https://www.mdu.se/

Introduction Newly graduated nurses (NGNs) encounter difficulties in their professional development and experience high stress during the transition into practice, which may contribute to early turnover. Providing structured transition support is essential for navigating the complexities of patient care and alleviating stress. Objective To explore whether participation in a professional development programme (ProDeveloP) with a reflective component during the initial months of transition into practice is associated with NGNs' perceived stress and professional development in terms of role clarity, task mastery, and social acceptance. Methods A quantitative intervention study with a non-randomised design. The study was conducted in a region in mid-Sweden. A total of 66 NGNs participated in the study: a control group (n = 27) in 2022 and an intervention group (n = 39) in 2023. The intervention group comprised NGNs who participated in a ProDeveloP, which builds upon a previous introduction programme consisting of eight educational days. ProDeveloP introduced four additional focus areas - role clarity, task mastery, social acceptance, and recovery - and incorporated structured reflection through six facilitated dialogue group sessions. Data were collected through surveys and analysed statistically. Results The intervention group, comprising NGNs who participated in ProDeveloP, had significantly lower perceived stress compared with the control group (Mann-Whitney U = 241.000, z = -3.311, p < .001), with a large effect size (Hedges' g = .956, 95% CI [0.489, 1.575]). This difference remained statistically significant after adjusting for relevant covariates in a linear regression model. No significant differences were observed between the groups in relation to role clarity, task mastery, or social acceptance. Conclusion Transition support employing a reflective approach, such as ProDeveloP, may lower perceived stress among NGNs during the early transition and can be crucial for ensuring a positive transition experience.

Background: Resilience is a cornerstone attribute for nursing students, enabling them to adapt to stressful situations encountered during their educational journey and subsequent healthcare career. Objective: This qualitative study aimed to explore nursing instructors’ experiences promoting resilience among nursing students during clinical education. Methods: Focus groups were conducted with 27 instructors from four nursing colleges in Thailand. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s inductive thematic analysis approach, guided by the Unitary Caring Science Resilience-Building Model. Results: Two main themes emerged: (1) Challenges to Nursing Students’ Resilience and (2) Support Strategies for Enhancing Resilience. Challenges included bridging theory and practice, upholding confidence in clinical skills, adapting to new clinical environments, and managing expectations. Support strategies encompassed providing comprehensive preparation, fostering open communication, implementing peer support systems, and utilizing reflective practice. Conclusions: The findings highlight the complex interplay of factors affecting nursing students’ resilience and the multifaceted approaches instructors use to support it. This study underscores the need for a holistic approach to nursing education that addresses clinical competence and psychological well-being. Implications include curriculum redesign to bridge the theory–practice gap, enhanced instructor training in mentorship and resilience-building, implementation of comprehensive student support systems, and technology integration to support learning and resilience.

Background/Objectives: This study protocol outlines the implementation of a professional development programme (ProDeveloP) designed to support newly graduated nurses (NGNs). NGNs often experience inadequacy and face challenges in developing their professional competence. Healthcare organisations can ease this transition through introduction programmes. However, effective implementation strategies in local healthcare settings remain unclear. This study aims to develop, implement, and evaluate a programme that enhances role clarity, task mastery, social acceptance, stress reduction, and recovery, contributing to increased job satisfaction and retention. Methods: ProDeveloP will be implemented at a regional hospital in mid-Sweden. This study will include a convenience sample of 110 NGNs from both the previous and the new introduction programmes, 20 dialogue facilitators involved in the programme, and 10 managers responsible for NGNs participating in the programme. Data will be collected throughout the ProDeveloP using questionnaires, individual interviews, and focus groups. The data will be analysed using both qualitative and quantitative analyses. Conclusions: This study has the potential to improve NGNs' work-related health, job satisfaction, and retention while contributing to competence development. By offering structured reflection, mentorship, and organisational support, this research project addresses knowledge gaps in understanding the long-term impacts of introduction programmes and structured reflection, contributing to evidence-based improvements in nursing practice and healthcare leadership. Clinical trial number: NCT06742047. Registered in ClinicalTrials.gov, 19 December 2024.

