Background: Touching exists in different forms and can be experienced through the skin. By touching oxytocin is released like a relaxing hormone which counteracts anxiety and depression. Therapeutic contact and healing touch are methods nurses? uses to give positive feeling of serenity, warmth and wellbeing for the patients. Touching can be a method for communication and happiness when word is not enough.

Background: In previous studies on the subject hope it has been revealed that hope is an important condition for the experience of health, quality of life and well-being. In the literature hope is described as a great support in life that is vital for a person's life and for how the person manages to become afflicted with a fatal disease. Within palliative care the 6S: s is a person-centered model for care that is directed towards the promotion of patient´s participation, relief from suffering and enablement of well-being and support of the patient and his or her family members. Aim: To describe how patients find hope in their situation in palliative care, and to examine whether there is an interaction between the different dimensions of 6 S: s model and with patients' experiences of hope. Methods: This degree project is literature study.

In this study, cortisol in saliva and pain related behaviours in calves were used as markers of distress when comparing two different dehorning methods; scoop or cautery. We also investigated the effect of a non steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), meloxikam, on postoperative distress after dehorning with either dehorning scoop or cautery iron. Twenty calves were dehorned on one randomly chosen side by scoop method and on the other side by cautery. Five months later, the effect on horn growth was investigated. Horn production was observed in seven of the calves.

In this study, 29 calves were dehorned by heat cauterisation at the age of 1 to 8 weeks. Before the procedure, the calves were given local anaesthetic but were not sedated. In connection with the dehorning, 14 calves were given the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) meloxicam and 15 calves were given placebo. During the following three days behavioural studies were performed to investigate if the different treatments had any effect on the calves´ postoperative behaviour. Head shakes, head rubs, kicks and ear flicks were studied, as earlier studies have shown that an increase in these behavioural patterns suggests postoperative pain.

The aim of this study was to develop and psychometrically evaluate an instrument for measuring the impact from chronic pain on daily life. Traditionally psychometric evaluation is done with parametric methods even if the items are ordinal data. In this study the instrument to be developed is solely based on ordinal data, and the psychometrically evaluation is done with both traditional methods (i.e. parametric statistics) as well as with non-parametric methods. These two different ways of psychometrically evaluation are then compared with each other.

Dystocia, or difficult birth, is a commonly seen complication to natural birth in veterinary hospitals. Although other methods of resolving dystocia exist, 60 % of dystocias will need to undergo caesarean section. To perform a caesarean section, the bitch will have to undergo anesthesia. The purpose of this literary study was to provide a deeper understanding regarding how the physiologic changes that occur during pregnancy influence anesthetic management in the bitch and puppies. Which anesthetic drugs and drug combinations indicated was also investigated as well as how a veterinary nurse can optimize care of the mother throughout the procedure and how resuscitation of the puppies should be carried out for best possible outcome.

Support group activities for children with mentally ill parent´s, without a parallel parent group, is by far the most common form in Sweden. The activities have primarily focused on increasing the frequency of the protective factors around children. Of course, parents and the families are also influenced of children´s participating in these activities. Most studies examining support group activities for children from the child's perspective. The experiences of parent?s perspective have not been well studied.

Hjärtsvikt är ett tillstånd som ökar i dagens samhälle. Tillståndet påverkar många funktioner i det dagliga livet som främst beror på symtom och olika behov som gör vardagen svår för individen. Syftet var att beskriva individens upplevelse av att leva med hjärtsvikt. Metoden som användes var en litteraturöversikt med en kvalitativ ansats, med sammanlagt 12 artiklar. Analysen resulterade i huvudtematEn oförutsägbar och sviktande kropp med de tillhörande temana En ny livssituaion, Att uppleva trygghet, Att behöva anpassa sig till det nya tillståndet samt Att finna mening med livet.

Shivering är ett fenomen som uppstår hos patienterna postoperativt. Det innebär att patienten har okontrollerbara muskelskälvningar som gör att patienten darrar, skälver eller huttrar i mer än 15 sekunder. Shivering påverkar kroppen negativt, men är också obehagligt och ett onödigt lidande för patienten. I takt med den tekniska utvecklingen utarbetas nya operationstekniker och idag utförs flera operationer med laparoskopisk teknik. Pilotstudiens syfte var att undersöka före-komsten av postoperativ shivering hos patienter som opererats med laparoskopisk teknik.

