Exploring work readiness: A qualitative descriptive study of self-perceptions among new graduate nurses

Background

Reduced work readiness is associated with elevated turnover rates, necessitating efforts to enhance the positive work readiness of newly graduated nurses to alleviate the shortage in the nursing workforce. Research into the work readiness of recent nursing graduates in China is still in its infancy. Most studies employ quantitative research methods, and further exploration of the self-perception of work readiness among new nurses in China is required.

Objectives

This study aimed to investigate genuine experiences and self-perceptions of work readiness among new graduate nurses.

Design

A qualitative descriptive study.

Methods

Sixteen new nurses from a provincial tertiary hospital in China were included in this study, which adhered to the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) checklist for reporting. The data collection process involved conducting semi-structured interviews from September to October 2021. Inductive content analysis was employed to analyze the interview data.

Results

The study identified four themes encompassing new nurses' real-life experiences and self-perceptions of work readiness: psychological stress, emotional conflict, empathy fatigue, and ethical dilemmas. Psychological stress comprised three subthemes: knowledge and skill deficits, communication barriers, and fear. Empathy fatigue was primarily characterized by psychological and physical symptoms. Ethical dilemmas involved conflicts over differences in values and between clinical reality and standardized nursing practice.

Conclusion

Drawing from the self-perceptions of work readiness among new nurses found in this study, nursing administrators and educators must enhance the existing transition support program for new nurses. Additionally, the establishment of individualized training programs is recommended to further improve the work readiness of new nurses.

Development of a humanistic care digital storytelling programme for intensive care unit nursing students: Feasibility and satisfaction analysis

BACKGROUND

Humanistic care has become an essential quality for modern nurses. However, previous studies have revealed that nursing students lack adequate preparation to meet the needs of patients in intensive care units using a humanistic care approach.

OBJECTIVES

To develop a humanistic care digital storytelling programme for intensive care nursing students and assess its acceptance and satisfaction among participants through a satisfaction survey.

METHODS

The development of the programme was based on the SHARE framework (S: sense patient's needs; H: help patient out; A: acknowledge patient's feelings; R: respect patient's dignity and privacy; E: explain what is happening) and involved three steps. Content analysis and narrative adaptation were used to develop a series of digital stories illustrating humanistic stories from clinical practice. The preliminary draft of the programme was modified based on Delphi consultation. Finally, the programme was piloted with nursing students and their satisfaction was evaluated using questionnaires. All statistical analyses were performed using Excel 2016 and SPSS 26.0.

RESULTS

Four digital stories were successfully selected and a total of 16 questionnaires were distributed and collected in two rounds of expert consultation. The effective Delphi rate was 100 %. The expert authority coefficients in rounds 1 and 2 were 0.82 and 0.875, respectively. The coefficient of variation for round 1 was 0-0.23, and for round 2, it was 0-0.14. The Kendall's coordination coefficient was 0.119 for round 1 and 0.054 for round 2. The nursing students highly evaluated the programme, with 100 % of participants reporting that the digital stories successfully evoked emotional responses and that they were satisfied with the course duration.

CONCLUSION

A scientifically valid, credible, and satisfactory humanistic care digital storytelling programme was developed for intensive care unit nursing students. The programme provides valuable guidance for nurse educators and scholars seeking to develop effective digital storytelling training programmes.

Nurse managers' perceptions and experiences of caring behavior for clinical nurses: a multicenter survey

BACKGROUND

Humanistic care management is a necessary measure to improve the motivation and initiative of clinical nurses and is the foundation to improve the quality of nursing. Understanding the current status and identifying the influencing factors that promote or hinder humanistic care behaviors is essential. This study investigated the current status and experiences of nurse managers' caring behaviors toward clinical nurses.

METHODS

We conducted a mixed-methods study with an explanatory sequential design. A survey on the nurse managers' caring behaviors in 101 hospitals from 23 provinces and four municipalities in China was investigated (n = 2022). Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain information about the participants' experiences associated with the performance of caring behaviors (n = 27).

RESULTS

Survey data demonstrated that the nurse managers' overall caring behaviors were moderately good. The total scoring rate was 88.55%, and the overall score was 161.19 ± 20.68. Qualitative data revealed that the capacity of nurse managers and clinical nurses, opportunity, and motivation to implement humanistic care are key influencing factors of caring behaviors.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggested that intrinsic motivation, organizational support, and the humanistic care capabilities of clinical nurses and nurse managers are vital to implementing care behaviors. Thus, successful humanistic care management requires a concerted effort at the individual and organizational levels.

