IMPACT OF AN INDIVIDUALLY TAILORED NURSING INTERVENTION ON HUMAN FIELD PATTERNING IN CLIENTS WHO EXPERIENCE DYSPNEA.
Contributors: University of Miami.
Published: 1991
Number of pages: 211
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Education.; Health Sciences, Public Health.
Description: The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of a nursing intervention on human field patterning in a select group of individuals with dyspnea. The nursing intervention, developed within Martha Rogers' conceptual framework, the Science of Unitary Human Beings, was an individually tailored Pulmonary Rehabilitation Educational Program (PREP). A sample of fourteen participants was selected from a Veteran's Administration Outpatient Clinic to participate in the program. The Ference Human Field Motion Tool (FHFMT) and the Barrett Power of Knowing Participation in Change Test (PKPCT) were the instruments used to measure patterning of the human field in accordance with the theoretical framework. The Baseline and Transition Dyspnea Index (BDI & TDI) and the Dyspnea Visual Analog Scale (DVAS) were also used to measure change in the level of dyspnea.

The instruments were administered before, during and after the PREP nursing intervention. The first administration was during the assessment phase. The second was at the end of the instructional phase and the last administration, after the reinforcement phase. Using the paired t-Test for repeated measures, there was a significant difference (P $\le$.05) in patterning as measured by the FHFMT both following the instructional phase and the reinforcement phase of the intervention. There were no significant differences among the scores with the PKPCT as measured by the paired t-Test. Therefore, the first hypothesis could not be supported.

A marked improvement in the participants functional ability and level of dyspnea, as measured by the BDI and TDI, was found in eighty-six percent of the participants. This supported the second hypothesis of a positive change in the level of dyspnea and patterning.

The participants kept daily logs which were analyzed for contextal variables using a grounded theory approach. A pattern emerged permitting identification of three progressive stages during the course of the study. These are awareness, acceptance and adjustment. Additional variables identified were hope, trust, courage, openness, patience, honesty, as well as relevant knowledge and skills, and flexibility and willingness to undergo changes in order to achieve self-determined goals. There were no patterns identified in levels of dyspnea reported by participants using the DVAS, although there was a relationship with the diary entries.

The conceptual framework for the Science of Unitary Human Beings was supported for the principals of resonancy, integrality and helicy. The implications for advanced nursing practice using this study as a template are given with suggested modifications. Recommendation is given for further study of the status passages.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: B, page: 1293.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI, 1991.

School code: 0125.