AimTo describe newly graduated nurses' experiences of reflection as a support for professional development during the initial months of their transition while caring for patients in a hospital setting.DesignA qualitative descriptive design.MethodsFour focus groups with 20 newly graduated nurses participating in a professional development programme at aregion in Sweden were conducted in 2023. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.FindingsThe analysis identified one main category: Reflection supports newly graduated nurses' professional development during their transition. This main category includes three generic categories: (1) Reflection with peers in a regularly structured dialogue group strengthens the professional role; (2) reflection with experienced healthcare instructors in learning activities enhances the mastery of care tasks; and (3) reflection with experienced colleagues in the workplace enhances task performance. Structured reflection in dialogue groups and interactive learning activities within the Professional Development Programme facilitated deeper reflections on caring experiences.ConclusionsNewly graduated nurses reported that regularly structured reflection, adequate space, and established trust were essential to their professional development. While the professional development programme provided opportunities, variations in the workplace environment led to unequal conditions for reflective practice.Implications for the ProfessionAddressing the need for reflection among newly graduated nurses is crucial for organisations to facilitate their transition. Establishing structures for reflection on caring experiences within introduction programmes can support their professional development.ImpactReflective practice in complex and challenging hospital settings can support the professional development of newly graduated nurses.Reporting MethodThe Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) was adhered to.Patient or Public ContributionsNo patient or public contributions.

Background

How elected healthcare policy makers perceive commonly described core values such as access, participation, and equity, can affect how actions towards these core values will be prioritised. With the example of Sweden, where the healthcare sector in each region is self-governed, this study aims to describe how some Swedish policy makers perceive the prerequisites to facilitate the realisation of access to, participation, and equity in healthcare.

Methods

This qualitative descriptive study involved interviews with ten policy makers, members of a public health and healthcare sub-committee, represented a region in Mid-Sweden. The data collected from the semi-structured individual interviews were subjected to a qualitative content analysis.

Results

The policy makers perceived access as a service-minded approach. Considerations about the population’s needs and the effectiveness of healthcare must be addressed to provide access. Participation was perceived as a reciprocal understanding where partnership and knowledge were expressed as fundamental aspects of participation. Equity perceived as a respectful encounter considers socio-economic preconditions, rights, and continuous endeavour.

Conclusions

The core values are commonly shared values but entails challenges to implement these values in healthcare. Implementation can be facilitated by translating the meanings of the core values into contexts where they are supposed to be applied.

Background: Participation in care is considered to promote safe and qualitative care. Care-dependent older persons ageing in place have increased emergency care needs, which initiate inter-organisational collaboration involving municipal home care and ambulance services. Previous research concludes that uncertainties exist regarding what participation in care means in clinical practice, which necessitates the need to illuminate the phenomenon for older persons in critical life situations.

Aim: This study aimed to illuminate meanings of participation in prehospital emergency care from the perspective of care-dependent older persons experiencing acute illness at home.

Design: This study has a qualitative design with a lifeworld approach.

Method: A phenomenological hermeneutical method was used to analyse transcribed telephone interviews with eleven care-dependent persons aged 70–93 years.

Results: Care-dependent older persons' participation in prehospital emergency care means ‘Entrusting life to professional caregivers’ when being in helpless solitude and existentially unsafe, which emphasises a deepened interpersonal dependence. Meanings of participation in care from the perspective of older persons involve Being reassured in togetherness, Being pliant in trust of emergency expertise, Being enabled through the agency of professional caregivers, and Encountering readiness in the emergency care chain.

Conclusion: Care-dependent older persons' participation in prehospital emergency care is existential and involves interpersonal dependence. Togetherness brings reassurance, safety and opportunity for emotional rest while accessing the professional caregivers' power, competence and abilities which provide opportunities for existence and movement towards well-being and continued living.

Implications for practice: Prehospital emergency care from the perspective of care-dependent older persons transcends organisational boundaries and includes the municipal mobile safety alarm service. The involved municipal and regional organisations need to provide support by implementing lifeworld-led care models and care alternatives that enable professionals to recognise the existential dimension of participation in care.