[Survey on the current situation and influencing factors of humanistic care ability of outpatient and emergency nurses in tertiary Grade A hospitals in Zhengzhou City]

Objective: To investigate the humanistic care consciousness and ability of outpatient and emergency nurses in tertiary Grade A hospitals in Zhengzhou City. Methods: In June 2021, a total of 345 outpatient and emergency nurses from 6 tertiary Grade A hospitals in Zhengzhou City were selected as the survey objects by random number table method. The humanistic care ability of outpatient and emergency nurses was investigated. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyze the related factors influencing the humanistic care ability of outpatient and emergency nurses. Results: The total score of humanistic care ability of outpatient and emergency nurses in Zhengzhou tertiary Grade A hospital was (194.18±30.53). The scores of humanistic care ability of outpatient and emergency nurses with different gender, age, educational background, professional title, length of service, night shift frequency, marital status, children's status, employment patterns and average monthly household income were significantly different (P<0.05). Regression analysis showed that education background, length of service, professional title and night shift frequency were independent influencing factors for outpatient and emergency nurses' humanistic care ability (β=0.243, 0.139, 0.163, -0.126, P<0.05) . Conclusion: At present, the humanistic care ability of outpatient and emergency nurses in tertiary Grade A hospitals in Zhengzhou City is still low. Education, length of service, professional title and night shift frequency are independent influencing factors affecting the humanistic care ability of nurses.

Influencing factors of knowledge, attitude and behavior in children's palliative care among pediatric healthcare workers: a cross-sectional survey in China

BACKGROUND

Palliative care has become a key medical field worldwide. Although research relating to adult palliative care is well-established, less is known about children's palliative care (CPC). Therefore, this study investigated the knowledge, attitude and behavior of pediatric healthcare workers (PHWs) regarding CPC and analyzed the influencing factors for the implementation and development of CPC.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey of 407 PHWs was carried out in a Chinese province from November 2021 to April 2022. The questionnaire consisted of two parts: a general information form and questions on the knowledge, attitude and behavior of PHWs about CPC. Data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA and multiple regression analysis.

RESULTS

The total score of the PHWs' knowledge, attitude and behavior about CPC was 69.98, which was at a moderate level. PHWs' CPC knowledge, attitude, and behavior are positively correlated.The most important influencing factors were working years, highest education, professional title, job position, marital status, religion, grade of hospital (I, II or III), type of medical institution, experience of caring for a terminally ill child/kinsfolk and total hours of CPC education and training received.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, PHWs in a Chinese province had the lowest scores on the knowledge dimension of CPC, with moderate attitude and behavior and various influencing factors. In addition to professional title, highest education and working years, it is also worth noting that the type of medical institution and marital status also affected the score. Continuing education and training of PHWs in CPC should be emphasized by the administrators of relevant colleges and medical institutions. Future research should start with the above-mentioned influencing factors and focus on setting up targeted training courses and evaluating the post-training effects.

A humanistic-care factors application hierarchical design-model for intelligent elderly products

At present, many countries and regions around the world have entered an aging society, so the demand intelligent elderly product has begun to double. However, in the design process of intelligent elderly products, there is a lack of a set of perfect method model and evaluation criteria for the application of humanistic care factors in intelligent elderly products. To standardize the use of humanistic care factors in the design of intelligent elderly products. Firstly, this study uses grounded theory to code and analyze the humanistic care factors. Secondly, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and analytic network process (ANP) are used for comparative study to obtain the sensitivity priority of the application of humanistic care factors, and a new design method model is proposed. Finally, the fuzzy evaluation method is used to verify the rationality of the design method model. The study shows that the use of humanistic care factors has the greatest impact on emotion, especially in the consideration of Interactivity, followed by Color mildness and Companionship. The results are divided in the form of a hierarchical demand tower, to establish a new Humanistic-care Factors Application Hierarchical Design-model (HFAHD) for intelligent elderly products. The HFAHD can not only help designers to improve the design efficiency in the design of intelligent elderly products, but also further standardize the use of humanistic care factors in the design of intelligent elderly products. Through the combination of quantitative research and qualitative research, it is proposed to divide the use of humanistic care factors into hierarchical models to help designers better use the HFAHD. This study not only improves the design standards of intelligent elderly products, but also extends to other design fields in further research, and promotes the more rational use of humanistic care factors in design.

