Professional competence, personal occupational well-being, and mental workload of nurse educators - A cross-sectional study in four European countries

BACKGROUND

Nurse educators need a high level of professional competence to educate future health care professionals. Professional competence supports occupational well-being whilst high mental workload can undermine it. There is little existing research into nurse educators' professional competence, occupational well-being, mental workload, and the relationships between them, particularly in the European context.

OBJECTIVES

To describe the professional competence, personal occupational well-being, and mental workload of nurse educators in four European countries, and to explore how the professional competence and mental workload of nurse educators relate to their personal occupational well-being.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study design with quantitative survey data.

SETTING

Nurse educators from Finland, Spain, Slovakia, and Malta.

METHODS

The data were collected from 302 nurse educators through an online questionnaire which used the Health and Social Care Educator's Competence (HeSoEduCo) instrument. This contains 43 items which measure areas of professional competence. Statistical analysis involved descriptive and multivariate analysis.

RESULTS

Nurse educators self-assessed their overall professional competence as high. Competence in evidence-based practice was assessed as the highest whilst cultural competence was perceived to be the lowest of the six competence areas. Nurse educators perceived their levels of personal occupational well-being and the balance of mental workload as moderate. However, these levels varied between the four countries. Professional competence, more specifically administrative and curriculum competence, and a balanced mental workload were positively related to personal occupational well-being.

CONCLUSIONS

The educators who perceive themselves to have very good professional competence and a balanced mental workload are more likely to report high occupational well-being. The findings suggest that nurse educators' cultural competence needs to be strengthened and intervention research is needed to determine ways of reducing mental workload and increasing the occupational well-being of nurse educators.

Effectiveness of resilience-based interventions in schools for adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction

Resilience has been identified as a dynamic process that provides capabilities to face adversity. Considering the many protective factors involved in resilience and that the school is a key context to promote resilience, this review aimed to examine the effect of school-based interventions on resilience in adolescents.

Methods

A systematic literature review and meta-analysis were conducted in July 2021 on four databases. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to obtain pooled estimates. Stratified analyses were done according to population type (general, at risk), intervention type, and follow-up assessments.

Results

Of the 1,667 articles obtained, 27 were included in the systematic review and 16 in the meta-analysis. The random effects indicated a significant increase in resilience after the intervention [SMD = 0.58, 95% CI (0.29-0.87)]. Subgroup analysis showed effectiveness only in the population at risk [SMD = 1.28, 95% CI (0.53-2.03)] and early adolescence [SMD = 1.28, 95% CI (0.42-2.14), PI (-7.44 to 10.33)]. Multicomponent intervention [SMD = 1.45, 95% CI (0.11-2.80)] and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) [SMD = 0.20, 95% CI (0.06-0.34)] demonstrated substantial effectiveness. Significant results were observed within 8-week follow-ups or less [SMD = 1.55, 95% CI (0.61-2.48)].

Discussion

These findings provide evidence that multicomponent and CBT interventions increase resilience in early at-risk adolescents only in the short term. Developing resilience interventions is useful in schools exposed to unfavourable socioeconomic contexts. Furthermore, long-term interventions should be redesigned to improve their effectiveness.

Systematic review registration

PROSPERO [CRD42021277493].

An integrative review of the continuing professional development needs for nurse educators

OBJECTIVES

The study aimed at describing the field of research in continuing professional development for nurse educators and the continuous education and development needs of nurse educators by asking: What research has been done in the field of continuing professional development of nurse educators? What are the continuing education and development needs and requirements reported for and by nurse educators?

DESIGN

An integrative review of peer-reviewed academic literature following a systematic search design.

DATA SOURCES

Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods publications in CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, ERIC, and PubMed.

REVIEW METHODS

Search results were screened for full text and assessed for quality using the Mixed Methods Assessment Tool. Full texts were then thematic analysed using an inductive and reflective process.

RESULTS

The number of published academic articles about the continuing professional development for nurse educators is small (n = 13). The themes produced from the articles identify heterogenous development needs for nurse educators, clustered around four themes: (1) professional competencies (2) management and resources, (3) communication and collaboration, and (4) agency. The findings of this review show that nurse educators have multiple roles which have specific and multiple personal and institutional needs.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this review show that the continuing professional development needs are heterogenous between nurse educators, yet share commonalities across departmental teams as a whole, and across different countries. This raises the issue of how these needs can or should be, focused on the sustainable development of nurse educators.