Nursing students' perceptions of unfinished nursing care: A cross-sectional study

AIM

To investigate the prevalence, patterns and reasons for unfinished nursing care as perceived by nursing students.

BACKGROUND

Unfinished nursing care (UNC) is a frequently observed phenomenon in the acute care setting. To date, studies have focused primarily on the perspective of nurses or patients, but another important perspective is that of nursing students who provide nursing care in all healthcare settings.

DESIGN

A descriptive cross-sectional study.

METHODS

The study included 738 undergraduate nursing students from nine Slovak universities. Data were collected between September 2022 and February 2023 using the Slovak version of the Unfinished Nursing Care Survey tool (UNCS). Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

RESULTS

The mean composite score of UNCS was 2.48 (SD=0.68). In general, 100% of nursing students reported that nurses missed at least one or more nursing care activities during their last clinical placement. The average number of missed nursing care activities was 11.2 per nurse as perceived by nursing students during their last clinical placement. Nursing students reported that the most frequently omitted nursing care activity was spending time with patients and their caregivers (3.15 ± 1.11; 92.9%). The most frequently reported reason for UNC was an inadequate number of nurses on the ward (4.31 ± 1.01; 98.1%). In the study, reported UNC could be predicted by previous experience in healthcare, previous clinical rotation, number of patients per shift, perceived staff adequacy and outcome expectations (p <0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The findings reveal that UNC is a widespread phenomenon and all nursing students report this phenomenon during their clinical placements. Spending time with patients and their caregivers emerged as the most frequently omitted nursing care activity, highlighting the importance of patient-centered care. The primary reason cited for UNC was an inadequate number of nurses, highlighting staffing issues as a significant contributing factor. These findings emphasize the need for targeted interventions to address staff shortages and improve nursing education to prepare students to address UNC in their future practice.

Examining the Perspectives of Nurse Managers on Missed Nursing Care in Surgical Units

OBJECTIVE

To examine nurse managers' perspectives on missed nursing care (MNC) on surgical units.

BACKGROUND

The phenomenon of MNC is an important concern for nurse researchers. However, the reality of how it is experienced by clinical nurse managers is largely unexplored. Understanding nurse managers' experiences with MNC could help develop useful approaches to reducing levels of MNC.

METHODS

A descriptive qualitative study was conducted between December and June 2020, using face-to-face semistructured interviews with 10 nurse managers.

RESULTS

Five themes were identified: 1) awareness of MNC; 2) rationale for MNC; 3) consequences of MNC; 4) questions of reporting; and 5) management of MNC.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurse managers must use their positions and leadership skills to expect appropriate staffing approaches and material resources for surgical units, effective process for newly hired nurses, and the establishment of a reporting system for MNC to reduce the phenomenon in practice.

Quality of Life in Patients with Excellent 3-Month Clinical Outcome after First-Ever Ischemic Stroke: A Time to Redefine Excellent Outcome?

INTRODUCTION

Ischemic stroke (IS) may have impact on long-term health-related quality of life (HRQoL) even in the patients with good clinical outcome, and tools mostly used for the assessment of outcome may underestimate or not reflect all relevant sequels after IS. We aimed to analyze HRQoL in the patients with excellent outcome after IS.

METHODS

We analyzed consecutive IS patients enrolled in the prospective FRAILTY study (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04839887) with excellent 3-month clinical outcome (score 0-1 in modified Rankin Scale [mRS]). Stroke Impact Scale (SIS) version 3.0 and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were used for the HRQoL, anxiety, and depression assessments, and subgroup comparisons were performed according to NIHSS score (0, ≥1), age (50<, ≥50 years), and sex.

RESULTS

In total, 158 patients (55.7% men, mean age 60.3 ± 13.4 years) were analyzed, and 72.2% of them had score 0 in mRS. The overall lowest median scores were found in the SIS domain "emotion," "strength," and "participation." Patients with NIHSS ≥1 had lower scores in all SIS domains except "emotions" and "mobility." Patients ≥50 years had lower score in "mobility" (p = 0.004) and females in domain of "social participation" (p = 0.044). No differences were found among all subgroups in HADS anxiety and depression. Age, NIHSS score, and depression were found negative predictors for the physical domains of HRQoL.