Narrative medicine as a teaching strategy for nursing students to developing professionalism, empathy and humanistic caring ability: a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Narrative medicine has become a solution to cultivate medical students' ability of empathy and humanistic care. However, the role of narrative medicine is lacking in the study of professionalism. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of narrative medical theory learning and narrative writing on professionalism, empathy and humanistic care ability of nursing students.

METHODS

This cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted between June 2021 and June 2022 in two universities in Jiangsu, China. The participants of this study were 85 nursing students who were randomly divided into the intervention group (n = 43) or the control group (n = 42). Participants in the intervention group were trained in narrative medical theory learning and narrative writing based on a Web-based platform, while those in the control group were not. Self-report questionnaires of professionalism, empathy and humanistic care ability were used before and after intervention.

RESULTS

The results showed that the professionalism score of the intervention group was (68.7 ± 6.8 vs. 64.5 ± 7.5; P = 0.005), empathy (99.4 ± 15.7 vs. 92.2 ± 14.6; P = 0.014) and humanistic care ability (127.6 ± 20.0 vs. 113.3 ± 18.8; P = 0.004) were better than the control group.

CONCLUSION

The results of this quantitative study suggest that narrative medical theory education and narrative writing based on the network platform can promote the development of professionalism, empathy and humanistic care ability of nursing undergraduates.

Robots and the Possibility of Humanistic Care

Care robots are likely to perform increasingly sophisticated caring activities that some will consider comforting and valuable. They will get increasingly humanlike and lifelike. This paper addresses the conceptual question: Even if robots can assist and ease people's suffering, can such machines provide humanistic care? Arguably, humanistic care is the most humanly distinctive and deepest form of care there is. As such, it may be thought to show most starkly the gulf between human and robot caregiving. The paper argues that humanistic caregiving is indeed a distinctive form of 'affective' care dependent on certain uniquely human characteristics or aspects of our humanity which can provide a profound kind of comfort to suffering people. It then argues that there is an important conceptual sense in which robots cannot provide humanistic care. Nonetheless, the paper subsequently suggests that we may recognize a useful sense in which robots, of a suitably anthropomorphic type, can provide humanistic care. Robots might 'express' to people with physical, social, or emotional needs the kind of humanistic care that only human beings can provide but that sufferers can nonetheless receive comfort from precisely because of what is expressed to them. Although this sense of humanistic robot care is derivative from uniquely human care, and although it is wide open to social and ethical criticism, it is nonetheless an idea worth clarifying for anyone interested in the possibilities and limits of robot care.

Hearts above water: Palliative care during a pandemic

Social workers and nurses, as members of interprofessional palliative medicine teams, faced unfamiliar challenges and opportunities as they endeavored to provide humanistic care to patients and families during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Typical methods for engaging patients and families in medical decision-making became thwarted by visitation restrictions and patients' dramatic health declines. This paper presents an innovative social work and nursing intervention aimed at enhancing humanistic patient/family care and advanced directive dialogs. Through incorporating a narrative synthesis of the teams' reflective journals from COVID-19, the paper chronicles the intervention implementation, patient/family responses, and team members' personal and professional meaning-making processes.

[Establishment of knowledge, attitude and practice evaluation system of nursing humanistic care]

Objective: To construct a knowledge, attitude and practice evaluation system of nursing humanistic care, and to provide reference for improving nursing humanistic construction. Methods: Based on literature analysis, the draft evaluation system was sorted out, and two rounds of Delphi expert consultation were conducted on 28 experts, and the items were modified according to the consultation opinions. Results: The enthusiasm coefficients of the two rounds of consultation were 100% and 96.4%, the authority coefficients were 0.888 and 0.870, and the coordination coefficients were 0.342 and 0.467, respectively, which were statistically significant (P<0.05) . The final evaluation system of humanistic care for clinical nursing staff includes 3 first-level indicators and 63 second-level indicators. Conclusion: The humanistic care evaluation system constructed in this study is scientific and practical and can be used as a scientific evaluation tool for the humanistic care ability of clinical nurses.

