Spiritual care that enhances patient well-being should be taught to nurses, but it is unclear how or if it is being taught, according to a survey of 685 Scottish nurses. Nurses should be aware of the spiritual dimension of their own lives, have experience and learning from crises, and collaborate with clergy in meeting patients' spiritual needs.…

Tested the validity of the Friendship Qualities Scale (FQS), which assesses the quality of children's and early adolescents' relationships with their best friends along five aspects of the friendship relation: companionship, conflict, help/aid, security, and closeness. Discusses the dimensions according to the issues related to the measurement of…

Examined factors that correlate with satisfaction with peer counseling. Findings from 159 students who had met with a peer counselor during 1 academic year revealed that, in general, students were only slightly satisfied with peer counseling services. Students who were satisfied had received empathy and understanding, as well as problem-solving…

Using grounded theory, interviews with 12 males elicited themes for their choice of a nursing career: (1) desire to care for others; (2) practical motivations related to job security and salary; and (3) feelings of power and empowerment, related both to their being male in a female-dominated occupation and to critical care issues. (SK)

Compared aid given by adult daughters to self-sufficient elderly mothers (n=43) with that given by adult daughters to elderly mothers who were dependent for aid (n=139). Results suggest caregiving is intensification of preexisting patterns of aid-giving that is evident in female intergenerational relationships. (Author/ABL)

Examined impact of cause of death on responses to bereaved individual. Sixty adults listened to audiotape of recently bereaved widow. There were three versions of tape, each identical except for stated cause of death: suicide, accident, or heart attack. Found that respondents were more anxious after interaction than before. Perceptions of person…

The Pioneers, a group of students in a residential treatment program at Woodland Hills in Duluth, Minnesota, describe how they are changing their lives and community through peer helping and volunteer service. (Author)

Examines factors facilitating support giving to members of the social network by elderly Jewish persons residing in assisted-living facilities in Israel. Results reveal that it is principally the perceived support measure along with two personal characteristics that explains the variance in support provision scores. (Author/MKA)

Explores current social work practice and human service innovations based on interviews with practitioners in Chicago, New York City, and St. Louis. Offers rationale for reorientation of social workers' helping relationship and how it can contribute to human services reform. Examines strategies and innovations that can help professionals make this…

Explores the use of Homer's "Odyssey" as a source of definitions and legitimations of many current accounts of mentoring. Identifies an emerging discourse of mentoring which exerts control not only over the young people being mentored, but also over career guidance staff expected to act as mentors in new Personal Adviser roles. (Contains…

Addresses art therapy for homebound people, giving special attention to the set of needs for this environment; the desired personality traits of the in-home therapist; the structure of the therapeutic relationship; and appropriate art therapy goals. Presents two case studies of home-bound art therapy which demonstrate the complexities and…

Career assessment will increasingly focus on determining readiness for problem solving and decision making. Career shoppers (who are previewing career services before committing) and career helpers will collaborate in new service delivery contexts. The Internet will enable direct participation in comprehensive career assessment. (Author/SK)

Three interviews each with five people who had articulated a life mission and analysis of their journals delineated the relationship of life mission to self-directed and transformative learning. New learning experiences refocus mission. The stronger and more focused the mission, the stronger and more focused the learner's self-direction. (SK)

Case studies of two women use the concept of sponsor--an agent who supported or hampered their literacy learning. The relationship between literacy learning and economic change is revealed as both women experienced the decline of agriculture ad rise in industrialization and corporate control. (SK)

Surveys 167 counselors on their etiology and responsibility attributions and models of helping. Participants responded to vignettes describing a client experiencing symptoms of either an identity or adjustment problem. Counselors endorsed all of P. Brickman et al.'s (1982) models of helping for both problem types, and selected attributions…