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS

Despite excellent 3-month clinical outcome after IS, patients had affected substantially their HRQoL, especially those with NIHSS ≥1. Patients ≥50 years had more affected "mobility" and females "social participation."

Trust in healthcare professionals of people with chronic cardiovascular disease

BACKGROUND

Trust is an essential phenomenon of relationship between patients and healthcare professionals and can be described as an accepted vulnerability to the power of another person over something that one cares about in virtue of goodwill toward the trustor. This characterization of interpersonal trust appears to be adequate for patients suffering from chronic illness. Trust is especially important in the context of chronic cardiovascular diseases as one of the main global health problems.

RESEARCH AIM

The purpose of the qualitative study was to gain a deeper understanding of how people with chronic cardiovascular disease experience and make sense of trust in healthcare professionals.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Eleven semi-structured interviews with participants analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore in detail their lived experience of trust as a relational phenomenon.

PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT

Participants with chronic cardiovascular disease were purposively recruited from inpatients on the cardiology ward of the university hospital located in central Slovakia.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

The study was approved by the faculty ethics committee. Participants gave their written informed consent.

FINDINGS FOUR INTERRELATED GROUP EXPERIENTIAL THEMES

Sense of co-existence; Belief in competence; Will to help; Ontological security with eight subthemes were identified. The findings describe the participants' experience with trust in healthcare professionals as a phenomenon of close co-existence, which is rooted in the participants' vulnerability and dependence on the goodwill and competence of health professionals to help with the consequence of (re)establishing a sense of ontological security in the situation of chronic illness.

CONCLUSION

Findings will contribute to an in-depth understanding of trust as an existential dimension of human co-existence and an ethical requirement of healthcare practice, inspire patient empowerment interventions, support adherence to treatment, and person-centred care.

Self-assessed competence of final-year nursing students

AIM

To examine the overall level of self-assessed competence of final-year nursing 'bachelors' degree students in the Czech Republic. In addition, the study aimed at the factors associated with the students' level of competence.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional observational study.

METHODS

Data were collected with the Czech version of the Nurse Competence Scale from 274 final-year nursing students of the bachelor's nursing program. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses.

RESULTS

Majority of the students (80.3%) assessed their level of competence as good or very good. The highest level of competence was assessed in the category of 'managing situations' (VAS mean 67.8) and 'work role' (VAS mean 67.2). Previous work experience in healthcare and successful supervisory experience had a positive association with self-assessed competence. Students who completed clinical placement during the COVID-19 pandemic assessed their level of competence as lower than students before the pandemic. No Patient or Public Contribution.

Factors affecting the quality of life after ischemic stroke in young adults: a scoping review

PURPOSE

To synthesize the body of knowledge on the factors influencing the quality of life (QoL) after ischemic stroke (IS) in young adults.

METHODS

Guidelines regarding the scoping review methodology developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute, and the PRISMA-ScR checklist for a scoping review was used in this paper. A total of 1197 studies were identified through a bibliographic search in Web of Science, MEDLINE, PsycInfo, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and ProQuest Science Database. Articles published between the years 2000-2021 were included.

RESULTS

A total of nine papers were finally selected to respond to the research question. Three studies were prospective longitudinal studies compared QoL between young stroke and age-matched controls from the general population. Across all the analysed studies, 14 variables potentially associated with QoL were identified. QoL in young patients is mainly affected by clinical outcomes after IS (scored by the modified Rankin scale and the Barthel index-favourable initial functional status and higher independence in ADL leads to higher QoL) and psychological factors (post-stroke fatigue and depression-higher levels of fatigue and depression lead to lower QoL). The reviewed studies emphasized the importance of functional outcomes, post-stroke depression, fatigue and anxiety and early return to work.

