping with our commitment to vigorous peer review, Prof Joyce Varner of the University of South Alabama in the United States, Dr Victoria Traynor of the University of Wollongong in Australia, and Dr Joanne Fitzpatrick of King's College London in the United Kingdom joined together to form our awards review panel. Together, we reviewed all that IJOPN published in the past calendar year, drawing a short list from an outstanding group of papers. With the four awards in mind, we were able to identify works that shape practice and advance scientific methods. Award-winning papers presented a qualitative or quantitative analysis including systematic review, the findings of which have potential to significantly influence practice in gerontological nursing. The papers chosen for the award are distinguished by exceptional and possibly groundbreaking insights arising from clear aims extended in thoughtfully conceived and carefully conducted investigations. We are pleased to present three awards in this category. The paper led by Prof Deborah Parker at the University of Western Sydney in New South Wales Australia reports on family perspectives on palliative care conferences in long-term care (Parker D., Clifton K., Tuckett A., Walker H., Reymond E., Prior T., McAnelly K., Jenkin P., Israel F., Greeve K. & Glaetzer K. (2015) Palliative care case conferences in long-term care: views of family members. International Journal of Older People Nursing, 11(2)). Prof Parker stated ‘The article arose from a study to develop a model for a palliative approach in long term care. The study was funded by the Australian Government under the Encouraging Best Practice in Residential Aged Care. The model of care includes three key processes designed to improve the quality of care and quality of dying of older people in long term care. These key processes are advance care planning, palliative care case conferences and using an end of life care pathway. The model and supporting resources are provided in the Palliative Approach Toolkit (www.caresearch.com.au/PAToolkit)’. Dr Jennifer Baumbusch at the University of British Columbia in Canada is lead author on an analysis of factors influencing nurses’ readiness to care for older people in hospital (Baumbusch J., Leblanc M.-E., Shaw M. & Kjorven M. (2015) Factors influencing nurses’ readiness to care for hospitalised older people. International Journal of Older People Nursing, 11(2)). Dr. Baumbusch told us ‘This study grew out of a practice-academic collaborative and includes two advance practice gerontological nurses in the author group (Kjorven and Shaw). We believe that there is incredible potential when practitioners and researchers come together to pursue research in partnership and that the outcomes of such research can have valuable impact in practice, policy, education and research. Our study draws attention to a critical and current issue in healthcare: the urgent need for hospitals to be responsive to the unique needs of older people. Importantly, we illustrate the central role of nurses in transforming this healthcare setting to meet the needs of our aging population’. Mr. Edward Randall of the Specialist Receiving Unit in the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust reported a systematic review, done whilst a graduate student, on interventions to reduce disruptive vocalisation among people with dementia (Randall E.W. & Clissett P.C. (2016) What are the relative merits of interventions used to reduce the occurrences of disruptive vocalisation in persons with dementia? – a systematic review. International Journal of Older People Nursing 11(1), 4–17). Mr. Randall poignantly reported that ‘…the work was inspired through my Grandfather who was diagnosed with dementia and saw how much it was affecting both his loved ones and his carers. He developed only minor examples of what was discussed in the article but I felt it was important to address the underlying issues and seek improvements in dementia care. Although the research was inconclusive, it highlighted things that I am now using within my own practice and hopefully others can too’. Award-winning papers presented an analysis that holds significant merit in both originality and methodological rigour for the field of gerontological nursing. Award-winning papers are distinctive in precise and transparently executed methods that met the challenges of the research question the authors posed in innovative, creative or unusually rigorous ways. Dr. Marina Adra at the American University of Beirut worked with two colleagues to report on quality of life for elders residing in long-term care in Lebanon (Adra M.G., Hopton J. & Keady J. (2015) Constructing the meaning of quality of life for residents in care homes in the Lebanon: perspectives of residents, staff and family. International Journal of Older People Nursing 10(4), 306–318). Dr. Adra tells a compelling story of how she and her colleagues came to explore this topic ‘In the course of my nursing practice, I visited two nursing homes in Beirut, Lebanon and developed an increasing concern about the care milieu, notably relating to the feeling of powerlessness experienced by the older residents and their visiting families. The residents in need of the most support seemed to be almost voiceless and consequently unable to make choices or control over aspects of their life. Given the scarcity of previous empirical studies that address nursing home residents’ perceptions and perspectives of quality of life in Lebanon, I came to the conclusion that much needs to be done to make the voices of older residents heard and to understand from their perspective what makes a ‘good’ quality of life, or otherwise. Consequently, a decision was taken to conduct a study exploring the perceptions, perspectives and meanings of nursing home residents about their quality of life. Lending older people a platform for their voice to be heard has been central to this study and a motivating force for me in the conduct of the research design. It is also the first qualitative study in the Lebanon that has involved the contribution and active participation of older residents in care’. Ms. Jenny Hallgren, a doctoral student, reported on factors associated with risk of hospitalisation among a group of older people residing in nursing homes in Sweden (Hallgren J., Ernsth Bravell M., Mölstad S., Östgren C.J., Midlöv P., Dahl Aslan A.K. (2015) Factors associated with increased hospitalisation risk among nursing home residents in Sweden: a prospective study with a three-year follow-up. International Journal of Older People Nursing 11(2)). Dr. Hallgren told us that ‘research on hospitalization risk factors is an important area targeting all older persons, but especially for persons living in nursing homes that are particularly fragile. I have always felt a special interest for this particular research area, and with this award I will be even more inspired to continue doing research that can contribute to improve care for persons in nursing homes’. That these inaugural awards for papers published in IJOPN instigate future outstanding achievement is a fitting continuation of the cycle of excellence and innovation we hope to catalyse among gerontological nurses around the world. Please join us in celebrating our award-winning papers, taking the time to read and share them with your colleagues.

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