Janice M. Bell, Author at International Family Nursing Association

Dr. Diana Arabiat Focuses on Supporting Children and Families to Self-Manage and Cope with Chronic Illness

Diana Arabiat, RN, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Nursing at Edith Cowan University (ECU), Australia. She has been a pediatric nurse most of her career and has held research positions in several countries including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Australia. Her multidisciplinary research and teaching focus on supporting children and families to effectively self-manage and cope with chronic/long-term conditions using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Collectively her publications over the last 16 years have been focused on understanding the child and family experience of chronic illnesses and seeking to improve and tailor support to meet the needs of families whose children need health care.

Diana is an active member of the ORIGINS birth cohort study in Western Australia, the International Network of Child and Family Centered Care, as well as ACCYPN, Australian College of Children and Young People’s Nurses. She has been a strong advocate for the rights of parents whose children need health care. She has over 40 publications in peer- reviewed journals with high impact factors. Two features describe her research – firstly, it is largely interdisciplinary. The other characteristic of her work is its international focus, which began during her doctoral studies in the United Kingdom (UK) and has grown in scope since. She works with colleagues in the UK, Australia, the Middle East, and Fiji.

Diana is currently serving as a member of the IFNA Practice Committee. For more information, contact IFNA member, Diana Arabiat.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dnarabiat

Planetary Health Matters for Families: A Call to Action for Family Nursing

On this 50^th anniversary of Earth Day, humans worldwide are celebrating their home planet from the confines of home, with their families. Six months ago, when we began developing the IFNA Position Statement on Planetary Health and Family Health, we proposed a launch of this document to coincide with Earth Day 2020, which seemed fitting. We could not have imagined the global health crisis that would emerge in the interim. Yet the current situation has made poignantly clear the link between the health of the planet and human behaviour.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to forced isolation of millions of families around the globe, with stay-at-home orders and shuttering of businesses. As we have retreated into our homes, a striking consequence has become apparent in our neighbourhoods, cities, and landscapes: an eerie quiet has settled in, wildlife is emerging from hiding, and skies are clearing of pollution. Seismologists are reporting decreased quivering of the Earth’s crust, with fewer humans moving about. The stark reality of human-caused disruptions of the planet’s ecosystems is setting in. The planet Earth seems to be thriving in our absence.

We share this planet with all creatures and ecosystems, and we need to get along in order to survive. This pandemic will pass, and humans will emerge from their homes and resume the very activities that harm the planet. Yet this isn’t an all-or-nothing predicament: we don’t need to resume our pre-pandemic ways of being in relationship with the planet. We can emerge from our isolation and into the world with a new understanding of our connection with the Earth, and a commitment to actions that support both planetary health and family health.

Planetary health is a concept focused on the relationship between the Earth’s natural systems and human health. Using a planetary health lens enables us to appreciate the link between human health and the environment, and to consider actions that promote positive outcomes for human and planetary health. The IFNA Position Statement on Planetary Health and Family Health outlines nine essential activities and outcomes for the organization that incorporates a planetary health lens to promote family health and minimize our negative impact on the environment.

Over the past six months, we have had the privilege of developing this position statement with a global network of IFNA members, key stakeholders, and experts. As an ad hoc committee authorized by the IFNA Board of Directors, we implemented the process outlined in IFNA’s Policy and Procedure for Writing Position Statements and Issue Papers. With consultation from the co-chairs of the IFNA Practice, Research, and Education committees and external content experts, we developed a draft that was distributed to IFNA members for review and comment over a 30-day period.

The response from members and stakeholders was overwhelmingly positive and supportive. The topic is perceived as relevant and urgent to members and to families worldwide. The most common question was: How are we going to implement this? We realized early on that we could not tackle improved planetary health as a primary outcome of the statement itself – this statement is intended to inform and offer direction to healthcare professionals, educators, policymakers, and the public. The next stage is critical: now we must act.

What this position statement adds to the existing body of literature and resources is the explicit focus on the link between family health and planetary health. More than just a bioecological context for individual health, planetary health has a vital link to the family. For example, increasing rates of acute and chronic illness due to climate change have led to shifts in caregiving responsibilities within families. Food shortages resulting from crop failure have led to food insecurity and family migration. Local instability in low-resource communities during disasters leads to displacement of families from their homes. All of these changes have the potential for prolonged family stress, mental health consequences, and the transmission of trauma across generations. Planetary health matters to families, and this matters to family nurses.

