Challenges Faced During Professional Preparation and Transition to Practice Among Diverse Early Professional Athletic Trainers

CONTEXT

Early professional (EP) athletic trainers (ATs) may encounter adjustments and develop individual identities to master a new role, which can be difficult while transitioning from student to autonomous professional. Previous literature lacks content about the transition to practice of credentialed ATs who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC).

OBJECTIVE

To identify challenges during the professional education and transition to practice of EP ATs identifying as BIPOC.

DESIGN

Qualitative study.

SETTING

Virtual interviews.

PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS

Fifteen recently credentialed ATs (13 women, 2 men; age = 26.73 ± 1.41 years, experience = 13.80 ± 4.03 months) who self-identified as BIPOC.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

We used an interview guide, validated by peer (n = 1) and expert (n = 3) review, to structure the data collection sessions. Data saturation guided recruitment, and we achieved theoretical redundancy after the final interview. We analyzed the data with a phenomenological approach and used multianalyst triangulation (n = 2) and peer review (n = 2) as credibility strategies.

RESULTS

All participants mentioned being victims of microaggressions because of their race during either their professional preparation, work environment, or both. Those who chose to report the incidents felt a lack of support from work supervisors, faculty, peers, and preceptors. Participants noted a preference for racially concordant mentoring to facilitate talking to a person who could better understand BIPOC EPs' experiences. Respondents also relied on outside support from friends and family as coping mechanisms. Finally, participants experienced perceived incompetency from supervisors due to their limited work experience as EPs and felt their professional preparation was stunted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

CONCLUSIONS

Participants perceived that their transition to practice was stressful due to the microaggressions encountered, a lack of support, and a lack of racially concordant mentoring. Diversity, equity, and inclusion training should be incorporated into athletic training education and workspaces to assist in providing more welcoming environments for BIPOC EP ATs and students.

Outsiders Within: The Lived Experience of Being Black and Female When Becoming a Nurse Executive

Few Black nurses occupy positions of leadership, and even fewer Black female nurses advance to careers as nurse executives. The purpose of this 2018 study was to explore the lived experience of being Black and female when becoming a nurse executive, specifically the nuances of being both a racial and gender minority. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological method, this study explored the experiences of a purposive sample of 10 Black female nurse executives through semistructured telephone interviews. van Manen's approach and Collins' Black feminist thought as the theoretical framework guided data analysis. Three themes emerged: (a) living in a constant state of readiness; (b) embracing the responsibility beyond the job description; and (c) overcoming. Participants testified of the psychological dynamics of Black womanness, and the burdens of the intersectionality of race, gender, and class discrimination, while managing the complexities and rigors of a thriving career. Discussing the results of this research will help leaders in nursing, health care, and related professions to understand further the experiences of Black female nurse executives, which will inform efforts to (a) increase minority representation in positions of nursing leadership and (b) improve health equity.

A relational coordination training intervention to improve job satisfaction and intent to stay in the intensive care unit: A pilot study

BACKGROUND

Relational coordination (RC) explores the coordination of work between and among professionals in a workgroup. RC is associated with higher job satisfaction and retention; however, researchers have not tested RC training interventions to improve job satisfaction and retention.

PURPOSE

To explore changes in job satisfaction and intent to stay among health care professionals following a virtual RC training intervention.

METHODS

We conducted a pilot, parallel group randomized controlled trial in four intensive care units. Data collection occurred via survey. Difference-in-difference regression models were used to analyze the job satisfaction and intent to stay outcomes.

DISCUSSION

The RC training intervention did not influence job satisfaction or intent to stay. Participants with baccalaureate degrees and African American/Black participants reported lower intent to stay.

CONCLUSION

The results from this pilot study are a critical first step in testing the efficacy of an RC training intervention to improve staff outcomes in a larger powered study.

