Does COVID-19 really call for an overhaul of nursing curricula or promoting the power, status, and representation of nursing?

Factors that influence continuing professional development over a nursing career: A scoping review

AIMS

Systematically synthesize research about factors that influence CPD over a nursing career.

BACKGROUND

Continuing professional development (CPD) in nursing is defined as 'a life-long process of active participation in learning activities that assist in developing and maintaining continuing competences, enhancing professional practice and supporting achievement of career goals'. Research has shown that inability to access resources and activities for CPD influences quality of care and adversely affects nurses' satisfaction, recruitment and retention. Although more and more research regarding CPD is done, a comprehensive overview about the needs of nurses for successful CPD is missing.

DESIGN

Scoping review, using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews ensuring all quality standards are met.

METHODS

Between February and April 2020 the electronic databases CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, Psychinfo and Eric were searched as well as reference lists of included papers. Papers published in peer-reviewed journals were included without restrictions on publication date, design or setting. Thematic analysis was done to synthesize the data.

RESULTS

The search yielded 2673 papers of which 60 papers were included. Analyses showed that factors that influence CPD differ over a nursing career, which led to the identification of three groups: newly graduated nurses; experienced nurses; and experienced nurses with ambitions for advanced roles. Furthermore, analyses showed that factors for all three groups are related to personal and contextual facilitators and barriers. Newly graduated nurses find it important to be an accepted member of the team. They experience barriers when integrating into the nursing profession, where they for instance experience workplace incivility. Experienced nurses experience contextual barriers related to a lack of supportive structures and inaccessibility of CPD resources. There is limited time and availability of role models and a lack of support from managers and other colleagues. Moreover, the clinical care dynamics influence their ability to pursue CPD. For the experienced nurses with ambitions for advanced roles, an important barrier is that nursing culture emphasizes direct patient care. Often it is unclear what the value is of new nursing roles which makes it difficult for them to develop these.

CONCLUSIONS

All nurses strive for CPD. However, organizations need to recognize nurses' personal goals and unique strategies as this leads to different needs in CPD. In addition, resources must be made available and accessible before CPD can be successfully pursued by all nurses.

Sailing in the Winds of Change: Navigating the Future of Nursing Education

BACKGROUND

This article aims to enlighten a new vision for nurse educators and leaders seeking to navigate the future of nursing education.

METHOD

An analogy of sailing in a storm is used to create an image of nursing in the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Implications for nursing education are presented and organized around the themes of the crew (nurses), the captains (nurse leaders), the act of sailing (caring), the vessel (the profession), navigational tools (guiding forces), and the winds of change (contextual forces).

RESULTS

Charting the course (the way forward) summarizes recommendations arising from this analogous analysis, highlighting opportunities for nursing education.

CONCLUSION

Reflecting on the significance of contextual factors, such as a storm on sailing and a global pandemic on nursing, allows us to consider factors within and beyond our control as we grapple with the challenge and opportunity that lies within the realm of uncertainty. [J Nurs Educ. 2021;60(12):661-667.].

Nurses' core disaster-response competencies for combating COVID-19-A cross-sectional study

The core competencies in disaster nursing, nurses’ roles in disaster management and the potential barriers are assessed with a view to developing disaster nursing in Slovenia. Despite training and experience, many indicators show nurses are deficient in skills involving emergency and disaster-preparedness competencies. Nurses report little familiarity with disaster-planning skills, the implementation of disaster guidelines and assessment of patients subject to a disaster circumstance. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted based on data collected through an online survey. 118 registered nurses from different clinical settings in Slovenia participated in the study. Data were collected according to the Slovenian version of the Disaster Nursing Core Competencies Scale (Sl-DNCC-Scale). The scale was limited to a 7-point Likert response format (from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). The results show the registered nurses perceive the core competencies of disaster nursing to be important to their preparedness for disaster situations (median = 161; range 74–189). Registered nurses who work in nursing homes and nurse managers are more aware of the importance of acquiring the listed competencies for unexpected events (p = 0.011 and 0.060 respectively) and the importance of their active role in disaster management (p = 0.027 and p = 0.004, respectively). To effectively deal with a disaster, nurses must be well prepared for unexpected events and more actively involved in disaster management. This study demonstrates that nurses regard the core disaster nursing competencies as important and greatly needed in various healthcare facilities. Future studies in this area should focus on ways to implement these competencies in nursing education.