Journal of Research in Nursing

Working in hospitals entails several risks to nurses. A better nursing workplace can help in improving physical activity and reducing adverse occupational health outcomes among nurses.

This study aimed to investigate the relationships of the nursing workplace with occupational health outcomes and physical activity.

A cross-sectional correlation study was conducted with 623 nurses. Data were collected through report self-administered questionnaires that included employment and occupational conditions, hospital workplace environment, and adverse occupational health outcomes as well as physical activity pattern.

The current study showed that the nursing workplace environment and conditions had a negative effect on occupational health outcomes and physical activity among nurses in the study units. Nurses in this study reported a high prevalence of low back pain (82.7%), burnout (78.3%), and occupational injuries (70.5%). They also reported insufficient physical activities (90.6%). High prevalence of burnout and low back pain were associated with low levels of physical activities among nurses.

A fair working environment and conditions have been implicated as a causative factor of negative occupational health outcomes and limitations of physical activity among nurses. Adverse occupational health outcomes also affect the nurses engaging in physical activity.

Quality of work-life is an important factor in the recruitment and retention of the nursing workforce and their work productivity.

This study aimed to identify factors that affect the quality of work-life of nurses.

In this correlational study, 239 nurses employed in a tertiary teaching hospital in Iran completed the study questionnaires, including the quality of work-life questionnaire. The associations between potential independent variables and quality of work-life were examined using multivariate regression analysis.

Participants were mostly women (80.33%) and within the age range of 30–45 years (71.54%). Working in other hospitals, having a second job and health information-seeking behaviours were significant predictors of quality of work-life, explaining 28.68% of the total variance in quality of work-life of nurses.

Improving working standards may prevent nurses from working extra hours or in different occupations. This, along with facilitating the health information-seeking behaviours of nurses, may help improve their quality of work-life by maintaining a better work-life balance and acquiring knowledge and skills that can help with effective management of work and life commitments.

Healthcare professionals are usually employed in civilian inpatient and outpatient settings but can also work in countries experiencing military conflict.

To explore the lived experiences of healthcare professionals during the operation “Ancient Babylon” in Iraq to understand their feelings and problems encountered.

Hermeneutic phenomenological study. In-depth interviews of nine nurses and one physician who took part in the operation between 2003 and 2006 were performed. Data from the collected narrations were analyzed to identify recurrent themes.

Seven main themes emerged: “Living in an extreme setting,” “Living in a theatre of war,” “Strong emotions,” “The team as a family,” “A professional development experience,” “An eye-opening experience,” and “Advice for anyone who wants to join such a mission”. The experience was perceived as physically challenging and emotionally difficult. The relationship between colleagues was strong. It was based on reciprocal trust, enthusiasm, and compensated for the sense of distance that the participants felt from their own families.

Advice and recommendations for those who are interested in pursuing similar experiences: they must develop decision-making skills, be able to rely on one’s own abilities, have good professional training to fall back on, participate in exercises and simulations before the mission, and also be adaptable and innovative, flexible and able to stay mentally grounded.

A Nottingham Legacy Nurse Programme was developed in response to the reducing supply of new nursing registrants and an ageing workforce. The programme comprised components of focussed mentorship, knowledge transition, support and development of new learners in practice.

The work-based development programme aimed to improve the retention and experience of late career registered nurses.

The programme was informed by the evidence base and co-produced with late career registered nurses (aged 55 years or over, approaching retirement). A small pilot programme (n = 6) was evaluated through a mixed-methods approach. Refinements and recommendations were proposed in response to findings of a scoping search of the literature, feedback from participants and stakeholder groups across the NHS Midlands and East regions (n = 238).

A Legacy Nurse programme has potential to address nurses’ individual career development needs, valuing and retaining them in the workforce, enabling them to share professional knowledge and skills within clinical teams and offers a cost-effective solution to improving retention of late career nurses.

Addressing the needs of late career registered nurses is required to improve retention, job satisfaction, quality-of-care provision and facilitate knowledge transfer. The programme requires evaluation in other care settings and should be considered as part of an integrated approach to nurse retention, inclusive talent management and workforce planning, alongside financial and careers advice.

The planning, implementation, finalisation and reporting of high-quality research depends on the knowledge, skills and competencies of the many individuals who make carrying out the research possible.

This study aims to develop a valid and reliable scale in order to identify the scientific research competencies of nursing professionals at undergraduate and graduate level.

This methodological study was carried out on 937 nursing personnel, 422 (45%) of whom were academic members and 515 (55%) were undergraduate students. The Anxiety Scale Towards Research and the Attitude Scale Towards Scientific Research were used for the criterion validity.

The Scientific Research Competency Scale comprises 57 items in four sub-dimensions named as ‘technical skills’, ‘attitude and behaviours’, ‘estimation capacity’ and ‘foreign language skill’. The Cronbach alpha, Guttmann split-half and Spearman Brown reliability coefficients for the scientific research competency scale were, respectively, 0.98, 0.96 and 0.96. The sensitivity and specificity value, by which the research competency of individuals could be determined with minimum error, was indicated to be at 190 breakpoints of the scientific research competency scale.

As a result, the scientific research competency scale developed is a valid and reliable tool that can be used to determine the scientific research competencies of nursing professionals.

The delivery of research in healthcare in the UK is dependent on a subgroup of clinicians – clinical academics – who concurrently engage in clinical practice and academic activities. The need to increase access to such roles for general practice nurses has been identified, although the need for a robust career framework remains.

This study, with a qualitative interview and focus group design, aimed to explore the concept of clinical academic careers for general practice nurses by identifying barriers and enablers associated with pursuing and performing such roles.

General practice nurses (n = 18) and general practitioners (n = 5) engaged in either an audio -recorded interview or focus group. Verbatim transcripts were subjected to thematic analysis.

Four themes were identified: awareness and understanding; career pathway; personal and professional attributes; and organisational factors. Awareness and understanding were generally poor. Participants suggested that the career pathway was unclear, although it was generally assumed that such roles were ‘out of reach’ and require a minimum of Master’s level education. An interest in research and the confidence to perform such duties were reported as the required personal and professional attributes. Organisational factors included the need for employers to understand the value and benefit of general practice nurse clinical academic roles, along with ensuring that the inevitable competing demands of such a role were appropriately managed.

This study highlights the difficulties faced by general practice nurses wishing to pursue a clinical academic career. Academia is seemingly placed on a pedestal, emphasising the need to embed research training early in nursing education to alter general practice nurse perceptions that clinical academic roles are unobtainable. The development of a robust career pathway for general practice nurse clinical academic roles may have a positive impact on the retention of experienced general practice nurses and attract newly qualified nurses. This research provides evidence as to the need for one.