The diverse sweep of study topics presented in this issue reflects the diversity of our world today. This issue highlights not only nursing's expanding role and paradigm but also the need for nursing professionals to heighten their awareness of health needs from different perspectives as well as of self-growth. The nursing profession grows naturally and will wither and die without growth. We sincerely express our gratitude for your support and congratulate you on the personal and professional growth of all TWNA members.
Research designs of the eight articles in this issue include one hermeneutic phenomenological approach, one systematic review, three cross-sectional questionnaire, and three quasi-experimental studies. Research topics cover Taiwanese fathers' experiences with children diagnosed with disabilities, nurse perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care, a self-care program for congestive heart failure patients, the efficacy of low-impact dance on knee torque and lower extremity mobility in older women, depression among elderly male veterans, sleep patterns after heart surgery, reducing ventilator-associated pneumonia by brushing teeth with purified water, and development and validation of a new computer literacy scale.
Major findings of these studies include the following: (a) Taiwanese fathers revealed four shared meanings: losing hope, feelings of failure, being frustrated with family conflicts, and searching for positive coping strategies when learning that their child was diagnosed with developmental disability; (b) spiritual education and training courses have a positive impact on nurses' perception of spirituality and spiritual care; (c) the heart failure self-care program for patients with heart failure improved heart failure symptoms, functional status, and quality of life; (d)low-impact dance can help achieve higher lower extremity joint range of motion in older women; (e) more than one fifth of elderly veterans in Taiwan exhibit symptoms of depression, with the two identified risk factors of depression being self-perceived negative influence of chronic diseases on daily living and cataracts; (f) sleep disturbances persist over the course of recovery in heart surgery patients and sleep disturbance is associated with individual, physiological, psychological and environmental factors; (g) as an inexpensive alternative to existing protocols, tooth brushing twice daily with purified water reduces ventilator-associated pneumonia and improves oral health and hygiene; and (h) a computer literacy scale covering the six constructs of software, hardware, multimedia, networks, information ethics, and information security and 22 measurement items was developed and tested for use.
We sincerely hope you enjoy the information presented in this issue and that it may be a source of inspiration for your life, studies, and work and expand your knowledge base. We appreciate your continued support of The Journal of Nursing Research and sincerely invite your comments and paper submissions as we continue to promote nursing profession quality for the benefit of all mankind. The universe is truly our shared family.
With much love and blessings,
Ke-Ping Yang