Attracting Israeli nursing students to community nursing

Examining the Contribution of Nurse Practitioners to Geriatric and Palliative Care in Israel

Background/Objectives: Nurse practitioners (NPs) play a pivotal role in delivering medical care, leveraging their specialized training and broader range of authorities than registered nurses, as approved by the Ministry of Health. Since 2009, Israel has expanded NP training to include diverse specialties such as palliative care, geriatrics, diabetes, surgery, and health policy. Introducing a new professional role into the health system is a complex, resource-intensive process that requires collaboration across stakeholders. Globally, NPs are recognized for preventing hospitalizations and achieving improved care outcomes, with high patient satisfaction. However, in Israel, NPs' perceptions of their role and contributions remain underexplored. This study aims to assess NPs' role perception, contributions to the health system, and attitudes toward their professional development in palliative and geriatric care. Methods: The mixed-methods study included 26 in-depth interviews with palliative and geriatric NPs and an online survey of 89 NPs (29 in geriatrics and 60 in palliative care). Results: Most NPs are women (84%), Israeli natives (69%), and Jewish (64%). More than half (53%) have 1-4 years of experience as practitioners, and 71% are employed full time. Regarding their work environment, the NPs feel that their supervisors and patients are appreciative of their work and that they are considered professional authorities. The qualitative findings also point to several challenges in their work: (1) The NPs' status vis-à-vis medical staff and patients is insufficiently established; (2) the NPs lack practical and theoretical learning over time; (3) there is a shortage of positions; and (4) there is a sense of high work and emotional load and difficulty in implementing palliative care within the health system. With regard to their training, 58% of NPs were satisfied with the course, while 71% felt it lacked content. Looking forward, 76% of the NPs believed that over the next five years, the NP role would expand significantly, and 88% would recommend that other nurses become NPs. Conclusions: To maximize NPs' potential, the study recommends clarifying their role, expanding authorities, aligning training with professional demands, and fostering trust between NPs and the medical establishment. Branding efforts and emotional support for NPs, especially in palliative care, are essential to enhance their integration and effectiveness in the health system.

Academic and Employment Preferences of Nursing Students at the University of Las Palmas of Gran Canaria: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

It is well known that there are differences in the academic and employment preferences of nursing students once they have completed their undergraduate studies in nursing. These preferences are largely influenced by students' affinity for certain thematic areas over others. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify the employment and academic preferences of third- and fourth-year Nursing Degree students at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC).

METHODS

A cross-sectional, descriptive observational study was conducted among nursing students across three campuses of the ULPGC (Canary Islands, Spain). An online questionnaire was used to collect various sociodemographic and academic variables, as well as preferences across ten thematic areas. Descriptive and bivariate inferential analyses were performed, along with a correlation analysis among the areas.

RESULTS

The areas of highest preference were "Emergency Nursing", "General Nursing", and "Family and Community Nursing". The areas of lowest preference were "Other Areas (teaching, management, research)", "Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing", and "Geriatric Nursing". Three clusters of closely correlated areas were identified: cluster 1 (Intensive and Critical Care Nursing, Emergency and Emergency Nursing and Operating Theatre and Anaesthesia Nursing), cluster 2 (Obstetric-Gynaecological Nursing-Midwifery, Paediatric Nursing and Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing) and cluster 3 (remaining areas). A significant proportion of students expressed intentions to pursue postgraduate studies.

CONCLUSIONS

Strategies should be implemented to enhance students' preferences in the areas of "Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing" and "Geriatric Nursing", which are areas where there is a high demand for nurses. It is also necessary to increase their interest in research, management, and teaching. This study was not registered.

Exploring client violence during home visits: a qualitative study of perceptions and experiences of Israeli nurses

BACKGROUND

Home care provides an excellent opportunity for personalizing treatment as nurses see patients in their natural environment. Along with its many advantages, the home care environment carries unique risks, as nurses are usually alone, without the protection and security provided by primary care clinics. There are no accurate data in Israel on the scope and characteristics of client violence against nurses during home visits. We conducted a qualitative study to investigate the nature of client violence faced by Israeli nurses during home visits, to gain insights into their perceptions and experiences, and to contribute to the development of effective policies and strategies to combat client violence in the healthcare sector.