CONCLUSION

Further longitudinal studies are needed to identify the trajectory of post-stroke psychosocial symptoms over time and other potential predictors of unfavourable long-term QoL, thus specific young stroke rehabilitation and stroke self-management support programmes should be developed (address physical, psychological factors which influence the psychosocial adaptation post-stroke and the perception of the QoL).

Nursing students' perceived stress and clinical learning experience

BACKGROUND

Stressors among nursing students arise from both academic activities and clinical placement. Understanding how nursing students perceive academic and clinical stressors and the clinical learning environment could help develop useful approaches to reducing levels of stress and contribute to the maintenance of a good learning environment. There is a paucity of studies that investigated associations between the clinical learning environment and the stress of nursing students.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the relationship between the perception of the clinical learning environment and stress in nursing students; to compare the perception of the clinical learning environment and stress in terms of the year and terms of the organization of supervision.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional correlation study SETTINGS: University PARTICIPANTS: The sample consisted of 155 nursing students in the bachelor's degree program. During the four academic years, students of individual years of the bachelor's study program were included in the study after completing all clinical placements in a given academic year.

METHODS

The following instruments were used for the data collection: Clinical Learning Environment, Supervision and Nurse Teacher evaluation scale, Perceived Stress Scale; Physio-Psycho-Social Response Scale and Coping Behaviour Inventory. Correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis using stepwise methods were used to determine the relationships between the variables.

RESULTS

The clinical learning environment is a strong predictor of students' perceptions of stress related to teachers and nursing staff. Types and degrees of stressful events during clinical practice varied between years of study. The experience with supervision was related to the overall perception of the clinical learning environment, but not to the students' physio-psychosocial status, types of stressful events during clinical practice and coping behaviors. Also, the differences in the students' physio-psychosocial status were not significant in terms of individual years of study and method of supervision.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a significant relationship between the clinical learning environment and the perception of academic stress. The attitude of the teacher and the medical staff can thus be important in influencing the level of stress in nursing students.

Adaptation and Psychometric Testing of the Czech and Slovak Version of the Missed Nursing Care in Infection Prevention and Control Survey

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Only a limited number of items involved in missed nursing care inventories specifically focused on infection control practices. The study aimed to adapt and evaluate psychometric properties of the Czech and Slovak version of the Infection Control Missed Care survey; and to assess and compare the amount, type, and reasons for missed nursing care in infection prevention and control among Czech and Slovak nurses.

METHODS

The convenience sample of 1459 nurses from the Czech and Slovak republic was recruited. Analysis of the nurses' responses to both subscales of the surveys and validation of their data was undertaken using the item response theory (Rasch scaling).

RESULTS

The now-modified Czech version consists only of 20 items measuring the type and frequency of missed care and 11 items focusing on the reasons for missed care. The now modified Slovak version consists of 34 items measuring the type and frequency of missed care and 17 items measuring the reasons for missed care. Reliability estimates with the removal of unreliable items showed acceptable reliability estimates for both sub-scales of the instrument.

CONCLUSIONS

With modification to the two subscales used in the survey (removal of poorly fitting items) it should be reliable, and the resulting data could be used for further investigation such as factor analysis or modelling. The modified Infection Control Missed Care survey could be useful in further research investigating a relationship between nurse staffing, skill mix, and infection control outcomes in acute care hospitals.

Missed nursing care in hospital environments during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

Studies performed in Central European countries showed a high prevalence of missed nursing care in various clinical settings before the COVID-19 pandemic.

AIMS

The aim of the study was to investigate which domains of the work environment were significant predictors of missed nursing care activities in Czech hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was used. The RANCARE guideline and STROBE checklist were followed for reporting in the study. The sample consisted of 371 nurses from four acute care hospitals. The MISSCARE Survey and the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index questionnaires were used to collect data. The data were analyzed using multiple linear and logistic regression analyses.

