Improvements in the infrastructure for nursing research in universities in Kazakhstan

A Conceptual Framework for Empowerment of Psychiatric Nurses Caring for Children with Mental Health Challenges

There are scanty empirical and theoretical studies focusing specifically on the implementation models for the care of psychiatric nurses caring for children. Staff contribution in the process of putting clinically relevant actions into practice contributes to effective implementation, increased acceptance, and commitment. These practises can be used to improve mental health care services of children at different levels. The aim is to deepen an understanding of the perspective of care for children with mental health challenges. A qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive design was used to allow for innovative thoughts to restructure the practice of child psychiatric nursing and is based on the Practice-Orientated Theory of Dickoff. A positive focus on aspects that facilitate care for children with mental health problems is informed by the data collected. A suite of services that include practice environment, trainings, and practical assistance is feasible to support psychiatric nurses. This framework implies that psychiatric nurses need professional competence to understand the context of the environment. Psychiatric nurses need to move beyond engagement to demonstrate how they help children with psychiatric challenges and to enable the development of psychiatric nursing practice through international collaboration.

Building health systems resilience in Central Asia through nursing and midwifery: evidence to inform policy action

BACKGROUND

The recent announcement of the next WHO State of the World's Nursing and Midwifery Reports calls for a review of the state of nursing and midwifery worldwide. In the WHO European region, a broad set of health system reforms have been introduced in Central Asian countries (CACs), namely, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan. These reforms have become the focus of a series of sub-regional policy dialogs between CACs, led by government chief nursing and midwifery officers, to accelerate the implementation of a package of policies to strengthen the capacity of nurses and midwives and build health system resilience. This study reviews the current state of nursing and midwifery capacity and documents future actions that can be taken in CACs.

CASE PRESENTATION

A systematic approach was used to describe trends, capacity and gaps in CACs' education, practice, regulation, leadership, and working conditions of nurses and midwives. Currently, CACs face challenges in increasing the level, quality and evidence-base of nursing and midwifery education, require efforts to expand the role of nurses, with emphasis on PHC and particular attention is required to decent working conditions, including fair income and security in the workplace. The GCNMOs have demonstrated experience in the oversight of both workforces and require support for effective work in making policies. To build health systems resilience in CACs through nursing and midwifery, a strategic package of evidence-informed actions that addresses education, practice, regulation, leadership, and working conditions of nurses and midwives is suggested for the period up to 2030.

CONCLUSIONS

Current educational reforms and curricular development, combined with innovations in clinical practice and working environment can be pursued to foster better access to quality of care, enhance workplace satisfaction and improve recruitment and retention of nurses and midwives. However, to fully achieve this, CACs will require increased institutional capacity; strengthened data for nursing and midwifery planning in the context of health workforce policy and health priorities, and financial and non-financial investment in the nursing and midwifery workforce.

Allied Health Professional Students' Perceptions on Research: A Multi-disciplinary Mixed-Methods Study

Introduction

Modern medicine necessitates evidence-based interdisciplinary patient care. Research is at the centre of fostering an evidence-based mindset in healthcare teams. Studies have demonstrated that exposing students to research translates into better patient care. Studies investing the perceptions of students towards research have focused on the views of medical students, leaving the perceptions of allied health professional (AHP) students unaccounted for.

Methods

A mixed-methods, anonymous online questionnaire was distributed to 837 AHP students studying at the University of Malta, across five different courses. The collected data was then statistically analysed through descriptive statistics and chi-square testing. Qualitative results were coded, triangulated and subsequently analysed.

Results

An overall response rate of 28.43% was achieved. Only 2.49% of respondents managed to publish research, despite many participants stating that research is important for their future careers. Career progression and lack of opportunity were identified as the major motivating and stumbling factors, respectively. Students pursuing research-focused degrees considered their curriculum to sufficiently equip them with research skills, compared to students studying clinically oriented degrees (p < 0.01).

Conclusion

The results obtained from this study indicate that the perceptions of AHP students towards research are on par with the already established medical students. AHP students face the same stumbling blocks, are driven by the same motivating factors and experience a similar disparity between interest in research and research being produced, as medical students. Thus, a joint effort, between stakeholders in medical and AHP students' education, should be taken to address the factors limiting undergraduate students from conducting research. This will enable the implementation of an evidence-based mindset in the clinic, ultimately resulting in better patient care.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-022-01715-6.