The INSÉPArable portfolio tool to sustain continued education and the professional development of nurses for a full scope of nursing practice and enhanced patient safety competencies: An ethnographic study

Background

Despite widespread recognition of the undeniable impact of nurses on patient safety, important barriers relating to the organization of health systems still hinder the full expansion of the role of these professionals. In Quebec (Canada), nurses work overtime and increased adverse events are preoccupying and point to a possible lack of contemporary tools for continuous professional development. Innovative training tools should foster a more reflective practice focused on a holistic view of the patient in order to support the full scope of nursing practice and ensure continuous improvement in the quality of care. Such tools would make it possible to better understand their practice, according to their own perception, as well as its applicability in the emergence of a professional conscience which is essential to lasting safety competencies. This study's overarching goal was to propose a model and a portfolio prototype to support nurses’ training.

Method

Based on a humanistic and reflective perspective on patient care and safety competencies, a design approach was used to develop a portfolio prototype. Ethnography was used to collect and analyse data using shadowing observations of 10 nurse/patient dyads, followed by interviews about their care experience. The research was conducted in acute and long-term care settings of the Quebec City area. The iteration process resulted in a first version of the prototype that was then presented to various stakeholders during a co-design workshop aimed at better understanding the clinical applicability of this prototype.

Findings

The INSÉPArable project is illustrated in two interrelated figures, which reflects a complete inductive representation supporting sustainable patient safety from nursing practice experience. First, nursing practice status has been depicted as an iceberg metaphor where the essence of care, the « art of nursing » is hidden. Second, a sphere illustrates the direction to the full emergence of nursing practice that helps to enhance the hidden “art of nursing” by leading nurses towards optimal conditions conscience.

Discussion

INSÉPArable turned out to be more than an individual reflective tool as it also highlights the need for collective awareness among nurse managers regarding their responsibility in implementing and sustaining healthy work environments, in which optimal conditions are better supported. This also implies a renewed mode of governance and the implementation of more humanistic processes that redefine the contemporary professionalism of nurses, which are closely linked to patient safety.

The current status and the influencing factors of humanistic care ability among a group of medical professionals in Western China

BACKGROUND

Previous research regarding the humanistic care ability of Chinese medical professionals was limited to small groups of nurses or students. More systemic analyses involving more general medical professionals are scarce and urgently needed.

OBJECTIVE

To survey the sense and ability of humanistic care on medical professionals in China and to identify the potential influencing factors.

METHODS

A novel scale of humanistic care indicators was developed. Based on the new scale, a questionnaire was designed, tested and used to survey a total of 928 medical professionals recruited from three hospitals in the Chinese Western city Chongqing. Chi-square test was used for single factor analyses. For multiple factor analyses, multivariate logistic regression was performed.

RESULTS

Our selected group of medical professionals scored nearly 4 or above on a 1-5 scale for all our query items related to the sense and ability of humanistic care. The main factors affecting humanistic care ability of medical professionals in Chongqing include gender, nature of department/division, modes of employment and participation in humanistic care ability training and so on.

CONCLUSIONS

In general, the participants in our study group had a humanistic care ability score lower than the aimed value, suggesting that the ability of humanistic care of these medical professional was not satisfactory. The study also shows that one effective way to enhance the humanistic care ability is to provide more targeted training.

Effect of humanistic care combined with Orem's self-care on medical compliance and awareness of health knowledge in patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis

AIM

To explore the influence of humanistic care combined with Orem's self-care on medical compliance and awareness of health knowledge among patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis.

METHODS

One hundred and six hepatitis B cirrhosis patients admitted to People's Hospital of Changshan from June 2015 to September 2017 were selected, and according to the admission order, they were divided into a control group and an observation group, with 53 cases in each group. Both groups were given routine care, and the observation group was additionally given humanistic care combined with Orem's self-care. After nursing care, the rate of medical compliance, rate of awareness of health knowledge, Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) score, Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) score, and Short Form 36 Questionnaire (SF-36) score were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

After nursing, the rates of compliance and awareness of health knowledge were significantly higher in the observation group than in the control group (92.45% vs 69.81%, 94.34% vs 73.58%, P < 0.05). Before nursing, there was no significant difference in SDS or SAS score in the two groups; after nursing, the scores of SDS and SAS in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Before nursing, there was no significant difference in SF-36 score between the two groups (P > 0.05); after nursing, the score of SF-36 in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Humanistic care combined with Orem's self-care can significantly improve the medical compliance and awareness of health knowledge, relieve negative emotion, and improve the quality of life in hepatitis B cirrhosis patients.