METHODS

Twenty-seven female nurses from primary care clinics, who were exposed to client violence during a home visit, were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed, and categories and themes were extracted.

RESULTS

Most nurses interviewed experienced at least three incidents of client violence, the most common of which was verbal abuse. The nurses perceived that the location of the encounter between the nurse and the patient in the patient's natural surroundings, rather than within the controlled boundaries of a clinic, contributes to the risk of violence. Violence affected the nurses' professional decisions. The nurses reported that their organization had no established guidelines or instructions for safely conducting home visits, they were not provided with protective or security measures for emergencies, nor did they perceive that they had sufficient training to deal with client violence in clients' homes.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurses encounter a range of challenges that make it difficult for them to deal with client violence during home visits, affecting their personal safety and professional decisions. Their ability to manage such situations is shaped by a complex interplay of personal and organizational factors and requires a range of strategies and resources to effectively address them.

Resilience and positive coping style affect the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and academic procrastination among Chinese undergraduate nursing students

Background

Previous studies have not investigated the role of resilience and coping style on the association between maladaptive perfectionism and academic procrastination among nursing undergraduates. However, how to mobilize the learning enthusiasm of nursing students and reduce the incidence of academic procrastination is an important factor to reduce nursing loss and improve nursing quality.

Objectives

To investigate the influence of maladaptive perfectionism, resilience and coping style on academic procrastination among Chinese undergraduate nursing students.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted. A convenience sampling method was used to select 665 nursing undergraduates from March to May 2022 in China. Maladaptive perfectionism, coping style, resilience, and academic procrastination were measured using questionnaires. The descriptive analysis, Pearson’s correlation analysis and the Hayes’ PROCESS Macro in SPSS 25.0 were used to test the model.

Results

The results showed that nursing undergraduates’ maladaptive perfectionism, resilience, positive coping style and academic procrastination were significantly correlated between every two variables, with coefficients ranging between −0.290 and 0.584. In addition, resilience played a partial mediating role in maladaptive perfectionism and academic procrastination, accounting for 15.70% of the total effect; in the meantime, this process was moderated by positive coping style.

Conclusion

Maladaptive perfectionism positively predicted nursing undergraduates’ academic procrastination; as a mediating mechanism with moderating, resilience and positive coping style further explained how maladaptive perfectionism promoted the academic procrastination of nursing undergraduates. Understanding this mechanism is of great significance for nursing educators to reduce the risk of academic procrastination in nursing undergraduates.

Perceived Parenting Style and Subjective Well-Being among Chinese Nursing Undergraduates: The Role of Self-Efficacy and Gender

The question of how to improve the subjective well-being (SWB) of nursing students is an important factor for reducing nursing loss and improving nursing quality. The current study aimed to investigate the influence of parenting style and self-efficacy (SE) on SWB among Chinese nursing undergraduates. The moderating role of gender between parenting style and SWB was also examined. Descriptive analysis, Pearson's correlation analysis, and the Hayes' PROCESS Macro Model 4 and Model 5 were used to analyze the available data. A total of 665 nursing undergraduates (M_age = 19.86, SD = 1.19) completed questionnaires. The results showed that PPS was positively correlated with SWB (r = 0.421, p < 0.01), while NPS was negatively correlated with SWB (r = -0.167, p < 0.01). Meanwhile, SE was positively correlated with PPS (r = 0.167, p < 0.01) and negatively correlated with NPS (r = -0.175, p < 0.01). In addition, SE was positively correlated with SWB (r = 0.273, p < 0.01) and played a partial mediating role in the association between parenting style and SWB. Furthermore, gender moderated the direct effect of parenting style on SWB. Specifically, compared with male nursing students, parenting style has a greater influence on the SWB of female nursing students. These findings can be used to develop targeted improvement strategies for nursing educators to improve SWB levels among nursing undergraduates.