The IFNA Position Statement on Planetary Health and Family Health takes a bold stance on our responsibility to act on the known linkages between planetary health and family health. So how are we going to implement the activities outlined in this new position statement? There is a robust body of resources already available for educators, researchers, and practitioners who wish to improve the health of families and the planet. We urge family nurses and IFNA members to use the standing committee structure of the organization and to incorporate a planetary health lens in identifying and disseminating strategies for family nursing education, research, and practice.

Family nursing educators can use existing resources such as planetary health syllabi from the Planetary Health Alliance, the free e-textbook Environmental Health in Nursing, and learning objectives and case studies from the Sustainable Healthcare Education network to incorporate this content either as standalone courses or integrated across existing courses in a program.

There is a critical need for new knowledge about how the earth’s ecosystems impact family health and interventions to support family adaptation and resilience. Family nursing researchers can use the searchable bibliography on planetary health that is curated by the Planetary Health Alliance to inform current and future research on the link between planetary health and family health.

Through generalist and advanced family nursing practice, nurses have a direct and essential impact on family health through assessment and intervention. One example of family nursing practice strategies developed in response to a global health crisis is the COVID-19 Family Nursing Resources page on the IFNA website, with a curated set of information and resources specific to families, nurses, and family nursing. Walsh’s Family Resilience Framework is another resource for family assessment and intervention that can guide practice in the context of planetary health-related changes in family health.

Finally, the position statement outlines some practical strategies that our organization can take to minimize our negative impact on the planet, such as holding “green meetings” and considering responsible travel practices such as those outlined by the Center for Responsible Travel and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.

Together, we can make a difference for the health of the planet and for the health of families. IFNA’s position is clear: planetary health matters to families, and urgent action by family nurses is required in order to protect the health of families. Please join us in celebrating Earth Day, and commit to taking action as we re-emerge into the world over the coming months.

We leave you with these words from the poet Mary Oliver, in her poem, Invitation:

It is a serious thing

just to be alive

on this fresh morning

in this broken world.

I beg of you,

do not walk by

without pausing

to attend to this

rather ridiculous performance.

It could mean something.

It could mean everything.

It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:

You must change your life.

Wendy Looman, Paula Nersesian, and Katie Huffling

Wendy Looman, PhD, APRN, CPNP, is a Professor and Chair of the Child and Family Health Cooperative at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing and a member of the IFNA Board of Directors. You can follow her on Twitter at @looma003.

Paula Nersesian, PhD, MPH, RN, is an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and a liaison between the IFNA Communications and Research Committees. You can follow her on Twitter at @PaulaNersesian.

Katie Huffling, MS, RN, CNM, is a Certified Nurse-Midwife and Executive Director of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments. She works with nurses and nursing organizations on environmental health issues including climate change and inclusion of environmental health into nursing education.

Image Credits: Pixabay

https://pixabay.com/vectors/nature-tree-forest-sunset-sky-4849938/

https://pixabay.com/illustrations/tree-moon-night-sky-landscape-3335115/

https://pixabay.com/illustrations/trees-branches-abstract-colors-3174717/

Dr. Nicole Letourneau Examines the Intersection of Parenting and Child Health & Development

Nicole Letourneau RN, PhD, is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Science and Professor in the Faculty of Nursing and Cumming School of Medicine (Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Community Health Sciences) at the University of Calgary, Canada, where she holds the Alberta Children’s Hospital Chair in Parent-Infant Mental Health and is Director of RESOLVE (Research and Education for Solutions to Violence) Alberta. Formerly, she was Canada Research Chair in Healthy Child Development. She is Principal Investigator (PI) of the Child Health Intervention and Longitudinal Development (CHILD) Studies Program (www.CHILDStudies.ca), examining parenting and child health & development in the context of maternal depression, family violence and other toxic stressors. She is also PI of APrON, the Alberta pregnancy cohort of 2200 families funded for follow-up to 12 years of child age, mainly focusing on predictors of and intersections between parental mental health and child behavioural development. She has attained more than $58 million CDN in research funding for her work.

