THE EFFECT OF EXPRESSIVE CARING OCCASIONS ON DISFIGURED CLIENTS' SELF-ESTEEM (CARING).
Contributors: University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Published: 1990
Number of pages: 141
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Disfiguring burns or surgery may result in an alteration of self-concept or self-esteem. Nurses, by providing caring interventions or expressive caring occasions, may enhance the self-concept or self-esteem of disfigured clients. The purpose of the study was to ascertain if there is a difference in disfigured clients' self-esteem following expressive caring occasions as compared to disfigured clients who had not been treated with expressive caring occasions.

The independent variable was expressive caring occasions (nursing interventions or behaviors which incorporated Watson's carative factors). The dependent variable was the client's self-esteem as measured by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES). The pre-test SES was used as a co-variate. Thirty female clients who had received a burn or undergone a surgical procedure of mastectomy, colostomy, or radical neck dissection and who consented to participate in the study were randomly assigned to either the experimental or the control group. The experimental group underwent a total of two non-consecutive hours of caring occasions, initiated by the investigator, prior to the administration of the post-test SES. The control group was administered the post-test SES upon notification of hospital discharge.

Statistical analysis with ANCOVA showed that the dependent variable was significantly affected by the two hours of expressive caring occasions (p =.009), for the experimental group. The experimental group had significantly higher SES post-test scores as compared to SES pre-test scores.

Recommendations include: (a) replication of the study utilizing a more homogeneous group of clients, such as all burn clients; (b) replication of the study using a heterogeneous gender group; (c) replication of the study utilizing qualitative approach or used in conjunction with a quantitative format; (d) research to factor out the most productive interventions included in expressive caring occasions.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-10, Section: B, page: 4782.

Thesis (D.S.N.)--UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM, 1990.

School code: 0005.