RESULTS

Nurses reporting unfavorable environments consistently describe a higher frequency of episodes of missed care. Prevalence estimates of missed care in Czech acute care hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic was predicted from the overtime work, the nurses' perception of the "Nursing foundations for the quality of care," and their satisfaction with their current position.

CONCLUSIONS

Missed nursing care could be mitigated by improving the nurses' work environment. Domains of the nurse work environment are known as structural modifiable factors and their refinement could be a cornerstone for interventions to reduce the prevalence of missed nursing care.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING POLICY

Monitoring the conditions and aspects of the nurse work environment in hospitals and considering nurses' concerns about the work environment on an ongoing basis are important strategies for nurse supervision as well as for policymakers.

Undergraduate nursing students' experiences of rationed nursing care - A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Nursing students are required to spend a significant portion of their educational preparation in clinical practice. Because of the prevalence of missed or rationed care, it seems irrefutable that students are exposed to rationed care during their practice placement, or that they contribute to its prevalence either actively or passively.

OBJECTIVES

The study aimed to discover how nursing students interpret the concept of rationed care, and their experiences of rationing in practice.

DESIGN

A descriptive qualitative study.

PARTICIPANTS

Eighteen final year nursing students from three universities within the Slovak Republic.

METHODS

Semistructured face-to-face interviews were conducted (n = 18). Data were analyzed using thematic analysis which resulted in the development of themes and subthemes.

RESULTS

We identified three meaningful themes focused on the phenomenon of rationed care from the perspective of nursing students, namely Incomplete care is normalized; Provision of impersonal patient care; and the Existence of a hidden curriculum for practice placements.

CONCLUSIONS

Student nurses were quite demanding about the learning experience during their clinical training. They are often frustrated by inconsistencies between their theoretical preparation and the realities of practice. They recognise difficulties for registered nurses in providing safe, high quality care in constrained circumstances, and although they are critical of this, they acknowledge their own acceptance of the situation. Based on this, students must establish an understanding of the theory behind, and reasons for rationed care before commencing clinical placement. A greater understanding would enable students to develop strategies for coping with inconsistencies and voicing concerns.

Hospital and unit variables of missed nursing care in acute care hospitals: A cross-sectional study

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To investigate hospital, unit and staff variables as the correlates of missed nursing care (MNC) in Czech hospitals.

BACKGROUND

There is a considerable variability in patterns of MNC across different hospital, unit and staff characteristics.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study was conducted. The STROBE guidelines for reporting observational studies were followed for reporting of the research study.

METHODS

A sample of 513 nurses working in nine acute care hospitals was recruited. MNC activities were measured with the MISSCARE Survey. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and univariate logistic regression.

RESULTS

Type of unit was confirmed as a significant predictor of MNC. Staff characteristics (nurses' work position, level of education and perceived adequacy of unit staff) and hospital variables did not contribute significantly to MNC.

CONCLUSIONS

The study replicated the patterns of MNC across different conceptual approaches. MNC was influenced by work environment characteristics rather than individual staff variables.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

The results of this research showed that missed nursing care is influenced by work environment characteristics rather than individual staff variables.

Assessment of patient safety climate by nurses in Slovak Public and private hospitals

AIM

To examine variations in the safety climate reported by nurses in Slovak hospitals and to analyse the association between dimensions of the patient safety climate and demographic and organisational factors.

BACKGROUND

A deeper understanding of how safety climate varies across hospitals can be useful in determining areas with a potential for improvement. Staffing and non-punitive response to errors were identified in recent research syntheses as the weakest dimensions of safety climate that require strengthening.

METHODS

The sample consisted of 1,429 nurses working in public and private hospitals in Slovakia. The Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture questionnaire was used for data collection, and descriptive analysis was carried out to examine relationships between variables.

RESULTS

Nurses working in general private hospitals with a bed capacity of less than 500 beds were more positive about their hospital safety climate than other nurses working in differently organised hospitals. The lowest number of positive responses was scored in the domain of 'Non-Punitive Response to Error'. This result came from a blame-free error-reporting atmosphere.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurses perceived a higher level of patient safety when they had experienced better sharing of information on event reporting and had better learning opportunities.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

The results revealed strengths and weaknesses of the patient safety climate in the network of Slovak hospitals from the perspective of nurses working in these hospitals. This knowledge can enable nurse managers to instigate supportive strategies for just reporting, and learning from events, within an enhanced safety culture.