She is the author of two books including Scientific Parenting: What Science Reveals About Parental Influence published in 2013 and What Kind of Parent Am I? published in 2018, both by Toronto’s Dundurn Publishing Company, as well as more than 180 peer reviewed papers. A regular contributor of opinion-editorials appearing in online and print media such as the HuffPost and Toronto Star, she is the most followed nurse on Twitter in the world (@DrNLetourneau). She has attained many honours including Canada’s Top New CIHR Investigator in 2006, Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2007, Awards for Research Excellence from the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta in 2015 and the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing in 2017, named a Difference Maker by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in 2017 and the Excellence in Leadership Award from the Canadian Association of Perinatal and Women’s Health Nurses. She is the incoming President of the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta and founder of the ATTACH^TM (attach.teachable.com) and VID-KIDS community health programs.

For more information contact @IFNAorg member, Nicole Letourneau.

Website: http://www.childstudies.ca

Twitter: https://twitter.com/drnletourneau

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nicole-letourneau-a733708

COVID-19 Pandemic and Family Nursing: IFNA President and President-Elect Offer a Message to Members

Dear IFNA colleagues around the world:

These COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) times are unprecedented and uncertain for nurses and midwives (hereafter referred to as nurses) caring for families in uncharted territory. The 2020 Year of the Nurse and Midwife initiative has taken on new meaning as nurses are on the frontlines ensuring access to safe and quality care. We receive messages each day from IFNA members telling stories of unfailing compassion with patients suffering from COVID-19 and its complications. In the context of COVID-19, nurses in hospitals are seeing the suffering that patients and clients (hereafter referred to as patients) experience without their families present due to restricted visiting. In addition, nurses in the community and other care facilities are seeing family members being separated because of local Quarantine and Self-isolation regulations that are designed to reduce the risk of cross-infection.

Family Experiences

IFNA members tell us that:

Patients are missing their families
Families are missing their loved ones

We know from past experiences with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003, the 2014 – 2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and as far back as the polio epidemic in the 1940s and 1950s, that families dealing with quarantine and separation experience:

Uncertainty
Stigmatization
Anxiety
Insomnia
Fear, loneliness, boredom, anger
Worry about the effects of quarantine and contagion
Separation
Loss of livelihood
Sadness about the inability to fulfil their moral duty to provide family care

Research shows that nurses can and do help families who are isolated or separated in these troubling times by:

Sharing consistent messages of ways to protect each other (see Resources listed below).
Facilitating visual/audio social media connections between patients and loved ones
Focusing on the mental health of all family members
Addressing illness suffering through family nursing interventions
Creating new routines incorporating virtual living
- Virtual faith service/worship attendance
- Daily school and work routines
- Taking mental breaks from COVID-19 news
- Seeking out virtual sources for counselling, support groups
- Taking virtual nature tours
- Physical exercise while social distancing (walks, etc.)
Supporting family members to continue their education and work
Creating virtual family celebrations and rituals

Family Nurse Experiences

Very importantly, nurses caring for families are often experiencing incredible pressures, stress, and anxiety. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your devotion and dedication despite the current very difficult conditions for our profession. If you are in practice, thank you for your compassionate and scientifically-informed care. If you are in education, thank you for nurturing students through learning about how to support families in these challenging times. If you are in research, thank you for your commitment to discovering how we can provide better family care in pandemics now and in the future.

We know from the research about quarantines, epidemics, and situations that limit family visiting in health care settings, nurses experience:

Fear of transmission of the virus to their own family, friends, and colleagues
Fear of personal infection due to lack of protective measures and equipment
Uncertainty about the future
Stigmatization
Suffering

Read about the experience of one nurse here.

We encourage you, our family nursing colleagues on the COVID-19 frontlines, to:

Care for your mental health
Record and journal your experience

We commend you for:

Your compassion
Your dedication
Your advocacy
Your brilliance
Your kindness
Your efforts to keep patients and families connected during these times of separation and loneliness

A nurse in New York, USA has written a tribute that we share with you here.

We invite you to record your experiences, your observations, and your work with patients, with families, and in assisting patients in connecting with families through this pandemic. We invite you share your reflections with our IFNA community. This is one specific wellness strategy just for you.

If you have the energy and time, we also invite you to share specific communication processes you are using to enhance family/patient communication and address illness suffering especially for in-patients and critically ill patients during this difficult time. Please share your family nursing interventions with our IFNA community.