The influence of employees' perception of over-qualification on career compromise: Mediated by role conflict and sense of relative deprivation

In the external environment with the increasing level of education, there is a general phenomenon of excess qualification in the employment market. This research discusses employee career compromise from the perspective of employee over-qualification based on resource conservation theory and self-regulation theory. Combined with the survey data, a structural equation model (SEM) is constructed, and the mediation effect of relative deprivation and role conflict is analyzed according to the causal mediation model. The research find that employees' perception of over-qualification has three ways to affect employees' career compromise. First, employees' perception of over-qualification has a significant positive impact on their career compromise behavior through employees' emotions and self-cognition. Second, role conflict plays a partial intermediary role between the perception of over-qualification and career compromise by positively affecting career compromise behavior. Third, the sense of relative deprivation plays a partial intermediary role between the perception of over-qualification and career compromise by negatively affecting career compromise behavior. According to the research conclusions, the following suggestions are put forward. Enterprises need to establish a scientific employment mechanism to achieve talent-post matching and fundamentally reduce the phenomenon of over-qualifications. The company should pay attention to employee training, actively guide employees' career planning, instruct employees to correctly understand the sense of over-qualification and play a positive role in guiding employees' career planning.

The impact of professional role and demographic characteristics on job satisfaction and retention among healthcare professionals in a military hospital

BACKGROUND

Job satisfaction is significantly associated with retention. Although several factors are associated with job satisfaction and retention (pay, leadership, mentorship), the association of demographic characteristics has been understudied in the literature.

PURPOSE

To explore whether professional role and demographic characteristics are associated with job satisfaction and intent to stay among nurses and physicians in a military medical center.

METHODS

We conducted a descriptive, exploratory, cross-sectional study, and collected data via surveys. We used multiple regression to evaluate study variables.

RESULTS

Two hundred and eighty-nine participants completed the survey. Professional role and demographic characteristics were not associated with job satisfaction. Professional role, race, and education were associated with intent to stay for military respondents. Physicians (β = 0.53, p = .0259) and Caucasians (β = -0.55, p = .0172) reported lower intent to stay; respondents with graduate degrees reported higher intent to stay (β = 2.47, p = .0045). Professional role and demographic characteristics were not associated with intent to stay for civilians.

CONCLUSION

Job satisfaction and retention of nurses and physicians are critical to the quality of care. Civilian and military healthcare leaders should focus on interventions that enhance job satisfaction and retention as a strategy to improve patient and staff outcomes alike.

Disparities in Nurse Job Dissatisfaction and Intent to Leave: Implications for Retaining a Diverse Workforce

OBJECTIVE

To determine if Black nurses are more likely to report job dissatisfaction and whether factors related to dissatisfaction influence differences in intent to leave.

BACKGROUND

Minority nurses report higher job dissatisfaction and intent to leave, yet little is known about factors associated with these differences in community settings.

METHOD

Cross-sectional analysis of 11 778 nurses working in community-based settings was conducted. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association among race, job satisfaction, and intent to leave.

RESULTS

Black nurses were more likely to report job dissatisfaction and intent to leave. Black nurses' intent to leave decreased in adjusted models that accounted for dissatisfaction with aspects of their jobs including salary, advancement opportunities, autonomy, and tuition benefits.

CONCLUSION

Nurse administrators may find opportunities to decrease intent to leave among Black nurses through focused efforts to target areas of dissatisfaction.

Nurses’ perception of ethical climate at a large academic medical center

Background:

Nurses are confronted daily with ethical issues while providing patient care. Hospital ethical climates can affect nurses’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment, retention, and physician collaboration.

Purpose:

At a metropolitan academic medical center, we examined nurses’ perceptions of the ethical climate and relationships among ethical climate factors and nurse characteristics.

Design/participants:

We used a descriptive correlational design and nurses ( N = 475) completed Olson’s Hospital Ethical Climate Survey. Data were analyzed using STATA.

Ethical considerations:

Approvals by the Nursing Research Council and Institutional Review Board were obtained; participants’ rights were protected.

Results:

Nurses reported an ethical climate total mean score of 3.22 ± 0.65 that varied across factors; significant differences were found for ethical climate scores by nurses’ age, race, and specialty area.

Conclusion:

These findings contribute to what is known about ethical climate and nurses’ characteristics and provides the foundation to develop strategies to improve the ethical climate in work settings.