Psychometric testing of perceived implicit rationing of nursing care (PIRNCA)

AIMS

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Perceived Implicit Rationing of Nursing Care (PIRNCA) instrument and to report the prevalence of rationed care at university and faculty hospitals.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

METHODS

The study was carried out at two university and five faculty hospitals in the Slovak Republic. Participants were 895 Registered Nurses recruited by the purposive sampling method between December 2017-July 2018. Data were collected using the PIRNCA instrument. Construct validity and reliability of the instrument were tested.

RESULTS

The prevalence of rationed care at university and faculty hospitals was identified as being 42.1%. Furthermore, 87.6% of nurses reported rationing one or more nursing care activities. Using both statistical methods when evaluating the PIRNCA resulted in the confirmation that the tool is valid and reliable.

CONCLUSION

Rationed care is a common phenomenon at university and faculty hospitals. The PIRNCA is a suitable instrument to measure the phenomenon in adult acute care units because of its high reliability and validity. We recommend using the instrument in different contexts, not only for specific conditions that were presented for this study.

IMPACT

Rationed care at university and faculty hospitals has never been reported. Psychometric properties of the instrument that measures nurses´ perception of rationed care have never been evaluated by using different approaches. The most frequently rationed nursing care activities are those that nurses are competent to initiate on the basis of their knowledge and skills - the independent ones. The PIRNCA is a valid and reliable instrument. Hospital management can use the instrument to explore the prevalence of rationed care, followed by the application of prevention strategies. Our findings represent the base for further exploration of rationed care using the PIRNCA.

An interpretative phenomenological analysis of dignity in people with multiple sclerosis

BACKGROUND

Dignity is a fundamental concept in healthcare. The symptoms of multiple sclerosis have a negative effect on dignity. Understanding of lived experience of dignity in people with multiple sclerosis is crucial to support dignity in practice.

RESEARCH AIM

The aim was to explore the sense of dignity experienced by people with multiple sclerosis.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS

An interpretative phenomenological analysis design was adopted, using data collected through face-to-face interviews with 14 participants.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

The study was approved by the faculty Ethical Committee (No. EC 1828/2016).

FINDINGS

Four interconnected superordinate themes emerged from analysis: Loss of a fully-fledged life: Violating the dignity-of-self; To accept and fight: Promoting the dignity-of-self; Contempt and rudeness: Indignity-in-relation; and Those who know and see, help: Promoting dignity-in-relation. The loss of former fully-fledged life has a dramatic impact on integrity and impaired dignity-of-self. Accepting illness and changed identity impaired by multiple sclerosis was the step that the participants considered to be important for reacquiring the sense of dignity. The participants encountered misunderstandings, prejudices, embarrassment, insensitive remarks, labelling, unwillingness and impersonal treatment as indignities. Acceptance of their condition, needed support, the feeling of being part of a group, sensitivity and the sharing of problems had a positive effect on their dignity.

DISCUSSION

Continual changes in functional ability threaten an individual's identity and were experienced as violations of dignity. Based on this, participant's dignity-of-self was not a moral, but much more existential value. Acceptance of changed identity and fighting spirit were important for restoring their dignity-of-self. The misunderstandings, prejudices and unwillingness had a negative impact on their dignity-in-relation. On the other side, support from others in fighting promoted their dignity-in-relation.

CONCLUSION

Dignity is manifested as a complex phenomenon of lived experience of people with multiple sclerosis and also an umbrella concept for providing good quality of person-centred care.

Unfinished nursing care in four central European countries

Aim

The main aim of the research was to describe and compare unfinished nursing care in selected European countries.

