Global Perspectives on the Ministry of Parish Nursing Practice: Frequently Used Interventions by Parish Nurses in Swaziland Africa, United Kingdom and United States

Tuesday, 1 November 2011: 8:30 AM

P. Ann Solari-Twadell, PhD, MPA, RN, FAAN
Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL
Helen Wordsworth, RN, RM, RHV, RNT
Department of Religious Studies, Cambridge, North Rugby, United Kingdom
Cynthia Gustafson, RN, PhD
None, None at this time, None, MT

Learning Objective 1: 1. The learner will be able to understand the globalization of the ministry of parish nursing practice.

Learning Objective 2: 2. The learner will be able to discuss similarities and differences in nursing interventions used by parish nurses in Swaziland, United Kingdom and United States.

This presentation compares data from a replication of a national study of most frequently used nursing interventions by parish nurses in the United States. The purpose of the international studies is to identify the most frequently used interventions by parish nurses in Swaziland, Africa and United Kingdom. These international findings are compared with the national study done in the United States. The design of the studies is descriptive and cross sectional Respondents used a survey consisting of 486 nursing interventions included in the Nursing Intervention Classification System. The survey used a five point scale using rarely if at all, about once a month, about once a week, about once a day, and several times a day.  Responses were entered into a data base using SPSS, ranked within the categories of several times a day/daily, weekly and monthly, with the interventions used most frequently in each category being one in that category. Due to the smaller numbers of respondents in Swaziland and the United Kingdom, once the data was analyzed, focus groups reviewed the findings with the participants using a nominal method confirming the most frequently used interventions in each category. Due to the culture, mortality and morbidity in Swaziland the most frequently used nursing interventions differed from those employed by parish nurses in the United States and the United Kingdom. However, interventions core to the practice of parish nursing were among the frequently used nursing interventions. Parish nurses in Swaziland and the United Kingdom were able to select those interventions employed most frequently by using the interventions found in the Nursing Intervention Classification System. Although there are differences in the nursing interventions used frequently by parish nurses in the United States, United Kingdom and Swaziland there is consistency in the use of interventions identified as core to the practice.