Nursing students require resilience to navigate the complexities of clinical practice. This characteristic is essential for managing demanding workloads, unpredictable patient situations, and emotional stressors while maintaining performance and well-being. Fostering resilience helps students develop the capacity to adapt to adversity, overcome setbacks, and remain committed to providing high-quality patient care. This qualitative study explores the challenges and supports influencing nursing students’ resilience during clinical education. Interviews with 28 Thai nursing students revealed two key themes: the “experience of vulnerability” and the “experience of meaningfulness”. The sub-themes of vulnerability included “navigating uncertainty”, “transcending professional struggles”, and “being exposed to diverse encounters”. The sub-themes of meaningfulness focused on restoring strength through social interactions and engaging in positive transformation. This study highlights the need for comprehensive support systems that address personal and professional vulnerabilities. Integrating caring theory principles could further enhance resilience by emphasizing compassionate care and fostering student empathy. This suggests that instructors and stakeholders can significantly impact student well-being by creating supportive environments built on collaboration, empathy, and mentorship, all of which are aligned with caring theory.

Resilience aids nursing students in dealing with adversities during their nursing education. This study examined the relationship between nursing students’ resilience and relevant variables in the context of clinical education. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to collect data from 319 undergraduate nursing students in Northeast Thailand. The Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Learning Experience Scale or the Personal Responsibility Orientation to Self-Direction in Learning Scale, and the Stressors in Nursing Students scale were administered. A multiple regression analysis was performed for factors presumed to be associated with resilience. Results reported that Thai nursing students’ average resilience score was 71.79 ± 16.33. Multiple regression analysis indicated factors associated with resilience, in which social support (β = 0.354, p < 0.001, 95%CI: 0.240 to 0.469) and self-directed learning (β = 0.787, p < 0.001, 95%CI: 0.606 to 0.968) showed a positive association, while stress (β = −0.083, p = 0.025, 95%CI: −0.083 to −0.006) had a negative association. The final model accounted for 43.4% of the variance in the resilience score. In conclusion, self-directed learning, social support, and perceived stress among nursing students during clinical education are associated with their resilience.

This integrative review aimed to examine empirical research on resilience among nursing students in the context of nursing education. Resilience helps nursing students handle challenges, such as changing learning styles and experiencing their first clinical practice.DesignAn integrative review.MethodsThe search terms focused on resilience and health in nursing students and nursing education. The database used in this review were CINAHL Plus, PubMed and MEDLINE. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool appraised the studies' quality.

ResultsThis study explored 52 records and revealed three current research focuses related to nursing students' resilience: (1) the concept and description of resilience, (2) the characteristics affecting resilience and (3) the mediating role of resilience in maintaining holistic health. Recommendations include adding a resilience topic to the nursing curriculum, providing resilience enhancement programs, examining the relationship between resilience and holistic health and exploring the influence of resilience about global health crises.

Public Contribution Resilience among nursing students plays a vital role in helping them to overcome adversities during their nursing education. Additionally, after graduation, nursing students can continue contributing to society as resilient Registered Nurses in the future.

Background: Patient participation is considered to promote well-being and is, therefore, central in care contexts. Care-dependent older persons living at home constitute a vulnerable population with increased ambulance care needs. Care transfers risk challenging participation in care, a challenge that can be accentuated in situations involving acute illness.Aim: To illuminate meanings of older persons' participation in ambulance care in the presence of municipal care personnel from the perspective of ambulance personnel.Method: A phenomenological hermeneutical method was used to analyse transcripts of narrative interviews with 11 ambulance personnel.Results: The ambulance personnel's lived experience of older persons' participation includes passive and active dimensions and involves a balancing act between an exercise of power that impedes participation and equalisation of power that empowers participation. The main theme 'Balancing dignity in relation to manipulating the body' included the themes Providing a safe haven and Complying with bodily expressions, which means shouldering responsibility for existential well-being and being guided by reactions. The main theme 'Balancing influence in relation to perceived health risks' included the themes Agreeing on a common perspective, Directing decision-making mandate, and Sharing responsibility for well-being, which means shouldering responsibility for health focusing on risks. Influence is conditional and includes performance requirements for both the older person and municipal care personnel.Conclusion: Care-dependent older persons' participation in care from the perspective of ambulance personnel means recognising passive and active dimensions involving human dignity, the ability to influence care, and optimising care efforts through collaboration. This study provides a deepened understanding of the balancing of power involved in ambulance care determining participation, where power is equalised or exercised depending on personal engagement, health risks, and available care options. The knowledge provided holds the potential to improve ambulance care to benefit older persons in critical life situations.