Abstrakt All around the world there are a lots of people that suffers from chronic pain. One great factor for the devolopment of chronic pain is the phenomen fear-avoidance/kinesophobia that appear to have negative effects on rehabilitation of chronic painproblems. The aim of the present study was to describe and identify how patient that took part in a rehabilitationprogram in year 2004 and 2005 with focus on behaviourchanges estimate their fear-avoidance/kinesophobia and examine if there was any changes estimate fear-avoidance/kinesophobia respectivly before and after and respecivly before and 12 month after the rehabilitationcourse. The study had a describing prospecitive design. Data was collected by the Swedish version of Tampascale for kinesophobia.

Att arbeta som sjuksköterska inom ambulanssjukvården innebär stor frihet under ansvar. Vid behandling av smärta finns olika behandlingsmöjligheter att tillgå. Sjuksköterskan har stor frihet i att själv bedöma vilken behandling och dos som skall ges i varje enskilt fall. Detta medför att behandlingen av patienterna kan variera mellan olika sjuksköterskor beroende på tidigare erfarenhet med mera. Traumapatientens upplevelse vid prehospital smärtlindring är sällan beskriven i litteraturen.

ABSTRACTBackground: On behalf of the Orthopedic clinic, Västerås, a study has been conducted with focus on comparing the results after conservative and surgical treatment due to complete achillestendon rupture.Aim: To compare results when testing the active and passive range of motion, calf muscle endurance, estimation of pain related to the achillestendon and self-efficacy to be physically active for individuals who have undergone conservative or surgical treatment after complete achillestendon rupture.Method: 14 individuals afflicted by complete achillestendon rupture in 2010 were recruited as a purposive sample. Examination were conducted of: Ankle range of motion with a goniometer, calf muscle endurance through a toe-raise test, estimation of pain intensity related to the achillestendon by VAS and self-efficacy to be physically active through ?Exercise self-efficacy scale?. P-value and the median were calculated.Result: The results of ankle range of motion and calf muscle endurance were based on the difference between the injured and the healthy side. When testing active plantarflexion the conservative group had a median of 4 ? and the surgical group had a median of 10 ?.

Syftet med denna studie är att utifrån ett föräldraperspektiv undersöka behov av och önskemål om stödsom föräldrar med diagnos inom autismspektrum beskriver i sin föräldraroll. Ett annat syfte är att bidra med ökad kunskaptill en diskussion kring utformandet av stödinsatser för dessa familjer. Studien är kvalitativ med intervjuer som gjorts ihalvstrukturerad form. Åtta föräldrar har intervjuats. Föräldrarna beskriver att deras svårigheter gör det svårt för dem isamspelet med barn och partner.

Studiens övergripande syfte är "Att ur ett livsloppsperspektiv beskriva och analysera äldre personers erfarenheter av och berättelser om psykisk ohälsa och hur de upplever att den påverkar åldrandet". De ursprungliga frågeställningarna var: "Hur upplever äldre personer att åldras med psykisk ohälsa?" och "Hur kan psykisk ohälsa bland äldre förstås ur ett livsloppsperspektiv?". Under studiens gång utkristalliserades en tredje frågeställning som ett analytiskt resultat av datamaterialet. Den lyder: "Vilka livsstrategier använder dessa personer för att hantera sina liv med psykisk ohälsa?"Sex personer mellan 65 och 85 år intervjuades om sin subjektiva erfarenhet av att leva med psykisk ohälsa.

ABSTRACTIntroduction: An increasing number of patients in Sweden receive epidural anaesthesia (EDA) in connection to surgery. Caring for patients with acute pain is a responsibility that is strongly established within the profession of the nurse anaesthetist. If the care provided by the nurse anaesthetist for patients who receive epidural anaesthesia is to evolve then further insight and knowledge is required regarding the individual´s experience.Aim: To describe patients' experiences in receiving epidural anaesthesia based on an earlier perioperative start-up of the EDA.Method: Based on a qualitative approach, the aim is to conduct semi-structured interviews with patients who receive EDA in connection to abdominal or gynaecological surgery. Research subjects' statements in the context of the interviews will be transcribed and then analysed using qualitative content analysis. In order to evaluate the chosen method regarding data collection and analysis model an exploratory pilot study was conducted.