Your recommendations will help us all.

We are with you, we support you, we treasure you! Be safe, be healthy, and take good care!

Sincerely,

IFNA President, Sonja J. Meiers, PhD, RN, PHN

IFNA President-Elect, Veronica Swallow, PhD, MMedSCi, BSc (Hons), RGN, RSCN

Resources

Note that a COVID-19 repository of helpful information and resources specific to families, nurses, and family nursing is continually being updated by the IFNA Communications Committee: https://internationalfamilynursing.org/association-information/covid-19-family-nursing-resources/

Brooks, S.K., Webster, R.K., Smith, L.E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., & Rubin, G.R. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: Rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet, 395(10227), 912–920. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8

Caleo, G., Duncombe, J., Jephcott, F., Lokuge, K., Mills, C., Looijen, E., Theoharaki, F., Kremer, R., Kleijer, K., Squire, J., Lamin, M., Stringer, B., Weiss, H.A., Culli, D., Luca Di Tanna, G., Greig, J. (2018). The factors affecting household transmission dynamics and community compliance with Ebola control measures: A mixed-methods study in a rural village in Sierra Leone. BMC Public Health, 18,248. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5158-6

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Gates, B. (2020). Perspective: Responding to Covid-19 – A once-in-a-century pandemic? New England Journal of Medicine.
https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp2003762

Haggman, H., Kenkre, J., & Wallace, C. (2016). Occupational health for humanitarian aid workers in an Ebola outbreak. Journal of Research in Nursing, 21(1), 22-36. https://doi.org/10.1177/1744987116630578

Lin, E.C., Peng, Y.C., & Tsai, J.C. (2010). Lessons learned from the anti-SARS quarantine experience in a hospital-based fever screening station in Taiwan. American Journal of Infection Control, 38(4), 302–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2009.09.008

Manuell, M.E., & Cukor, J. (2011). Mother Nature versus human nature: Public compliance with evacuation and quarantine. Disasters, 35(2), 417–442. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7717.2010.01219.x

National Health Service (United Kingdom). Advice for everyone. Coronavirus (COVID-19). https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

Quaglio, G., Pizzol, D., Bome, D., Kebbie, A., Bangura, Z., Massaquoi, V., Frasson, C., Dalla Riva, D., & Putoto, G. (2016). Maintaining maternal and child health services during the Ebola outbreak: Experience from Pujehun, Sierra Leone. PLoS Currents, 8. https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/currents.outbreaks.d67aea257f572201f835772d7f188ba5

United Kingdom Government, Department for Children, Schools and Families (2009). Think: Improving Support for Families at Risk Toolkit. https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130323053534/https:/www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/Think-Family.pdf

United States Government. Coronavirus (COVID-19). How to prepare yourself. What to do if you think you are sick. https://www.coronavirus.gov

World Health Organization. Coronavirus. https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus

Check out the new and growing COVID-19 repository of helpful information and resources specific to families, nurses, and family nursing developed by the IFNA Communications Committee: https://internationalfamilynursing.org/association-information/covid-19-family-nursing-resources/

Nadine Henriquez Leads Family Nursing Education and Research at Brandon University, Canada

Nadine Henriquez, RN, MN, is an Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health Studies, Department of Nursing at Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, where she teaches in the bachelor of nursing program.

Nadine’s teaching incorporates her expertise in older adult and family health using a faculty developed Family Case Model approach to examine individual and family responses to illness while emphasizing nurses’ roles in health promotion, prevention, curative, rehabilitative, and supportive care. This methodology provides a meaningful forum for nursing students to “think family first”, and to understand how the larger social context, environmental risks, and resources may impact older adults mental and physical health and function.

Nadine’s research examining the impact of including Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/questioning (LGBTQ) curricular theory on students and the experiences of LGBTQ persons receiving healthcare led to the development of innovative curricular content across the program. This family-focused approach has helped improve future nurses’ understanding of how LGBTQ individuals experience physical and emotional (mental) health, and how they access health services within their community. This diversified model also challenges the heteronormative discourse dominating nursing programs and helps future nurses to recognize how LGBTQ “families of choice” may defy traditional images of familial structure. For more information, contact IFNA member Nadine Henriquez.

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/nadine-henriquez-88aa8789