Background

The high prevalence of unfinished nursing care reported in recently published studies, as well as its connection to negative effects on nurse and patient outcomes, has made unfinished care an important phenomenon and a quality indicator for nursing activities.

Methods

A cross‐sectional descriptive study was undertaken. Unfinished nursing care was measured using the Perceived Implicit Rationing of Nursing Care questionnaire (PIRNCA). The sample included 1,353 nurses from four European countries (Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia).

Results

The percentage of nurses leaving one or more nursing activities unfinished ranged from 95.2% (Slovakia) to 97.8% (Czech Republic). Mean item scores on the 31 items of the PIRNCA in the total sample ranged from 1.13 to 1.92. Unfinished care was significantly associated with the type of hospital and quality of care.

Conclusion

The research results confirmed the prevalence of unfinished nursing care in the countries surveyed.

Implications for Nursing Management

The results are a useful tool for enabling nurse managers to look deeper into nurse staffing and other organizational issues that may influence patient safety and quality of care.

Hospital safety climate from nurses' perspective in four European countries

BACKGROUND

Nursing shortages, the substitution of practical nurses for registered nurses, an ageing workforce, the decreasing number of nurse graduates and the increasing migration of young nurses are important factors associated with the hospital safety climate in Central European countries.

AIMS

The aim of the study was to investigate nurses' perceptions of the safety climate in four selected central European countries (Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia) and to determine the relationship between safety climate and unfinished nursing care.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was used. The sample consisted of 1353 European nurses from four countries. Instruments used were the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture and the Perceived Implicit Rationing of Nursing Care. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses.

RESULTS

Significant differences were found between countries in all unit/hospital/outcome dimensions. 'Perceived Patient Safety' and 'Reporting of Incident Data' were associated with aspects of 'Organizational Learning' and 'Feedback and Communication about Error'. Higher prevalence of unfinished nursing care is associated with more negative perceptions of patient safety climate.

CONCLUSIONS

Cross-cultural comparisons allow us to examine differences and similarities in safety dimensions across countries. The areas with potential for initiating strategies for improvement in all four countries are 'Staffing', 'Non-punitive Response to Error' and 'Teamwork across Hospital Units'. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: 'Feedback and Communicating about Error' and 'Organizational Learning - Continuous Improvement' were the main predictors of 'Overall Perception of Patient Safety' and 'Reporting of Incident Data'. Therefore, nurse managers should focus on how to empower nurses in these areas in order to foster a no-blame culture and effective reporting. In addition, it is important for policymakers to update nursing education standards in order to address patient safety.

Factor analysis, validity of the perceived implicit rationing of nursing care instrument and prevalence and patterns of unfinished nursing care in Slovakia

AIM

The aim of the study was to adapt and validate the perceived implicit rationing of nursing care instrument in the Slovak nurse work environment and to evaluate the prevalence of unfinished nursing care in acute care hospitals.

BACKGROUND

The measurement of unfinished nursing care could be assumed as a proxy indicator of nurse staffing adequacy or higher risk of adverse events.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey design was used. The sample of 1,429 registered nurses from 21 hospitals in Slovakia was recruited. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and internal reliability were performed.

RESULTS

The instrument is essentially rather an inventory than scale per se. Concurrent validity of the Slovak version was supported by the significant associations between unfinished nursing care and clinically relevant variables.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of unfinished nursing care based the percentage of positive responses was higher than prevalence based on composite mean scores. Findings from the study raise questions about a unidimensional structure of nursing tasks reflected in most commonly used survey instruments of unfinished nursing care internationally.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

The periodical measurement of unfinished nursing care based on the percentage of positive responses should be assumed as a key strategy to increase patient safety and quality of nursing care.

Understanding the concept of missed nursing care from a cross-cultural perspective

AIMS

To investigate how nursing experts and experts from other health professions understand the concept of rationing/missed/unfinished nursing care and how this is compared at a cross-cultural level.

DESIGN

The mixed methods descriptive study.

METHODS

The semi-structured questionnaires were sent to the sample of 45 scholars and practitioners from 26 countries. Data were collected from November 2017-February 2018.

RESULTS

Assigning average cultural values to participants from each country revealed three cultural groups: high individualism-high masculinity, high individualism-low masculinity and low individualism-medium masculinity. Content analysis of the findings revealed three main themes, which were identified across cultural clusters: (a) projecting blame for the phenomenon: Blaming the nurse versus blaming the system; (b) intentionality versus unintentionality; and (c) focus on nurses in comparison to focus on patients.

CONCLUSION

Consistent differences in the understanding of missed nursing care can be understood in line with the nation's standing on two main cultural values: individualism and masculinity.

IMPACT

The findings call for scholars' caution in interpreting missed nursing care from different cultures, or in comparing levels and types of missed nursing tasks across nations. The findings further indicated that mimicking interventions to limit missed nursing care from one cultural context to the other might be ineffective. Interventions to mitigate the phenomenon should be implemented thoughtfully, considering the cultural aspects.

Evaluation of the Clinical Learning Experience of Nursing Students: a Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study

The purpose of the cross-sectional descriptive study was to explore and compare the students’ experiences of the clinical environment and supervision in Slovakia. Students’ clinical learning experience were measured by the valid and reliable clinical learning instrument. A higher frequency of successful supervisory experience was found in the universities which provided accredited mentor preparation programmes or courses and individualised supervisory approaches. Frequency of supervision meetings, the occupational title of a supervisor and mainly the supervision model have an association with students ‘perceptions of different domains of clinical learning environment. The duration of the placement was not related to students’ experience and perceptions of the learning environment. Slovak students reported higher score regarding the quality of nursing care or ward culture than in the supervisory relationships between students, clinical and school staff. Further studies in this field, extended to different Eastern European countries and clinical settings, may help us to understand factors affecting workplace training.

Validity of Asthma Control Test in Assessing Asthma Control in Czech Outpatient Setting

AIM

The aim of the study was to determine the reliability and validity of the agreement between the Asthma Control Test (ACT) and Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) in classifying asthma control in the Czech Republic.

METHODS

A sample of 316 people with asthma was recruited from the Clinic of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases of the University Hospital in Ostrava between November 2011 and July 2012. Two questionnaires were used in this study, the Asthma Control Test and Mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (Mini-AQLQ). Regardless of the questionnaire results the asthma specialist assessed the asthma control status of enlisted patients according to the criteria described in the GINA 2006 guidelines.

RESULTS

The internal consistency of the five-item ACT was good. The ACT score of ≥20 predicted GINA-defined controlled asthma in 29% of cases with a sensitivity of 65% and specificity of 89%. The kappa level of agreement between the ACT classification and GINA classification of asthma control was 0.29, suggesting fair agreement. The ACT score showed the strongest correlation with the specialists' rating, followed by the FEV1 percent predicted. Overall, in line with previous studies we confirmed significant relationship between the ACT scores and FEV1 and health related quality of life.

CONCLUSIONS

ACT is a reliable and simple tool that might be a significant asset in the management of outpatients with asthma in the Czech Republic. The ACT score correlates well with lung function parameters and health related quality of life. It appears to be a good tool to predict GINA-defined 'not-controlled asthma'.

Job satisfaction and subjective well-being among Czech nurses

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between domains of the job satisfaction and components of subjective well-being in nurses. A convenience sample of hospital nurses was recruited from six hospitals in Czech Republic. Data were collected using a set of questionnaires that included the McCloskey/Mueller Satisfaction Scale, the Positive Affect Scale, the Negative Affect Scale and the Personal Well-being Index. We confirmed low association between job satisfaction and subjective well-being of nurses. Satisfaction with extrinsic rewards, co-workers and family/work balance accounted for only a small percentage of variance in cognitive component of subjective well-being. Positive affect was predicted by interaction opportunities and scheduling. Negative affect was predicted by interaction opportunities and scheduling and intention to leave the actual workplace. Low percentage of the variance suggests that subjective well-being is not strongly influenced by job satisfaction.